Obama's Missile Defense Concession Holds Opportunity for European Security
Paul J. Saunders

It's a concession, but it could present an opportunity as well. While the move highlights the unhappy geography and tough political choices facing Central European leaders, it could also create an important opportunity to strengthen European security. The administration would do well to use this chance to try to encourage new and different relationships between the former Soviet bloc and Russia.

A Simple Plan for Killing al Qaeda
Alex Kingsbury Interviews Howard Clark

Howard Clark's answer is to both amplify the nihilism of its message and promote moderate Islamic voices. Clark, a former marine who served two tours in Iraq, now works as a consultant on counter-terrorism problems for the Department of Defense. He is also president and founder of Seventh Pillar, a nonprofit that seeks to combat al Qaeda's ideology. He recently spoke about his three-part plan for strengthening moderates and defeating extremists

Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan and Memories of Indochina
William Pfaff

The United States is in Afghanistan for its own reasons. The Afghan president said what he did to encourage the U.S. to keep him their man in Kabul. If the Afghan people should decide that he's nothing more than an American puppet, they will get rid of him. But Washington will get rid of him, too, since he would have lost his plausibility, and hence his value

Puzzling & Dangerous U.S. Foreign Policy Comes to an End
William Pfaff

President Barack Obama's cancellation of his predecessor's missile-defense scheme for Poland and the Czech Republic presumably brings to a close one of the least explicable and most dangerous American policy initiatives since the cold war officially ended.

Three Dangerous Stooges: Gadhafi, Ahmadinejad & Chavez
Victor Davis Hanson

Recenty, three dictators -- from Iran, Libya and Venezuela -- delivered lunatic hate speeches at the UN General Assembly. Why do these dictators feel so free to damn America from downtown New York? Why do their abettors spurn our requests for help? And why do creepy regimes plot to get nukes, and fund terrorists? Easy. They do not fear, much less listen ...

Afterthoughts from Obama U.N. Address
Jonah Goldberg

The United Nations is an odd venue to say such things. The Security Council is premised on nothing if not a balance of power, and the U.N.'s roots go nowhere if not deep into the chilled soil of the Cold War. It is odder still for the president of the United States of America to say such things

Iran: Words Without Action or Resolved to Be Unresolved
Paul Greenberg

'Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow, endangering the global nonproliferation regime, denying its own people access to the opportunity they deserve, and threatening the stability and security of the region and the world.' No, that wasn't Israel's tough-talking prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu, warning against Iran's aggressive tendencies again. It was Barack Obama addressing the UN Security Council.

Interview with India's Environment Minister
Jayshree Bajoria

India and China have long maintained their economic growth will suffer if they accept binding emission targets under an international agreement on climate change. Instead, they have called for mitigation commitments by the developed world and financial support from rich countries to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

Tutu: Religious Strife due to Faithful, Not to Faith
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Interview

Amina Chaudary of Islamica Magazine recently sat down with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Second World War -- Seventy Years Later
Victor Davis Hanson

Seventy years ago World War II broke out with the German invasion of Poland. Thousands of books have been written about the war. And by now revisionist historians of revisionist historians engage in an endless cycle of disagreement over why the war started, how it ended and what it all meant. Here are a few more controversial thoughts on the horrific conflict that killed 60 million people, wrecked Europe and set the stage for an ensuing half-century Cold War.

Iraq War -- What War
Victor Davis Hanson

The war in Iraq is scarcely in the news any longer, despite the fact that 141,000 American soldiers are still protecting the fragile Iraqi democracy, and 114, as of this writing, have been lost this year in that effort. But after the success of the surge, there are far fewer American fatalities each month

An Agenda for NATO: Toward a Global Security Web
Zbigniew Brzezinski

NATO now confronts historically unprecedented risks to global security. The paradox of our time is that the world, increasingly connected and economically interdependent for the first time in its entire history, is experiencing intensifying popular unrest. Yet there is no effective global security mechanism for coping with the growing threat of violent political chaos stemming from humanity's recent political awakening.

The Default Power and American Declinism
Josef Joffe

Every ten years, it is decline time in the United States. Declinism took a break in the 1990s, but by the end of the Bush administration, it had returned with a vengeance. The history of declinism shows that doom arrives in cycles, and what comes and goes, logically, does not a trend make. Today, as after past prophecies of imminent debility, the United States remains first on any scale of power that matters--economic, military, diplomatic, or cultural--despite being embroiled in two wars and beset by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The Diplomatic Myths and Illusions of the Middle East
by Robert Schlesinger

Incorrect preconceptions and misguided conventional wisdom hamper American policy in the Middle East, Dennis Ross and David Makovsky write in Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East.

Journalists freed from North Korea
(c) M. Ryder

Relief Over Freed U.S. Journalists Tempered by Long-Term Implications
Henry A. Kissinger

Amidst the widespread relief that the two American journalists have avoided the brutal fate meted out to them by a North Korean court, it may seem captious to consider the long-term implications. The impulse to save two young women from 12 years of hard labor in a North Korean gulag is powerful. Yet now that this goal has been achieved, we need to balance the emotions of the moment against the precedent for the future.

'Never Again' in North Korea? Think Again
Jonah Goldberg

For decades now, we've known that what's going on in North Korea is too terrible to contemplate. Even so, what once haunted us as an ill-defined and foreboding suspicion has clarified into the secure knowledge of broad and systemic evil.

