France aims to take its full place in NATO
MUNICH – President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and top NATO officials will begin a diplomatic effort this month to persuade lawmakers in Paris to accept Sarkozy's plans to return France to full membership in NATO military command structures in time for the alliance's summit meeting in April.
A court for a new America
THE HAGUE – Of the many issues that have soured relations between Europe and the United States under the Bush administration, few have been as poisonous as America's refusal to join the world's first permanent war crimes court here. The snub has been seen as a symbol of US contempt for the rule of law.
Germany approves mission
BERLIN – Seeking to keep the biggest German peacekeeping mission from becoming an election issue next year, Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government won overwhelming approval from Parliament on Thursday to send an extra 1,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 14 months.
Between the 2 Koreas, a border fortified by mistrust
BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – Just a dozen kilometers from this northernmost island of South Korea, North Korea has massed two army divisions, their artillery and rockets pointed directly at the South.
With budget to stake, Obama is ready to fight
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration began a vigorous new offensive this weekend to sell its economic program, countering Republicans who call the new budget plan "mind-boggling" in its numbers and ambition.
Muslims seek to build future in Italy
MILAN – On one side of a drab street in working-class Milan, a squat structure houses a conservative mosque linked in the past to suspected Islamic terrorists.
Obama takes note of budget deficit but promises decisive action
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama took sober note Wednesday of a stunning projection by the Congressional Budget Office for a $ 1.2 trillion federal budget deficit this year, then warned that without decisive action, "trillion-dollar deficits will be a reality for years to come. "
The EU considers the possibility of a small-country bailout
BRUSSELS – Could Europe's biggest economies be called upon to bail out the smaller, weaker ones?
Dalai Lama gets top rating in survey on world leaders
PARIS – The Dalai Lama is the most respected world leader among Western Europeans and Americans, a poll being made public Friday shows, while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany does the best job of combining respect with worldwide influence.
Media culture grows up in Eastern Europe
BERLIN – Marius Hagger is no stranger to intimidation or threats. Hagger, general manager of Ringier media group in Romania, said his staff has often faced verbal and physical attacks for articles appearing in one of their newspapers or magazines in the country.
Emerging nations are seen as economic lifesavers
BARCELONA – The United States may have plunged the world into a sharp economic downturn, but it will take the combined efforts of China and other emerging nations to lead the global economy out of what is likely to be a long and painful recession.
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Choosing freedom or having the freedom to choose
Do we live in a free and democratic society?
Threats of revenge as 3 executed for Bali bombings
JAKARTA – Hours after the executions of three men for their roles in the Bali bombings of 2002, nearly a thousand Islamic radicals shouted "God is great" in Arabic and threatened revenge as the bodies of two of the men arrived in their hometown of Tenggulun in East Java on Sunday.
Hungary forges closer energy ties with Russia
BERLIN – Hungary, already considered one of Russia's closest allies in Central Europe, has signed two major energy deals that will make it even more dependent on Moscow for its natural gas, analysts said Tuesday.
Azerbaijan: We are oil hostages
In Azerbaijan a corrupt regime is thriving. Western countries could have been a driving force for democracy in the region. Instead, they focus on their own oil interests.
Leak about Afghan tactics forces NATO to backtrack
BERLIN – NATO was reeling Friday after the leak of a classified document in which the military alliance's supreme commander of Europe proposed that NATO soldiers serving in Afghanistan shoot drug traffickers without waiting for proof.
Tibet: Obama's lacking struggle
Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama did not pronounce the word «human rights» correctly in Beijing. But I'm not disappointed. That's exactly what I expected.
Afghanistan: From bad to worse
We who voted in the Afghan elections have been betrayed. It's time for a new strategy: To isolate Taliban from politics.
Cast aside illusions and prepare to fight
The eighth round of Sino-Tibetan talks was, of course, a major turning point.
With Obama ready to talk, Iran must weigh options
DAVOS, Switzerland – President Barack Obama's willingness to talk to Iran seems to have put the Iranian leadership in an uncomfortable spot.
Putin's methods
In our country the fight against terrorism is called a "special operation". Most often these "operations" take place in Khasavyourt, a city in Chechnya's neighboring Republic of Dagestan.
Hissène Habré – Prosecuting and Embarrassing Ally. Directed by: Magali Serre
Watch the movie Hissène Habré with the password habre2017
Shifting to multilateralism
WASHINGTON – Though President-elect Barack Obama has yet to clarify his Iraq strategy, we can be sure of one thing: He will want Europe to do more.
French police treatment of journalists raises free-speech issues
PARIS – The police treatment of a journalist accused of libel, who was dragged from his home in front of his young sons, has raised questions about freedom of speech in France and the tactics employed by the police and the judicial system here.