The car incident in Tiananmen Square in China brought the world’s attention back to the Uighus of Xinjiang Province. China’s primary concern is its territorial integrity and fears a secessionist movement as well as the loss of the rich natural resources of the province. Some Uighurs see greater autonomy as a way of improving their economic conditions; others see greater autonomy as a necessary condition to realize their cultural, including religious, heritage. It appears as if the Chinese have decided to view the agitation for autonomy as a terrorist movement and the repression of the Uighurs is likely to become more severe.
A small group of highly prestigious climate scientists have signed a letter urging a closer examination of the use of nuclear power to avoid global warming. The letter argues that safer alternatives to carbon-based fuels, such as wind and solar power, are insufficient to supply the energy needs of the world’s population, and that using nuclear energy could ease the pressure on continued use of carbon-based fuels. Nuclear energy is a hard sell after the accident in Fukishima, Japan, and many countries, such as Germany moved quickly to shut down their nuclear plans after the Japanese accident. Whether the fears of climate change outweigh the fears of nuclear power remains to be seen.
A statue of Miklos Horthy was unveiled in Budapest, Hungary by supporters of the far-right Jobbik Party. Horthy was the Hungarian leader during World War II, and when Nazi Germany took over Hungary in 1944, he oversaw an uneasy alliance with the Germans. What makes Horthy highly problematic is the fact that most of Jewish Hungarians were expelled and subsequently died in German death camps. Horthy’s role in the expusions has been hotly contested since that time. Some members of the Jobbik Party, Hungary’s third largest, have made explicitly anti-Jewish statements in recent years, and many fear that the unveiling of the statue reveals the true nature of the Jobbiks.
World Politics News 
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