The Arrogant and the Ignorant
Cal Thomas

On my last visit to the UK three months ago, Members of Parliament were embroiled in a scandal involving outrageous expense claims for such things as moat cleaning, a baby crib and second homes that were sometimes occupied by friends and relatives, or not at all

Time to Get Out of Iraq
Joe Galloway

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has suggested that he might speed up our withdrawal from Iraq by pulling out an additional brigade combat team by year's end. Good idea! How about pulling out FIVE more brigades by then

One Year to Prove Strategy Is Working in Afghanistan
Robert Gates Interview

The clock in Washington on Afghanistan is going to depend on what happens on the ground. I think we need to show we are making some headway by next spring or early summer. We are not going to win it by next summer. We aren't going to be on the verge of winning it next summer; this is a long-term prospect.

General McChrystal: The New Strategy In Afghanistan
General McChrystal Interview

General Stanley A. McChrystal is commander of international forces in Afghanistan. In his interview with Julian Barnes, General McChrystal discusses the strategy and progress in Afghanistan.

Iran at Crossroads of History
Will this Regime Fall Like Shah's
Abolhassan Bani-Sadr

Within six short weeks since the recent election, the government of the Islamic Republic has been publicly divided, delegitimized, challenged and weak. As a result, we can now draw some analytical parallels between the current regime and the pre-1979 monarchy, and between the two occasions of political unrest.

Israel Fortifies Presence in Latin America
Andres Oppenheimer

Following three years of frantic Iranian activities in Latin America that included three trips by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the region -- a fourth visit is scheduled in August to Brazil -- and the opening or enlargement of a half-dozen Iranian embassies, Israel is beginning to raise its own profile in the region.

Working Together, Brazil, Russia, China and India Increase Leverage
Ian Bremmer

In 2003, a report authored by Goldman Sachs economists popularized the term BRICs -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- to describe a whole new category of emerging-market powerhouse. The report argued that with sound political leadership and relative international stability, the BRIC economies would together outpace the original G6 industrialized nations in dollar terms by 2040 -- a fundamental shift in the global balance of power. Since then, these four countries have assumed ever-greater importance in the international investment community's collective imagination.

Growth With Equity: Brazil's Path to Economic Recovery
by Patrus Ananias

The financial crisis has left few corners of the global economy unscathed, but many of the loudest cries reflecting the deepest pain are largely ignored. These are the cries of the world's poorest citizens whose suffering is not measured in battered portfolios and retirement plans but in their daily survival

'U.S. Bases' in Colombia May Be Less Than Meets the Eye
Andres Oppenheimer

What's most surprising about South America's growing uproar over Colombia's plans to allow 'U.S. military bases' on its territory is that there may be no such thing in the making -- but rather a major Colombian PR blunder.

What's most surprising about South America's growing uproar over Colombia's plans to allow 'U.S. military bases' on its territory is that there may be no such thing in the making -- but rather a major Colombian PR blunder.

Partisan Split on Honduras Can Be Costly
Andres Oppenheimer

The conflict in Honduras is rapidly becoming the focus of a fierce partisan fight in Washington, D.C. -- and that may not bode well for the future of U.S. policy in Latin America. Sources in Washington tell me that 17 senators -- mostly conservative Republicans and not part of the usual crowd of legislators interested in Latin American affairs -- are trying to open a new front against Obama on top of healthcare accusing him of being "soft" on anti-American leaders in Latin America.

China Rising in Latin America, but Won't Overtake United States
Andres Oppenheimer

The latest figures showing that China is emerging from the global crisis sooner than anticipated is triggering speculation that China will soon overtake the United States as Latin America's top business partner. Granted, speculation about China's impending leap to becoming Latin America's top economic partner spread like wildfire recently when Brazil announced that it will trade more with China than with the United States this year for the first time. It sounds very interesting, but don't bet on it.

Britsh prime minister Gordon Brown
(c) Nancy Ohanian

Why Sometimes Pays to Be Like Gordon Brown
by William Pfaff

Flamboyance of the Latin kind gets you into the newspapers, but for bad reasons as well as good.

Nicolas Sarkozy of France is not a man noted for charm but for his unchecked energies and the restless activity. Italy's Silvio Berlusconi is another matter entirely. He is a success in politics apparently because the majority of Italians like him.

Indeed, sometimes pays to be a nondescript politician like Gordon Brown of Britain.

 

Israeli - Palestinian Peace
(c) M. Ryder

Obama, Solana Mean Business About Two-State Solution
by William Pfaff

The Israeli press reports with alarm that the United States has threatened to reduce by $1 billion the guarantee the U.S. Treasury customarily provides for Israel state borrowings, which assure them the best commercial terms.

This is evidence that the Obama government is serious about halting Israel's colonization of the Palestinian territories -- and about imposing, rather than merely inviting, a two-state Middle East solution.

 

From Iraq to Afghanistan, U.S. Foreign Wars Not Going According to Plan
by William Pfaff

In Iraq, tension was reported to be increasing between the Americans and the Iraqi military and security forces, who were supposed to take over the Americans' responsibilities. Move to another front: Pakistan-Afghanistan. Here there was also supposed to be a straightforward job to do: drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan, into the Tribal Areas of the Pakistan border. There, the Pakistan army, with American urging and help, would defeat and disarm them.

