Asia

By Solaiman M Fazel | (Informed Comment) The brutal murder of a 27 year old Afghan female student, Farkhunda, at the hands of an angry mob in front of the Shah-e Do-Shamshira Mosque near downtown Kabul was not only a heinous crime, but it also reveals the collective irresponsibility and ineffectiveness of the police officers […]

Central Asia

Modern Silk Roads and China’s Brave New World

contributors

By Pepe Escobar | (Tomdispatch.com) – BEIJING — Seen from the Chinese capital as the Year of the Sheep starts, the malaise affecting the West seems like a mirage in a galaxy far, far away. On the other hand, the China that surrounds you looks all too solid and nothing like the embattled nation you […]

China

Hidden Dragon: China quietly becomes a Major Player in the Middle East

Neil Thompson

By Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) – The era of Western neo-colonial dominance in the Middle East may finally be drawing to a bloody close. The Western monopoly ended almost unnoticed in 2013 when China replaced the European Union as the region’s foremost trading partner, pushing the US into third place, with India breathing at America’s heels […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Wakes Up To Daesh/ ISIL Threat

contributors

By Qadir Habib and Michael Scollon | (RFE/RL) – After consistently rejecting the idea, Kabul could no longer ignore what self-declared recruiters and fighters had been telling them for months — the Islamic State (IS) group had indeed arrived in Afghanistan. “Islamic State or those people who call themselves Islamic State are active in some […]

Bangladesh

Women Empowered by Solar Energy in Bangladesh

contributors

World Bank | — “Bangladesh has become the world’s fastest growing market for solar home systems, thanks in part to IDA – the World Bank’s fund for the poorest. Solar energy is not only replacing expensive fuels, it also has become a tool of social change, empowering girls and women.” World Bank from 18 months […]

Barack Obama

Obama, Modi and India’s Solar Future

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) In his visit to India, Barack Obama pressed unsuccessfully for India to set specific carbon limits. Nevertheless, he did get agreement from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the USA and India would pursue vigorously non-carbon energy sources, including nuclear and renewables such as solar. That was a better […]

Energy

Turns out Rightwing Hindu PM more reasonable on Climate Change than US Congress (Obama visits Modi)

contributors

NDTV | — “Six years after we signed a bilateral agreement we are moving towards commercial viability,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announcing an agreement on the nuclear liability issue after talks with US president Barack Obama.” Further quotes from Bloomberg: Modi: “When we think about the future generations and what kind of a world […]

Education

Pakistan: Fighting Extremism with Schools, Not Guns

contributors

By Zofeen Ebrahim | — KARACHI (IPS) – As a wave of outrage, crossing Pakistan’s national borders, continues a month after the Dec. 16 attack on a school in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, some citizens are turning away from collective expressions of anger, and beginning the hard work of building grassroots alternatives to terrorism […]

Climate Change

Dual Use: Solar Panels conserve Canal Water In India

contributors

By Malini Shankar | (IPS) Sunlight pours over a break in canal-top solar panels recently installed over the Vadodara branch of the Sardar Sarovar canal project in Gujarat. Credit: Malini Shankar/IPS BARODA, India (IPS) – It began with an experiment to install photovoltaic cells over an irrigation canal that forms part of the Sardar Sarovar […]