Oceania
Rival trade pacts vie for Pacific hegemony
China is proposing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in a race with the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tag: Australia
Planet Watch
Polar Vortex: Yes, it’s global warming!
Climate-change denialists are gloating at the "Polar Vortex"—failing to understand that it was unleashed by destabilization of the Jet Stream due to loss of arctic ice cover.
Iran
Persian Gulf militarized —by drug war
In addition to the naval face-off over a global oil outlet, the Persian Gulf has seen escalating militarization by international forces in the guise of narcotics enforcement.
Southeast Asia
Indonesia threatens West Papua ‘Freedom Flotilla’
A Freedom Flotilla carrying indigenous Australian protesters bound for the restive Indonesian territory of West Papua set off from Queensland—despite threats from Jakarta.
Oceania
Kali Yuga in Australia
Nuclear disaster was narrowly averted in Sydney when one of the wildfires sweeping New South Wales threatened an atomic research station near the city.
New York City
NYC: Astoria repudiates ‘Golden Dawn’ fascists
When the Greek neo-fascist organization Golden Dawn tried to open a chapter in New York City’s Greek neighborhood of Astoria, they were quickly met with vocal repudiation.
Oceania
US, New Zealand restore military cooperation
Leon Panetta in Auckland announced that US naval cooperation with New Zealand will be resumed—cut off in 1985, when the Pacific nation declared itself a nuclear-free zone.