How to End the Insurgency and Win the War in Afghanistan
by Anna Mulrine

A longtime Afghanistan expert with the Rand Corp. and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, Jones talks about how the United States should handle Afghanistan.

War and the Balance of Power
(Nancy Ohanian)

War By Other Means
Robert C. Koehler - International Politics & World Affairs

We live in a world where arrogance and power are concentrated to an unbelievably fine point, while responsibility is diffused into a global mist.

A few fanatics can plot and wage a war, stirring up consequences infinitely beyond what they are capable of imagining, then retire, when things go bad, into a luxury tinged with disgrace.

 

Bearing Witness 2.0: You Can't Spin 10,000 Tweets and Camera Phone Uploads
Arianna Huffington

China just delivered a stunning, real-world demonstration of the changes rocking -- and transforming -- modern journalism. When deadly riots broke out in the western province of Xinjiang earlier this month, the Chinese government sprang into message control mode. It choked off the Internet and mobile phone service, blocked Twitter and Fanfou (its Chinese equivalent), deleted updates and videos from social networking sites, and scrubbed search engines of links to coverage of the unrest. At the same time, it invited foreign journalists to take a tour of the area.

Heart of the Future Between Russia & United States
by Robert C. Koehler

Last week's announcement from Moscow, of a new treaty between the U.S. and Russia to begin cutting their nuclear stockpiles by a quarter to a third, is indeed "modest" and perhaps downright "disappointing" in its tentativeness, as critics have pointed out. Even so, the heart of the future beats here.

Europe: Battle Over the Burqa
by William Pfaff

Since President Barack Obama in his recent Cairo speech made a tut-tutting remark about countries that restricted wearing religious garb in school, the controversy over the Muslim burqa has resumed in Europe

Another Swine-Flu Casualty: Good Journalism
by Andres Oppenheimer

The swine flu outbreak that has wrecked Mexico's economy may become a case study in reckless journalism. Like most of you, I had taken it for granted that the disease had started in Mexico.

Iranian Elections 2009: Iran's Crisis of Legitimacy

Islamic Republic Acronym
(David Horsey)

Iran Election Mess Is Just a Reflection of Global Human Failings
by Louis Ren� Beres

Today's dramatic Iranian instability is more a specific symptom of general civilizational fragility than an isolated disease.

Beneath the surface, all world politics readily reveals a distinctly common disorder. This is the incapacity of human beings to find both meaning and identity as individuals, within themselves.

CONTINUE >>

 

Missing Our Moment in Iran
by Victor Davis Hanson

Last month, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest a rigged presidential election. Our president was extremely cautious in his initial criticism of the Iranian government's fierce crackdown against the protestors. At first, President Obama said that the United States -- given our history in Iran -- should not be "meddling" in

Violence Spikes as U.S. Troops Withdraw From Iraq's Cities
by Alex Kingsbury

Militants in Iraq staged a series of bomb and machine gun attacks in the past ten days that left more than 250 dead and the country on edge. Increased carnage as the U.S. forces prepare to depart was not unexpected, American and Iraqi officials say.

'W' is For Withdrawal
by Robert C. Koehler

National Sovereignty Day, the day U.S. troops withdrew from Iraqi cities. Sorry, but Iraq is still America's sovereign lackey: broken and smoldering. Some 130,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, withdrawn for the most part to the permanent bases we've built over the last six years. The country's infrastructure is shattered, and shocking bursts of violence remain a common occurrence

The Nation-State is Back & How
International Politics & Foreign Affairs
by Paul Kennedy

About 500 years ago, in parts of Western Europe, a funny thing happened to human society. The national state had arrived, and the world would never be the same.

Addressing China's Fear Of North Korean Collapse
Joseph S. Nye Jr. Interview

It is by now a cliche to say that greater pressure from China can force North Korea to change. The problem is that China has two objectives: They want a de-nuclearized North Korea, but they also want a North Korea that doesn't collapse into chaos on their borders. The consequence of these cross-purposes is that the Chinese have been reluctant to use the leverage they have

Tiananmen's Enduring Challenge
by Wang Dan

Twenty years have passed since our landmark demonstrations in Tiananmen Square for democracy and free speech and against corruption. And during this time, China has changed in important ways. Economic reforms have allowed millions of Chinese people to lift their families out of poverty, and many in China find their lives changed for the better. But the central causes the Tiananmen generation, students and citizens alike, took up remain unresolved: corruption, workers' rights, free speech and the need for government reform to address the needs of China's 1.3 billion people.

