Category: Op-Ed

A businessman who claims he tipped-off the FBI about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden’s secret compound is seeking a reward of $25m (£15.6m). Gem dealer Tom Lee, 63, claims that in 2003 a Pakistani intelligence agent, from a family…

By Dave Lindorff A revealing page-one article in today’s New York Times (“Tap on Merkel Provides Peek a Vast Spy Net”) reports on how the NSA’s global spying program, dating back at least to early in the Bush/Cheney administration, was…

By Democratic Voice of Burma The Burmese army continues to step up abuses in northern Kachin state, including raping, killing and torturing villagers, despite signing a tentative ceasefire with ethnic rebels, activists say.

By Samir Saran and Abhijit Iyer-Mitra The recently concluded India-China summit meeting may have, at the very least, established a new tone and tenor in the relationship between the two Himalayan neighbours.

By Aijaz Zaka Syed The general elections in 2014 could well be the dumbest and most defining in India’s history. While the level of political discourse and campaigning has already hit rock bottom, stakes for the country and its future…

By Daniel Wagner and Giorgio Cafiero Saudi Arabia’s declared intention to pivot away from the U.S. in foreign policy implies a shift toward Beijing, which predates both the Obama presidency and the Arab Awakening. While a full-fledged “divorce” from the…

By Adil E. Shamoo The Egyptian people face a very difficult choice. They must choose a path that does not lead toward greater violence, further economic decline, dictatorship, or even civil war. Egypt must somehow avoid the fate of Syria…

By Ria Novosti A prototype “space plane” that is being developed to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) sustained damage during its first free-flying test after its landing gear failed to deploy properly, according to US media…

By World Nuclear News Two more nuclear power plants in China are progressing towards commissioning. Hongyanhe’s second unit has achieved first criticality, while fuel loading has begun at Yangjiang unit 1.

Electronic surveillance which the European media and politicians blamed on the NSA was also carried out by their own intelligence services, as part of a wide-ranging allied security effort, according to US officials.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has issued a veiled threat against media organizations, calling on The Guardian and other outlets to stop publishing the disclosures leaked by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

By DS Rajan In the modern era, the concept of sister city ties between countries in the world which in the main focuses on ‘people to people contact sand learning from each other’, have come to play a strong supportive…

As the U.S. makes new plans for disposing of spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste deep underground, geologists are key to identifying safe burial sites and techniques. Scientists at The Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting in Denver…

By Nadeem Mumtaz Qureshi Whenever there are elections the people who get elected and sit in Pakistan’s assemblies do not deserve to be there. They tend to be, in the rural areas, feudal landlords or the descendants of long deceased…

By Anand Kumar Though a new date for presidential elections in Maldives has been announced the people in Maldives and the international community still remain anxious whether the elections would be held. The term of present Mohammed Waheed’s government ends…

EU leaders meeting in Brussels say distrust of the US over spying could harm the fight against terrorism.

The National Security Agency eavesdropped on hundreds of phone numbers belonging to dozens of world leaders, newly leaked documents supplied by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden reveal.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to go the “extra mile” to make peace with India, saying the historic rivals can resolve all issues including Kashmir through dialogue.

By Keoni Indrabayu Marzuki Indonesia has embarked on a Low Cost Green Car (LCGC) project with the launch of two Japanese-aided automotive products. The central government believes the LCGC would boost the domestic automotive industry and exports while regulations ensure…

By Abdulateef Al-Mulhim Saudi Arabia was one of the founding members of the United Nations in 1945. Since its establishment, Saudi Arabia has been one of the most active members and the one that paid its dues to the world…

Romania has agreed to allow the U.S. military to use an airbase near the Black Sea as a key logistics hub for getting supplies and troops into and out of Afghanistan.

By Jaya Ramachandran Armed drones are the subject of two landmark reports presented to the 193-nation General Assembly – the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN – in October: one urging transparency over the killing of civilians…

India and China are close to an agreement to prevent tension on their contested border touching off confrontation while they try to figure out a way to break a decades-old stalemate regarding overlapping claims to long stretches of the Himalayas.

By Aijaz Zaka Syed Iran finds itself in the media spotlight for all the right reasons, for a change. The smooth and event-free presidential elections in June surprised many, including the Iran ‘experts’ in the West. This time around the…

By Al Bawaba News Gunmen have killed a top army General Jamaa Jamaa on Thursday while on duty in eastern Syria, state-run Syrian television said.

By Shujaat Bukhari A few hours after a suicide bomber hit a Church in Peshawar on Sunday last, a six-The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a resolution on Monday asking Government of India to order a time-bound probe into the…

Global credit rating agency Fitch has put the United States’ ‘AAA’ credit rating on “rating watch negative” based on stalled debt ceiling negotiations.

The World Bank in its 2014 World Development Report (WDR) launched on 6 October 2013 places risk management and resilience building at the core of its development approach.

By Joe Torres The United States embassy in Manila yesterday warned US citizens of a “series of credible security threats” in the southern Philippines region of Mindanao.