News Briefs For February 2, 2009

A man walks inside the Congress Center at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

MIDDLE EAST

US to send badminton team to Iran. But they will not meet America's political leaders.

Hamas to meet Egypt mediators on truce with Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel rules out Hamas contacts and threatens force. Also, Hamas leader thanks Iran for help in Gaza fight

The big question in the Israeli election. Was the war stopped to soon?

Iraqi PM Maliki's party poised to win in key regions.

Iran crackdown on dissent seen linked to election, U.S.

ASIA

UN official's kidnapping in Pakistan highlights security threat.

Volcano erupts near Tokyo raining ash down on city.

US experts due in NKorea this week: report.

EUROPE

Day the snow came - and Britain stopped. More here and here.

British strikes widen over foreign laborers.

Iceland's new govt faces huge problems, little time.

Clinton plans first meetings with European allies.

AFRICA

Dismay as Gadhafi chosen to lead African Union.

Moderate Islamists take on hard-liners in battle for Somalia.

Zimbabweans in South Africa have mixed reaction to Unity Government.

Kenyans are disappointed in their government's response to crisis.

THE AMERICAS

Update: Red Cross says Colombia hostage release delayed.

Reported number of Cuban political prisoners dips.

Caracas synagogue attacked amid Israel spat.

FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC CRISIS

Record 9.6% fall in output sparks fear for Japan's future.

Davos finds no answers to crisis. But .... in time of crisis, they are still looking to the U.S. with wariness and hope

Chinese PM sees 'light at end of tunnel' of global crisis.

News Briefs For January 30, 2009

PROOF - Iraqi National Police officers show their purple index fingers as proof of having voted outside the Abu Ghraib Boys High School, Jan. 28, 2009. Iraqi Security Forces, detainees, hospital patients and other special needs cases were given the opportunity to vote three days before the general population in the provincial elections, scheduled for Jan. 31. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brock Jones

MIDDLE EAST

Israeli settlements in the West Bank expand.

Hamas 'persecuting Fatah members' in Gaza.

Gaza's economy in tatters, can it be rebuilt?

U.S. Mitchell warns of setbacks ahead in Mideast talks

Cyprus detained Iran arms ship en route to Syria.

ASIA

Obama places call to China's president.

Pakistani PM says US strikes inflame tensions

North Korea renounces agreements with South Korea in challenge to US.

China, EU vow to deepen cooperation

Pakistani envoy slams India over Mumbai

Key Afghan US airfield shut down after `mishap'.

AFRICA

Al Qaeda holding Europeans taken in Mali - military.

The state of South African democracy today.

France to withdraw 1,900 troops from Africa

US skeptical about Zimbabwe power-sharing deal.

EUROPE

ETA vows to keep fighting after 50 years.

Iceland could join EU by 2011.

Refinery strikes spread across UK

AMERICAS

Homeland secretary wants criminal aliens out of US.

2010 Winter Olympics security costs rise five-fold to $1-billion

Bolivian Marxist Evo Morales cozies up to radical Islamists

Venezuelan defiance to rights treaty could set precedent.

FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC CRISIS

Ireland’s debt outlook cut to ‘negative’ by Moody’s.

Italian Mob revenue surges to $167 billion from 2007.

Iceland could be fast-tracked to join the EU within two years, to help the small Nordic state out of its economic crisis.

U.S. Q4 GDP down 3.8 percent, biggest drop since 1982.

U.S. eyes two-part bailout for Banks

Grim US, Japan data show financial crisis deepens

News Briefs For January 29, 2009

COLONEL'S MARK - An Iraqi Army colonel raises his right hand outside of the Zafraniyah polling site to show his purple index finger, a sign he voted during the “special” voting day of the provincial elections in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2009. The vote took place before the general provincial election, scheduled for Jan. 31, to accommodate Iraqi Security Forces, detainees, hospital patients and other special needs cases. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Douglas York

MIDDLE EAST

Iran sets conditions for improved ties with U.S. Iran's Ahmadinejad to seek second term.

US-protected Iran exile group in line for huge cash windfall

Assad stopped Hezbollah action over Gaza war: French envoy.

US envoy calls for durable truce as Gaza violence escalates

UN needs more than $600m for Gaza

Hamas is being accused of torture and murder. But the Turkish PM walks off stage over Gaza when he argues with the Israeli President.

Officials: Blast hits oil pipeline in east Yemen

ASIA

Obama pushes for more European troops in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan/Pakistan envoy Holbrooke going to region. But Afghanistan elections put on hold as Taleban spreads chaos.