Asia Economy: Tamed Asian Tigers, Distressed Chinese Dragon
by Brian P. Klein and Kenneth Neil Cukier

Since the 1960s, Asian economies have focused primarily on exports. It was the key to success in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Much of Southeast Asia and China soon followed suit. Over the past decade, the region's exports have increased from 37 percent to 47 percent of GDP. By hitching their wagons to exports, however, Asian countries left themselves vulnerable to a drop-off in Western consumption

Elections Give India's Congress Party Clout to Push Agenda
by Ian Bremmer

For nearly a year, an unmanageable coalition government in India has obstructed the ruling Congress Party's policy agenda and brought the country's economic reform process to a grinding halt. Now that an impressive electoral triumph in national parliamentary elections held in April and May has allowed the party to shed unreliable allies, can its leaders move the country in a more market-friendly direction. There are grounds for both caution and optimism

India's Fortune: Prospects of a Country on the Rise
by Edward Luce

Nandan Nilekani's book, Imagining India, charts how India arrived at the potentially transformative moment it has reached today and describes the gargantuan challenges the country will have to overcome if it is to fulfill that potential

Indian Ocean: Center Stage for 21st Century Struggles Between India & China
by Robert D. Kaplan

Competition between India and China suggests that the Indian Ocean is where global struggles will play out in the twenty-first century. The old borders of the Cold War map are crumbling fast, and Asia is becoming a more integrated unit, from the Middle East to the Pacific.

North Korea's Nuclear Weapon Challenge
Henry A. Kissinger

The Obama administration has so far dealt publicly with the North Korean challenge in an understated, almost leisurely, manner. The challenge goes far beyond the regional security issue. For the United States, it involves relations with an emerging superpower (China); relations with a re-emerging Russia; relations with key U.S. allies (Japan and South Korea); and a major escalation in the threat of proliferation to non-state parties.

 

Essence of Islamist Resistance:
Different View of Iran, Hezbollah & Hamas
by Alastair Crooke

Most Western analysts of political Islam make the same mistake. They instinctively assume that conflict with the West has mainly to do with specific foreign policies, particularly of the U.S. with respect to Israel, the Arab world and Iran, and, if those changed, all would be well.

Tehran's Take: Understanding Iran's U.S. Policy
by Mohsen M. Milani

Iran's foreign policy is often portrayed in sensationalistic terms, but in reality it is a rational strategy meant to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic against what Tehran thinks is an existential threat posed by the United States

Flipping the Taliban: How to Win in Afghanistan
by Fotini Christia and Michael Semple

Although sending more troops is necessary to tip the balance of power against the insurgents, the move will have a lasting impact only if it is accompanied by a political surge, a committed effort to persuade large groups of Taliban fighters to put down their arms and give up the fight.

Afghan Presidential Candidate Takes a Page From Obama's Playbook
by Anna Mulrine

Presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani, the leading challenger to incumbent Hamid Karzai, has embarked on an Internet fundraising campaign modeled on that run by President Obama.

In Afghanistan, It's President Obama's War Now

There is a popular proverb that has been making the rounds in Kabul involving the inadvisability of juggling two watermelons with one hand. It is used to suggest the peril--some say folly--of taking on large tasks with too few resources. Lately, it has been cropping up as Afghans struggle to describe the enormity of the task that confronts President Obama in their country, where conditions have deteriorated dramatically over the past year

A Bright Star on the World Stage: Smiles & handshakes a Start But Obama's real challenge will be to show results
by Thomas Omestad

White House officials say Obama's appeal extends beyond just the leaders of the world. "What has happened is that anti-Americanism isn't cool anymore," says top Obama adviser David Axelrod.

But this initial repositioning of the American leadership brand onto more popular terrain internationally will be the easier part of Obama's task. For all the sense of fresh starts and of goodwill, the seeds of perhaps inevitable disappointments are present as well.

Who's Ready if Swine Flu Pandemic Comes Knocking
Andy Coghlan, Linda Geddes & Rachel Nowak, New Scientist Magazine

Doomsday visions of curfews, sealed borders, travel bans and scuffles over food are a long way from materializing in the current crisis regarding swine flu.

But if the World Health Organization declares a pandemic, countries could bring in draconian measures to isolate and treat infection, prevent further spread and keep societies functioning.

The question, then, is which countries are ready and prepared to handle a Swine Flu Pandemic.

 

 

The West's Reckless Approach to Relations with Russia
by Wiliam Pfaff

The failure last week of Russian talks with the European Union on energy supplies to Europe is one more occasion for Russian-Western tension.

Obama Presses Israel on Settlements
by William Pfaff

The Obama administration's confrontation with Israel over its colonies inside the Palestine territories began as a test of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's willingness to enter serious negotiations on a Middle Eastern settlement.

Waiting For Netanyahu
International Current Events, News & World Affairs

As President Obama prepares to receive Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their first meeting, the situation is very similar to what it was in 1978.

Now as then, Israel is ruled by a rightwing coalition. Now as then, some of its elements are more hawkish than the prime minister and his Likud Party is. Now as then, talks with the other side are ongoing but leading nowhere.

Obama's Moment in South Asia
International Current Events, News & World Affairs

Afghanistan and Pakistan are at the very top of President Obama's list of foreign and security priorities. The U.S. military has embraced this new emphasis, as indicated by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen's recent statement that the war in Afghanistan is now more important than the struggle in Iraq.

The increased emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan is laudable, because what happens in these two countries is critical in determining the future of extremism and terror -- a defining security challenge of our time.

Fighting Extremism with Democracy in Pakistan
International Current Events, News & World Affairs

Pakistan opposition leader Nawaz Sharif is seen by many -- including, reportedly, officials in the Obama administration -- as the man who can possibly help unite Pakistanis against the scourge of Talebanization threatening the South Asian nuclear-armed nation.

