News in Brief: 30 March 2007

A brief list of interesting news for the day:
Over a week’s fighting in Pakistan has resulted in dozens dead > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6511375.stm
Prisoner in US custody says he confessed to terror under torture > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6511921.stm
Britain’s diplomactic strategy toward Iran > http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2046755,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
Sharp words from the UK have hardened Iran’s resolve > http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2405137.ece
Olmert rejects Palastinian right of return > [...]

Where is the Border Between Iran and Iraq?

Here’s a question: what if both Iran and Britain are right regarding whether captured British sailors entered Iranian waters?
The thing about contested boundaries is that they’re not actually defined, there are differing opinions on where to draw the line. After a bit of investigation, this is what I’ve learned so far…
1917 – Britain captured Baghdad [...]

The Permeable Boundary of the Shatt al-Arab and Iran’s British Prisoners

Britain’s prominent participation in the invasion of Iraq has given it claims to policing in the contested waters of Shatt al-Arab (known as the Arvand River in Iran) through its right of conquest. Britain has had a long history of involvement in the region, once having occupied Southern Iran until a strong nationalist movement succeeded [...]

Biofuels Degrade our Environment?

As biofuel becomes an increasingly popular alternative with governments, questions about the environmental impact of this renewable fuel have yet to be satifactorily answered. In Canada, when I witnessed the VP of a biodiesel refinery nervously respond to questions regarding the economic and agricultural impact of large scale implementation, he admitted that finite arable land [...]

Bees Vanishing in the US and Germany, GM Crops May Be Responsible

Bee colonies are collapsing in the US and Germany. Beekeepers in east coast US claim to have lost over 70% of their bee stocks in one year. Bees are vanishing throughout Germany and the US, threatening the agricultural industry.
Further reading at Spiegel Magazine: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,473166,00.html

Evo Morales and Bolivia’s Political Struggle

Evo Morales is pushing for a socialist future for Bolivia and was preceeding by a political climate that had seen protests that paralyzed the capital and country, and helped Morales become president. Now that the indiginous population has gained some political power for the first time since colonization, the weathiest provinces are calling for greater [...]

News in Brief: 28 March 2007

A brief list of interesting news for the day:
Canada’s active military and their new counterinsurgency manual > http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37050
France on edge: 100 protesting youth in Paris, a reminder of previous riots, questions of social justice and law enforcement > http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2044610,00.html
British government officials have backed the methods used by scientists who concluded that more than 600,000 Iraqis [...]

Sartre: Existentialism is a Humanism

Jean-Paul Sartre’s response to attacks against existentialism with the following:
“…what people reproach us with is not, after all, our pessimism, but the sternness of our optimism. If people condemn our works of fiction, in which we describe characters that are base, weak, cowardly and sometimes even frankly evil, it is not only because those characters [...]

Canada in Afghanistan

Afghanistan of today is divided into factions ruled by regional lords, the south is clearly hostile to Western presence, and violence nips at the boundaries the only region under direct government control: Kabul. The President’s personal bodyguards are foreign, Western, a number of cabinet ministers have their own personal armies, and violence and instability has [...]

News in Brief: 27 May 2007

A brief list of interesting news for the day:
Iraq’s North: Kurdistan, stable or a short-lived autonomy? > http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1094802.ece
Palestine’s economy > http://economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8896189
Iraq’s Refugees > http://economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8912795
Iran and captured British troops: Britain’s ambassador to Uzbekistan speaks out > http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/
Interview with Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad (audio) > http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/03/iran_dissidents.html
Egypt’s constitutional reforms approved with 27% voter turnout. Amendmants include a ban [...]