|

Russian Medvedev says No: To Kurils mineral-rich islands despite Japanese protests.

Rocky barriers to Russo-Japanese peace By Kosuke Takahashi TOKYO – Unnecessary provocations by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are being blamed for the reawakening of a decades-old island feud between the countries, with both leaders accused of pandering to nationalism ahead of key elections. Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara landed…

|

The Prisoner of Putin: Khodorkovsky

Khodorkovsky, The Prisoner who Unsettles Putin French publication Marianne’s special correspondent in Moscow, Anne Dastakian, comments in detail on Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s second trial. For Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the prosecution suffers from “legal schizophrenia”. Many celebrities, including US President, Barack Obama, support the former head of Yukos. Deported to Siberia and deprived of his oil company, Khodorkovsky,…

| | |

Khodorkovsky Message from Prison

Mikhail Khodorkovsky sits in a defendant’s cage in a Moscow courtroom in this June 16, 2004 file photo. In a lengthy interview published in this week’s issue of SPIEGEL, he argues: “I was not a rober baron in the past, just as I’m not a martyr today.” SPIEGEL interview, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 47, the former Russian…

The Iraqi oil conundrum

STORY HIGHLIGHTS : How the mighty have fallen. Just a few years ago, an overconfident Bush administration expected to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, pacify the country, install a compliant client government, privatize the economy, and establish Iraq as the political and military headquarters for a dominating US presence in the Middle East. These successes…

IRN GLOBAL VIEWPOINT

AFGHANISTAN: The Grand Chess Game for Control of Central Asian Resources By Michael Cayne Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 Though not being reported in the mainstream American press, there is a very intense struggle going on between the U.S. and China to determine which nation will emerge as the dominant presence in Central Asia. These two…