Ayelet Frish, the spokeswoman for Israeli President Shimon Peres, detailed the President’s timeline for selecting which party will get first crack at forming the next Israeli government. “The president will start consultations on Wednesday night. He will meet representatives of Kadima that evening and then Likud. The following days he will meet representatives of the [...]
Every time the United States launches a drone attack in Pakistan, the Pakistani government formally complains. Senator Dianne Feinstein doesn’t really understand why. In fact, according to the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the drones “are flown out of a Pakistani base.” The revelation would be seriously damaging to the Pakistani government, which has [...]
South Korean officials say that the North Korean government is assembling a long-range missile for a test fire which could come as soon as the end of the month. A successful test is predicted to fly over Japan, and the missile might have the range to hit Alaska. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not [...]
Behind schedule and over-budget, the Bush Administration’s missile defense shield in Eastern Europe was a source of tension with Russia and a multi-billion dollar black hole. It is unsurprising, then, that President Obama was so non-committal about following through with the plan that wouldn’t even have its first missile on the ground until 2012. The [...]
Australian forces launched a pre-dawn raid on a village in Oruzgan Province, sparking a gunbattle that left five children dead and several others wounded. The Australian military defended the killings, saying they were “in accordance with the rules of engagement,” but declined to elaborate on how they were killed. The Afghan defense ministry condemned the [...]
A female suicide bomber attacked a tent in Iskandiriyah, just south of Baghdad today, killing at least 40 and wounding scores of others. The tent was set up to offer food and drink to women and children who were making a pilgrimage to Karbala. Iraqi officials say that most of the casualties were women and [...]
Pakistan acknowledged today that the November Mumbai attacks were partly plotted on their soil, and said that they had begun criminal proceedings against eight suspected of involvement. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the move would assure the international community “that we mean business.” India’s foreign ministry lauded the move as “a positive development,” but also [...]
US envoy Richard Holbrooke arrived in Kabul today to help President Obama decide how to proceed with his promised escalation of the war in Afghanistan. His visit was not exactly a cheerful time, coming as Kabul recovered from multiple Taliban attacks which killed at least 26 people and threw into doubt, particularly in the west, [...]
The Hamas government has announced that the agreement for an 18-month truce agreement in the Gaza Strip has been agreed to, and will be announced by the Egyptian government within the next two or three days. Taher al-Nono, a member of their Cairo delegation, says the agreement would ensure the end of cross-border violence. Hamas [...]
The next Israeli government could take awhile. The final results of the election will be certified on February 18, and Israeli President Shimon Peres will then have 10 additional days to charge either Tzipi Livni or Benjamin Netanyahu with attempting to form a coalition government. Whoever it is will have 42 days to do so, [...]
