While Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin was widely expected to win yesterday’s presidential poll — which he did in a rout, though not without reports of electoral violations — it is rather more difficult to know what happens next.
Politics / The World / Asia-Pacific
PNG’s new media underground
The cards seem firmly stacked against optimism on the streets of Papua New Guinea at the moment. It’s a bad sign in an election year, with little confidence evident, writes freelance journalist Andrew Pascoe.
West Papua finds a few friends in Canberra
Even if Bob Carr isn’t drafted into the job, most pundits think that Craig Emerson won’t be staying on as foreign minister. Which may be just as well, because he hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory.
Maley: hands off China’s stimulus tap
China’s central bank will be reluctant to launch a massive monetary stimulus despite the looming threat from the eurozone debt crisis, a former senior official has warned.
Curtin Uni students revolt over Rosmah Mansor gong
Curtin University in PR hell after thousands of Malaysian students hammered Facebook to slam an honorary doctorate awarded to Rosmah Mansor, controversial wife of PM Najib Razak.
OurSay: how India’s technology is cutting into corruption
In the world’s largest democracy, corruption has long been part of the system of governance, writes Gautam Raju, co-founder and creative director, OurSay Australia.
If Fukushima goes to shit again, maybe Jesus is onto something
I don’t see how any government can justify the use of a technology that can inflict so much chaos if it goes wrong, writes Paul Johannessen, a writer and videographer, in the Japanese town of Kesennuma.
PNG and civil strife is high on the agenda
The reality away from corporate spin is a simmering conflict.
Contemplating China’s rising power: Rudd shows how to get it right
The US and China need to open a meaningful dialogue about international order in the 21st century, writes Timothy Garton Ash, and Kevin Rudd has recently exhibited a rare example of how to go about it.
Rio Tinto, BHP results cloud mining tax bottom line
Just how much money will the government’s revised mining tax end up raising from the big players, ask Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane?
How the ‘resource curse’ eats at the heart of Bougainville
Bougainvilleans may have won the war but the peace has left years of inertia, and a province desperately needing rehabilitation.
Will constitutional recognition advance Australia fair?
The report examining options to recognise indigenous people in the constitution lays out an important project of modernisation, says professor Jon Altman of ANU’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research.
Letter from: Beijing … reading China like reading tea leaves
The Communist Party only has one option: it has to avoid a bust at all costs, and continue to make like the fireworks and boom, writes Matthew Clayfield, a freelance correspondent, in Beijing.
Russia goes its own way over Syria
Last week there was some hope that Russia might be coming on board with the need to do something about the steadily increasing bloodshed in Syria.
Port Moresby hums, despite media-perceived crisis
Port Moresby, seen as the centre of a crisis by the world’s media, continues to function every day for themselves and others, no matter what, writes Catherine Wilson, a journalist in Port Moresby.
Is the World Bank failing girls and kids with disabilities?
A report suggests the World Bank is getting it wrong on the role of girls and kids with disabilities in its development programs — but AusAID comes out OK.
Crikey Clarifier: Why is Papua New Guinea so unstable?
Yesterday around 100 troops, led by former Colonel Yaura Sasa, took the commander of the Papua New Guinea armed forces, General Francis Angwi, hostage. How unstable is the country, asks Adrian Dowie?
‘Unprepared for command’: elder Kim blasts Jong-un
In a new book about what it’s like to be the son of Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-nam, who lives in exile in China, has claimed North Korea’s new leader is unprepared and the country will collapse without reforms, reports Andrew Salmon.
What Julia Gillard can learn from the pages of Playboy
Julia Gillard would be well advised to seek out an edition of this month’s Playboy. If approached with open eyes an article by Joshua Pollack has the capacity to recast the Australia-India relationship, writes NAJ Taylor.
With China watching, Taiwanese vote for pragmatism
Saturday’s presidential election in Taiwan saw incumbent Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) or Chinese Nationalist Party, in power since 2008, re-elected fairly comfortably with 51.6% of the vote
Burma, the outcast, on the long road to reform
The Burmese military-derived government has released hundreds of political prisoners, signed a ceasefire with the country’s largest ethnic rebel group and allowed the opposition National League for Democracy to re-form.
Burma sanctions just reinforce ‘siege mentality’
There is a growing recognition in the international community that engagement, rather than sanctions and diplomatic isolation, is fast emerging as a more productive strategy in pressuring the Burmese government to reform, writes David Hopkins, a foreign relations masters graduate and Burma researcher.
Iranian numbers swelling on asylum seeker list
Iranians have emerged as a rapidly rising category of asylum seekers arriving by boat since the middle of last year, writes Stuart Ranfurlie, a freelance journalist in Jakarta.
Ibrahim, not guilty, could shake up Malaysian politics
The handing down of a “not guilty” verdict on sodomy charges against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim indicates a tectonic shift in Malaysian politics.
