After coming under rocket fire from across the border, NATO troops in Afghanistan's Paktika Province fired 20 artillery rounds into Angoor Adda, South Waziristan. The incident occurred on Sunday, but it is unclear as of yet if anyone was killed in the shelling....
Still Aspirational? US Doesn’t See 2011 Pact “Deadline” as Firm
As the Iraqi parliament debates the final draft of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States one of the key revisions which has quelled some (though not all) discontent with the deal was to remove a clause which explicitly left open the possibility...
Humanitarian Aid May Be First Step Toward Salvaging Gaza Truce
Between eight and 12 Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip today, causing no injuries and doing minimal damage in the latest incident in a two week spate of attacks on both sides which have threatened to end a five-month long ceasefire between Israel and...
Taliban Rejects Karzai Offer to Protect Mullah Omar for Talks
Reiterating an offer he made in early October, Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered to provide security for Taliban leader Mullah Omar if he agrees to peace talks with the government. Reiterating their response to the previous offer, the Taliban has rejected the...
Iran Open to Turkish Mediation With Obama Administration
After the G20 summit on Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his government would be willing to play the role on mediator between Iran and the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama. With neither the US nor Iran responding at...
Obama’s Gitmo Promise May Lead to Complex New Detainee Rules
President-elect Barack Obama's promise to close the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay may seem straightforward, and indeed he had been talking about doing just that for much of the campaign. Yet this promise, or rather what to do with the detainees affected by this...
Iranian Official Praises Pact as Parliament Debates
The Iraqi parliament began debating today on whether or not to approve the controversial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States. The SOFA, which was approved yesterday by the Iraqi cabinet, outlines the terms of the continued US military presence in...
Medvedev Optimistic on US-Russia Relations Under Obama
After previously announcing his intent to deploy Iskander missiles in the exclave of Kaliningrad, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took a more hopeful tone, saying he believes negotiations with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama may be able...
Obama Promises to Follow Through on Gitmo Closure
In an interview tonight on "60 Minutes," President-elect Barack Obama reiterated a promise, made often during his campaign, that he will close the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay as part of an effort to rebuild "America's moral stature in the world." It has been...
Pakistan PM Hopes Obama Means End to US Air Strikes
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani said today that his government is in "regular contact" with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, and expressed hope that they would halt the US policy of launching drone strikes inside Pakistan....