National Security

(AP) Marine to argue free speech case at hearingBy JULIE WATSONAssociated PressCAMP PENDLETON, Calif.A Marine facing dismissal for running a Facebook page criticizing the Obama administration is now backed by a team of lawyers and federal congressmen as he fights

Taliban gunmen killed eight local policemen in an attack on a remote post in western Afghanistan, a provincial official said Thursday. The attack happened late on Wednesday, said Naqibullah Farahi, spokesman for the provincial administration of Farah, which borders Iran.

The United States said it will ease restrictions on investment to Myanmar and quickly appoint an ambassador as it seeks to boost reformers who allowed landmark elections in the long-closed nation. In its latest gestures under a three-year diplomatic drive

White House officials held talks with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood in Washington this week, as the Islamist group threw itself into the fray in Egypt’s presidential election. The meeting on Tuesday with low-level National Security Council staff was part

When, in the fall of 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration would be trying terrorists in civilian courts instead of military ones, the public outcry was immediate.   Surely you remember the anger Americans felt when

Last November, President Obama made a visit to Canberra, Australia todiscuss an expansion of US troop presence in the region. Obama and PrimeMinister Gillard reached an agreement which would allow up to 2,500 Marinesto spend six-month stints in the port

(AP) French police arrest 10 in crackdown on radicalsBy INGRID ROUSSEAUAssociated PressPARISFrench police rounded up 10 people in their second country-wide sweep in several days Wednesday, leading to criticism that President Nicolas Sarkozy is ramping up raids to win votes

The boss has put together an extraordinary rundown of Obama administration leaks showing a trend that is sabotaging Israel’s ability to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities. The trend is quite revealing because, as Richard Helms, former director of central intelligence, once explained to Michael

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com. Timbuktu’s ancient history at risk over chaotic Mali rebellion Azerbaijan story creates firestorm between Washington and Israel The logistical nightmare of leaving Afghanistan Kyrgyzstan agrees to continue hosting U.S. base in Manas Timbuktu’s ancient

Fierce clashes erupted after Syria’s regime sent reinforcements into rebel areas despite a truce pledge, as the UN said it was rushing a team to Damascus to pave the way for peace monitors. The surge in violence on Tuesday killed

Less than a year after becoming the first North Korean defector to take a senior government post in South Korea, Cho Myung-Chul is set to win office as the country’s first defector lawmaker. Cho, who is standing for the ruling

China has allowed five North Korean defectors to leave for South Korea after they spent months or years holed up in Seoul’s Beijing embassy to avoid arrest, media reports said Wednesday. Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing a Seoul diplomatic source, said

(AP) Asia stocks slump on US job growth worriesBy PAMELA SAMPSONAP Business WriterBANGKOKAsian stock markets followed Wall Street into negative territory Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve voiced concern about U.S. job growth but appeared to refrain from taking steps

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde implored the United States to help back-stop debt-ridden European countries, wading neck-deep into bubbling US political waters. Speaking in the US capital, Lagarde said the 187-nation International Monetary Fund needed more firepower to tackle financial

All Libyan airlines and Venezuelan carrier Conviasa were banned from flying into the 27-nation European Union due to safety concerns. The Venezuelan company was added to a blacklist of airlines with poor safety records while Libya decided, in consultation with

The first contingent of up to 2,500 US Marines to be deployed in Australia were settling in Wednesday as Washington bolsters its military presence in the strategically vital region. Some 200 Marines touched down in Darwin overnight as part of

Solyndra is no longer the administration’s biggest energy blunder. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared a think tank event held in Washington yesterday. During an interview Harper explained that President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone pipeline had forced Canada to

France fears the Tuareg rebellion that has just seized control of half of Mali is increasingly dominated by Islamists that are “closely tied” to Al-Qaeda, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday. In an interview with AFP, Juppe urged the UN

Al-Qaeda’s main Internet sites have gone silent for more than a week in an unprecedented outage for the extremist network’s online forums, analysts said Tuesday. The outage hit a number of online forums including two “flagship” sites, al-Fida and Shamukh

(AP) Mali Coup leader stays put, despite sanctionsBy RUKMINI CALLIMACHIAssociated PressBAMAKO, MaliThe day after an embargo was placed on Mali, the soldier who led a recent coup said Tuesday that he agrees with restoring constitutional order, but first Mali’s ills

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Tuesday he would seek terror charges against 13 of the 19 alleged Islamic militants arrested on Friday, some of whom are accused of plotting kidnappings. Top prosecutor Molins alleged that some of those arrested had