Monthly archive : "October, 2014"

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Located in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe, Finland shines as one of the most successful democracies in the world, coming first in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. The Nordic country has very good economic indicators and was classified by The Heritage Foundation as the world’s 16th country in terms of economic freedom. Despite being affected by the global economic crisis, Finland has a flourishing economy with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $267 billion. Finland is a country in which you rarely experience such phenomena as inflation or overpricing. Transparency and government accountability are the major characteristics of the nation’s...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Lithuania is one of the smallest countries in Europe. A diverse nation in terms of its ethnic make-up, Lithuania has a population of around 2.9 million people. After two occupations by Soviet forces in June 1940 and July 1994, and a Nazi invasion in June 1941, Lithuania eventually declared independence in 1990 and joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. Lithuania does not make international headlines as often as its neighbors, but is strategically positioned as an eastern NATO member and is considered a free country by Freedom House. The country became a NATO member during the second post-Cold War round of enlargement in 2004, and has a thriving economy with plans to adopt the euro in early...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: Afghanistan has not been a safe and stable country for several decades, and its security conditions have deteriorated gravely after the first American and NATO troops set foot into its cities. The U.S. war on Afghanistan, which was launched by former President George W. Bush with the purported aim of eradicating terrorism from the country, has so far failed to realize the dream of ultimately defeating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents. Despite all the failures and setbacks that Afghanistan has experienced over the recent years, especially following the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country, and notwithstanding the widespread economic insufficiency and corruption that have taken over Afghanistan, it can...

Kourosh Ziabari - Iran Review: The self-imposed November 24 deadline for the conclusion of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program is approaching, and the Iranian nation, as well as thousands of enthusiastic people across the world, are waiting to see if more than one decade of strife and conflict over Tehran's nuclear activities will finally come to an end or not. President Hassan Rouhani's administration has shown its strong willingness and firmness to resolve the nuclear controversy through diplomatic channels and peacefully. Since he came to power in June 2013 presidential elections, Iran and the group of P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) held several round of intensive talks the lengthiest...

Kourosh Ziabari: An American singer and songwriter who has composed several songs in solidarity with the people of Palestine says that Israel is conducting a campaign of slow genocide in the Gaza Strip. David Rovics believes that the Israeli regime kills the Palestinian people with impunity and no country in the world dares to take military action to prevent it from carrying out its project of mass killing in the Occupied Territories. The Oregon-based singer, who has been called an anti-Semite by the Israeli-allied media in the United States for his outspoken criticism of Israel says the truth should be stated regarding the nature of this regime: "I have been branded as anti-Semitic for stating the obvious many times. But it is most...