BURMA: Junta Does U-Turn on Relief Aid
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The military government of Burma (Myanmar), in a dramatic turnaround, has offered to cooperate with the United Nations in its massive relief efforts in the cyclone-devastated country where the death toll could exceed 100,000.
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IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?
Analysis by Trita Parsi*
WASHINGTON - The P5+1 -- the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany -- will present Tehran with a secret incentive package in the next few days to convince Iran to suspend its enrichment programme and enter negotiations.
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BURMA: UN Aid Arrives, But Many Doors Still Closed
By Arlene Chang
UNITED NATIONS - As the first U.N. relief planes landed in Yangon early on Thursday, humanitarian officials complained that the aid flowing into cyclone-devastated Burma (Myanmar) is still encountering bureaucratic obstacles that are threatening the lives of desperate survivors.
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CHINA: Buying Farmland Abroad, Ensuring Food Security
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - Rattled by rapidly rising global grain prices, China is looking at strategies to ensure long-term food security for its 1.3 billion people such as procuring farmland overseas and opposing the formation of any international grain price- fixing monopolies.
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DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Linked to Doha Deal
By Aileen Kwa
GENEVA - The issue of rising food prices was raised at the WTO's General Council meeting Wednesday, and for the first time, discussed in some detail. But there remains, as one African delegate put it, "a lot of confusion about the rising prices of commodities and the Doha Round. Somebody needs to demystify the links. The D-G (Director-General) is using this as a bait to catch us on concluding the Round as soon as possible."
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EUROPE: Still without a 'Coherent' Human Rights Policy
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS - More than 50 years after its inception, the European Union continues to lack a "coherent and hard-hitting policy to uphold and promote human rights around the world", a new report by the EU's only directly-elected body has complained.
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BURMA: Junta Gives Referendum Priority Over Cyclone Relief
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - Disregarding the disaster caused by Cyclone Nargis, Burma’s military rulers are bent on holding a constitutional referendum on Saturday, said to be designed to enhance the junta’s grip over the country.
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INDIA/US: Nuke Deal Set to Time Out
Analysis by Praful Bidwai
NEW DELHI - Faced with continuing domestic opposition to the United States-India nuclear cooperation deal, the Indian government has launched 'one last push' to complete negotiations before the window of opportunity slams shut.
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JAPAN/CHINA: Tibet Haunts Hu Jintao's 'Historic' Visit
By Catherine Makino
TOKYO - Although the Japanese government is keen not to embarrass Chinese President Hu Jintao, while here on a ‘historic’ five-day state visit, the Tibet question does not seem to go away.
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RIGHTS: CIA Flights Haunt Romania
By Claudia Ciobanu
BUCHAREST - Romania has still not convincingly answered repeated calls from the European Commission and others to clarify allegations that it hosted CIA detention centres and that rendition flights passed through its territory.
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