A deal yesterday to schedule a referendum for July 30, 2009 on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) may have been instrumental in scoring the vote a narrow victory today in Iraq's Parliament, but the terms of the deal are unlikely to give the referendum the meaning...
Updated 11/27 2:09 PM EST Mumbai's night of terror has stretched on well into the afternoon of the following day, and India's economic center remains under siege. Gunmen remain at large, battles are still ongoing at the city's two major five star hotels (the Oberoi...
Numerous vote delays to allow time for extra politicking, a deal for a referendum next year to placate the major Sunni bloc (the Iraqi Accord Front), and last minute endorsements from the IAF, the National Dialogue bloc, and the Iraqi Communist Party seem like a...
US complaints earlier this week about the "wholly inappropriate" IAEA aid scheduled to be provided to Syria have been rejected, and the agency has approved the $350,000 aid project to help the Syrian government select a site for a potential nuclear power plant. The...
In a sign that the days of military interference in political affairs may indeed be over, Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) has had its domestic political wing disbanded. The enormously independent ISI has been accused of using the wing to...
In comments today Georgia's former ambassador to Russia Erosi Kitsmarishvili said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was 'itching' to do battle over South Ossetia, and blamed the nation for sparking a brief August war with Russia that ended in the destruction of...
Afghan President Hamid Karzai used a visit yesterday by a United Nations delegation to hit out at the international forces over their conduct in the war, expressing disbelief that after seven years "a little force like the Taliban" is continuing to flourish. But today...
Updated 10/26 10:20 PM EST Indian Army commandos flood into the five-star hotels of Oberoi and Taj as the confirmed death toll in overnight violence in Mumbai passes triple digits. Police have killed at least four suspects and arrested nine others, but the violence is...
The Iraqi government continues to scramble to get ready for tomorrow's talks on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and tentatively the vote (though it has already been delayed twice this week). It is now being reported that the government has agreed on a demand by...
Updated 11/27 10:35 AM EST Attacks on at least ten sites in the Indian city of Mumbai targeted railway terminals, five star hotels, airports and hospitals, with officials saying 125 killed, 327 wounded and other reports suggesting nearly 1000 wounded. Among those...
