Something extraordinary happened at the press conference with President Obama and Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands as the G-7 (not the G-8, since Russia’s membership in the group was suspended) wound down. When asked a question about Russia’s intentions, President Obama said: ” Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors not out of strength, but out of weakness.” President Obama chooses his words carefully, but even if he did not, there is little question that the description of Russia as a “regional” power was a deliberate slap at President Putin. Putin has made it very clear that he believes that his primary foreign policy goal is to re-establish Russia as a “global” power. I’m not sure what President Obama intended by the insult, but I suspect the words were not welcome in the Kremlin.
Protests in Taiwan against a proposed trade deal with China have erupted. The mostly student-led protest was held because the deal was deemed too favorable to China and harmed Taiwanese interests. The protests also seemed to be against the heavy-handed manner by which the government tried to push the agreement through the legislature. The protesters seized government offices and were forcibly evicted by riot police. The protests suggest a deepening gap between young people and the government of Taiwan.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released a report that argued that 7,000,000 people died in 2012 from the ill-health effects of poor air quality. The UN agency reported that the most serious effects of the pollution were felt in Southeast Asia and East Asia (not surprisingly, given the density of population). The causes of the pollution were highly varied: coal-burning power plants, automobiles, forest clearing and burning, and indoor heating sources. The number is surprisingly large, and is a critical sign of the need for serious changes.
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