Breffni O'Rourke

Also by Breffni O'Rourke

• January 24, 2007

  Moving To Restrain Ahmadinejad

  Hints are emerging in Tehran that Iranians of various political persuasions are trying to put the brakes on the firebrand president.

• January 22, 2007

  Toward The Militarization Of Space?

  China's use of a missile-launched vehicle to destroy a satellite has threatened to change the world's military balance.

• January 17, 2007

  China: Beijing Seeks Intelligence Cooperation In Olympic Preparation

  Beijing is working feverishly to ready the city for the 2008 Summer Olympics (epa) January 17, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The Chinese capital, Beijing, is moving into high gear in its preparations for the next Olympic Games, set for August 2008.

• January 10, 2007

  New Magazine Showcases Cultural Wealth

  A glossy new magazine aims to bring the wealth of Central Asia's cultures to a wider audience in the West.

• January 09, 2007

  Facing A Growing Wealth Gap

  A senior official has called on local governments to do more to combat the discontent created by China's rapid economic growth.

• January 04, 2007

  Pakistan Premier Seeks Eased Tensions With Kabul

  Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has arrived in Afghanistan in a bid to shore up bilateral relations strained by talk of a mined border.

• December 29, 2006

  Looking Forward To EU/G-8 Presidencies

  Europe's largest economy has assumed leadership of the EU and the G8. What is on Berlin's agenda for 2007?

• December 24, 2006

  2006 Saw Abuses In Many Countries

  From fighting in Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan to repression in Uzbekistan, Iran, and Belarus, human rights took a beating in 2006.

• December 21, 2006

  Reaction: Muted response, concerns for stable transition

  December 21, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The death today of Turkmenistan's president for life, Saparmurat Niyazov, has brought a restrained international reaction.

• December 16, 2006

  Mozart Falls Prey To Cultural Tensions

  The German Opera in Berlin remain in the glare of publicity over the modern staging of "Idomeneo," a 225-year-old opera.

• December 15, 2006

  U.S./China: Few Results In Economic Talks

  U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson with Chinese Deputy Premier Wu Yi before their talks in Beijing on December 14 (epa) Talks in Beijing between high-ranking U.S. and Chinese economic officials ended today with both sides claiming progress was made. But China's pledge to allow greater flexibility on the exchange rate of its currency -- a long-standing U.S. demand -- was made without any timetable.

• December 12, 2006

  South Asia: Chinese Troops In Pakistan Signal Warming Relationship

  Presidents Musharraf (left) and Hu in Islamabad in November (epa) PRAGUE, December 12, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- For Beijing to send ground troops to a foreign country for military maneuvers is sufficiently rare to arouse interest. Is it merely a practical act of military cooperation, or could it reflect a process of increasing Chinese influence and presence in South Asia?

• November 28, 2006

  China: Condemnation Over Sentencing Of Uyghur Activist's Sons

  Rebiya Kadeer (file photo) (AFP) PRAGUE, November 28, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The family of Rebiya Kadeer, a leading activist of China's Uyghur Muslim minority, is being devastated by court cases in China. Kadeer, 59, now lives in exile in the United States, but her three sons remain in the Uyghur lands in northwestern China.

• November 22, 2006

  China: President Balances Relations With Rivals India, Pakistan

  Chinese President Hu Jintao will have to carefully balance relations between Pakistan and India (file photo) (CTK) PRAGUE, November 22, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao is finishing his tour of India and heading for New Delhi's archrival, Pakistan. Hu has some delicate balancing to do to avoid upsetting longtime ally Pakistan following his call in India for a new strategic relationship between Beijing and New Delhi. But too much warmth by Hu in Islamabad could sour the contacts he has established in India in the last few days.

• November 03, 2006

  Seeking An EU-Wide Policy

  Germany's foreign minister is nearing the end of a tour that should take him to all five Central Asian republics.

• October 24, 2006

  Gas Wars | Where will the next one be?

  PRAGUE, October 24, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- International energy experts at the Prague Energy Forum have been pondering where and under what conditions the next "gas war" could occur.

• October 24, 2006

  Focus On Energy Security

  At a conference cosponsored by RFE/RL and the Warsaw-based Economic Forum, Iranian and Western experts had a forthright exchange about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

• October 19, 2006

  China: Internet Activist's Jailing Renews Criticism Of Beijing's Restrictions

  (epa) China has sentenced yet another Internet-using human rights activist to a stiff jail term. The four-year sentence handed down to Guo Qizhen by a court in Cangzhou on October 16 has brought sharp reactions from international media rights groups, who characterize it as "absurd" and out of line with China's growing profile as a world economic power.

• October 18, 2006

  China: AIDS Spreads As Authorities Sharpen Their Struggle

  (RFE/RL) PRAGUE, October 18, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- A senior Chinese health official says China is becoming "like Africa" in that HIV/AIDS is beginning to spread through the community. The official, deputy head Hao Yang of the bureau of diseases prevention at the Ministry of Health, says that there are 190 new cases of AIDS every day in China, and that now it must be considered a "generalized epidemic."

• October 16, 2006

  North Korea: Possible Impact Of UN Sanctions

  North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (file photo) (epa) PRAGUE, October 16, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The situation facing the international community over the North Korean nuclear crisis is an odd one. The world is confronting a nation with incipient nuclear weapons capacity, but which at the same time has millions of poor people close to starvation.

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