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Bush Lauds Iraqis, Heads to South Asia

Bush Lauds Iraqis, Heads to South Asia President Bush praised Iraqis' "defiance of the terrorists and the killers" before embarking Tuesday on a ties-strengthening visit to South Asia where the war on terror is often close at hand and which is the presumed hiding place of Osama bin Laden. With a wave but no words, Bush left for India, Pakistan and, possibly, Afghanistan exiting Washington for five days at a time of turmoil for his presidency. A new CBS poll shows Bush's approval rating dropped to 34 percent from 42 percent in January. In recent days alone, Bush has been confronted

DOST heads Asia-wide techno-entrepreneurship program

DOST heads Asia-wide techno-entrepreneurship program The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) recently assumed the chairmanship of the Science and Technology Policy Asian Network (STEPAN), a 20-country group of science and technology policy makers aiming at assisting countries to utilize scarce S&T resources for development goals. DOST Undersecretary Fortunato De la Peña met last week with several members of the STEPAN in Manila to discuss the implementation of the innovation-based entrepreneurship that encourages small-to-medium scale businesses to utilize new technologies for their livelihood. De la Peña said the group is finalizing the criteria for choosing projects that could be funded. By mid next

De Venecia heads first Asia-Pacific centrist party

De Venecia heads first Asia-Pacific centrist party TAKING what they said was a first step toward political and economic integration in Asia, parliamentary leaders from Europe and Asia yesterday signed a declaration establishing a regional Asia-Pacific unit of the Centrist Democratic International and elected Speaker Jose de Venecia its first president. The accord binds all member parties to end conflicts in the region through interfaith dialogues, peace talks, creation of an Asian bond to end poverty and harnessing the role of political parties as instruments of development. De Venecia said the Manila declaration was the “first step” toward a European Union-type of

East Asia summit set sights low amid Japan-China row

East Asia summit set sights low amid Japan-China row KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - East Asian nations set expectations low on Tuesday for their first summit, playing down talk of a huge new free-trade bloc as the two biggest members continued a feud over their wartime past. "I think it's too early to be talking about it," Australian Prime Minister John Howard said when asked about the prospect of a new trade bloc among the 16 nations to be represented at Wednesday's inaugural summit in the Malaysian capital. "You never know what unfolds but it's far, far too early to be talking about that,"

New phase in US relations with South Asia

New phase in US relations with South Asia The period of honeymoon with Pakistan, which began from the time of Eisenhower administration of the United States in 1957 appears to be over in view of the emerging situation in Asia with the rise of China and India as global powers. This trend has been reflected during the visit of President Bush to India and Pakistan in the first week ofthis month. This is for the first time a Republican administration in Washington has made almost a U-turn from Pakistan. History shows that the Republican Party in the United States somehow or