2 Americans Killed By Afghan insider attack

 An Afghan soldier turned his gun on American troops at a checkpoint in the country's east, killing two Americans and at least two fellow members of Afghanistan's army in a shooting that marked both the continuance of a disturbing trend of insider attacks and the 2,000th U.S. troop death in the long-running war, officials said Sunday.
The string of insider attacks is one of the greatest threats to NATO's mission in the country, endangering a partnership key to training up Afghan security forces and withdrawing international troops.
Saturday's shooting took place at an Afghan army checkpoint just outside a joint U.S.-Afghan base in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman.
"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," Shahid said. He said investigators had been sent to the site to try to figure out what happened.
An Afghan official speaking on condition of anonymity said three Afghan soldiers were killed in the clash. It was not clear if the assailant was among the dead.
The attack happened about 5 p.m. in Sayd Abad district, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said in an emailed statement. He did not provide further details, saying he would wait for a report from investigators.
NATO forces announced the assault early Sunday morning, saying only that it was "suspected insider attack" and that a NATO service member and civilian contractor were killed.
One U.S. official confirmed that the service member killed was American, while another confirmed that the civilian was also American. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the nationality of the dead had not yet been formally announced.
Afghan soldiers and policemen -- or militants in their uniforms -- have gunned down more than 50 foreign troops so far this year, eroding the trust between coalition forces and their Afghan partners. An equal number of Afghan policemen and soldiers also died in these attacks, giving them reason as well to be suspicious of possible infiltrators within their ranks.
The attacks are taking a toll on the partnership between international and Afghan forces, prompting the U.S. military to restrict operations with small-sized Afghan units earlier this month.
The close contact -- with coalition forces working side by side with Afghan troops as advisers, mentors and trainers -- is a key part of the U.S. strategy for preparing the Afghans to take the lead in security operations as the U.S. and other nations prepare to pull out their last combat troops at the end of 2014, just 27 months away.
The number of American military dead reflects an Associated Press count of those members of the armed services killed inside Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion on Oct. 7, 2001.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hong Kong billionaire's daughter Gigi Chao bombarded with marriage offers and nude photos

Gigi Chao, the daughter of a Hong Kong billionaire says she had been bombarded with marriage proposals – and even nude photographs – from as far as Nigeria after her father offered £40 million to the man who could woo her.

Gigi Chao, daughter of property tycoon Cecil Chao, entered a civil partnership with her girlfriend of seven years in a ceremony in Paris five months ago.

But Mr Chao, 76, has told the South China Morning Post that reports of his daughter's civil ceremony were "false". He announced the HK$500 million dowry earlier this week.

It has sparked a deluge of offers. Speaking on Thursday Ms Chao, 33, said she had received about 200 proposals and that the number of people following her on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook had jumped by 1,500 since her father's announcement.

"People are contacting me on Facebook, by email, on Twitter. It's ridiculous. I can't sort out the serious proposals from the half-hearted ones. I can't make head or tail of it," she told The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Chao, an executive director of her father's company, Cheuk Nang, said that in addition to receiving enquiries from gentlemen who say they are looking for love and ask her out on a date, she has received some introductions that are less conventional.

Some hopefuls have attached nude photos of themselves or provided information about their financial situations. She has received proposals from all over the world, including Oklahoma, Nigeria, India, Turkey and Bulgaria. Numerous bankers have contacted her.

"Some of them had obviously done their research, you know, gone on my Facebook and looked at my background," she said. "Some of them are quite poetic."

But far from getting angry at her father, she said she was "touched".

"At first I was entertained by it, and then that entertainment turned into the realisation and conviction that I am a really lucky girl to have such a loving daddy, because it's really sweet of him to do something like this as an expression of his fatherly love," she said.

While Ms Chao knew that her father would go public denying the union, she did not know he would offer the reward. "I think the HK$500 million really came as an afterthought."

Even though Mr Chao has not accepted the union, Ms Chao said she loved her father and that they had a good relationship. "It's not that he can't accept me," she said. "It's that he can't accept how society would view me and the status that it would incur. Marriage is still a form of social status. I do understand him. I understand why he's doing this."

She added: "But I don't appreciate getting 1,500 emails."

Ms Chao, who also runs Haut Monde Talent, a model management and PR firm, met her partner, Sean Yeung, who also goes by Sean Eav, while they were working together.

Ms Chao she was drawn to Ms Yeung because she was straightforward, not manipulative, honest, had strong family values and cared about her friends deeply. "I'm very happy when I'm with her," she said.

