News DeskApril 14, 2010 07:13

Need to know: A powerful earthquake in northwest China killed at least 400 people, injured 10,000 and left many others buried under debris, Chinese state media reported. GlobalPost's Kathleen E. McLaughlin raises the question of whether the quake will test the government's willingness to allow free flow of information.

Chatter: What we're hearing

News DeskApril 12, 2010 06:50

Need to know: President Obama hosts leaders from 46 countries for a two-day nuclear security summit starting Monday that will focus on how to better safeguard nuclear weapons materials. But even as Obama met Sunday with a succession leaders to discuss better controls, his administration highlighted a seemingly dissimilar message, with top officials stressing the nuclear strength of the U.S.

Chatter: What we're hearing

News DeskMarch 11, 2010 16:23

Need to know: Sweden's parliament has narrowly approved a resolution recognizing the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in Turkey as genocide. Turkey recalled its ambassador to protest the surprise decision, made days after a U.S. congressional committee approved a similar resolution, Swedish news agency TT said.

100 days to the World Cup

Erin Conway-SmithMarch 10, 2010 15:20Updated March 10, 2010 15:20

Top News: South Africa marked 100 days until the World Cup, which begins June 11 at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium with the opening match between South Africa and Mexico.

Chatter: What we're hearing

News DeskDecember 21, 2009 08:52

To receive the morning chatter by email, let us know at editors@globalpost.com.

An interview with secret creator of Savita Bhabhi

Jason OverdorfMay 4, 2009 09:00

After a bit of trolling through the fan pages, I managed to track down "Deshmukh," one of the creators, and a site administrator, of Savita Bhabhi, India's first porn sensation. Here's a peek inside my interview notes:

Ahn Le TranMay 19, 2013 08:33

US and Vietnam: gradually becoming bittersweet partners?

Commentary: Increased trade setting the stage for defense and security arrangements.

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Motorcyclists and cyclists ride on a street inside a newly developed residential quarter in Hanoi on May 7, 2013. (Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images)

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This past April 30 marked the 38th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. The iconic images of American helicopters evacuating people on building rooftops in Saigon in April 30, 1975 made it unimaginable that someday Washington policymakers and Hanoi communist leaders would explore steps towards a strategic partnership between the two countries. But the unimaginable has become possible. The US-Vietnam relationship has gradually taken the shape of a strategic one, albeit with some hurdles, through enhanced economic, diplomatic and defense relations.

Mac DefordMay 16, 2013 10:53

Sharif’s election gives US an opening to help stabilize Pakistan

Commentary: Partisan US politics may undercut chances for a renewed US-Pak alliance.

Pakistan historic election violence may 11 2013 1

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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif waves as he addresses his supporters during an election campaign meeting in Islamabad on May 5, 2013. A roadside bomb exploded at an election rally in southwest Pakistan on May 5 killing two people, officials said as violence continued ahead of historic polls on Saturday. Pakistan will elect its new government for the next five years in polls on May 11. The election of the national and four provincial assemblies will mark the first time a civilian government has completed a full term and handed over to another, in a country that has been ruled by the military for half its existence. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)

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There's not much good news coming out of the broader Middle East these days and so the successful election this past weekend in Pakistan is cause for at least muted elation. It is, after all, the first time in Pakistan's beleaguered 65-year history that a democratically elected government has been replaced by a democratically elected government. So that's the good news. Toss in the fact that the voter turnout, the highest for parliamentary elections in nearly two generations, was spurred upward by women and younger voters, and was not deterred by Taliban attacks, then add that Pakistan does have a remarkably free press and a quite independent judiciary and, obviously, a military that now is willing to let democracy play out -- and things don't look so bad.

Tytti Erästö and Sven-Eric Fikenscher May 18, 2013 08:58

Why a Middle East role is essential for the nuclear nonproliferation regime

Commentary: Iran’s participation would increase confidence in its nuclear intentions.

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Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 2010. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

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The PrepCom meeting just concluded in Geneva predictably ended in failure to lay the ground for the 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. The core reason was the inability to convene a meeting in Helsinki last December on the establishment of a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone (WMDFZ) in the Middle East.

Boris DittrichMay 16, 2013 06:20

Reflecting on the pursuit of equality and non-discrimination on LGBT Day

Commentary: Fallacious claims about homosexuality prevail in 76 UN-member countries.

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Anti-gay beliefs are often based on false claims. (Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)

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Every year on May 17, people all around the world celebrate the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, while reflecting how to achieve full equality and non-discrimination. In Cameroon, a young man was sentenced to three years in prison for sending a text message to another man, saying “I’ve fallen in love with you.” The young man’s brave lawyer received emails and text messages threatening to kill his wife and kids. When the lawyer showed the death threats to the police, their response was, “Stop defending gays and you will be fine.” So in Cameroon you can end up behind bars for sending a message of love, but the authorities look the other way when someone threatens to kill children.