In this interview Sharif says that national consensus on strengthening the rule of law, must be part of a multi-pronged strategy to address the root causes of Taliban extremism.

Cambodia Deja Vu: The Invasion of Pakistan
International Current Events, News & World Affairs

39 years! And here we are again. The United States, despite its plan to deploy nearly 70,000 troops this year in Afghanistan, finds itself and its NATO allies in danger of defeat by the Taliban guerillas. U.S. bombing, with remote-controlled "drones," of the Pakistani Tribal Territories has killed many people but has had no decisive effect on the fighting in Afghanistan.

Brazil Stretching Clout to Central America
Andres Oppenheimer

Brazilian President Luiz In�cio Lula da Silva's largely unnoticed trip to Central America last week underscored an interesting phenomenon: Brazil is making big inroads into a region that was traditionally seen as Mexico's backyard

Will Colombia's President Uribe Run Again?
Latin American Current Events, News & Affairs - Andres Oppenheimer

After Tuesday's vote in the Colombian Senate many well-placed Colombians tell me they are convinced that President �lvaro Uribe is serious about running in 2010.

Many Believe End of Argentina's 'K' Era Nears
International Current Events, News & World Affairs

Seven weeks before Argentina's much-awaited June 28 legislative elections, there is a growing consensus that populist President Cristina Fern�ndez de Kirchner will lose her majority in Congress, and that there will be major political changes in this country.

Free-Market Economy Fundamentally Healthy
Global Economic Viewpoint

Last week at the Milken Global Conference, three Noble Laureates in Economics sat down to discuss the global recession -- Gary Becker (Nobel Prize, 1992), Roger Myerson (Nobel Prize, 2007) and Myron Scholes (Nobel Prize 1997).

All three agreed that this is not going to be a depression and that the free-market economy is fundamentally healthy.

Brazil, China & India Can Mitigate Global Crisis
Global Economic Viewpoint

Brazil, India and even China will not be able, by themselves, to correct the dysfunctions that produced the global crisis. But it is true that the economic power of these three countries can mitigate its negative consequences. ...

Obama's Foreign Policy Challenge - Henry Kissinger

The first overseas trip of a new president always has a significance beyond its itinerary. The president has an opportunity to test the impact of his policies; his interlocutors begin to assess the leader with whom they will have to deal over at least four years.

The Global Economy: Worse & Worser

Today's global economic debacle shares a disturbing number of similarities with the early stages of Japan's "lost decade" of the 1990s.

Without good policy and better luck, the world may well fall into a prolonged period of slow GDP growth, high unemployment, and stagnant living standards like that which unfolded in Japan almost 20 years ago.

Today's Global Economic Debacle: The Japan Fallacy

As the United States sinks deeper into recession, many observers fear the country could reprise Japan's "lost decade," the decade of stagnation that followed its mammoth property bubble in the late 1980s. But this fear is unawarranted.

 

Deng Undone: China Halts Market Reform

Since the present Communist Party leadership took power, fresh market-oriented liberalization has been minor. Such policies have been wound down and supplanted by renewed state intervention. In privatization, prices, even foreign trade and investment, the PRC was heading away from the market well before the financial crisis erupted.

 

Why China & U.S. Not Ready to Upgrade Ties

Calling on the United States and China to do more together has an undeniable logic. Both Washington and Beijing are destined to fail if they attempt to confront the world's problems alone, and the current bilateral relationship is not getting the job done.

But elevating the bilateral relationship is not the solution. It will raise expectations for a level of partnership that cannot be met and exacerbate the very real differences that exist between Washington and Beijing.

 

Brown urges new banks 'contract'
UK PM Gordon Brown tells a G20 summit there should be a new social contract with world banks to make them more responsible.

Obama praises army base heroism
President Barack Obama praises the "valour" of those who responded to the deadly attacks at a US army base in Texas.

Seven killed in 'Nato air strike'
Seven members of the Afghan security forces are killed in a Nato air strike, the Afghan defence ministry says.

Deal on Lebanon government agreed
Lebanon's Hezbollah says its opposition alliance has agreed to join a national unity government under PM-designate, Saad Hariri.

ICC seeking speedy Kenya trials
The ICC's top prosecutor says perpetrators of Kenya's post-poll violence could face trial as early as next July.

Madagascar rivals reach agreement
Madagascar's rival political leaders agree to form a power-sharing government after months of wrangling.

Deal over Honduran crisis 'dead'
Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says a deal to resolve the country's political crisis is "dead".

Leaders 'likely' to go to summit
At least 40 world leaders are likely to attend December's UN climate summit in a bid to secure a new global treaty.

Jackson's father seeks allowance
Joe Jackson asks for an allowance from the estate of his late son Michael, saying the star supported him before he died.

S Korean woman passes driving test exam on 950th attempt
A South Korean woman is celebrating after passing the written exam for a driving licence - on her 950th attempt.

Leftover Beijing Olympics condoms to be auctioned
Some 5,000 of the condoms distributed to Olympics athletes at the Beijing Games are to be auctioned off.

Live - Saturday football
There are five Premier League games, a raft of FA Cup first round ties and a full Championship programme on a busy day of football.

Ancelotti plans to stifle Man Utd
Coach Carlo Ancelotti urges Chelsea to shut down Manchester United's midfield in Sunday's Stamford Bridge showdown.

