Taliban Update – The New York Times follows up on findings in a NATO report, “State of the Taliban 2012” – based on 27,000 interrogations of 4,000 insurgents in Afghanistan – showing resilient fighters “convinced that they …
Europe
Disgraced British Knights: A Not-So-Chivalrous History
The British government’s decision to strip former Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Fred Goodwin of his knighthood places the banker in conspicuous company
$5.2 billion
Meet the Assads: A Look at the Syrian Strongman’s Family
As the conflict in Syria reaches a critical phase, TIME looks at some of the regime’s key figures.
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 31, 2012
Europe’s Soccer Clubs: The Continent’s Other Looming Debt Crisis
Euro zone governments aren’t the only entities seriously needing to get their debt levels down these days. Information revealed this past week showed Europe’s leading soccer clubs are similarly spending their way into a …
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 30, 2012
Sarkozy Unexpectedly Calls Earlier French Troop Exit From Afghanistan
So it turns out France is indeed leaving Afghanistan earlier than planned, and will seek to bring the last of its current 3,900 troops home by the end of 2013. Despite signs earlier in the week from French government officials …
1.5 million
Reads from Around the World: Tibet, Tsunamis and TV Talk
Tibetan Turmoil – The South China Morning Post reports another Tibetan has been shot dead in escalating protests in the western part of China’s Sichuan province. The death follows similar unrest Monday that left at least one …
France Not Quitting Afghan Campaign After All
Okay, so not leaving Afghanistan—yet, anyway.
Despite suggestions-cum-threats by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week that he’d consider pulling France’s nearly 3,900 forces out of Afghanistan in response to the …
Human Rights Under Threat: Five Not-So-Usual Suspects
Human Rights Watch this week released its 2012 World Report. The 676-page write-up covers some of the biggest stories of the year, including China’s crackdown on dissent, ongoing attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic …
French Draft Law On Armenian Genocide Rocks Franco-Turkish Relations
Anyone who hoped that calm and harmony might somehow prevail after the passage of a French bill criminalizing denial of the 1915 genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was mightily disappointed Monday night. Adoption of that …