Ms Chao, who has dated men and women, said she has always been open and honest about her relationships to her family.

However her mother has not accepted her sexuality. Ms Chao recalled that when she told her mother about a relationship with a girl when she was 16 years old, her mother "banged her head against the wall, literally".

Although they have become more visible in recent years, members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Hong Kong are still largely not accepted by the vast majority of the population.

Ms Chao believes gay rights are picking up, but said work was still needed on the social mentality.

Mr Chao is not so conventional himself. He made headlines in 2003 when his Rolls-Royce caught fire while he and his girlfriend were inside.

The tycoon has never married and once claimed to have had "intimate relations" with about 10,000 women.

Google to restrict access to a YouTube video that had attacked a mayoral candidate in Brazi

Google today bowed to demands from Brazil to restrict access to a YouTube video that had attacked a mayoral candidate.

"Late last night, we learned that our final legal appeal has been denied and so now we have no choice but to block the video in Brazil," Fabio Coelho, head of Google's Brazil operations, said in a post today. "We are deeply disappointed that we have never had the full opportunity to argue in court that these were legitimate free speech videos and should remain available in Brazil."

The move came a day after Brazilian police arrested Coelho, who was released after agreeing to appear in court at an undetermined date. He was detained after the company declined to remove two videos that a judge said violated laws that limit public criticism of political candidates.

Coelho's post (here's the Portuguese version) said the company had received many complaints and court orders "as usual during an election season," and had "pushed back" on the ones it believed to be invalid under Brazilian law. The arrest warrant was issued, he said, "while we were waiting for that appeal to be heard."

A search on YouTube shows several videos of Alcides Bernal, who is running for mayor of Campo Grande, a city with a population of about 800,000, including one alleging he's hiding documents and another accusing him of money laundering.

Jose Zagallo, head of the Brazilian bar association's commission focusing on information technology law, told the Associated Press that Brazil's laws unfairly hold services like Google liable for content they cannot control.

Coelho said: "Despite all this, we will continue to campaign for free expression globally--not just because it's a key tenet of free societies, but also because more information generally means more choice, more power, more economic opportunity and more freedom for people."

Meanwhile, another Brazilian court is asking Google to remove the controversial "Innocence of Muslims" trailer that has sparked demonstrations across the Middle East. In that case, Google has 10 days to remove the video or face a fine of $5,000 per day.

Google has blocked the poorly made anti-Islam video in Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and India. Pakistan's government has banned YouTube altogether because of its refusal to block the clip.

The film's creator, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was arrested today on charges stemming from an earlier 2010 conviction for check fraud. Under the terms of his probation, Nakoula was prohibited from using computers or the Internet.

No More new nude photos of the Duchess of Cambridge From SE og HØR

Bottomless photos of Kate Middleton have been circulating around the internet this week courtesy of a Danish Magazine. This, however, is old news. The editor-in-chief of SE og HØR said today that the magazine has not published any new nude photos of the Duchess of Cambridge.

The images that appear in SE og HØR appear to be from the same collection of images that have already been published in various magazines from France, Italy, Sweden, and Ireland.

The magazine wrote in an email:

“Apparently there has been rumors in several international Media that weekly magazine SE og HØR this week (September 27th) has published new topless and nude pictures of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. This is not correct.”

According to CNN, SE og HØR published several photos of Kate Middleton topless over a 16-page spread on September 20th. Those images came from the same set of photos that were originally published in the French Magazine Closer. The magazine has not published any additional photos.

Before publishing the photos on September 20th, Editor-In-Chief Kim Henningsen said:

“It’s a set of unique photos from an A-class celebrity. We are a leading gossip magazine in Denmark, and it is my job to publish them. If the British royal family want to sue us, then it will happen then and we’ll deal with it.”

The rumors of new bottomless photos of Kate Middleton were started earlier this week when scans of SE og HØR made their way onto the internet courtesy of sites like Egotastic. The photos were a week old at the time and were identical to the photos published in other magazines.

But since the words “bottomless” were used instead of “topless,” and since the internet apparently only needs a tiny little push to look at naked photos of Kate Middleton, the photo scandal went viral once again.

Rumors of bottomless photos of Kate Middleton persist despite Danish magazine's denial it won't publish racy pics

The bottom line on Kate Middleton might be a bum-mer: There may be more photos of her — this time without the rest of her bikini.