Hidden anguish
Residents' sense of shock after Fort Hood shootings

Pieces of history
Where to find fragments of the Berlin Wall

Gaza battle
Legal row over UN report on Gaza offensive intensifies

People power
Indonesia confronts a growing corruption scandal

Exit stage left?
What next if Palestinian leader Abbas quits

Biswas on India
Is money wrecking cricket's soul and spirit?

DR Congo army 'used aid as bait'
The DR Congo army has been using measles vaccination clinics as "bait" to attack civilians, an aid agency says.

Somali adulterer stoned to death
Islamists in Somalia stone a man to death for adultery but spare his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth.

Electricity blackouts in Ecuador
Two cities suffer blackouts as rationing is brought in following water shortages at an Ecuadorean hydro-electric plant.

Paraguay leader sacks army head
Paraguay's president sacks the head of the armed forces, warning officers were plotting a coup against him.

US hits China pipes with tariffs
The United States imposes high anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese pipes as trade disputes mar the run-up to a bilateral summit.

Cambodia tit-for-tat over Thaksin
Cambodia recalls its ambassador from Thailand in tit-for-tat dispute over sanctuary offer to former Thai PM Thaksin.

Spain resists deal with pirates
Spain resists pressure to free two Somalis accused of piracy in exchange for Spanish sailors held in Somalia.

Russian army plane crashes in sea
A Russian military plane carrying 11 crew members crashes in the country's Far East, officials say, amid fears all are dead.

Israeli concern over Abbas move
Israeli officials express concern for peace efforts over the decision by Mahmoud Abbas not to seek re-election.

Saudi planes 'not bombing Yemen'
Saudi Arabian jets have only attacked Yemeni rebels on Saudi soil the state news agency says, contradicting earlier reports.

Key Pakistan Taliban town 'falls'
Pakistani forces capture the strategically important town of Ladha from the Taliban in ongoing clashes in South Waziristan, officials say.

Brown warns Karzai on corruption
The UK will not be "deterred, dissuaded or diverted" from its Afghan mission, despite risks to troops, PM Gordon Brown says.

In search of French identity
With the French government canvassing opinion about the country's patriotic spirit, Emma-Jane Kirby asks what makes the French so very... French.

A tale of two Indias
India is often described as the land of extremes, rich and poor, hot and cold, forward and backward. Chris Morris reflects on a country which has 'two faces'.

Can Afghan security be improved?
Three ex-chiefs of defence have launched an attack on Gordon Brown's commitment to the war in Afghanistan. Has Gordon Brown convinced you that UK troops should stay in Afghanistan?

BBC News | World | UK Edition
Get the latest BBC World News: international news, features and analysis from Africa, Americas, South Asia, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

 

US jobless rate surges above 10%
The unemployment rate shot up to 10.2 per cent in October, its highest level in over 26 years as the economy shed another 190,000 jobs

Brown attacked by ex-defence chiefs
The UK prime minister has been attacked by three former chiefs of the defence staff for his conduct over the Afghan war, with the trio all calling for 'clear direction' over policy

China brands US 'protectionist'
Beijing issues stinging rebuke after Washington slapped anti-dumping duties on $2.6bn of Chinese steel pipe imports.

Flaws in hedge fund rules detailed
Proposed pan-European regulation of hedge funds and private equity is being introduced on the back of a 'vague, sweeping and inadequate' analysis of the problem, according to a report prepared for European lawmakers

Pressure grows on Abbas to stay on
Mahmoud Abbas has been urged to revoke his decision not to run in the upcoming Palestinian presidential election, amid concern that his withdrawal could deal a fatal blow to diminishing prospects for peace

Turkey defends Bashir invitation
President Abdullah Gul accused the European Union of 'interfering' by asking Ankara to withdraw an invitation for Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan's indicted president, to attend an Islamic summit in Istanbul

EU jobs stakes to dominate Berlin gala
European Union leaders will discuss the bloc's full-time president and foreign policy chief on Monday when they meet in Berlin to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall

Lachlan Murdoch pays $21m for Sydney mansion
Lachlan Murdoch has upstaged the visit to Australia of his father Rupert after splashing out A$23m on a Sydney mansion sold by the French government's former consulate

OECD data point to strong signs of recovery
All the world's big economies are seeing strong signs of recovery from the worst global recession since the Great Depression, according to data from the OECD

South Africa to sign deal with Zimbabwe
South Africa is close to signing an investment treaty, paving the way for what could be a rise in private sector investment in its troubled northern neighbour, according to officials in both countries

Lula calls on leaders to attend climate talks
Brazil's president has challenged other world leaders to attend next month's climate talks in Copenhagen to break the deadlock in negotiations to cut greenhouse gas emissions

Brown seeks to rally public over Afghan war
Gordon Brown warned Hamid Karzai, the newly reappointed Afghan president, that he must meet five key tests over the next few months if he is to guarantee an effective partnership between his government and Nato over Afghanistan's future

Shooting leaves 13 dead at US army base
An army psychiatrist described as being unhappy about being posted to Iraq opened fire at the US's biggest army base, leaving 13 people dead and 31 wounded, according to Texas officials

Roche's Seoul offices raided in Tamiflu probe
South Korean prosecutors suspect that they Swiss drugs group illegally provided swine flu treatment to staff of HSBC and Novartis amid fears of a widespread outbreak

FBI makes more arrests in Galleon case
US authorities have charged 14 more people in the investigation into insider trading at Galleon, the hedge fund founded by Raj Rajaratnam

FT.com - World
FT.com - World

 

Iran lawmakers: No shipment of uranium abroad (AP)

AP - Senior Iranian lawmakers rejected on Saturday any possibility of Tehran shipping uranium abroad for further enrichment, intensifying pressures on the government to reject the U.N.-backed plan altogether.

