World News

A U.S soldier of 2nd Platoon Bravo Company 2-327 Infantry returns fire to Taliban positions after Taliban attacked them during a patrol in Chowkay district near Pakistani border in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec 28, 2010.

photo: AP / Rafiq Maqbool

700 NATO soldiers killed in 2010; new firefights
read more Newsvine

KABUL — A coalition patrol fought off an insurgent attack in mountainous eastern Afghanistan Tuesday, on a day when two servicemen were killed in the country's troubled south, bringing the death toll for foreign troops in the country 2010 to 700, according to an AP count. This year is by far the deadliest for the coalition in the nearly...

Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Nassed Mohammed Al Sabah, center, arrives at the country's National Assembly to face questioning by opposition lawmakers on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010.

photo: AP / Gustavo Ferrari

Kuwait PM faces parliament grilling over clashes
read more The Guardian

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait's prime minister faced a rare grilling in parliament Tuesday from opposition lawmakers seeking to force his resignation over accusations of using strong-arm tactics against government critics. The political revolt against Prime Minister Sheik Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah could threaten the stability of the government in one...

File - Palestinian women and men wave their national flag during a rally to celebrate International Women's Day in Gaza City, 08 March 2007.

photo: WN Gaza

Palestine: recognising the state
read more Al Jazeera

On December 17, Bolivia extended diplomatic recognition to the State of Palestine within its full pre-1967 borders (all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem). Coming soon after the similar recognitions by Brazil and Argentina, Bolivia's recognition brought to 106 the number of UN member states recognizing the State of...

Some of Mikhail Khodorkovsky supporters hold his portrait outside a court room in Moscow, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010. A Russian judge starts delivering the verdict in the second trial of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man who is serving an eight-year sentence in a case widely seen as punishment for challenging the Kremlin and is now facing several more years in prison if convicted.

photo: AP / Ivan Sekretarev

Russia accuses West of meddling in tycoon's trial
read more The Guardian

* Sentence expected this week * West says guilty verdict a setback for Russia * Prosecutors have called for six more years in prison By Alexei Anishchuk and Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States and European nations on Tuesday of trying to influence the trial of jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, calling such...

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani delivers his speech during the flag hoisting ceremony to mark the country's independence day in Islamabad, Pakistan on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008. As Pakistan marked the 61st anniversary of its independence from Britain in ceremonies, Gilani pledged to defeat extremism, saying the fight was a "war of our own survival."

photo: AP / Anjum Naveed

Another setback for Pakistan government as MQM parts ways
read more Deccan Herald

Islamabad, Dec 28, (IANS): Tuesday, December 28, 2010 --> The ruling coalition in Pakistan led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has suffered a major setback as another of its key ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), decided to part ways with the government. "The reservations of the party have not been addressed and we are forced to make a...

A U.S. Airways jet is seen amidst snow blown by gust of wind at the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010. A powerful East Coast blizzard menaced would-be travelers by air, rail and highway Monday, leaving thousands without a way to get home after the holidays and shutting down major airports and rail lines for a second day.

photo: AP / Matt Rourke

New York, Boston airports open again
read more The Times of India

NEW YORK: New York's three regional airports opened for business again on Monday evening after a record blizzard dumped more than 50 cm of snow on the region and shut down transport. The Federal Aviation...

The Wall St. street sign is photographed against the American flag outside the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 in New Yo

photo: AP / Mary Altaffer

Regulators push transparency on bank pay, bonuses
read more San Fransisco Chronicle

0 Get Quote Symbol Lookup Bankers' pay should be more transparent to investors to prevent lenders from hiding policies that encourage irresponsible risk taking, global regulators said in draft proposals. International rules on the disclosure of pay "will allow market participants to assess the quality of a bank's compensation practices and the...

Indian intellectuals hold placards during a protest against the conviction of a 60-year-old human rights activist Dr. Binayak Sen, in New delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010. An Indian court convicted Sen for aiding communist rebels in eastern India and sentenced him to life in prison, his attorney said Saturday. He has worked in tribal villages and repeatedly tried to rally people to fight for their rights, often invoking the ire of authorities.

photo: AP / Mustafa Quraishi

Call to free India rights activist Binayak Sen
read more BBC News

Continue reading the main story Related stories Indian poverty fuels Maoist insurgency Dr Binayak Sen: Tribal doctor Jailed rights activist wins award Civil rights groups and academics in India and the US have called on India's government to free a leading public health specialist and human rights activist, Dr Binayak Sen. He was sentenced to life...

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Walter Falls, an entry control point specialist with the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team, secures the walls surrounding the Nurgaram district center in Nuristan province, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2010.

photo: USAF / Chief Master Sgt. Richard Simonsen

Jury still out on US Afghan-Pak strategy in 2010
read more Yahoo Daily News

KABUL (AFP) – The US strategy to defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban tripled American troops fighting in Afghanistan and doubled missile strikes in Pakistan, but hangs in the balance after a year of record violence. Since taking office, President Barack Obama has ordered more than 50,000 extra troops into battle to reverse Taliban momentum and...

photo: Public Domain /

My Lai, WikiLeaks and the Pacification of Perception
read more WorldNews.com

Article by WN.Com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "The rampaging GI's were not interested solely in killing, although that seemed foremost in their minds. Just outside the village there was this big pile of bodies. This really tiny kid-he had only a shirt on, nothing else-he came over to this pile and held the hand of one of the dead. One of the GI's...