Asia
US prepares contingency plans to seize Pakistani nuclear triggers
By James Cogan, November 20, 2009
According to veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, US officials have pushed for an “understanding” that American forces can enter Pakistan to secure its nuclear arsenal in the event of a direct threat...
Karzai inaugurated amid state of siege in Kabul
By Bill Van Auken, November 20, 2009
Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Thursday amid a state of siege in Kabul. Western officials who were present issued hypocritical demands that Karzai fight corruption.
Obama warns of new sanctions against Iran
By Peter Symonds, November 20, 2009
The Obama administration is preparing for new sanctions against Iran after Tehran called for modifications to an agreement reached last month over its stockpile of low-enriched uranium.
Rising Indian influence in Afghanistan worries US and Pakistan
By Ajay Prakash, November 19, 2009
In a sign of the escalating conflicts across the region, the top US military commander in Afghanistan has warned that India’s growing influence in Afghanistan could “exacerbate regional tensions...
Huge contradictions behind China’s stimulus-driven recovery
By John Chan, November 19, 2009
US President Obama’s visit to China focussed attention on the country’s rising economic power, high growth and large currency reserves. A closer examination, however, reveals that China’s hothou...
Top Sri Lankan general touted as presidential candidate
By K. Ratnayake, November 19, 2009
The emergence of Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka’s former Chief of Defence Staff, as a likely presidential candidate has highlighted the intense political crisis in Colombo following the end of the countr...
US-occupied Iraq, Afghanistan among world’s most corrupt countries
By Bill Van Auken, November 18, 2009
US-occupied Afghanistan is the world’s second most corrupt country—after Somalia, where no government has functioned for two decades—while Iraq is the fourth worst, according to a report release...
Indonesian police shoot two refugees trying to reach Australia
By Mike Head, November 18, 2009
The real face of the Rudd government’s hoped-for “Indonesian solution” for asylum seekers began to emerge last week. Indonesian police shot and seriously wounded two men trying to reach Australi...
The US-China summit highlights sharp schisms
By John Chan, November 18, 2009
The grand summit between Hu and Obama was mostly show and no substance. The formulations in the joint statement about the need for peace, economic cooperation and strategic trust were a rather threadb...
Sri Lankan president invokes emergency powers against workers
By Saman Gunadasa, November 18, 2009
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse imposed an Essential Services Order on ports, petroleum, electricity and water workers, banning any industrial action in support of pay demands.
Washington’s crisis over Afghanistan deepens
By Bill Van Auken, November 17, 2009
The increasingly public dissension within the Obama administration over the proposed escalation in Afghanistan reflects the reality that US imperialism has no good options in the war that it launched ...
Wave of bombings hits Pakistan’s north west
By James Cogan, November 17, 2009
The Pakistani Taliban is carrying out an intense campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations in retaliation for the military offensive in the tribal agency of South Waziristan.