Afghan gov't says UN representative out of line (AP)

AP - Pushing back against international criticism, Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the top U.N. official in the country overstepped his authority by giving instructions on how to rid the government of corruption and warlords.

Britain urges steps to insure financial system (AP)

AP - Britain called for consideration of a global tax on financial transactions to insure against another crisis and urged world finance officials meeting Saturday in Scotland to agree on bearing the cost of fighting climate change.

Ministry: NATO airstrike kills Afghan soldiers (AP)

AP - Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said Saturday that a NATO airstrike in the western province of Badghis mistakenly hit a joint base housing coalition troops and Afghan security forces, killing four Afghan soldiers and three policemen.

Rival Lebanon factions agree on unity government (AP)
AP - Lebanon's Syrian-backed factions finally agreed on a unity government proposed by their pro-Western rivals on Saturday, ending a four-month deadlock in the deeply divided country.

Zelaya-Micheletti Honduras Deal Risks Trouble for Obama (Time.com)
Time.com - As rival claimants on the presidency remain at odds over what they've 
agreed, the U.S. risks being seen in the region as having accepted a coup

US: More foreign troops certain in new Afghan plan (AP)
AP - A top Pentagon official says President Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan will be certain to include reinforcements of foreign troops from both the United States and allied nations.

Iran: 109 detained at opposition rally (AP)

AP - Iranian police have detained 109 people for "disturbing public order" during an opposition rally this week, the official IRNA news agency reported Saturday.

Vatican official seeks more access to Cuban media (AP)
AP - A senior Vatican official said Friday he has asked Cuba's government to allow the Roman Catholic Church more access to mass media, saying Cubans are a religious people and should be given broadcast access to their pastors.

China offers Africa more trade, investment (AP)

AP - China is offering to abolish import duties on some commodities from Africa and make sure Chinese exports to the continent are safe as part of a package to boost already thriving economic ties, China's commerce minister said in an article published Saturday.

NATO strike kills 7 Afghan security forces: Kabul (AFP)

AFP - Seven members of the Afghan security forces were killed in a NATO air strike in remote western Afghanistan, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

Canada October job losses reverse positive trend (Reuters)
Reuters - Canada lost more jobs in October than even the gloomiest analyst had predicted, dashing hopes for a quick economic rebound and suggesting a recovery in the labor market may have gotten off to a false start.

Disaster declared in flood-hit Australia (AFP)

AFP - Australian authorities declared a natural disaster along parts of the country's east coast as heavy floods cut the main road linking major cities, stranding thousands of people.

Shooting reveals tensions over Muslims in the military (McClatchy Newspapers)

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — The killings of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, by an Army psychiatrist who also was a Muslim set off a rancorous debate Friday that once again spotlighted the fear among Muslims in America that they'll be collectively found guilty for the actions of one man.

Palestinian President Abbas, critical of peace process, says won't seek reelection (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says he's made up his mind once and for all: There will be elections in January – and he will not be a candidate in them.

Shanghai Disneyland Gets Government Go-Ahead (Time.com)
Time.com - Disney's second theme park in China could boost the company's brand in a key market -- but will the existing Hong Kong Disneyland suffer?

After Fort Hood: Count All the Dead (OneWorld.net)
OneWorld.net - SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 6 (New America Media) - Perhaps the most depressing aspect of Thursday's shoot-out at Fort Hood is that none of the 12 people who died in the melee will be counted as casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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World News

 

Brown calls for global 'economic and social contract'
Gordon Brown today called for a new global “economic and social contract” with the financial institutions to ensure taxpayers around the world would never again have to bear the cost of banking failure.

Nato airstrike kills Afghan soldiers
A Nato airstrike in the western province of Badghis mistakenly hit a joint base housing coalition troops and Afghan security forces, killing four Afghan soldiers and three policemen, Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry said today.

Torrential rain floods homes of 200,000 in Mexico
Rains have flooded the homes of more than 200,000 people along Mexico’s Gulf coast, leaving authorities struggling to reach all those affected.

Russian military plane crashes into ocean
A Russian military plane with 11 people on board has crashed in the Pacific Ocean.

French security guard makes off with €11m
A French bank security guard is on the run after vanishing with €11m of cash in his armoured van.

Iran refusing to send uranium overseas for processing
Iran is refusing to send its uranium abroad so it can be processed for use in a nuclear reactor.

UN urges Karzai to fight corruption
The UN Security Council today joined calls on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to fight corruption, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling the country’s political situation “delicate”.

Finance ministers arrive for G20 talks
Leading finance ministers and bank governors will today get down to business at the G20 summit as they try to nurse the global economy back to health.

