After Iraq war, uncertainty and seemingly mixed messages
Sep 3, 2010 World
BAGHDAD – As President Obama declared Tuesday that it was “time to turn the page” in Iraq, Mahmoud Othman – tuning in to the Oval Office address here at 3 a.m. – listened in shock.
Iraq – Iraq War – United States – Warfare and Conflict – Barack Obama
Karzai urges Afghans not to panic as bank withdrawals accelerate
Sep 3, 2010 World
As depositors thronged branches of Afghanistan’s biggest bank, Mahmoud Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a major shareholder in the beleaguered Kabul Bank, called Thursday for intervention by the United States to head off a financial meltdown.
Afghanistan – Kabul Bank – Hamid Karzai – Asia – Kabul
A veteran rock-and-roll manager returns – in South America
Sep 3, 2010 World
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – He was once one of London’s best-known ’60s-era rogues, dressed flamboyantly, spinning around town in a Mini Cooper and using a bodyguard known as “the butcher” to threaten his rivals.
South America – Rock music – Maps and Views – Sweden – Painting
Karzai calls aide’s arrest reminiscent of Soviet times
Sep 3, 2010 World
Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke out angrily against the arrest of one of his closest aides last month on corruption charges, saying that the detention was conducted in a manner “exactly reminiscent of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who appeared with Karzai
Soviet Union – Hamid Karzai – United States – Political corruption – Civil and political rights
Abstinence program partners Chinese officials with U.S. evangelicals
Sep 3, 2010 World
BEIJING – If all goes according to plan, this fall a girl somewhere in China’s Yunnan Province will tell her boyfriend she can’t have sex with him. And he’ll have an abstinence program from the United States to thank.
Sex education – Education – Abstinence-Only – Sexuality – Opposing Views
In speech, Calderon acknowledges "central threat" of drug cartels to Mexico
Sep 3, 2010 World
MEXICO CITY – President Felipe Calderon acknowledged Thursday that an increasingly bloody war with powerful drug trafficking organizations continues to pose “the central threat” to Mexico.
Mexico – Drug cartel – Organized crime – Crime – Narcotrafficantes
Dozens dead in army offensive: Darfur rebels (AFP)
Sep 3, 2010 World
AFP – A Darfur rebel group said on Friday that the Sudanese army had launched a major offensive against territory under its control killing 74 people, most of them civilians.
Fidel Castro dusts off military uniform (AP)
Sep 3, 2010 World
AP – Fidel Castro dusted off his military fatigues for the first time since stepping down as president four years ago, a symbolic act in a Communist country where little signals often carry enormous significance.
Blasts rip through possible Hezbollah weapons site (AP)
Sep 3, 2010 World
AP – Explosions ripped through a building Friday in southern Lebanon that might have been used to store weapons by the militant group Hezbollah, security officials said.