• US wants to maintain base in Japan
  US wants to maintain base in Japan
  

  The US has said that it needs to maintain a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to defend the region, as the new government in Tokyo considers scrapping a previous plan.
  18/03
• Iraqi PM takes the leads again in election race
  Iraqi PM takes the leads again in election race
  

  

  Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki reclaimed the lead on March 17 over secularist challenger Iyad Allawi in results from a March 7 parliamentary election that has been affected by fraud allegations.
  18/03
• Taliban employs fear campaign in Afghan town
  Taliban employs fear campaign in Afghan town
  

  

  A month after losing control of their southern base in Marjah, the Taliban have launched a campaign of assassination and intimidation to frighten people from supporting the US and its Afghan allies.
  18/03
• Israel rejects halting settlement on eve of Quartet
  Israel rejects halting settlement on eve of Quartet
  

  

  Israel on March 17 dismissed mounting pressure to stop building homes for Jewish settlers in annexed east Jerusalem, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying the demands were ‘unreasonable’.
  18/03
• Thai protesters spill their own blood
  Thai protesters spill their own blood
  

  

  Protesters spilled their own blood at the gates of Thailand’s government headquarters on March 16 in a colourful act of political theatre designed to propel their fugitive hero back to power.
  17/03

More

• China's premier to join Obama at climate-change summit
  China's premier to join Obama at climate-change summit
  

  

  Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend a major UN climate-change summit next month in Denmark, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on November 26.
  27/11
• Rich should help Amazon forests
  Rich should help Amazon forests
  

  

  Nine nations in the Amazon region have called on rich countries to provide poorer nations with the funds to preserve forests.
  27/11
• IAEA chief: Iran investigation at 'dead end'
  IAEA chief: Iran investigation at 'dead end'
  

  

  The outgoing head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on November 26 that his probe of Iran\'s nuclear programme is at \'a dead end\' and that trust in Tehran\'s credibility is shrinking after its belated revelation that it was secretly building a nuclear facility.
  27/11
• US president to head for Copenhagen with climate pledge
  US president to head for Copenhagen with climate pledge
  

  

  President Barack Obama will head to next month\'s Copenhagen climate summit to offer the first US plan to cut carbon emissions, officials said Wednesday, reviving hopes the closely watched meeting will succeed.
  26/11
• Israel halts some settlements, urges Abbas to talk
  Israel halts some settlements, urges Abbas to talk
  

  

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a 10-month freeze on some building in West Bank settlements on Wednesday, pleasing the US but Palestinians say it is not enough to restart the peace talks.
  26/11