-
BY: Alex Rodriguez | Los Angeles Times
The bombing in Peshawar leaves 100 dead and more than 200 injured. It marks a turn in the militants' lethal campaign, targeting a market frequented by women, many with children in tow.
-
BY: Eric Schmitt | The New York Times
Even as the Pakistani government plays down the American role in its military operations in Taliban-controlled areas along the border with Afghanistan, the United States has quietly rushed hundreds of millions of dollars in arms, equipment and sophisticated sensors to Pakistani forces in recent months, said senior American and Pakistani officials.
-
BY: Benjamin Joffe-Walt | The Media Line
A new report presented to Israeli parliamentarians has found that despite decades of government attempts to ensure a Jewish majority in Jerusalem, Palestinians will make up the majority of the city's population within 20 years.
-
BY: Marc Santora | The New York Times
A recent internal report on corruption by the inspector general of the Interior Ministry specifically mentions the bribery of checkpoint guards: The blast on Sunday at the Justice Ministry, surrounded by checkpoints, killed nearly 160 people, while a similar attack in August on the Foreign and Finance Ministries killed at least 122.
-
BY: Sahar Issa and Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers
Up against the clock, Iraqi politicians spent Wednesday hammering out the final sticking points of an election law they hope to present to parliament for a vote within days to avoid a risky and embarrassing delay of the January polls.
-
BY: Jumana Al-Tamimi | The Washington Times
Iran's repressive behavior following fraud-tainted presidential elections is spreading ripples across the region, leading some Sunni Muslim religious figures and politicians who admire some aspects of Iran's political system to question a core belief of the Islamic republic.
-
BY: Jordan Michael Smith | World Politics Review
President Barack Obama's policy of outreach toward Tehran has been decisively shaped by the wide array of Iran experts, both within the administration and without, from whom he has taken advice.
-
BY: Mark Mazzetti | The New York Times
Senior lawmakers from both parties on Wednesday criticized what American officials said were financial ties between the Central Intelligence Agency and Ahmed Wali Karzai, a brother of the Afghan president, with one top Democrat suggesting that intelligence officials had misled him about Mr. Karzai’s role in Afghanistan’s opium trade.
-
BY: Scott Wilson and Greg Jaffe | The Washington Post
President Obama has asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan to determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help, information that his advisers say will guide his decision on how many additional U.S. troops to send to the battle.
-
BY: Jan Raath | The London Times
The United Nations chief torture investigator was deported from Zimbabwe early today, after being detained by security officials on Wednesday night as he arrived at the invitation of the country's government.
-
BY: Andre Le Sage | The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
During her recent tour of Africa, U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton held a press conference with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG). Her statements mark a major public commitment by the Obama administration to support Sharif's flagging government against the country's armed opposition groups, some of which are tied to al-Qaeda and threaten security across the greater Horn of Africa.
-
BY: Devorah Lauter | Los Angeles Times
Convicted of profiting from illicit arms sales to Angola, a former French interior minister is roiling the political establishment by accusing other officials of knowing about the deal and demanding that the government open secret files to prove him right.
-
BY: Emrullah Uslu | Eurasia Daily Monitor
Erdogan, during his visit to Pakistan and Iran, stated that he will ask General Basbug to meet him to discuss this issue, and said that neither the state nor the TSK can accept the present situation.
-
BY: Robin Forestier-Walker | The Christian Science Monitor
Turkmenistan has prevented dozens of students from travelling abroad to study at a US-sponsored university, and has harassed some that have come home.
-
BY: Alisher Khamidov | Eurasianet
Kyrgyzstan’s regional rivalries are deepening, as various elite groups, especially those with their power bases in northern Kyrgyzstan, are growing discontent with recent personnel and organizational decisions made by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s administration.
-
BY: Ania Dunin | ISN Security Watch
Due to its deep pool of home-grown talent, Russian cyberattacks on states are on the increase, signaling a tendency for the country to take disputes online.
-
BY: Carlos H. Conde | The New York Times
Malacanang is the presidential palace, and Mr. Estrada managed to stay there for less than half of his six-year term. He was driven from office in 2001, during what is now known as People Power 2, after a Senate impeachment trial on allegations of corruption — including accusations he took kickbacks from gambling lords — was cut short by attempts by Mr. Estrada’s allies to suppress evidence, sending Filipinos to the streets in protest.
-
BY: Anthony Faiola | The Washington Post
The dramatic decline of the U.S. dollar is aiding the American economic recovery but setting off alarm bells overseas, with corporate executives, politicians and pundits calling it among the biggest threats to the rebounds underway in Europe and Japan.
-
BY: Steven Stanek | The National
Iran has moved to substantially increase its diplomatic, trade and military ties to countries in South America, posing a new challenge to US authority in the Western Hemisphere, a group of experts told a joint congressional subcommittee on Tuesday.
-
BY: Ioan Grillo | Global Post
“The government is failing to provide security and people are turning to some brutal alternatives,” said Rossana Reguillo, who studies crime and violence at the Jesuit University of Guadalajara. “This is not something that has always been around in Mexico. It is a new phenomenon that has been growing since 2000.”