May, 2016

• 14 May

  N Korea detains Russian yacht

    Moscow / AFP A Russian yacht has been detained by North Korean coastguards in the Sea of Japan with five crew on board and towed in to land, Russian officials said on Saturday. “The North Korean side has communicated that the yacht has been taken to the port of Kimchaek,” Igor Agafonov, a foreign ministry official in the far-eastern ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  Bosnian Serbs rally for and against govtt in Banja Luka

    BANJA LUKA / AP Tens of thousands of people are rallying in separate demonstrations for and against the regional Bosnian Serb government in the city Banja Luka. Participants in the two protests are being kept apart by police barricades to prevent them from clashing. The pro-EU Alliance for Changes is accusing the Bosnian Serb government of corruption and its ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  Afghan Taliban bomber kills 3 at police training centre

    Kandahar / AFP A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden car at a police training centre in the opium-rich southern province of Helmand on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding nine others, officials said. The attack in Nad Ali district comes in the midst of the Taliban’s annual spring offensive launched last month, in what is expected ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  Macedonia’s former PM to go ahead with poll despite boycotts

  

    Skopje / AFP Macedonia’s former and possible next prime minister Nikola Gruevski says his party is preparing to stand in an early election next month despite a boycott by his opponents and international disapproval. Gruevski, who had stepped down in January after 10 years in power to make way for the vote, said that the troubled Balkan country could ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  Ugandan oppn leader charged with treason

    Uganda / AP Uganda’s main opposition leader has been charged with treason and jailed in a remote area in the country’s northeast, a judiciary spokesman said on Saturday. KizzaBesigye was handed charges late Friday stemming from his public attacks on the legitimacy of President YoweriMuseveni, who won a disputed election in February, said Solomon Muyita. Besigye, a qualified physician, ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  Time for action at UN climate forum in Germany

  

    Paris / AFP Frontline climate diplomats will seek to translate good intentions into concrete action in Bonn on Monday when they gather for the first time since hammering through a historic deal in December. “Our challenge is now to operationalize the Paris Agreement,” France and Morocco—currently co-chairs of the negotiating process—said in a briefing note. After two decades of ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  There’s no rule book for ending graft

  

    UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s anti-corruption summit coincided with the release of an International Monetary Fund staff paper that explains why corruption is bad for economies and suggests ways to eradicate it. But neither these recommendations nor those expressed at the forum will do much to fix the developing world’s problems. That would require much more than better anti-graft ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  Venezuela needs a vision to combat crisis

    In his attempt to score a point against the opposition, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has declared a three-month state of emergency to face what he called “threats from abroad”. Lacking charisma of his predecessor Hugo Chavez, Maduro grapples with the economic crisis triggered by the low oil prices, and emboldened foes who are gearing up for a vote to ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  What does ‘L-shaped’ growth imply for China?

    Sara Hsu Recently, in the People’s Daily an unidentified “authoritative figure” discussed China’s likely growth trend, referring to it as an “L-shaped trend.” Observers have assumed that the “authoritative figure” is a top official who cannot be named. The official emphasized that in the first quarter of the year, conditions have stabilized and reform has continued, but that reliance ...

  Read More »
• 14 May

  Will Duterte improve China-Philippines ties?

    The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte has just won the country’s presidency with a platform that focuses primarily on severely cracking down on crime. Duterte’s win might be the first electoral outcome in a year where several elections might lead to surprising winners. He is a controversial figure partly because of his unacceptably offensive remarks on women and reputation as a ...

  Read More »