-
BY: Anuj Chopra | The National
After years of ignoring a sprawling, largely hidden war raging in the rural countryside that has killed more than 600 people so far this year alone, the Indian government is gearing up for a massive military counter-offensive this month.
-
BY: Simon Roughneen | ISN Security Watch
The plight of the Burmese Rohingya made headlines in early 2009 when Thai security forces were accused of pushing migrant boats out to sea. With ASEAN establishing a new human rights body and a US delegation visiting Burma, what chance is there for improvement for a stateless people?
-
BY: Thomas Erdbrink and William Branigin | The Washington Post
Iran's supreme leader, spurning what he described as several personal overtures from President Obama, warned Tuesday that negotiating with the United States would be "naive and perverted" and that Iranian politicians should not be "deceived" into starting such talks.
-
BY: Mark Landler | The New York Times
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun setting the stage for a new phase of Middle East diplomacy, with a more modest goal. She is trying to get the parties talking at any level to avoid a dangerous vacuum until a Plan B emerges.
-
BY: Michael Barajas | Associated Press
Jewish settlers forced their way into a disputed house in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, using hired guards to evict an elderly Palestinian woman and tossing the other residents' belongings into the rain-swept yard.
-
BY: Rod Nordland | The New York Times
The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board” — the power of suggestion — said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod.
-
BY: Ernesto Londono and K.I. Ibrahim | The Washington Post
An impasse over a law crucial to organizing next year's Iraqi elections is illustrating more starkly than ever the United States' dwindling ability to shape Iraqi politics and settle disputes.
-
BY: Iason Athanasiadis | Global Post
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, jumpy Iranian authorities declared they had broken up two new plots aimed at destabilizing the Islamic Republic.
-
BY: Joshua Partlow | The Washington Post
Afghan and Western officials said Abdullah's representatives were seeking a power-sharing deal with Karzai, demanding several senior government positions in talks that continued until hours before he announced his withdrawal Sunday.
-
BY: Matthias Gebauer | Der Spiegel
With the withdrawal of his sole challenger, Hamid Karzai has now won a second term as president of Afghanistan. But for the West, working together with the Afghan government will only get harder. US President Barack Obama will have to explain why he wants to support an undemocratically elected leader by sending more troops.
-
BY: Daniel Howden | The Independent
Zimbabwe looks set to escape any punishment over its trade in blood diamonds after a ruthless lobbying campaign by the Mugabe regime that has included threats and intimidation of a key witness at an international summit in neighbouring Namibia.
-
BY: Devorah Lauter | Los Angeles Times
The European Union's last holdout signs the Lisbon Treaty to unify and streamline decision-making. The treaty also extends the president's term and increases the foreign policy chief's role.
-
BY: Seth McLaughlin | The Washington Diplomat
In recent weeks, there has been little room for joking as the Obama administration has had to deal with the fallout of shelving an agreement the Bush administration inked last year to put 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. President Obama scrapped Bush’s controversial missile defense shield in favor of a land- and sea-based system that focuses more on blocking Iran’s ability to fire short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
-
BY: Giorgi Kvelashvili | Eurasia Daily Monitor
Russia’s Permanent Representative to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, gave an interview to Ekho Moskvy Radio, in which he severely criticized America’s Georgia policy. Quoted by most of Russia’s news agencies, Rogozin said: “No one has abandoned the idea to use Georgia as a counterbalance to Russia…[Georgia is] a toothache or a headache for us in the Caucasus; as far as we are concerned, these attempts will continue."
-
BY: Andrew Jacobs | The New York Times
The spectacle involves more than 9,000 suspects, 50 public officials, a petulant billionaire and criminal organizations that dabbled in drug trafficking, illegal mining, and random acts of savagery, most notably the killing of a man for his unbearably loud karaoke voice.
-
Asia Sentinel
For nearly two and a half months, a massive oil slick has been boiling up out of the Timor Sea halfway between Australia and Timor, the result of a disastrous fire and rupture 2.5 kilometers under the ocean that has defied all efforts so far to plug it or mop it up.
-
BY: Sophie Tedmanson | The London Times
The South Pacific island nation of Fiji is embroiled in another diplomatic row with Australia and New Zealand after expelling their top envoys over a spat about travel visas.
-
BY: Eliot Brockner | World Politics Review
The goodwill generated by Rio's surprising Olympics victory inevitably turned to questions regarding safety. Gruesome images and video in local media of the chopped up remains of a man left in a shopping cart, and a video showing police robbing stolen property from two thieves while ignoring the original owner and victim as he lay dying on the ground, gave the impression of uncontrollable violence and police corruption.
-
BY: Sara Miller Llana | The Christian Science Monitor
What first seemed like a victory for ousted President Manuel Zelaya could become a setback for him depending on what – and when – the Honduran Congress decides.
-
BY: Tim Rogers | The Miami Herald
Pro-government demonstrators rocked the U.S. Embassy as opposition leaders complained the president is undermining Nicaragua's democracy in his effort to remain in power.