Prisoners reach through the bars in the F Cellhouse at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Okla., where they are housed in old-fashioned cells with metal bars, Friday, Jan. 18, 2008.
photo: AP
Why are so many Americans in prison?
read more Al Jazeera
The US has the highest prison population in the world - some of whom have been subjected to lengthy sentences for relatively minor crimes. And that population has surged over the past three decades. Although there has been a slight reduction in the past year, more than two million people are either incarcerated in prison or in jail awaiting trial....

File - The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) transits the Strait of Hormuz, 29 October, 2011.
photo: US Navy / Quartermaster 1st Class Thomas E. Dowling
The 'Other' USS Carriers in the Persian Gulf
read more WorldNews.com
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling We Americans might think of ourselves as democratized, but with out a doubt we are extremely virulent, even Ebolaized. This was evident as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced America would maintain a fleet of 11 formidable aircraft carriers costing billions of dollars despite sharp increases in...

Anti-Syrian regime protesters raise up their hands as they chant slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assad during an evening protest, in the Rastan area in Homs province, central Syria, on Monday Jan. 30, 2012.
photo: AP
Western pressure on Syria grows ahead of UN debate
read more BBC News
Western countries are preparing to push for a tough resolution at a UN Security Council meeting on the crisis in Syria. Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi will be asking the...

President Barack Obama delivers a televised address from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 22, 2011 on his plan to drawdown U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool
Barack Obama confirms US drone strikes in Pakistan
read more The Times of India
SHARE AND DISCUSSTweet WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Monday confirmed that US drone aircraft have struck Taliban and al-Qaida targets within Pakistan -- operations that until now had not been officially acknowledged. When asked about the use of drones by his administration in a chat with web users on Google+ and YouTube, Obama said "a lot...

Front row left to right, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Second row left, to right, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Belgium's Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy , Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Necas during a group photo at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders will try to come up with ways to boost growth despite steep budget cuts across the continent when they meet in Brussels on Monday.
photo: AP / Frank Augstein
EU summit: UK and Czechs refuse to join fiscal compact
read more BBC News
Twenty-five of the EU's 27 member states have agreed to join a fiscal treaty to enforce budget discipline. The Czech Republic and the UK refused to sign up. The UK's position was already well known, while the Czechs cited "ratification...

India Village Woman making food on the roadside at Kolkata in Eastern India City
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
UN panel aims for 'a future worth choosing'
read more BBC News
Growing inequality, environmental decline and "teetering" economies mean the world must change the way it does business, a UN report concludes. Health and education must improve, it says. Subsidies on...

In this photo taken during a government-organised visit for media, Syrian army soldiers ride on their military trucks as they enter the villages near the town of Jisr al-Shughour, north of Damascus, Syria, on Friday June 10, 2011.
photo: AP / Bassem Tellawi
Syrian army launches offensive near Damascus
read more my SA
BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian military launched an offensive to regain control of suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus Sunday, storming neighborhoods and clashing with groups of army defectors in fierce fighting that sent residents fleeing and killed at least three civilians, activists said. Six soldiers were also killed when a roadside bomb...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks after visiting victims wounded in Tuesday's suicide bomb attack at the Emergency Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. Afghanistan's president vowed Wednesday to confront the Pakistani government over a devastating suicide bombing against a Shiite shrine in Kabul that he said originated in Pakistan, putting further pressure on already strained relations between the two neighbors. (AP Photo/S. Sabawoon, pool)
photo: AP / S. Sabawoon, pool
Afghan President Hamid Karzai 'plans talks with Taliban'
read more BBC News
The Afghan government is planning to meet the Taliban in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to jump-start peace talks, the BBC has learned. The landmark meeting will come in the coming weeks, before the establishment of a Taliban office in Qatar, according to Western and Afghan officials. The Taliban have refused previously to recognise the government of...

An Iranian protester holds an anti-Israel poster for condemning activities of International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, at the Imam Khomeini airport, waiting for arrival of the agency's delegates, who were not appeared in public, on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012.
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
UN nuclear inspectors arrive in Iran
read more The Observer
Iranian students protest at Imam Khomini Airport in Tehran during the arrival of the team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA A UN nuclear team arrived in Tehran early on Sunday for a mission expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt to develop nuclear weapons. The UN nuclear agency...

Anti-Syrian regime protesters raise their hands and chant slogans during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Deir Baghlaba area in Homs province, central Syria, on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012.
photo: AP
Arab League suspends monitoring mission in Syria
read more The Los Angeles Times
Reporting from BeirutThe Arab League said Saturday that it was suspending its observer mission in Syria amid escalating violence that has left scores dead in recent days. The decision is the latest sign that the 10-month-old crisis in Syria is worsening as diplomats at the United Nations prepare to consider a league-backed plan calling on...


Cold Weather Kills Dozens In Eastern Europe
At least 60 people have died due to freezing conditions caused by a cold snap in eastern and central Europe. The drop in temperatures, forcing some countries to deploy the army and set up emergency shelters, is set to continue to Friday, forecasters...
photo: WN / Marzena Jazowska
IAEA Fact-Finding Mission Assesses Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
The UN's nuclear watchdog has given its seal of approval to Japan's reactor safety checks, but said power companies should step up plans for managing disasters in the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns. A delegation from the International Atomic...
photo: UN / IAEA/Greg Webb
In this May 26, 2011 photo released by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, members of the IAEA fact-finding team in Japan examine the diesel generator room at Unit 1 of the Fukushima Dai-ni nuclear plant in Naraha, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan.
SHARE AND DISCUSSTweetJapan's cabinet approved bills on Tuesday aimed at bolstering nuclear safety regulations following last year's Fukushima disaster. TOKYO: Japan's cabinet approved bills on Tuesday aimed at bolstering nuclear safety regulations...
photo: AP / IAEA
British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011.
David Cameron says a new treaty paving the way for closer fiscal co-operation among EU members will not place obligations on the UK. BBC political correspondent Iain Watson examines his manoeuvrings in Brussels, which have upset some euro-sceptic...
photo: AP / Thierry Charlier
AU extends mandate of top executive official
AFP - The African Union on Tuesday extended the mandate of its top official Jean Ping after an election, in which he was challenged by South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, deadlocked. "We have decided to prolong the mandate of the current...
photo: UN / Paulo Filgueiras
Tropical Cyclone 08S formed in the Mozambique Channel and moved westward directly toward Mozambique’s east coast.
Photo: NASATropical Cyclone Funso exiting the Mozambique Channel on January 27 2012JOHANNESBURG, 30 January 2012 (IRIN) - About 40 people have died and more than 100,000 are affected by twin storms that struck Mozambique 18-26 January, according to...
photo: Public Domain / Jeffrey Schmaltz
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin looks on during a cabinet meeting in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.
MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is running for the Russian presidency, says Russia must diversify its economy away from oil and gas to high-tech products to...
photo: AP / RIA Novosti, Yana Lapikova, Pool

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