69 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent Barack Obama a letter expressing their concern that a new international treaty currently being negotiated would essentially ban all "Buy American" laws. This new treaty is known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and it is going to be one of the biggest "free trade" agreements in history. Critics are referring to it as t
Read MoreThe Chinese government is always accusing the Dalai Lama of courting media attention, but this morning he was avoiding the questions which would guarantee coverage. When I asked him to endorse or condemn the wave of self-immolations which have swept across Tibetan areas in the last year he said his response was “zero.” It was “a very sensitive political issue”. He knows that if he encourag
Read MoreThe first chapter of the Chen Guangcheng saga has come to an end, a diplomatic triumph for both China and the US. The tacit co-operation between the diplomats of the two nations is remarkable. A visiting scholar invitation from US and a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement conclude the case, a face-saving solution to an escalating crisis. The Foreign Ministry statement reads: “As a Chinese citizen
Read MoreAfter weeks of diplo-drama in Beijing, the blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng has asked Chinese officials to help him negotiate the application procedure so he can leave the country as quickly as possible. China and the US have been negotiating for weeks over the future of the self-educated lawyer after he sought the protection of the Americans in their embassy last week. As part of a sti
Read MoreI am on a train from Perigueux to Paris, which takes about four hours assuming we make our connection in Limoges, so this seems as good a time as any to reflect on Sunday’s presidential election. Firstly, let’s deal with the historic bit. If Francois Hollande wins, he will be the first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand, who was last elected in 1988. If Hollande loses, all-c
Read MorePlus is the US good for Lumia sales?, Samsung's truncated lineup, more 3D printing and moreA quick burst of 7 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology teamBartz: "By the way, I DO have a computer science degree" >> Business InsiderMoments ago, activist Yahoo shareholder Eric Jackson tweeted: "Just heard Carol Bartz's reaction to L'Affair Thompson by someone who talked to her: 'By th
Read MoreA cache of documents seized by US Navy Seals as they raided Osama bin Laden’s Abbotabad hideaway and now released online, give the impression of an ageing CEO trying to keep control of a fragmenting and fractious company. Bin Laden isn’t happy about the activities of the Pakistani franchise– killing too many Muslims is bad for al-Qaeda’s image, he thinks. Likewise, he has his doubts about
Read MoreHillary Clinton said today that the deal the US did with China over the blind dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng reflected “his choices and our values”. Chen, who escaped from house arrest and fled to the US Embassy last week, did not seek asylum in the US, even though that might have been the easiest option for both the Americans and the Chinese. Instead, he will stay in China with g
Read MoreThe past twelve months in Burmese politics has delivered a lorry-load of surprises. A well-entrenched military junta has busied itself with a raft of political and economic reforms that are, for the time being at least, transforming an isolated and impoverished nation. We got another surprise today when the wildly popular leader of Burma’s political opposition did something that few expected he
Read MoreThe internet entrepreneur was here on Friday 11 May from 2-3pm (BST) to take part in a Q&ABritain does more business online than any other major economy. But when it comes to high speed broadband, the nation is falling behind. Our average connections are the 16th fastest in Europe.To get faster, we need to replace the old copper phone network with fibre-optic cables. BT has targets to build fibre
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