Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, visited both countries this week, and on Sunday during a news conference in Kabul signed an agreement with the Afghan president Hamid Karzai which affirmed regional commitment to reducing civilian deaths in the struggle against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The toD verdict: The document is a sign of increased co-operation between the two countries, and also gives Afghan security forces more responsibility in counter-insurgency operations, attacks and searches. Karzai's criticism of the US and NATO over civilian deaths in Afghanistan strained relations between Kabul and Washington. The Afghan government was one of few not to have been contacted by Obama after his inauguration.
Karzai, whose rise owed owed much to the Bush administration, dubbed the former US president "a great person", but also signalled his intentions to work closely with Obama, who he in turn called "a great inspiration to the world", to improve the security situation in Afghanistan. His acknowledgement of corruption within his own government can also be seen as a small step towards a US-Afghan "détente". Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.
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It remains to be seen whether these agreements represent a true thawing of relations between the two countries, and what effect they will have on the Afghan presidential elections which are due to take place in August and in which the Obama administration is widely expected to favour an alternative candidate to Karzai.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a US air strike in Badghis province in the southwest of the country killed nine Taliban insurgents.
Police clash with Kurdish protesters in Turkey
Protests in Turkey over the weekend resulted in at least 15 people being admitted to hospital after clashes between the police and Kurds commemorating the 10 anniversary of the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK, which was established in 1978 and is currently recognised by much of the western world as a terrorist group, has been fighting its separatist campaign since 1984. Ocalan, whose death sentence was altered to one of life imprisonment in 2002, remains in solitary confinement in an island jail near Turkey. His demand for a separate Kurdish state has cooled to a call for a confederation with some Kurdish autonomy. The clashes resulted in 50 people being taken into police custody after the police reacted to the protests with tear gas and water cannons.
Neo-Nazis protest wartime bombing
Six thousand people took to the streets of Dresden on Saturday in a neo-Nazi rally which was organised to commemorate the anniversary of allied bombing which killed 25,000 people at the end of World War II. The far larger opposition rally, held at the same time, was dispersed by police after it became violent.
Leadership battle continues in Madagascar
Monday is to prove decisive in the ongoing leadership dispute in Madagascar, as challenger to the government Andry Rajoelina attempts to put in place his own government. Addressing a crowd of 35,000 on Saturday, Marc Ravalomanana, Madagascar's president, said he was not going to step down and cede power to his contender. The power contest has claimed over one hundred lives in one month during often violent protests; last week, 25 people died in one such demonstration.
US not convinced by North Korea "space development" tests
Hours before US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's arrival in Asia in what was to be her first overseas visit since taking office, the North Korean government declared its rights to carry out the testing of a long-range rocket under the auspices of its space programme. However, experts say that the rocket is a long-range missile that is intended for military purposes and is capable of reaching Alaska. The announcement of the government in Pyongyang that they have the right to "peace scientific research" for their space development programme has been discarded by the US, and the Obama administration has agreed to normalise relations with the country only if they dismantle their nuclear capabilities. Tensions between North and South Korea due to the latter's hard-line pro-US government continue.
Goodwill truce announced by Taliban
A ceasefire has been announced by the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley which is to last 10 days. The announcement on Sunday by a spokesperson for Mullah Fazlullah, the region's Taliban leader, was intended as a goodwill gesture to allow negotiations to continue uninterrupted. It came as the Pakistani government has permitted the use of sharia law in parts of the restive area in a concession to the Taliban and religious extremists.
Meanwhile, the promised execution of kidnapped UN official John Solecki was delayed a few days by his kidnappers, the so-called Baluch United Liberation Front. Elsewhere, on Monday an attack by a US drone on buildings occupied by Taliban militants resulted in 26 deaths in the Kurram tribal region.