India: attack on women raises fears of 'Hindu Taliban".

The Tamils have lost their capacity to fight a conventional war. The territory that they control is getting smaller and smaller.

EUROPE

Hundreds of thousands protest in France. More here and here.

Russian, Polish premiers meet amid missile fears.

Northern Ireland peace proposal draws outrage. More here.

Bush War on Roquefort Raises a Stink in France.

Iceland nears deal on new coalition, protests go on.

AFRICA

Tunisian court jails 22 on terrorism charges: lawyer.

Somalia: Fresh fighting erupts in central region

Somali pirates hijack German gas tanker, 13 crew.

Zimbabwe opposition to review power-sharing accord. Mugabe is in favor of the accords. Meanwhile the teachers are not working. Cholera deaths are now over 3,000 (minimum). And they have given up on their currency. But others are really suffering.

THE AMERICAS

Canadian Government survives with budget proposals.

Disenchanted with Castro's revolution

ECONOMIC/FINANCIAL CRISIS

Foreign Policy looks at five countries on the verge of following Iceland to economic ruin and political meltdown.

Global banks join clamour for bailouts.

Russia, China slam U.S. economic system, blame capitalism.

Poverty, climate change … and recession.

News Briefs For January 28, 2009

Iraqi policemen hold up their ink-stained fingers after casting their vote in the country's provincial elections in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. The polls opened Wednesday for members of the Iraqi security forces, detainees and hospital patients. General voting is scheduled on Saturday. (Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)

MIDDLE EAST

Top Defense Ministry official: Egypt sees Hamas as 'national enemy'. Egypt's attacks also include Iran and allies in Arab world.

Iraq elections begin with early voting. But in Iraq's north, ethnic strife flares as vote draws closer, and everyone agrees that the stakes are very high. Another Iraq war update: Fight shifts from AQI to Iran's agents.

Iran 'could be able to build nuclear bomb by 2010'. But Hillary Clinton sees opportunity. See here and here. Meanwhile, Iran wants an apology from the U.S. Iran is also making it very clear that they have no interest in stopping the nuclear work.

Flush with cash, Arab royals pave path Of modernity. Cities like Dubai and Doha have seen a generation's worth of change within the past five years.

ASIA

Islamabad: No deal allowing U.S. Predators into Pakistan.

Sri Lanka troops take another Tiger village: military. Numerous civilian casualties reported. Sri Lanka denies that there is a crisis.

Pakistan's Zardari vows to restore order to Swat. But another minister admits that school burnings in Swat can’t be stopped. More here. According to the British think tank IISS, insurgents roam freely on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Fiji's leader has expressed defiance, a day after the Pacific Islands Forum threatened it with expulsion if no elections were held by the end of 2009.

Over 1,000 civilians killed in Afghan fighting last year: NATO.

AFRICA

South Africa Says Zimbabwe agrees on forming a unity government. The Zimbabwean opposition though is divided on how to proceed. Zimbabwe's cholera crisis is now called desperate.

43 killed in Madagascar political violence.

U.S. and Kenya agree on how to handle captured pirates.

Obama calls South Africa's president. Was it to talk Zimbabwe?

THE EUROPE

Russia is changing its treason laws.

Israel's chief rabbinate severs Vatican ties. The Vatican tries to make up.

France to cut foreign military deployments by 15 percent.

Northern Ireland study sparks rage over payouts for all Troubles families. More here and a comment here.

Iceland raises quota for whale hunts.

Brussels proposes billions for energy projects after gas crisis.

THE AMERICAS

U.S. Homeland Security: Secretary Napolitano issues first in a series of Action Directives.

Obama says country 'cannot afford inaction' on economy. Plan will probably pass tonight or tomorrow.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will celebrate 10 years in power next week by holding a rare summit with some of his closest leftist allies in Latin America.

Raul Castro arrives in Russia to boost ties. He also wants Russian help in the lifting of the American embargo.

300 hostages killed by FARC, says former guerrilla.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS/FINANCIAL CRISIS

World economy may lose 51 million jobs: U.N. agency.

Participants have little to celebrate at Davos this year. More here.

Vladimir Putin attacks Western rescue packages. Other news outlets are saying that he is striking a conciliatory tone in Davos.

Social Forum activists see opportunity in crisis.

