International

Malaysian PM under Mounting Pressure over Corruption Scandal

A POLITICAL storm has been buffeting Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, for the last couple of months. A corruption scandal, whose magnitude has dwarfed previous scams, has galvanised the people in many cities, including the capital, to stage massive anti-government protests. $US700 million from the State run investment fund called the 1MDB allegedly found its way into the personal bank account of the prime minister. The story first surfaced in July this year.

Conference of Asian Political Parties on “Silk Road”

FROM October 14-16, 2015, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened a special conference of the Asian political parties with the specific agenda of the reestablishment of the ancient “Silk Road”. Apart from the large Chinese delegation, 66 parties from 32 countries of Asia participated in this conference including many heads of State/governments. From India four parties were invited – CPI(M), CPI, BJP and Congress. Specific invitations were addressed to the general secretaries of both the CPI(M) and the CPI.

Thailand: Deadliest Terror Attack

THAILAND experienced its deadliest terror attack on August 17 when a bomb went off at the Erawan Shrine. It is a popular Hindu and Buddhist shrine, frequented throughout the day by large numbers of tourists. 22 people were killed and more than 120 injured in the attack which was designed to cause maximum casualties. Many foreigners, seven of them from China and Hong Kong, were among those killed. Many of the wounded are also from China and Taiwan. Two unexploded bombs were discovered after the carnage.

Afghanistan after Mullah Omar

THE confirmation by the Taliban, after some initial hesitation, that their supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was no longer alive, brings to an end another interesting chapter in Afghanistan's recent history. The remnants of the Taliban leadership located in Pakistan had no alternative but to confirm the demise of their reclusive leader after the government in Kabul announced in the last week of July that it was certain that the former head of the Taliban government that ruled the country from 1997 to 2001, was no longer alive.

Japan: Rewriting the Pacifist Constitution

IN the third week of July, the conservative government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, took another decisive step towards abandoning the post war pacifist Constitution of Japan. Using the brute majority in the lower house of the parliament, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) passed a raft of laws that will allow the deployment of Japanese troops on foreign soil. The government has sought to justify its move on the basis of the “collective security” agreement it has with the United States and a few other countries.

US-Iran Nuclear Deal

IRAN and the United States have finally formalised the historic nuclear deal and signed a 159 page Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the second week of July. It had taken the two sides 20 painstaking months to finally seal the deal. Both the sides had threatened to walk out on several occasions. There was a lot of give and take involved, with the Iranian side making the bulk of the concessions.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - International