Of course they can. They’ll even be invited to stay for a while, although trips to Disney World won’t be on their itinerary. “The US has charged four Belarusian officials with aircraft piracy over the diversion of a passenger plane to Minsk last May,” BBC reported on Friday, [...]
Archive for the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Category
January 21st, 2022 - 2:44 am § in Foreign Affairs, Law and Courts
“Does this mean we can’t come to America?”
Is “Havana syndrome” due to mass hysteria?
The CIA’s investigation of the so-called “Havana syndrome” some have blamed on directed-energy attacks has concluded it’s unlikely a result of hostile action by a foreign power, the Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday, January 20, 2022 (read story here). After a few embas[...]
The Ukraine crisis, explained
Here are some things to consider when trying to understand what’s going on between Putin’s Russia and Ukraine, drawn from my own accumulated knowledge of the situation. Why Russia seized Crimea. Russia is a landlocked country with access to the world’s oceans only through the Arcti[...]
January 17th, 2022 - 1:22 am § in Foreign Affairs, Health
Get vaccinated or walk
People in Manila, Philippines, must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to ride on public transportation starting Monday, January 17, 2022, ABC News reported here. The edict was issued because the country’s infections are up 40 times since Christmas. There’s squawking, of course, but no[...]
January 12th, 2022 - 11:27 pm § in Foreign Affairs, Health
Surprise! Cuba is a Covid-19 vaccine powerhouse
Cuba’s homegrown biotech sector has developed FIVE vaccines against Covid-19, all of which offer 90%-plus efficacy. Cuba pours resources into healthcare, and has doctors and clinics in every neighborhood. To fight Covid-19, it’s vaccinating every Cuban over age 2, and most of its people [...]
What game theory predicts about China and “The Quad”
“The Quad” is a term for quadrilateral (i.e., four-nation) cooperation among the U.S., Japan, India, and Australian — who are joined by other European and Asian democracies — in opposition to China’s aggression and territorial ambitions. This article explains what game [...]
Biden vs. Putin
Biden displays toughness against Putin’s threats to invade Ukraine This President is the seasoned leader America needs to handle a foreign policy crisis. Story here, analysis here — Contrast with Trump, who held military aid to Ukraine hostage for political dirt. Who’d you rather [...]
December 30th, 2021 - 10:28 pm § in Foreign Affairs
A. Q. Khan is dead. Good …
Abdul Qadeer Khan (photo, left), 85, died of Covid-19 on October 10, 2021. In this case, the virus did humanity a service. His passing was reported in the international press, but I didn’t notice at the time. That’s why I’m a couple months late with this story. A Pashtun born in Bh[...]
Hong Kong voters boycott election
What if they held an election and no one voted? “The quiet scenes at the polling stations spoke volumes,” NBC News reported (here). “Entrances at some of Hong Kong’s 630 voting sites were empty on Sunday as the Chinese territory held an election for its legislature in which none[...]
December 20th, 2021 - 2:59 am § in Foreign Affairs
Young leftist elected Chile president
Gabriel Boric (photo below, bio here), 35, a former leftist student leader, was elected president of Chile on Sunday, December 19, 2021, after promising the South American nation’s young voters to “remake” the country. He garnered 56% of the vote to defeat a far-right lawyer. He wi[...]