All Security Watch
- Why Israel is even less likely to strike Iran nowObama appears to be hemming in Israel at every turn. Case in point: A report in which unnamed US officials allege that Israel has obtained access to bases in Azerbaijan, on Iran's border.
Syria 'friends' to pay salaries of rebels fighting AssadSaudi Arabia and other Gulf nations are setting up a fund to pay members of the Free Syrian Army as part of a larger international commitment.
Israeli efforts to defuse 'Land Day' tensions fail as clashes erupt at checkpointSome Palestinian protesters threw rocks at Israeli soldiers amid Land Day commemorations of the 1976 killing of six Palestinian citizens of Israel. Israeli forces responded with tear gas.
Report: North Korea gassing up rocket, imperiling diplomacyA Japanese newspaper report that North Korea has begun fueling a rocket for a launch next month comes after similar reports of preparations.
Syria violence raises concerns Assad is only buying time with UN cease-fire dealThe day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly agreed to UN envoy Kofi Annan's cease-fire plan, fighting continued in several cities.
Reports: Afghan soldiers complicit in a suicide plot against their own governmentThe alleged discovery of nearly a dozen suicide vests at the Afghan Ministry of Defense deepens concerns about the loyalty of Afghan security forces, which have already killed 16 coalition troops this year.
Iraq's ominous trendline of violenceTerrorism is up in Iraq, as are political tensions.
Turkey closes its Syria embassy, boosts aid to oppositionThe embassy closure by such a key regional player is likely to increase pressure on the Syrian government. Turkey also pledged, along with the US, to increase 'non-lethal aid' to Syrian rebels.
EU expands Syrian sanctions to include Assad's fashionable British wifeThe European Union has announced that it will freeze the assets of four members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's family, including his British wife Asma.
NATO fatalities in Afghanistan: 22 percent this year at hands of Afghan Army, policeGen. John Allen urged Congress yesterday to 'stay the course' but offered little encouraging data.
UN Security Council poised to threaten Syria's Assad - with Russia's blessingThe United Nations Security Council secured Russia's critical backing yesterday for a statement backing envoy Kofi Annan's peacemaking plan. The step marks a distinct shift in Russia's stance.
A faulty argument for staying on in AfghanistanMarc Thiessen of the Washington Post's op-ed page is promising doom when US troops pull out of Afghanistan. There is no reason to believe he's close to correct.
Spate of bombings in Iraq undermines stability ahead of Arab summitA series of bombings across Iraq today belie Iraq's efforts to portray itself as a stable, resurgent power as it prepares to host the annual Arab League summit for the first time since 1990.
Fighting in Damascus belies Syrian government's claim of controlSyrian government troops and rebel forces clashed in the most violence Damascus has seen in the year-old uprising.
NATO's Afghan strategy tested as Taliban talks derail, Karzai demands troop pullbackDetails are emerging about US soldier who killed Afghan civilians in a rampage that spurred Afghan President Karzai to demand that US troops leave village outposts.
Afghans angry that shooting suspect flown out of countryThe US military says it is standard procedure to move the suspect, but many Afghans are demanding the US soldier accused of killing 16 villagers in Kandahar face justice in the country.
Next on Syrian hit list: Deraa, cradle of the uprisingAfter overrunning Homs and launching an assault on Idlib, Syrian government troops are staging an offensive on Deraa, where the uprising began a year ago.
Report: Syrian forces overrun rebel strongholdSyrian government troops appear to have overrun the rebel-held city of Idlib in an offensive that apparently began while UN special envoy Kofi Annan was still in the country.
Activists: With UN gone, Syrian forces kill nearly 50 women, childrenActivists described 'horrific' methods used by Syrian government forces and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting. The government blamed the deaths on terrorists.
Former Israeli spy chief talks down strike on Iran nuclear sites as 'stupidest idea'Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan gave a lengthy interview to CBS's 60 Minutes just days after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu came to Washington to drum up support for an Iran nuclear strike.
