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News and business analysis from Asia
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If ever there was an opportunity for the United States to take out an "outpost of tyranny", as Washington likes to call Myanmar, it is now. The tardy response of the junta in
allowing in foreign aid for its cyclone-devastated population provides a strong moral case for a United Nations-approved, US-led humanitarian intervention. Such a move
would also allow President George W Bush to burnish his legacy, which to date will be judged harshly due to his pre-emptive military policies waged exclusively in the name
of fighting terror. - Shawn W Crispin (May 9, '08)
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Myanmar's people have again been forced to weather a catastrophe on their own, banding together with little help from the government. Food and water supplies are
growing scarce, disease looms and power is expected to be out for months. The whisky, too, will soon run out. - Zao Noam (May 9, '08)
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Curbs by cyclone-hit Myanmar on overseas help for its devastated population is merely an extreme example of a government cowering in fear of information. At a more
prosaic level, Asian authorities concerned with improving their citizens' well-being should let markets with their abundance of information act in their favor. They should start
with currencies, and then laugh all the way to the bank. (May 9, '08)
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The United States' brief reign as the world's sole superpower is over, its status crumbling as surely as the unlamented Berlin Wall. Last month's NATO summit is merely
recent evidence of the decline. America's utter addiction to oil, which once powered its climb to might, is its undoing, and an aid to Russia's resumption of power. - Michael T
Klare (May 9, '08)
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It is no coincidence that US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte chose the National Endowment for Democracy to deliver a key-note speech on Pakistan. For years, the
US government-funded NED has specialized as a handmaiden of US policies by funding and supporting foreign politicians. Now it is Pakistan's turn to get the full treatment, for
as Negroponte says, US national security is inextricably linked to the success, security and stability of that country. - M K Bhadrakumar (May 9, '08)
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Tehran has stepped up its initiative to forge closer links with the two other Farsi-speaking nations in the region, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Not only will the move kick-start
slow trade ties, it signals a greater degree of Iran's integration into a region deemed important by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to which Tehran is pressing its
claims to join. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (May 9, '08)
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A breakdown of the US$70 billion President George W Bush requested from the US Congress for war funding makes interesting reading, from $3 billion for "classified
activities" to $3 billion for the technology to battle explosive devices. At the same time, the familiar Bush administration charges of Iran sending arms into Iraq have been
revived. Coincidence? - Sami Moubayed (May 9, '08)
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In Japan, where the age of sexual consent can be as low as 13, the practice of an older man hiring a teenage schoolgirl for a "date" is about as firmly established as Mt Fuji.
The time-honored custom of enjo kosai has for years caused screams of outrage about innocence gone bad, but efforts to regulate the practice are proving difficult. - William
Sparrow (May 9, '08)
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The receding fears of immediate downturn in the US has lightened a shadow over Asian markets. More national issues such as inflation or the attraction of regional stocks to Chinese investors found room to assert themselves. Confidence, however, remains in short supply.
R M Cutler runs his eye over the ups and downs in the week's markets.
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Four decades ago, author Phillips showed how a coalition of the new Sunbelt and the old white South would come to create a long-term Republican majority. Two decades is
long-term enough for him, and he now declares rebellion against the entire American establishment controlling a near bankrupt country devoid of serious financial debate and
civic engagement. - Joe Costello
Asia Times Online weekly PodCast on stories from Asia.
International Security - Emerging Threats - Briefing - UPI.com
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BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, May 8 (UPI) -- The growing reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles in Afghanistan has resulted in a close collaboration between U.S. and British units.
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MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 8 (UPI) -- Militiamen in Somalia killed a U.N. World Food Program truck driver at an illegal checkpoint as the driver was attempting to deliver aid.
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UNITED NATIONS, May 8 (UPI) -- The U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs says it has been pledged more than $150,000 for a project to halt the trafficking of arms in the Asia-Pacific region.
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TEHRAN, May 8 (UPI) -- Officials from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have announced plans to strengthen border cooperation to stop the flow of drugs and crime.
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GENEVA, Switzerland, May 8 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization is gathering influenza and planning experts for meetings to address the continued threat of a global influenza pandemic.
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BAGHDAD, May 8 (UPI) -- U.S. reconstruction officials said microgrants supplied to the Iraqi fish industry generate enough momentum to restart the struggling sector.
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TEHRAN, May 8 (UPI) -- Iran recalled its ambassador to Iraq in protest of Baghdad's support for a move by the United Arab Emirates to take ownership of three Persian Gulf islands.
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BAGHDAD, May 8 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a halt Thursday to broadcasts from the al-Ahad radio station of Moqtada Sadr as residents flee escalating violence.
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NEW DELHI, May 8 (UPI) -- India's Interior Ministry said peace talks with the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland have yet to begin.
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TEHRAN, May 8 (UPI) -- A top official with the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council said Tehran invited Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for talks on Iraqi national security.
International Security - Emerging Threats - Analysis - UPI.com
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 By MARC S. ELLENBOGEN
UPI International ColumnistPRAGUE, Czech Republic, May 8 (UPI) -- Most Europeans see the U.S. presidential election as a done deal. They are quite surprised. They were convinced that Sen. Hillary Clinton was the sure thing. Now, and they are confused, they are expecting the inevitable: Sen. John McCain as president.
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 By HIBA DAWOOD
UPI Correspondent Shebab Al Iraq newspaper Wednesday carried an editorial with the headline "Who is responsible for the atrocities in Sadr City?"
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By BEN LANDO
UPI EditorWASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) -- U.S. forces are investigating two contracts to build schools in northern Iraq that required bathroom fixtures to be supplied by Iran.
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By MARTIN WALKER
UPI Editor EmeritusFRANKFURT, Germany, May 7 (UPI) -- The European Union's commission is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the euro currency with a bid to control the wages and economic strategy of the 27-nation bloc.
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By HIBA DAWOOD
UPI Correspondent The Association of Muslim Scholars' Al Basaer newspaper said Tuesday in its editorial that after Iraq was destroyed and hard to fix, officials at the White House called upon Arab countries to send their representatives to Iraq using Iran as a threat.
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By RICHARD TOMKINSBAGHDAD, May 6 (UPI) -- Gun battles between U.S. troops and Shiite extremists are being fought daily along a stretch of road in Baghdad's Sadr City as militants loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr try to stop -- or at least delay -- construction of a concrete barrier that will help curb their ability to fire rockets into Baghdad's International Zone, seat of the Iraqi government.
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By SHAUN WATERMAN
UPI Homeland and National Security EditorWASHINGTON, May 6 (UPI) -- U.S. officials are being advised in internal government documents to avoid referring publicly to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups as Islamic or Muslim, and not to use terms like jihad or mujahedin, which "unintentionally legitimize" terrorism.
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By HIBA DAWOOD
UPI Correspondent In its editorial, the daily Al Sabah newspaper highlighted Monday the role neighboring counties should play in improving Iraq's security, leading to an economic, social and political revival.
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By MARC S. ELLENBOGEN
UPI International ColumnistCOPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 5 (UPI) -- Danes are the ultimate pragmatists. But behind their manner is a Nordic people as proud and passionate as their history is long.
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By CLAUDE SALHANI
UPI Contributing EditorWASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) -- When a group placed on the U.S. terrorist list changes its policy, getting off the list becomes complicated: Such is the case with the Mujahadin-e-Khalq.
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