For people who are interested in world politics, W.H. Freeman and Company has released a book, which helps to provide relevant references with regards to international politics. Support materials, lectures, access to e-mail addresses of various authors and professors are handily available which can be of great help to a student or any individual with interest in world politics.

The book not is a welcome guide not only for those who are learning about world politics but also those who are teaching it. As a valuable resource material, people will receive a more in depth understanding and appreciation of the world of politics and international relations.

North Korea fires medium and long range missiles as it clamors to establish itself as a nuclear power, once again smashing the peace in that region of the world. With Kim ill and reportedly suffering from cancer, he has reportedly appointed his youngest son as the heir to the throne much to speculation for little is known about the monarch’s son outside of the country. Schooled in the West, many fear his stance on the path which North has taken, seemingly to make it known that they are powerful yet widely known as an impoverished country. The North has long been plagued by isolation and is known to be one of the few countries that shun relationships with the West and it’s allies in the region. They have been hit with sanctions as part of the UN’s stance against neuclear proliferation, their actions again piling up trade sanctions that is sure to isolate the impoverished populace furhter.

Earth Hour, an initiative that seeks for everyone to turn off their lights of for one hour once a day every year, being launched next month, in an effort to bring more awareness to the growing concern about global warming. The event was also done last year, with many participating in the lights off program. Organizers hope that this year, more will participate in the movement, which they plan to continue for as long as it takes for people, most especially governments, to realize the importance of making policy that will offset the damage to the environment current societies have been doing for years. This initiative is especially important this year, as world leaders are set to meet in Copenhagen in December to discuss global warming and come up with treaties, plans and strategies to address the issue.

In the recent milk scandal where hundreds of thousands of children were infected and a few died due to exposure to the industrial chemical melamine, China has again showcased its ability to enforce the law with a Communist flair. Announcing the conviction of several people who were found to have had a hand in the scandal, they were sentenced to the death penalty by firing squad, a practice that has long been abolished in the rest of the world. Human Rights activists deplore the said act that is brutal and unjustifiable as China is striving to cope with the change brought in by Globalization. Several other scandals have resulted in such executions which has silently drawn protests from many countries.
By saying silent, it means without much fanfare for China is the biggest market for consumer goods with billions of citizens and nobody wants to bite the hand that feeds it. Many more incidents of neglect for profit and others would be sure to surface as China has yet to adapt to a world where anybody can criticize or scrutinize anything imaginable (from outside the country that is).

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Former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian got arrested in connection with the ongoing corruption inquiry when he was still in power. Charges of money laundering, government funds embezzlement and falsification of vital documents were brought forward in the investigation. Ex-president Chan still protested his arrested and raised his arms while being escorted out of the prosecutor’s office claiming his arrest was politically motivated. He will face the charges in court the following day. Chen would be the first president of Taiwan to be detained if the prosecutors demands are followed. The former president retired last May after eight years of being in power. He is being investigated for allegedly taking $480,500 US from the government.

Hollywood certainly seems to love Barack Obama. From Oprah (who unarguably holds a lot of clout for her daily viewers) to Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck and Scarlett Johansson, tinseltown’s stars are going all out in their campaign for their favorite US presidential candidate. And now comes music videos by will.i.am, singer of The Black Eyed Peas, called “Yes We Can” and “We are the Ones” that are based on Obama’s speeches.

The songs, that were originally released in YouTube and Dipdive.com, feature cameos by several celebrities who support Barack Obama. It is now being promoted as a viral video on Obama’s campaign website. “Yes We Can” even won an Emmy for Best New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment, and won a Webby Award for will.i.am as “Artist of the Year”. Check out more about the songs in Wikipedia.

Hezbollah, the political organization in Lebanon, has been accused by Lebanese authorities that they’ve set-up hidden cameras at the Beirut international airport. The cameras were found by Lebanese soldiers in containers and reported of having seen civilians shooting pictures of the said containers where the cameras were found. The Cabinet of Lebanon had a meeting about whether Hezbollah had already established an exclusive phone network.

If we can recall, although Hezbollah is categorized as a political organization, countries like USA, UK, Japan, Canada, Philippines and Australia have declared Hezbollah as a terrorist group. In most Arab regions however, they still consider Hezbollah as resistance movement.

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Unfortunately, some people aren’t thinking. With the US recession, international shortage of food, plummeting real estate values and the hiking oil prices (predicted to reach $5.00 per gallon), US President George W. Bush set aside these priorities and decided to add additional funding for the Iraq war. It seems like this is in fact the President’s priority since he disbursed a whopping total of $162.5 billion for the Iraq war alone. The money is good until the mid of 2009 since this is the due date of the troops’ comeback to Uncle Sam.

Some people just won’t give up, eh?

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After the retirement of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon was elected as his replacement. Kofi Annan has served two consecutive terms in the UN as Secretary General and has won a Nobel Peace Prize for his strong reforms and advocacies on human rights.

Now, since a new Secretary General has been elected, the public will surely expect a lot from Ban Ki-moon since Kofi Annan was a much publicized UN icon during his time. Ban Ki-moon is thought of by many as a “softy” as he decided not to take sides regarding the issue of death penalty and left the decision upon the heads of the state. The UN purely opposes it though.

The Economist has posted some of the major problems that Ban Ki-moon will face: 1. nuclear issues of Iran and Nokor; 2. the war in Darfur; 3. prevalent violence in the Middle East; 4. HIV/AIDS and a lot more.

Photo taken from http://www.worldpress.org

A lot of human rights activists raised their eyebrows upon hearing Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech at the Columbia University, claiming that “Iran is homosexual free”. It is a fact that in Islam, homosexuality is a sin and is punishable by death and two homosexual teenagers were sampled by this rigid law (they were hanged). Ahmadinejad said in his speech that in Iran, they didn’t have this kind of homosexual phenomenon like what the Americans have. Human rights activists, especially the British group OutRage, have also been keen in following the activities of the President.

Whether there are no homosexuals in Iran because there really are no homosexuals, or the President is trying to eliminate them one by one, is debatable.

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