Digital divide splits developed and developing nations by: AP   “A few years ago, India was ahead of China.” – Photo by AFP NEW YORK: The digital divide persists between developed and developing countries, even in regions like Europe, according to a report released Wednesday that examined the success of 142 countries in using information and communications technology to boost economic competitiveness. The 441-page report by the World Economic Forum uses a broad range of measures to rank countries on the success of their overall efforts to use such ICT technology to improve business, government and the lives of individuals. At the … Continue reading Pakistanis need to be more digitally connected!

  by: Reuters    “I’m living evidence that cousin marriage doesn’t work,” said Salma, a Sudanese woman living in Qatar who was in the audience and spoke during the question and answer period. – Photo courtesy Creative Commons DOHA: Noor was not the first in her Qatari family to marry a close relative, but she may be one of the last.     Throughout the Middle East, Africa and parts of South Asia, marriage between family members has been widely practised for thousands of years, largely as a means of securing relationships between tribes and preserving family wealth, but also as a … Continue reading Arabs question centuries-old tradition of cousin marriages

China is weighing up whether to open an Indian Ocean naval base in the Seychelles in a move which will heighten tensions with India amid fears of a regional arms race. A Seychelles base would serve Chinese vessels transporting more of Beijing’s already established influence to Africa Photo: Alamy By Peter Simpson, Beijing and Dean Nelson in New Delhi Beijing’s Defence Ministry confirmed it was considering an offer from the Seychelles government to establish a port to supply its anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden. But the move was met with concern in India as it announced it was increasing its military spending to … Continue reading China considers Seychelles military base plan

Broken Promises: America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death and a Long Road Home By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report A medic talks to an Iraqi civilian with help from a translator. (Photo: Jametiks)A young Iraqi interpreter named Ali was riding with members of the United States Army 1st Armored Division on a 2003 midnight raid outside of Baghdad when the driver made a mistake in the darkness and their armored Bradley vehicle flipped into a canal. Ali was bleeding from the head, but maintained his composure and acted fast as water filled the vehicle. Loren Ferguson, a combat medic who was in the … Continue reading Do America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death?

  By Vinay Lal, Economic & Political Weekly | Book Review (Image: Melville House Books)The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future edited by Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel (Brooklyn, New York: Melville House), 2010; $18.95. In the euphoria over the “Arab Spring”, which has brought revolutions to the doorsteps of autocratic regimes that only last year seemed unflappable in their resolve to keep the aspirations of their peoples suppressed, it becomes imperative to recall that the first sustained signs of change in west Asia in recent years appeared in Iran. The Arab world seemed so firmly in the … Continue reading Iran’s Revolution and the Global Politics of Resistance

Broken Promises: America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death and a Long Road Home By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report A medic talks to an Iraqi civilian with help from a translator. (Photo: Jametiks)A young Iraqi interpreter named Ali was riding with members of the United States Army 1st Armored Division on a 2003 midnight raid outside of Baghdad when the driver made a mistake in the darkness and their armored Bradley vehicle flipped into a canal. Ali was bleeding from the head, but maintained his composure and acted fast as water filled the vehicle. Loren Ferguson, a combat medic who was in the … Continue reading Do America’s Forgotten Iraqi Allies Face Death?

By Brian M Downing Over the past 10 years, the Taliban have recovered from their ouster and established a presence in half of Afghanistan’s districts, where they have become a de facto government in many of them. The Afghan government is frail and unwilling to reform. The United States is war-weary and looking for the way out. Negotiations are in the offing. One American and two Britons were killed this week by Afghan soldiers in separate incidents, bringing the number of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops killed in 2012 to 16. These 16 service members – 18% of the … Continue reading Taliban’s peace options limited?