Chinese Dissent Sentenced

A leading dissident in China, Liu Xiaobo, a literary critic and former professor, has been sentenced to prison for 11 years for “inciting subversion of state power.” Liu is co-author of Charter 08 which calls for China to reform its human rights abuses and to introduce competing political parties to reform the current one-party Communist [...]

U.S. Senate Passes Healthcare Bill

Health  care reform is one step closer in the United States after the Senate passed health care reform legislation early this morning, Wall Street Journal.  The Senate and House of Representative bills still need to be reconciled before a bill will be ready for President Barack Obama to sign, Washington Post. Text of President Obama’s [...]

Iran Claims Nuclear Trigger Documnets Forged

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims that new documents showing that Iran plans to develop and test a trigger for a nuclear device were forged by the United States, BBC News.
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a reformist cleric has died in Iran. Reformers are taking to the streets to honor Montazeri and to protest the current [...]

Copenhagen Accord is Weak Progress

A deal, to be known as the Copenhagen Accord, has been reached at the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, but it is much weaker than anticipated when the summit began two weeks ago. The Accord is an “agreement” between 193 nations which means it will not be legally binding and it merely recognizes that rising [...]

Countdown Begins for Copenhagen Deal

World leaders spoke at the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen today, BBC News. Text of U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech, New York Times. The outcome of the summit is seriously in doubt as many leaders fear that a binding agreement will not be reached. Leaders from the U.S., U.K., and Australia urged delegates to [...]

Climate Talks Stall in Copenhagen

Talks at the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark have stalled and some leaders are warning that an agreement may not be reached until next year’s meeting. U.S. Secretary of State of Hillary Clinton spoke at the summit today where she pledged that the U.S. would contribute to a fund to help less developed [...]

President of UN Climate Change Talks Replaced

Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen has replaced his climate minister Connie Hedegaard as President of the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen. Hedegaard has been criticized by African nations for favoring richer countries in the agreement negotiations. However, Hedegaard described the move as “procedural” as the talks head into their final days, BBC News. Heads [...]

Poor Nations Stage Walk-out of Climate Talks

Complaining that developed countries aren’t doing enough to cut their own emissions, delegates from poor nations walked out on talks at the climate change summit in Copenhagen today, AFP. At issue is whether the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which required wealthy nations to cut their emissions but was not signed by the United States, will be [...]