Pakistan reopens critical border crossing to Nato convoys. Heir-apparent and new missiles appear at North Korean military parade. Kyrgyz voters avoid violence in parliamentary election. Budget woes constrain UN war crimes tribunals. All this and more in today’s security briefing.
Pakistan condemns US drone use in north-west as Pak-US relations hit new low. Attack on British Embassy in Yemen highlights declining security situation there. Ugandan president offers to send 20,000 troops to bolster UN peacekeepers in Somalia. Guinean officials agree to run-off presidential vote
Afghanistan was not always the abyss it’s thought to be today. If it is to be stabilised, it needs to resume its position as a transit between its many neighbours. Washington, however, remains over-dependent on Pakistani routes to Afghanistan for fear of increasing Iranian influence and in so doin
Arizona's harsh immigration laws are being pioneered or supported by local leaders who have a political motive or financial stake in incarcerating and detaining as many prisoners or immigrants as possible
The rise of the Tea Party movement in the United States in the first twenty months of Barack Obama’s presidency is shaking the political establishment, an effect reinforced by the victories of its candidates in Republican Party primaries. But where has the movement come from, and what is its inner
Kashmir rocked by intensification of violence. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks overshadowed by violence. US drone strike kills 15 in northwest Pakistan. France blocks extradition of Rwandan genocide suspect. All this and more in today’s security briefing.
Saudi Arabia agrees one of the world's largest ever arms deals; Sweeping constitutional reform in Turkey challenges military; US attack drones under the spotlight once again in Pakistan; Large-scale personnel changes for Nigeria's security services; More drug arrests, as Obama contradicts Clinton
The attacks on US market provision of high-quality programming by defenders of the BBC, exemplified by Steve Barnett's response to David Graham's Adam Smith Institute paper, are misguided and misleading. Despite differences between the US and UK, we still have much to learn from US TV, argues Davi
Whatever else may be beyond our control, we are all free to choose which 9/11 moves us most deeply
Ban seeks to placate Kagame over UN report. China warns Japan over fishing boat incident. ‘Nigerian Taliban’ raid jail, freeing prisoners. Bombing rocks Russian market. Clinton describes Mexico drugs crime as “like an insurgency.” All this and more in today’s briefing.
Minorities often bear the weight of a society’s frustration, all the more so when domestic problems, like an economic downturn, combine with the external pressures of a perceived threat. This is when solidarity is needed most
The US now holds more people in solitary than anywhere else in the world. Observers reckon the numbers, which have increased dramatically in the last twenty years, are somewhere between 25,000 and 80,000. But there is a growing clamour for change
