Views Show How North Korea Policy Spread Misery

Like many North Koreans, the construction worker lived in penury. His state employer had not paid him for so long that he had forgotten his salary. Indeed, he paid his boss to be listed as a dummy worker so that he could leave his work site. Then he and his wife could scrape out a [...]

Afghanistan Strategy Shifts to Focus on Civilian Effort

The prospect of a robust military push in Kandahar Province, which had been widely expected to begin this month, has evolved into a strategy that puts civilian reconstruction efforts first and relegates military action to a supportive role. The strategy, Afghan, American and NATO civilian and military officials said in interviews, was adopted because of [...]

Israel Holds Hundreds Seized During Raid on Flotilla

A day after Israeli commandos raided an aid flotilla seeking to breach the blockade of Gaza, Israel held more than 600 activists seized aboard the convoy on Tuesday as news reports said activists may be planning a fresh attempt to ferry supplies to the Hamas-run enclave. As international pressure mounted for Israel to end its [...]

Sectarian Attacks Hit Two Pakistani Mosques

Gunmen attacked two mosques belonging to a minority sect during Friday Prayers in Lahore, seizing worshipers and repelling police officers as they tried to rescue the hostages, witnesses said. At least 42 people were killed at one of the mosques, located near the central railway station, said a civil defense officer, Mazhar Ahmed. More than [...]

North Korea to Suspend Naval Hot Line With South

North Korea said on Thursday that it was cutting off a naval hot line used to prevent clashes on its disputed sea border with South Korea, while the South conducted a large naval drill in a show of force after the apparent sinking of one of its ships by a North Korean submarine. Cutting the [...]

U.S. Is a Top Villain in Pakistan’s Conspiracy Talk

Americans may think that the failed Times Square bomb was planted by a man named Faisal Shahzad. But the view in the Supreme Court Bar Association here in Pakistan’s capital is that the culprit was an American “think tank.” No one seems to know its name, but everyone has an opinion about it. It is [...]

North Korea Cuts All Ties With South

North and South Korea accelerated their diplomatic confrontation on Tuesday over the recent sinking of a South Korean warship, with the South saying it would redesignate the North its “archenemy” and North Korea severing almost all of its remaining ties to its far wealthier neighbor. American officials were cautious in their public statements, eager to [...]

U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast

The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents. The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. [...]

U.S. Backs South Korea in Cutting Trade With the North

Tensions escalated sharply Monday on the Korean Peninsula as the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, said that his nation would sever nearly all trade with North Korea, deny North Korean merchant ships use of South Korean sea lanes and ask the United Nations Security Council to punish the North for what he called the deliberate [...]

Elite U.S. Units Step Up Effort in Afghan City Before Attack

Small bands of elite American Special Operations forces have been operating with increased intensity for several weeks in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan’s largest city, picking up or picking off insurgent leaders to weaken the Taliban in advance of major operations, senior administration and military officials say. The looming battle for the spiritual home of the Taliban [...]

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