The Danish gossip magazine Se og Hør was rumored Saturday to be publishing photos of Middleton changing her bathing suit bottoms.  The pictures were apparently taken during the same sunbathing session in France as topless photos published earlier this month.

But Se og Hør editor Kim Henningsen told  CNN Saturday it had no intention of publishing fresh photos.  Henningsen said only pictures the magazine featured of Middleton were in a 16-page spread on Sept. 20.

But the spread also promised more photos in the future, The Huffington Post reported. 

Henningsen defended the decision to run the topless photos, even as the royals took legal action against French magazine Closer. 

“We are a leading gossip magazine in Denmark, and it is my job to publish them," he told  the Belfast Telegraph.

Rumors of new, bottomless photos are bound to rile the royals, whose representatives refused to comment.

"Our stance is the same as before — we aren't commenting on any further legal action save to say all proportionate responses will be kept under review,” a spokesperson told  E! News.

Middleton and Prince William are suing Closer for publishing the topless photos, declaring it a gross invasion of privacy.  Italian gossip magazine Chi also published photos from the same holiday.

China Offers Support to Mali Military in Combat with Islamists.

China told her i would support Mali’s military in its combat with Islamist rebels who have seized northern areas, said Guo Xueli, charge d’affaires with the Chinese Embassy.

“China firmly supports the career of Mali, ” Guo said in the interview on state television yesterday inside the capital, Bamako. “We are going to bring our assistance to the actual extent possible, specifically in the military where we already possess a old cooperation. ”

Mali’s government have been battling Islamist rebels in the north of the country since they took control of the area from separatist ethnic Touareg fighters in May. The rebels took selling point of a political crisis in the south triggered with the ouster of President Amadou Toure in a very March 22 coup.

The transitional government, led by Dioncounda Traore, has been bogged down by internal power struggles and disagreement within the need for foreign troops near your vicinity, according to the Brussels-based Global Crisis Group.

The interim president earlier this month formally wanted military help from the Economical Community of West African Expresses. The United Nations Security Local authority or council said on Sept. 21 it will eventually consider a request from the actual 15-nation Ecowas for military intervention from the Islamists.

France, Mali’s former colonial ruler, offered to provide logistical assistance to any West African operation to retake control of north Mali, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said yesterday.

Brazil judge purchases arrest of local Google brain over YouTube videos.

Some sort of Brazilian judge ordered the arrest of the head of Google's operations in Brazil for failure to eliminate YouTube videos that attacked any mayoral candidate, which runs counter to florida American nation's strict pre-vote electoral regulations.

Google said in a Tuesday statement who's rejected the decision by Decide Flavio Peren of Mato Grosso do Sul state, which also included an order to eliminate the two videos in question and also a statewide, 24-hour suspension of Google so you Tube.

Police said they hadn't received an order to police arrest Fabio Jose Silva Coelho. It was not clear if any suspension regarding Google's services occurred in Mato Grosso do Sul state. After hours calls towards court were not returned.

"Google is appealing the decision that ordered removing the YouTube video because, in as being a platform, Google is not accountable for the content posted on the site, " the company said within the emailed statement from Sao Paulo.

A spokesman said this company would not make any further statement within the case.

The videos on YouTube produce incendiary comments about an alleged paternity suit directed at Alcides Bernal, who is running for mayor of the city of Campo Grande. Nationwide municipal elections is going to be held Oct. 7. It was not possible to reach Bernal intended for comment, or verify if any paternity lawsuits have been leveled against him.

Brazil's electoral law has several restrictions on what opponents or critics can atmosphere on television and radio with regards to candidates for office _ even comedic needling of politicians is usually banned during electoral season. The Internet's role in these instances, until now, was not by law explored, as the government isn't going to license the internet and ended up being considered by most exempt in the law.

However, candidates always contain the right to contest before the country's electoral courts such ads, and this year use in your they are doing so.

Yahoo and google itself has faced similar conditions in Brazil.

Earlier this thirty day period a judge in Parana point out in southern Brazil ordered of which Google pay $500, 000 for every single day that it balked in fulfilling an order to eliminate videos from YouTube that attacked a candidate.

In the northeastern state regarding Paraiba, a judge also requested the imprisonment of another Yahoo and google executive in Brazil earlier this specific month, also for not getting rid of videos from YouTube attacking any mayoral candidate. That order was overruled by a higher court.

Scholars secure China's sovereignty over Diaoyu Destinations.

