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Showing posts from January, 2012

Russia urged not to veto U.N. resolution calling for Assad’s exit

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Tuesday that Syria risks becoming engulfed in a civil war as its people take up arms to oppose a violent crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising.

U.N. offcials clear camp for Iranian dissidents in Iraq

U.N. officials said Tuesday that conditions at a new camp for Iranian dissidents in Iraq meet international standards and that they had asked the Iraqi government to prepare to transport the exiles to the site.

Clinton: U.S. condemns uptick in Syrian crackdown

The Obama administration on Monday condemned Syria ’s brutal crackdown on protesters and called on the U.N. Security Council to act against the Syrian regime.

Gadhafi allies in Libya subject to torture by militias

Revolutionary militias in Libya are torturing suspected Gadhafi supporters and other detainees in centers across the country with impunity, a top U.N. official and human rights groups say.

Bring outsourced jobs back to US: Obama

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday night urged American business leaders to bring outsourced jobs back to the US and said companies that send jobs overseas should not get a tax break.

Libyan protesters lash out at new ‘monster’ in power

Libyans are accusing their new rulers of corruption, secrecy and nepotism, as protests grow across the country only three months after the death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi fueled hopes for democratic change in the North African nation.

Iranian dissidents: Iraq trying to force us into ‘concentration camp’

Iranian dissidents at a camp north of Baghdad allege that the Iraqi government is preparing a “concentration camp” to which they are to be relocated under a United Nations -brokered plan. 

‘Pak ignored army’s rights abuse’

The Pakistani government, under pressure from its army, appeased extremist groups and ignored human rights abuse by the army in 2011, while security in the country deteriorated dramatically as a consequence of a surge in attacks by militants, according to Human Rights Watch.

Bruce Riedel: ‘A Civilian Regime Will Be There As Cosmetic Cover’

Bruce Riedel led a review of US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan in the early days of President Barack Obama’s administration. A former CIA officer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Riedel spoke to Ashish Kumar Sen , and discussed developments in Pakistan.

Gingrich shocks Romney in South Carolina

Former speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, on Saturday night stormed to a decisive victory in the Republican Party’s primary election in South Carolina to pick a challenger to Barack Obama in presidential elections in November.

Chinese dissident describes torture

Chinese dissident Yu Jie said Wednesday that security officials in Beijing tortured him to the brink of death because of his political opinions and friendship with another prominent pro-democracy advocate, Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo .

Pakistani court raps prime minister

Pakistan's government faced a constitutional threat Monday from the Supreme Court, which began contempt proceedings against the prime minister for failing to reopen a corruption investigation against the president.

US to restore full diplomatic ties with Myanmar

The US will appoint an ambassador to Burma for the first time since 1990, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Friday. Clinton said the US and Burma will soon begin a lengthy process of exchanging ambassadors, which would hinge on the pace of reform in Burma.

Amid Army-govt standoff, Zardari leaves for Dubai

Fervent pleas for ‘sanity’ by the Pakistani media and international pressure may just have averted the possibility of a military coup but political uncertainty and a potentially dangerous standoff between the military and the Government kept Pakistan on the edge today.

Imran for different plan for making peace with India

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan on Friday said it was time for a "different strategy" to make peace with India and warned that putting the Kashmir issue on the back burner could result in a terrorist attack similar to the one in Mumbai in 2008. "

US in damage control mode to keep talks with Taliban on track

Top US officials, in a bid to keep peace talks with the Taliban on track, scrambled on Thursday to limit the fallout from a video of US soldiers urinating on the bodies of dead Afghans. Talks with the Taliban are widely expected to start within weeks.

U.S., Myanmar to exchange diplomats

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced that the U.S. and Myanmar will start the process of exchanging ambassadors, a distinct sign of a thaw in once frosty relations between the two countries.

Rift stirs fears of military coup in Pakistan

Fears of a coup in Pakistan increased Wednesday when the military warned of “potentially grievous consequences” after the prime minister criticized the army chief and the head of the country’s spy agency.

Libya gets reprieve on extradition of Gadhafi son to ICC

The International Criminal Court on Tuesday gave Libya ’s leaders two more weeks to decide whether they plan to hand over Moammar Gadhafi’s most prominent son, Seif al-Islam , to face trial on charges of crimes against humanity.

Syrian opposition row over foreign military action nixes unity effort

Efforts by the U.S. and the Arab League to work with a unified Syrian opposition have been stymied, mostly due to two opposition groups’ disagreement on foreign military action to oust President Bashar Assad .

Afghan Taliban to open Qatar office for peace talks

A decision by the Afghan Taliban to set up a liaison office in Qatar is the first concrete step in a decade by the militants toward a peace deal, but it shuts out a key negotiating partner - Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government.