After a close call, two Filipino warships around Scarborough Shoal have withdrawn, citing inclement weather as the cause. China and the Philippines both claim the disputed shoal, known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines and Huangyan Island in China. The area is part of a larger dispute over territory, water space and navigational routes ongoing in the South China Sea between the Philippines, China and, ultimately, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia as well. The withdrawal should ease tensions in t...

Former UN Chief Kofi Annan declared that Syria was "on a tipping point", following a recent diplomatic mission to Damascus and a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian diplomats were expelled from many Western countries following the news of a major massacre in the city of Houla, in which 108 people were killed, a third of them children. The Syrian government blames the incident on terrorists, a claim supported by the Russian government who has posited that rebels carried out the attack ...

Greek politicians have failed to come up with a compromise government after having elections on May 6th. The Greek people elected a mix of far right and far left political blocs opposed to austerity measures and bailouts from the European Union. Despite the new found power, these differing parties have failed to reach a consensus about the governments' composition and how to integrate with the mainstream parties that supported the bailouts. New elections are scheduled for June 17th and an interi...

One of the key features of Iranian government and society, is that they actually produce something like a democracy following the 1979 overthrow of the dictatorial Shah. The Iranian Majlis (Parliament) is not a perfect democracy. Candidates are still chosen by Iran's Guardian Council with the blessing of the Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Khameni. However, one can still see the subtle interplay of relations and democracy at work within the Islamic Republic when they get the opportunity to v...

NPR has recently done a story on what various countries around the world are doing to combat climate change. The results are, as expected, mixed. Countries like Australia and China are looking to genuinely change the way they impact the environment around them. On the other hand are countries like Brazil and Canada falling way behind on their markers for environmental change. Then there's all the countries in between the two extremes, including the United States, struggling to alleviate their n...

The Supreme Presidential Election Commission in Egypt has moved to block ten candidates for the upcoming presidential election. Among those excluded are Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's former spy chief, and the chief strategist for the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat el-Shater. The most provocative exclusion for the presidential election appears to be conservative hard-liner, Hazem Abu Ismail, a lawyer turned preacher who represented Egypt's religious conservative bloc. American authorities apparently inf...

All peoples, seem to go under periods of time where they're controlled and dominated by a repressive, ineffective and negatively acting regime. The Pharaoh in the Old Testament story of Exodus is one such autocrat, putting down a justifiably unhappy public for the sake of his smaller self benefit and smaller self gain. Like the story of Exodus describes, the universe does not reward his/her oppression, negative things begin to happen to their people, and eventually, to their own selves on their ...

Chinese timber giant, Sino-Forest Corp, has filed for bankruptcy protection on March 31st, 2012. The company has been under investigation for allegedly exaggerating its timber holdings in China, essentially defrauding investors of their money. The company has put itself up for sale and is suing the research firm making these serious allegations. They are also under investigation by the Canadian national police force, and are being sued by their investors for fraud. Sino-Forest says it will attem...

A feature on the popular Daily Show highlighting US cuts to UNESCO funding has brought the troublesome American stance toward Palestinian statehood back in the forefront of international discussion. The United States has moved to cut funding to the United Nation's Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization since the admission of Palestine as one of its members. The move was done in accordance with a US law which prohibits the funding of UN organizations that recognize Palestine as a membe...