Figures released recently showed the global arms trade was booming, but data on China was conspicuously lacking. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look at the Asian power's growing role in the arms business and its impact on global stability.
China's government unveiled plans Sunday to boost military spending by 11.2% this year, bringing spending to $110 billion in the country's first defence budget since the United States moved to reinforce its military presence in the Asia-Pacific.
Syrian cyber activists condemn Russia for supplying weapons to the Bashar al-Assad regime. Zombies take to the streets of Spain to protest bank bailouts. And Jean Dujardin’s Best Actor Oscar makes him a hot topic on social networks.
We look at press coverage of Bahrain, a year on from the start of the uprising there - is the country moving towards reconciliation, or have we just forgotten all about it while things there have got worse?
Former culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (pictured) was questioned on Tuesday over alleged kickbacks from the 1994 sale of submarines to Pakistan, suspected of having been used to fund a campaign for an ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
In today's international papers, we look at who's profiting from the Arab spring, why the Notting Hill carnival is more important than ever this year, and if the media coverage of Hurricane Irene was a fuss about nothing.
In the absence of sanctions, Russia is "obliged to fulfil" its arms contracts with Syria despite international pressure, the head of the Russian arms export agency, Anatoly Isaikin, said on Wednesday.
The Syrian opposition is fighting online as well as in the streets, via cyber activism. Next, arms dealers in Lebanon witness a boom in business thanks to ongoing protests in neighbouring Syria. Finally, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is caught in a power struggle with the religious establishment.
UN officials have apologised to Belarus for wrongly accusing the country of violating an embargo on the sale of weapons to Ivory Coast, where violence has flared in the wake of a disputed presidential election.
INTERNATIONAL PAPERS, Fri., 18/2/2011: We look at coverage of the continuing unrest in the Middle East, including criticism of the British government for allowing the sale of crowd control weaponry to Bahrain and other Arabic countries last year. Also, Ben Ali and Mubarak’s ill-health; a private navy to combat Somali pirates and how hibernating bears could be key to space travel…
