Video Archive

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters in New Delhi thatterroristgroups in South Asia have created a syndicate under Al-Qaida, with theintent of destabilizing the entire region. He says groups could try toaccomplish this goal by either provoking conflict between Pakistan andIndia or by chipping away at Pakistan’s stability from the inside. Inan effort to create a strong counter-terrorism effort in the region,Gates is encouraging the governments of India and Pakistan to worktogether in Afghanistan, with the utmost transparency, to quellsuspicions from both parties.

The leader of Japan’s small Social Democratic Party has rejected plansto build a new U.S. Marine base on the island of Okinawa. To this end,Minister Mizuho Fukushima is prepared to pull her party from Japan’scoalition government, a move that would be detrimental to PresidentHatoyama’s leadership. Fukushima does not want to hurt ties with theUnited States, rather rework and update the current relationship –with Futenma off the table.

Viktor Yanukovich and Yulia Tymoshenko will face each other in arun-off election for the Ukrainian presidency. Yanukovich, who came outon top in the first round of voting, is considered a “friend of Russia”throughout Ukraine, and is enjoying support from Russia-bordering coal country in theeast. Tymoshenko, the darling of the Orange Revolution, is his directfoil and will hope to garner the support of her former competitors in arace to win the presidency. The overall victory for Ukraine has beenthe relatively smooth democratic elections. Though some experts sayneither candidate excites Ukrainians, citizens are at least encouraged bythe democratic process.

A brazen, multiple-target, attack in the heart of Kabul has reminded the international community that if the Taliban wants, it can infiltrate and disrupt society, even in the most protected areas. Experts say the attack, though there were relatively few casualties, is worrisome from a psychological perspective. As Hamid Karzai was swearing in members of his cabinet, blasts outside were shining light on an inept government, struggling for legitimacy. NewsHour’s Margaret Warner reports.

Robert Grenier, the former chief counter-terrorism official at the CIA, talks to Al Jazeera’s David Foster about the agency’s efforts abroad. Though Grenier says that in some regions terrorist groups are gaining traction, he believes nationals in those countries are becoming increasingly resistant to the groups, forcing the organizations to operate from less governed areas such as within Yemen’s borders.

Success in Afghanistan heavily relies on the successes of its neighbor,Pakistan. Recognizing this important relationship, British ForeignSecretary David Miliband visited Pakistan ahead of the AfghanistanConference in London. During his time in Pakistan, Miliband heldmeetings with Pakistani government officials as well as private sectorprofessionals.

Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin joined Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayip Erdogan in talks on energy issues as well as otheropportunities to expand the Russia-Turkey economic partnership. Turkey,scrambling to be relevant in an EU landscape, is hoping thatpositioning itself as an energy broker between the union and Russiawill work to its diplomatic advantage.

Due to “cyber-attacks” on Google’s products in China, the search enginegiant is considering pulling its business from the burgeoning consumermarket. The move, rare for a multi-national company, is rooted inGoogle’s suspicions of the Chinese government’s involvement in therecent attacks. In addition to possibly pulling out of Chinaaltogether, Google says it will no longer filter its search results forChinese users as it has done in the past.

The United States Congress passed the HOPE II Act last year aimed atspurring investment in Haiti by reviving a withered garment industry.With the help of high profile figures such as former President BillClinton, Haiti is attempting to overcome poverty and instability andcreate jobs. Kira Kay reports for NewsHour in Port-au-Prince.

North Korea wants peace talks with the UnitedStates and an end to sanctions, but the U.S. has rejected the request. U.S. officials say thatNorth Korea must return to six-party denuclearization talks before itcan consider any other issues. VOA’s Robert Raffaele reports.

Bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India have recently improvedas Bangladesh clamps down on separatist rebels. Indian officials wereoptimistic during the first official visit of the Bangladeshiprime-minister to Indian soil while both nations have interests inimproved relations that could facilitate trade and securitycooperation. Al Jazeera’s Prerna Suri reports from New Delhi.

Dr. Rajiv Shah is the new chief of the United States Agency for International Development. The thirty-six-year-old will take his position at the head of USAID at a time when President Obama is looking to expand the role of the agency, hoping to fight the proliferation of terrorism with development and aid. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports.

Charlie Rose interviews U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East GeorgeMitchell about the Israeli-Palestinian stand off. At the heart of theconflict, Mitchell says, is Jerusalem. The city was annexed by Israelin 1980, but the annexation is not officially recognized by any othercountry, including the United States. Mitchell says that Israel’sdesire for security and Palestine’s want of a state are goals that relyon one another for progress.

President Barack Obama speaks after having received the completedsecurity review that he ordered after the attempted Christmas dayterrorist attack. As he has mentioned in previous speeches since theattempted attack, Obama says that the intelligence community was notaggressive enough in their intelligence gathering, failed to connectthe dots in analysis, and must correct shortcomings in thewatch-listing system. “We must follow the leads that we get,” hesaid. Here are some reactions from a NewsHour panel. Panelists were both impressed by the frank, candid nature in which the president laid out the facts to the public and surprised by the major holes in the […]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas seems to be softening his stance on conditions for talks with Israel while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces a ten-month development freeze in the West Bank. Both are good signs for movement in the stalled Middle East peace process.Alon Ben-Meir, a senior fellow at New York University’s School of Global Affairs talks to WorldFocus’ Daljit Dhaliwal about the progress.

The international community is examining Yemen once again as a hotbedfor Al Qaida activity. This comes after the Nigerian responsible for anattempted Christmas day terrorist attack was linked to study in Yemen.Jonathan Rugman of Independent Television News reports on sympathy forAl Qaida in that country.

Ivana Howard grew up in Bosnia, and covers the region for the National Endowment for Democracy. She talks to WorldFocus’ Daljit Dhaliwal about the increasing ethnic tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Howard says that the Obama administration’s attempt to work on constitutional reforms was well-intentioned and that another attempt will be necessary in the effort to stabilize the area peacefully.