Sarko backs off

Sarko the Calm

French president Nicolas Sarkozy distanced his government further from the claims of the foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, who earlier this week suggested that the west had to prepare for war against Iran. Sarkozy maintained that it was "unacceptable" to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb.

Europe risks irrelevance if it doesn't soften its approach to Iran, says Kanishk Tharoor on toD.

The Council on Foreign Relations previews the impending confrontation between US and Iranian diplomats at the United Nations.

Lebanon buries GhanemKeep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.

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Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of the anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanem, who was killed in a car bomb blast in east Beirut earlier this week. Lebanon's political elite have been quick to point fingers at the Syrian government, which has been implicated in a string of assassinations of leading Lebanese political figures.

Anti-Musharraf protests rock Islamabad

Hundreds of demonstrators from various opposition groups gathered in front of Pakistan's supreme court to protest against plans by Pervez Musharraf to seek another term as president. Protestors included followers of Islamist parties as well as cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's more secular following.

Access the full transcript of Osama bin Laden's call to jihad for the people of Pakistan on the Counterterrorism blog.

Caste-Maoist justice in Bihar

Twenty-three members of an "upper caste militia" in the lawless and impoverished Indian state of Bihar have been sentenced to prison terms for the massacre of dozens of lower caste villagers in 2000. The attack on the lower caste village was in retaliation for a Maoist raid on wealthy landowners.

German anti-terrorism row

Serious divisions over security strategy are threatening to disintegrate Angela Merkel's "grand coalition", with Socialists at odds with Christian Democrats over the remarks of the interior minister on the threat posed to the country by nuclear-armed terrorists.

Sistani aides killed

Two of the closest aides to Iraq's principal Shia leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani were shot dead in separate incidents in southern Iraq.

Even after its licence was pulled by the Iraqi government, private security firm Blackwater is still operating in Iraq.

UK plutonium insecure

According to Royal Society report, the UK has stockpiled 100 tonnes of plutonium, enough material to make 17,000 bombs. The report raises questions over the security of such a large cache of plutonium.

In toD, Jeff Lindemyer sees a slip-up in US nuclear weapons controls as cause for global concern.

Hamas rebuffed by Israel

Before unilaterally declaring Gaza an "enemy entity", Israel rebuffed out-of-hand the diplomatic advances of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

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