A group of about 20 North Korean guards at the Sino-North Korean border have fled to China after being accused of bribery for helping defectors, a South Korean news outlet reported Monday.
“The runaway officers, mostly noncommissioned officers, were suspected of taking money for helping defectors flee to China during a recent audit by the North [...]

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Although he is 63 years old, Beijing retiree Du Shuzhan is not afraid to try something new. He has just discovered the stock market. A few weeks ago, he deposited $1,500 in his first share-trading account, and on a January afternoon he visited a local broker to buy shares of seven Chinese companies. “All my [...]

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If China shooting down one of its old satellites in a ballistic missile test isn’t a shot heard round the world, it should be. The question every politician and consumer of cheap Chinese goods should be asking themselves is: Just what kind of military monster are we creating by supporting the Chinese economy?
The answer: A [...]

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India’s defense minister declared the country’s intention to be able to project maritime force throughout the Indian Ocean, underscoring the shift toward a littoral-warfare capability.
“India has the potential and the capability to be a significant maritime player. I would even venture to say that the Indian Ocean could, in fact, be India’s ‘new Silk Route,’” [...]

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On the political front, Iran was given a permanent status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO’s warm reception for Iranian President Ahmadinejad would strengthen perceptions of the organization as a new challenge to Washington’s interests in Central Asia.
In the words of a British scholar: “The West does practice double standards with regards to [...]

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Fears that the West may stumble towards another messy military confrontation in the Middle East.
But some are worrying that increasing tension makes an unplanned war more likely. America has certainly piled on the pressure. The American government has made increasingly assertive remarks, notably about the influence of Iran inside Iraq. On Friday an American intelligence [...]

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New Delhi: Russia will deliver over one thousand BrahMos missiles to the three services of the Indian armed forces within the next few years.
Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenie, which has developed the missile in partnership with India’s DRDO, said on Monday that along with India, it will also deliver the missiles to some other countries.
These orders, adding [...]

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That Iran stands today able to challenge or even defy the United States in every sphere of American influence in the Middle East, attests to the dismal failure of the Bush administration’s policy toward it during the last six years. Feeling emboldened and unrestrained, Tehran may, however, miscalculate the consequences of its own actions, which [...]

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DEBKAfile’s sources report the French president’s purported “gaffe” was in fact a backhanded admission of a proposition official quarters in Europe and some in the United States are quietly beginning to accept, that a nuclear-armed Iran is inevitable.
Most Israeli officials preferred to dismiss Chirac’s statement as the meandering of a president heading for retirement after [...]

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JAKARTA: Indonesia will pursue its plans to develop nuclear power as part of efforts to find alternative energy sources to address its growing needs, Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar has said.
Jakarta shelved atomic energy plans in 1997 in the face of mounting public opposition and the discovery and exploitation of the large Natuna gas field. But [...]

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