Israeli war planes pounded Gaza with around 150 air strikes overnight, causing massive explosions in the main cities and sending plumes of black smoke into the sky. The Israeli Defence Forces said it had targeted rocket-launching sites and arms depots, "causing severe damage to terror infrastructures". In a sign that Israel is preparing to further escalate Operation Pillar of Defence, the military said it w ...

By T. Rees Shapiro Rana Hussain’s sequined turquoise sari cascaded to the tile floor in the first grade classroom at Eagle View Elementary as she knelt next to a blonde boy reading next to her. He whispered to her and followed the words on the page with his index finger. “Good job,” Hussain told the child as he read aloud, his voice barely audible among the hushed murmurs of his other classmates. Hussain, a ...

The United States and Afghanistan faced potentially divisive issues such as immunity for U.S. troops as the two sides began talks Thursday on a security agreement that will shape America’s military presence in the country after the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops in two years. Earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Obama administration expected a decision in the next few we ...

Israel made history Wednesday when it began live-tweeting its own strike on the Gaza Strip. Now that the initial shock is over, the questions are setting in: Are governments allowed to use Twitter that way? And even if they can, should they? A rumor widely circulated Thursday morning claimed that the Israel Defense Forces’ Twitter account, @IDFSpokesperson, went down for a 40-minute period, but neither Twit ...

The UN refugee agency warned Tuesday of a "growing humanitarian emergency" in western Myanmar, calling on neighbouring countries to open their borders to people fleeing the sectarian bloodshed. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement that it was "gravely concerned over recent boat tragedies in the Bay of Bengal" that have left dozens of people missing after two vessels ...

The negotiations, expected to be heated, will attempt to balance the U.S. goal of denying terrorists a base of operations and Afghanistan's demands for sovereignty. By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times KABUL, Afghanistan — In talks that are likely to be confrontational, the United States and Afghanistan are scheduled to begin negotiations Thursday on a new security arrangement after U.S. combat troops withd ...

The safety review of units 3 and 4 of the atomic power station at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ended with the inspection team identifying certain deficiencies in the operations of the units reflecting concerns of Indian Nuclear Safety. The team has found problems in the maintenance of the fire doors and electrical cables and has flagged a need for improvements ...

Israel on Wednesday launched the most ferocious & brutal assault on Gaza in four years, hitting at least 20 targets in aerial attacks that killed many innocent including children and women, damaged Israel’s fragile relations with Egypt and escalated the risks of a new war in the Middle East. The Israel Defense Forces coupled the intensity of the airstrikes with the threat of a ground invasion of Gaza, r ...