Home is best for China’s migrant workers By Olivia Chung HONG KONG – Chinese factories ranging from electronics giant Foxconn to diminutive outfits employing a handful of people are struggling to find workers to help fill surging export orders. Migrant workers who returned home for the recent spring festival are deciding to stay there, where they are finding opportunities that appeal more than going back to long hours and often hard conditions in the Pearl River Delta. The week-long annual festival sees millions of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta region, the driver behind the country’s now decades-long economic … Continue reading China’s migrant workers rather stay in China…

By Zahid U Kramet LAHORE – The penny appears to have finally dropped. Diplomatic niceties aside, the media in the United States, at least, have concluded that the positions India and Pakistan have adopted on their differences are much too hardened to be resolved bilaterally. Two of the most influential journals in America, the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor, independently ran editorials on February 26 highlighting this fact while openly calling for US intervention. The New York Times editorial, titled “India and Pakistan (Barely) talk”, argued for “nudging the two sides harder”. Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor … Continue reading India, Pakistan need a little help…

Yemen in for a fight By Oliver Holmes SANA’A – In an attempt to combat al-Qaeda, the United States administration of President Barack Obama is now asking the US Congress to increase security assistance to Yemen. But the aid will come with a price: Washington wants President Ali Abdullah Saleh to seek a political solution to his country’s internal strife. The Pentagon recently agreed to $150 million in military assistance to Yemen, which will pay for equipment and training. Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the aid, more than double US support to Yemen last year, highlighting the importance Washington places … Continue reading Yemen and US

Iran’s nuclear swap option revived By Kaveh L Afrasiabi Yukiya Amano, the new director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has raised hopes that a “confidence-building” plan for a swap of nuclear material between Iran and a third party could still be salvaged. At the same time, Amano used his opening speech to the Vienna meeting of the agency’s board of governors on Monday to reaffirm that Iran hadn’t provided “the necessary cooperation” to confirm all such material in Iran is for peaceful activities. He did not, however, repeat a February 18 report about “the possible existence in … Continue reading Iran’s nuclear options?

A new battle for Confucius By Francesco Sisci BEIJING – At a time when the thoughts of Chinese philosopher Confucius are enjoying a revival both inside China and outside the country in the form of Confucian Institutes, the first complete English translation of the work of Confucius’ earliest philosophical enemy, Mozi, has been published in Hong Kong [1]. Confucius and Mozi [2] engaged in fierce debates in the fourth and third centuries BC and Mozi was possibly more popular, but by the 19th century he was all but forgotten. Ian Johnston, author of the translation, has concluded a landmark endeavor. … Continue reading Confucius – The Jihad?

US Congress picks at China’s holdings By Benjamin Shobert WASHINGTON – The United States-China Congressional Committee focused last week on a nagging question that refuses to go away: does it matter if China is America’s bank? Or, said differently, what are the implications for American geopolitics given China’s enormous holdings of US Treasurys? Estimated to total now at around US$1 trillion, Chinese holdings of American public debt have become an uncomfortable topic of discussion in the capitals of both countries. Within the Beltway, at its most productive, conversation over these questions has focused light on America’s own fiscal imbalances. At … Continue reading US and the debt to China!

By Raed Jarrar and Erik Leaver Last week, United States President Barack Obama’s out-of-control military brass once again leaked a statement contrary to the president’s position. This time the statement came from army General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, who officially requested to keep a combat brigade in the northern part of the country beyond the August 2010 deadline. Floating this idea just two weeks before the Iraqi national elections is dangerous for Iraqi democracy, for US soldiers on the ground and for the future of US-Iraqi relations. Pentagon scramble Quickly responding to his soldiers marching out … Continue reading Top US general miss-steps…

By Charles Recknagel Inside and outside Iraq, there are many who hope the March 7 parliamentary elections will be a major, unifying event for the country. But those hopes have been clouded by the continuing crisis over the banning of hundreds of mostly Sunni or secular candidates for alleged ties to the former ruling Ba’athist Party. The de-Ba’athification crisis has reignited Sunni charges that their community is being pushed from the political stage by the Shi’ite-dominated government. It has raised questions of whether the Sunnis might boycott this national election as they did the previous parliamentary elections in 2005. That … Continue reading Chalabi takes center stage!

LONDON. In the wake of the massacre of innocent citizens, and explosions, and suicide bombing on the streets and markets of Pakistan and Afghanistan at mosques and other public places by the terrorists and radicals, the timing of a religious verdict “Fatwa” couldn’t be more pertinent. A staggering 600-page Fatwa (religious edict) by one of the leading Muslim authorities Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri which declares suicide bombing and terrorism as totally “un-Islamic” will be launch on Tuesday 2 March 2010 in Westminster. The Fatwa is a comprehensive analysis of the issue of terrorism has been published, and provides robust religious evidence, … Continue reading Launching of Fatwa Against Terrorism (London)

Blond bombshell Geert Wilders returns to Britain, looking for a fight Boyish, topped with a bouffant mane of bleached blond hair, cheerful and cherubic, Geert Wilders is the unlikely new face of the far Right in Europe. But appearances are deceptive. The leader of the Dutch anti-immigration Freedom Party has emerged as one of the most divisive politicians in Europe, the purveyor of a virulent brand of anti-Islamic rhetoric that calls for a tax on Islamic headscarves and a ban on the Koran, which he likens to Mein Kampf. Mr Wilders is facing trial in a Dutch court for “inciting hatred”. … Continue reading UKIP appeals to British Muslims to vote against it…. Lets help Lord Pearson destroy UKIP!