There have been bomb blasts at the Indian Buddhist shrine of Bodhgaya in Bihar. The site is reputed to be the place where Prince Siddhartha attained Enlightenment and Buddhism began in the 6th or 5th century BCE. No group has claimed responsibility and the site was only slightly damaged. But violence against Buddhists is not typical, and could be in retaliation for the Buddhist attacks on Muslims in the northwestern parts of Burma. THe expansion of the framework for violence in the world is quite unsettling.
After thundering condemnations from Europe over US spying of the European Union in Brussels and Washington, it is slowly coming out that Britain, France, and Germany have similar spying programs. The one country about which it was thought free from such criticism was Germany,given the country’s harsh experience of government surveillance during the Nazi and East German Communist regimes. Now, however, we have information that German authorities were working closely with the NSA on electronic surveillance. Hypocrisy and disillusionment are often linked together in world politics.
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is making his third attempt to unseat the current president, Robert Mugabe. He most likely won the last election, but voter fraud in 2008 denied him the position. The likelihood of a fair election this time is also virtually nil, but the 89 year old Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain shows no signs of wanting to step down. THe world will be watchin this election closely, so there is a slight chance that outside observers may have some effect on producing a fairer election.
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