Wednesday-Night

A light at the end of the tunnel?

(The Economist) THE dithering has ended. After a week in which the financial system almost ground to a halt, governments of the industrialised world seem at last to have found the right tools to get credit markets moving again. At the weekend and early on Monday October 13th […]

Background on UN Convention of Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
Real Climate - Climate science from climate scientists Arctic & Antarctic

Photograph: Louise Murray/Science Photo Library
The Arctic contest heats up
What is Russia up to in the seas above Europe?
(The Economist) COLD, empty and rich in fish and minerals, the seas of the “High North” are a […]

China denounces Nobel contender
Oct 09 2008 17:10
(FT) Beijing responded to speculation that a jailed Chinese dissident might win the Nobel Peace Prize by denouncing him as a criminal and warning that honouring him would amount to meddling in China’s internal affairs.
6 October
Nobel Peace Prize May Go to Chinese Activist, Angering Beijing
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — Two […]

(The Economist) Saudi Arabia was reported to be offering its services as a mediator between the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban rebels in a bid to end the war in Afghanistan. See article
6 October
In one Afghan province, women make gains
The relative peace in Bamian province, combined […]

US drops plan to put diplomats in Iran
(IHT/AP) WASHINGTON: The Bush administration has shelved plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling, The Associated Press has learned.
The proposal to send U.S. diplomats to Tehran for the first […]

See also China, Beijing Olympics and Olympic Protest Primer
Armed Chinese police still occupy Lhasa six months after riots
The continued paramilitary presence in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, suggests that Chinese officials still fear an uprising similar to the deadly protests six months ago. The Guardian, the first Western news outlet to visit the […]

Pakistan’s terror problems have history, and future
The dramatic recent attack on the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan’s capital is a symptom of long-running problems and a result of Pakistani policies that encouraged the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, according to this New York Times analysis. The growing abilities of terrorists to strike Pakistan […]

See also Global Monitoring Report 2008
More on Wednesday-night.com
Sub-Saharan Africa is a highly complex Region of 47 countries with 7 distinctly different colonial histories. It is also highly diverse, with more than 700 million people of at least 1,000 different ethnic groups. The Region is a critical development priority—it has some of the world’s poorest countries […]

Curious Coincidence
David Jones writes in American Diplomacy
A Summing Up
Our parallel elections offer a Comparative Government 101 tutorial on operational differences between two vibrant democracies. We can appreciate that the strengths and weaknesses of each society are also reflected in the other and learn from comparing/contrasting solutions. Our coincidences are greater than our differences. […]

Whither Egypt?
With most of its people struggling, and reform blocked, Egypt faces an uncertain and possibly dangerous future
(The Economist) Today, a blinkered visitor might choose to see nothing of Egypt but posh beach resorts and gleaming factories, and hear of little but strong economic growth and a stable, secular government committed to reform. In the […]