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Off the Radar News Roundup

Judah Grunstein | Bio | 17 Nov 2009

- China and Brazil reach a five-point consensus to strengthen military personnel exchanges, and technology cooperaiton. (Despite the emerging South-emerging East angle, France still makes a better fit for defense partnerships with Brazil.)

- Free press vs. free pass: A high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official goes on a state visit to Sudan, and the People's Daily doesn't mention the problematic nature of that bilateral relationship once.

- Taiwan and China finally signed that MoU on financial regulation. Financial observers exepect a major inflow of Chinese capital to Taiwan when it takes effect two months from now.

- In addition to the difficulties presented by renegotiating an already concluded agreement, the Hatoyama government is facing resistance from local officials to the alternatives it has suggested for where to relocate the Futenma base.

- A North Korean media outlet issued conciliatory statements regarding peace on the Korean peninsula in anticipation of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Seoul.

- If you thought Nabucco was the gas pipeline project least likely to see the light of day, you haven't met the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline yet.

- Azerbaijan signs agreements for alternative gas export routes, in signal to Turkey. No mention of it here, but Baku was not very happy with the Turkey-Armenia agreement, either.

- Tymoshenko's foreign policy platform would turn Ukraine squarely toward Europe.

- In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani sign agreements that lay the groundwork for further French investment in Iraq.

Researched by Kari Lipschutz.