Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

In the year since voters in Japan overturned half a century of nearly unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the country's politics have only grown more unpredictable. In June, then-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama -- whose Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) had been swept into power in the revolt against the LDP last August -- resigned, his popularity torpedoed by indecisiveness and allegations of corruption. Less than three months later, it is possible that Japan could change prime ministers again: Naoto Kan, who replaced Hatoyama in June only to lead the DPJ to a disappointing defeat in July's upper-house election, now faces a challenge from within his own party in Sept. 14's party leadership election.

It is an odd location to open a new restaurant, right in front of a row of buildings whose roofs have been blown off by artillery fire and whose walls are pockmarked by gunfire.

But the new Rusi Restaurant in Paranthan town in Kilinochchi district here in the north of Sri Lanka, is all set to make big business in what was not so long ago a war zone.

With 20 million or more people affected, about 12% of the population, the equivalent of 37 million Americans, Pakistan's devastating floods are truly of biblical proportions, described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as worse than anything he'd ever seen, saying:

"Thousands of towns and villages have simply been washed away. Roads, buildings, bridges, crops - millions of livelihoods have been lost. People are marooned on tiny islands with the floodwaters all around them (without food, sanitation, medical help, or shelter). They are drinking dirty water. They are living in the mud and ruins of their lives. Many have lost family and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these condition."

 

In response to the March 26 sinking of the South Korean ship, the Cheonan, allegedly by a North Korean submarine, the United States is poised to adopt even more stringent sanctions against North Korea. Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department’s special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control, recently announced in Seoul that after legal and other questions were sorted, sanctions would be in place "in the next several weeks."

Contrary to U.S. assurances that the North Korean people will not suffer, U.S. and international sanctions have already taken a toll on the development of the country and the people. Sanctions have already impeded foreign investment into North Korea and adversely affected business and humanitarian aid efforts of those who venture there. Perhaps most alarming to U.S. policymakers is how sanctions have served to push North Korea further under China’s influence.

The 2010 summer in the disputed area of Jammu and Kashmir, administered by India, has been marked by popular protests by Kashmiris and crackdowns by India's military. The stream of violence has left more than fifty dead, mostly young protestors. The situation in Kashmir has some parallels with Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, even borrowing the term intifada to describe the uprising. But the connection is more than analogy -- Israel's pacification efforts against Palestinians have proven valuable for the Indian police, army and intelligence services in their campaigns to pacify Jammu and Kashmir with numerous Indian military and security imports from Israel leading the way.

When the residents of Mian Gujar village in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan went to bed on the night of August 31, they noticed nothing unusual about the water level of the nearby Shah Alam River. But in the early hours of the morning they were woken by shouts from the street and floodwater gushing into their homes.

"As I opened my eyes, I found a pool of water in my house and saw the level going up. The first thing I did was to immediately shift my family members to the rooftop," says Jehanzeb.

How can we process the idea of 20 million people left homeless and six million facing immanent starvation, with little or no locally produced food available for at least the next two years? How do you quantify feeding and housing 20,000,000 people - the seven zeros make the sheer scope of the disaster far more tangible than the word "million"?

More broadly, how do you help the sixth most populous country in the world - with 170 million people - recover from a flood that literally submerged one-third of the nation under water, while, in a cruel twist of fate, leaving many without fresh drinking water?

When the residents of Mian Gujar village in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan went to bed on the night of August 31, they noticed nothing unusual about the water level of the nearby Shah Alam River. But in the early hours of the morning they were woken by shouts from the street and floodwater gushing into their homes.

"As I opened my eyes, I found a pool of water in my house and saw the level going up. The first thing I did was to immediately shift my family members to the rooftop," says Jehanzeb.

"From a historical perspective, the US has continuously found enemies and waged wars. Without enemies the US cannot hold the will of the whole nation," concluded Chinese Air Force Colonel Dai Xu, after perusing the 2010 US defense report. He points to the attempt to turn the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) into an Asian NATO -- Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand already have troops in Afghanistan, and the ongoing military games in the South China Sea with Vietnam and in the Yellow Sea with Korea -- employing enough firepower for a full-scale war.

The trilateral summit of the presidents of three Persian-speaking countries of Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan wrapped up on August 5 in Tehran and recorded another unforgettable event in the memory of the three brother nations. With innumerable cultural, religious, social, lingual and strategic commonalities, the three countries of Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan have demonstrated their potentiality to build one of the strongest diplomatic partnerships in the region and benefit the world nations through a unique, fruitful and constructive cooperation.