Sacked employee kills one in office shooting
A sacked employee went on a shooting spree in a US office complex, killing one person and injuring five others before being caught by police.

Fort Hood gunman still critical in coma
The military psychiatrist responsible for a shooting spree that left 13 dead remained in a coma today, frustrating attempts to work out what made him kill.

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Ireland's premier breaking news website providing up to the minute news and sports reports.

 

Prospect of More U.S. Troops Worries Afghan Public
Eight years of war have left people in Afghanistan exhausted, impatient and increasingly unsure that the Taliban can be defeated.

Brown Warns Afghan Leader on Corruption
The prime minister said that President Hamid Karzai would lose British support if he failed to stem corruption.

Chinese Agencies Struggle Over How to Handle Video Game
Two government agencies are facing off over the right to regulate the popular online game World of Warcraft.

As Honduran Deal Failed, Split Behind Crisis Grew
At each stage, the camps of the ousted president and of the acting president have been on different pages.

Group Won’t Suspend Zimbabwe on Mining Abuses
Members of the United Nations-endorsed Kimberley Process will send a monitor to decide whether future exports of rough diamonds from eastern Zimbabwe can be certified as conflict-free.

Man Admits to Murder of Lawyer in Moscow
The man suspected of murdering a prominent human rights lawyer and a journalist last January said he committed the crime out of “personal enmity.”

Adversities Await Iraqis Who Return Home
More than half a million Iraqi families have left their homes since 2003, and one international group has identified fewer than 60,000 who have returned.

U.N. Says U.S. Delays Led to Aid Cuts in Somalia
The U.S. greatly reduced food contributions out of fears they would be diverted to terrorists.

Yemeni Rebels and Saudis Clash at Border
Saudi military and Yemeni rebels both claimed to have inflicted casualties and captured enemy soldiers as border clashes continued.

Thai Border on Guard for Drugs From Myanmar
Traffickers from Myanmar’s ethnic minorities use Thailand as their hub for the Pacific region.

Spanish Captives in Somali Waters Plead for Help
Crew members of a Spanish fishing ship seized by Somali pirates over a month ago pleaded with their relatives to press the Spanish government to do more to gain their release.

Lebanon’s Opposition Said to Agree to Government
Lebanon’s opposition, including Hezbollah, agreed to join a unity government proposed by Saad al-Hariri, a senior opposition source said.

Seeing Paris in 5 Boroughs of New York
In the 100-year-old Grand Concourse, the Bronx has its own Champs-Élysées. But what about the other boroughs?

Group Documents Sexual Assaults in Iran Postelection Crackdown
Human Rights Watch says one of the cases appeared in an official report, but was dropped by the government.

NATO Soldiers Missing as Taliban Reports Recovery of Two Bodies
As allied forces search for two missing soldiers in Afghanistan a Taliban spokesman said fighters had recovered the bodies of two drowned soldiers.

Gunmen Attack Another Army Officer in Pakistani Capital
The drive-by shooting, which left the brigadier and his military driver injured, was the third such attack against senior military officers in 15 days.

British Bankers Defend Their Pay and Bonuses
Regulators, central bankers and citizens are criticizing bankers for continuing large compensation packages while receiving government funds.

U.N. Panel Accuses 2 Iranians of Breaking Darfur Arms Embargo
Two businessmen were linked to video surveillance devices that were sold to Sudan and used by drones.

British Airways to Cut Another 1,200 Jobs
The total number of planned staff reductions rises to nearly 5,000 as the British carrier wrestles with what its chief executive called the toughest year in the history of aviation.

Latin American Leaders Seek to Rein in Media, Press Group Says
The head of a press association complained of governments’ revoking broadcast licenses, fostering hostility toward journalists and giving a free hand to government supporters.

World Briefing | Africa: Madagascar: Rivals Accept Deal on Unity Government
Under the accord, President Andry Rajoelina will remain in the office, but with two “co-presidents” from other political camps.

World Briefing | Middle East: Israel: Ministry Assails U.N. Vote on War Conduct
Israel on Friday rejected a United Nations General Assembly vote endorsing a report accusing it of war crimes in Gaza last winter, saying that the resolution did not have “the support of the moral majority.”

World Briefing | Asia: South Korea: The 950th Time Is a Charm
A woman who had tried to pass the written exam for a driver’s license almost every day since April 2005 has finally succeeded, on her 950th attempt.

World Briefing | Asia: Taiwan: Swine Flu Vaccination Program Begins
The Taiwanese government announced that by starting vaccinations against the H1N1 virus this week, it had begun the largest immunization program in Taiwan’s history.

World Briefing | Africa: Spain Dismisses Demand to Release 2 Somali Pirates
Spain said Friday that it would not free two captured pirates as demanded by fellow brigands who are holding a Spanish trawler and 33 crew members off the coast of Somalia.

World Briefing | Africa: Ivory Coast: Judge Rejects Request in Toxic Waste Case
About $45 million intended to compensate 30,000 victims of a toxic waste dumping scandal in Ivory Coast will not be diverted to a self-appointed community representative, a judge in Abidjan ruled Friday.

Currents: Virtual Classrooms Could Create a Marketplace for Knowledge
The dream of the teacherless classroom has returned, thanks to broadening Internet access, advances in multimedia and the market potential of millions of historically underserved learners.

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