U.S. stimulus bill grows to $887 billion as it moves through Senate Committees

News Briefs For January 27, 2009

A Palestinian man enters the Nibras Print Shop beside a poster showing Hamas militants that were killed in Israel's recent Gaza military offensive in Gaza City, Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. The shop prints customized, full-color posters and banners commemorating the dead — a Palestinian tradition for people killed by Israel. In the wake of Israel's 22-day Gaza offensive, which killed nearly 1,300 Palestinians, the shop is one of Gaza's few businesses experiencing a postwar boom. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

MIDDLE EAST

Cairo intercepts Iranian arms ship. Is not permitted entry into the Suez canal.

Syria is ready for dialogue without conditions with the Obama administration, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview aired on Monday.

Hamas bombing, Israeli airstrike shake Gaza truce. Posters of the dead are selling well in Gaza.

Riots in Bahrain after 3 Shiite activists charged.

Iran: Soccer club dismantles women's team.

Israel's Holocaust museum reaches out to Muslims.

ASIA

Sri Lanka claims rebels now cornered in swath of jungle. More here. Also, Red Cross estimates that hundreds have recently been killed in Sri Lankan war zone. Crisis is the word commonly used.

Disturbing pictures of refugees towed by Thai naval forces to the open seas to die.

US endorses Pacific leaders' censure of Fiji govt.

India demands Mumbai attack action.

Afghanistan at critical point, poll at risk - IISS.

EUROPE

France braces for disruptions as unions call for general strike .

New coalition talks for Iceland.

Britain's House of Lords a-twitter over corruption scandal.

Europe charts a new gas future.

AFRICA

Announcement of an agreement in Zimbabwe is being made.

Somali Islamists to rule by sharia law in Baidoa. Insurgents also seize seat of Somalia's parliament. More here and here.

The Congo/Rwanda alliance is isolating the UN mission. But others are looking for peace opportunities.

Sudanese forces renew Darfur bombardment.

US to hand over any suspected pirates to Kenya.

Congo warcrimes suspect can't get fair trial: lawyer.

OXFAM says 17 million need food aid in East, Central Africa. U.S. African Command is trying their best to assist.

AMERICAS

US-Mexico border fence almost complete.

Drug violence surges in Mexico, at the same time Mexico City is opening the first of 300 planned soup kitchens.

The vote in Bolivia shows the racial divide in the country.

A crippling drought has been declared an emergency in Argentina.

GENERAL

Obama’s 1st Week: 152 Killed….Media Silent

New Russian Orthodox patriarch chosen.

Russian President Medvedev orders precise Soviet WWII death toll.

FINANCIAL CRISIS

Microsoft's Bill Gates predicts 10 years of economic recession.

Financial crisis fells the Iceland Government.

Setting up Davos for failure.

News Briefs For January 26, 2009

EAGLE FUEL - An F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft receives fuel from a KC-135R Stratotanker during a mission over Afghanistan, Jan. 24, 2009. The F-15E provides close-air support and armed aerial overwatch to deter enemy activities.U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway

TERRORISM

Fighting terrorism post-Gitmo -- a debate.

US cuts Pakistan's aid for fighting terrorism.

Keeping America safe: The view from the F.B.I. -- A commentary

The War on Terror is Dead, sayeth the Washington Post. But the struggle, or whatever we may wish to call it, continues.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

Downturn accelerates as it circles the globe.

British economy is on the brink .... depression is looming.

Crude oil falls as demand decline may exceed OPEC output cuts.

U.S. job-killing recession racks up more layoff victims.

EUROPE

Government of Iceland collapses amid riots and financial collapse.

‘Soviet’ Britain swells amid the recession.

Economic crisis fuels unrest in E. Europe

Illegal immigrants to be DNA tested under new crackdown in France.

German Jews condemn pope move over Holocaust denier.

EU makes no Guantanamo commitment.

Gas dispute with Russia boosts European interest in alternative pipeline.

ASIA

China ushers in Year of Ox with celebration.

China slams U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner's comments on currency.

The Tamil rebel leader vows to fight on.

MIDDLE EAST

US Embassy in Yemen receives threat of attack.

US envoy predicts 'direct diplomacy' with Iran. More here.

The mystery dead of Gaza. Casualty totals are not measuring up.

Yemen: Gunshots fired near US embassy.

AFRICA

Ethiopia officially ends its occupation of Somalia

Hardline Islamists claim control of Somali parliament town.

Southern African leaders seek to revive Zimbabwe power sharing accord.

Ex-militia leader denies forcing children to fight in Congo war.

Rebels on alert as Congolese, Rwandan troops close in.

Tension roils in Madagascar.

AMERICAS

Former rebels win Salvador poll.

Bolivians 'back new constitution'. The key elements of the proposed new Bolivian constitution are here.

Ex-Mexican drug czar jailed on corruption charges.