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Politics
UN, World Bank plan to mobilize financing for sustainable energy
The United Nations and the World Bank on Wednesday announced a concerted effort by governments, international agencies, civil society and the private sector to scale up financing to provide sustainable energy for all, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for massive new investments in the face of a rising “global…
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East Asia
Serving as a facilitator for new democracies
Interview with first Secretary General of A-WEB, Kim Yong-Hi The Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), the international organization in the electoral field, officially launched with the participation of about 120 countries around the world. At the inaugural assembly held in Convensia in Songdo International City, Incheon, South Korea on…
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Politics
UN Sec-Gen Ban visits Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday visited the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz to pay tribute to Holocaust victims. Ban walked through the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Makes You Free”) gate to see exhibitions that document the inhumane conditions that the inmates suffered there. Housed in red brick…
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Culture
The quest to restore China’s face
[Books] The quest to restore China’s face Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century By Orville Schell and John Delury | Random House | 2013 How did China after such a long, painful decline including civil war, revolution and foreign occupation recover from its impeding past and…
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West Asia
Women in revolution
Women had an effective role in rebellions even in earlier revolutions like the French Revolution, Russian Revolution, and even in Arab revolutions. Women’s participation in revolutions started much earlier than 1000 A.D.; Cleopatra II of Egypt led a rebellion against her brother Ptolemy VIII and drove him and Cleopatra III…
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[Asia Round-up] Universities can boost China’s ‘soft power’
Universities can boost China’s soft power [China, China Daily, 25-09-2013] China’s leading educational institutions Peking University (Beida) and Tsinghua University have joined the Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-created EdX online educational consortium by providing six courses online free of charge. China has now officially entered the movement known…
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Business
World Bank pledges more funds for poverty reduction in fragile nations
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Tuesday pledged to increase funds for poor people in fragile and conflict-affected states, as part of a new strategy for the global development institution to end poverty. In a speech at George Washington University, Kim said the fiscal uncertainty in the United States,…
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World
Nairobi shooting: Kenya forces take over mall after long standoff, 62 dead
Kenyan security forces continue its operation on Tuesday inside the mall where 62 people were killed by gunmen since Saturday, after more gunmen were killed as the siege of the mall enters the fourth day. “Security forces killed 6 of the remaining attackers,” Kenya’s Citizen TV said without giving detail…
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West Asia
UN report confirms use of sarin gas in Syria’s chemical weapons attacks
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday received the report from the UN fact-finding group on the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria. He will brief the UN Security Council on the findings Monday morning, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here Sunday. “The report by the United Nations Mission…
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West Asia
Obama blends threat of attack, hope of diplomacy
President Barack Obama used a nationally televised address Tuesday night to make his case for military action against Syria, telling skeptical Americans that President Bashar Assad’s government posed a threat to U.S. security even as he recognized that diplomatic steps could render attacks unnecessary. While noting he had asked Congress…
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