The Andes

Edward Snowden and Ecuador press freedom

Edward Snowden seeks refuge in Ecuador, just as the Andean country has passed a media law protested by the Committee to Protect Journalists as imposing arbitrary censorship. 

Central America

Nicaragua approves China-backed canal plan

Nicaragua sealed a pact granting Chinese business magnate Wang Jing exclusive rights to build a multibillion-dollar inter-oceanic canal through the Central American nation.

Central Asia

Asia’s secret nuclear arms race

For all the hoopla about North Korea, a far more significant threat on the Asian continent is getting virtually no coverage: the nuclear arms race between China and India.

South Asia

Nepalese Maoists betray Indian Maoists

Nepalese Maoist leader Prachanda sent a condolence letter to Sonia Gandhi over the attack by Maoist Naxalite guerillas in which 27 were killed, including a brutal paramilitary chief.

East Asia

Edward Snowden a hit on Sina Weibo

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has been a big hit among freedom-hungry Chinese cyber-cognoscenti, placing Beijing in a bind on whether to support or betray him.

East Asia

Tiananmen Square revisionism —again

Commentators in China and the West alike portray the Tiananmen massacre as a legacy of Maoism. But was the repression in spite of China's capitalist transition, or a function of it? 

South Asia

May Day rocks Bangladesh, Athens, Seattle

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, an angry May Day march descended on the city center with drums, red flags, and chants of “Hang the killers, Hang the Factory Owners!” 

Central Asia

China-India border face-off amid Tibet unrest

India is protesting what it calls an incursion by some 30 Chinese troops from across the Line of Control in the Himalayas, while Tibetans charge stepped up repression.