Ashish Kumar Sen

Pakistan-Haqqani ties threaten to thwart U.S. Western officials and analysts say U.S. and U.N. pressure is failing to persuade Pakistan to cut its ties to a terrorist network whose attacks coalition forces fear could complicate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan .

Park breaks through ‘glass ceiling’ to win presidency of South Korea South Koreans on Wednesday elected their first female president — Park Geun-hye , leader of the conservative New Frontier Party — in a close election with results that are likely to please U.S. officials, analysts said.

Syrian vice president: No one can win civil war Syria ’s embattled regime is showing signs of a willingness to ditch President Bashar Assad and seek a political solution to the 21-month-old civil war, which has claimed 40,000 lives, officials and analysts say.

Diplomat: Palestinians to oppose Israeli settlements Palestinians will oppose Israel nonviolently if the Jewish state proceeds with plans to build settlements between Jerusalem and the West Bank, the top Palestinian official in Washington said Friday.

Russia says Assad is losing control Russia , which has provided military and political support key to the Syrian regime, acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that President Bashar Assad is losing control and the rebels may win the civil war that has dragged on for 21 months and claimed an estimated 40,000 lives.

Newly recognized Syrian coalition hits U.S. terrorist designation The leader of Syria ’s opposition coalition urged the U.S. Wednesday to reconsider its decision to designate an al Qaeda -affiliated group fighting against President Bashar Assad ’s regime as a foreign terrorist group.

Obama gives Syrian rebels recognition President Obama said on Tuesday that the United States will formally recognize a coalition of Syrian opposition groups as that country’s legitimate representative, intensifying pressure on President Bashar Assad ’s embattled regime.

Xi’s rise to top began in adversity Xi Jinping, anointed last month as China’s new leader, was an impressionable 9-year-old in 1962 when his father, a prominent revolutionary and vice premier, fell out of favor with Mao Zedong.

Israel approves expansion of controversial Jewish settlements Jerusalem: On the heels of a United Nations General Assembly vote to upgrade Palestine’s status to non-member observer state, the Israeli Government has approved the expansion of controversial Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem that would seriously undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state.  

Israel’s Sderot peaceful for now, but will ceasefire last? A two-foot wide crater in a concrete wall, a smashed flower pot and jagged streaks on a metal gate as though someone tried to vandalise it with a sharp knife are all the evidence that remains of the rocket that struck a home in Sderot last week.