More than 50 Chinese scholars from your Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad gathered in Shanghai on Wednesday to debate a recent dispute over the Diaoyu Islands inside the South China Sea.

The seminar was organized through the Shanghai Institute for International Scientific tests, Fangxia Cultural Exchange Association and also National Society of Taiwan Scientific tests.

Scholars discussed historical and legitimate evidence for China's sovereignty above the islands, the impact of Japan's "purchase" of part of the islands and methods for Chinese to guard their country's right to the islands, as well as trends inside the dispute's development and its impact on Sino-Japan relations.

Japan's "purchase" has infringed on China's sovereignty, your scholars said, adding that Japan's move will not change the truth that the Diaoyu Islands are section of China's inherent territory.

The scholars urged japan government to refrain from infringing about China's sovereignty and called on there to take corrective action to avoid jeopardizing bilateral relations.

Syria: Explosions Reach Top Military Command Building Within Damascus.

Two loud explosions targeted one among Syria's top military command buildings in the capital Damascus on Wednesday, engulfing the particular building in flames, residents and state-television said.

They said the explosions struck the typical Staff Command Building (Hay'at al Arkan) in the Umayad Square in central Damascus, which is among the top military headquarters in the continent.

There was no immediate word on casualties but ambulances might be heard racing to the sealed-off location.

The Syrian information minister claimed the attack had caused "only material damage" and this security forces were chasing "armed terrorists" -- a term the authorities use to make reference to insurgents waging a violent uprising to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Gunfire along with other smaller blasts could be heard following the explosions, as well as the particular sound of ambulance sirens. Many roads in the centre of the capital were impeded, residents said.

The explosions have been heard around 7. 00 'm (0345 GMT), before regular working hours begin in Syria.

"The explosions were very loud. They shook the whole city as well as the windows of our house have been shuddering, " one resident arrived at by telephone said.

"Black smoke was seen rising from the area near the army workers building, " the resident, who declined to be named, said.

A Damascus bomb attack on July 18 killed several top security officials, which includes Assad's brother-in-law, the defence and interior ministers. That attack paved just how for a rebel advance in to the centre of the capital, although they've got since been pushed back to the outskirts.


MAJOR STRIKE?

Another kama'aina ( said: "I was woken up in four minutes to seven with the first loud explosion. Five or six minutes later there was clearly a second. "

"We're utilized to the sound of artillery but these were very big - bigger when compared with usual. I can hear gunfire even now, " he said, speaking an hour and a half after the blasts.

He said one of the blasts appeared to have been in your community of the General Staff Control.

He said he could see soldiers stationed on top of the nearby Air Power Intelligence building.

Syria's conflict, the moment a peaceful protest movement, has evolved right into a civil war that the U. N. special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, claimed was "extremely bad and getting worse. " He said the stalemate in the united states could soon "find an opening", with out elaborating.

Even Damascus has become a battleground between Assad's forces and opposition fighters.

Activists say greater than 27, 000 people have been killed in the 18-month-old uprising against Assad.

With no foreseeable prospect of foreign involvement and diplomacy stuck, outgunned rebels get relied increasingly on attacks using homemade bombs, striving to level the playing field against a state using fighter jets, artillery and tanks.

At the annual U. N. General Assembly in The big apple, French President Francois Hollande wanted to shake up international inertia in excess of Syria's crisis by calling for U. N. protection of rebel-held areas to help you end Syria's bloodshed and legal rights.

"The Syrian regime... has no future in our midst, " Hollande said in a speech. "Without any delay, I call upon the Us to provide immediately to the Syrian people all the support it asks of us and protect liberated zones. "


DEFENSE ZONES

Protection for "liberated" areas would require no-fly zones forced by foreign aircraft, which could possibly stop deadly air raids through Assad's forces on populated areas. But there is little chance of securing a Security Council requirement for such action given the particular continuing opposition of veto-wielding people Russia and China.

The Usa, European allies, Turkey and Gulf Arab states have sided while using the Syrian opposition while Iran, Italy and China have backed Assad, in whose family and minority Alawite sect get dominated the major Arab state for 42 years.

But Western powers have shied away from supplying military aid to the rebels to a extent that could turn the tide of the conflict, in part out of concern with arming Islamist militants who get joined the anti-Assad revolt.

In another speech to the General Assembly, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad rubbish bin Khalifa al-Thani said Arab countries should intervene in Syria provided the Security Council's failure to quit the civil war.

Qatar, which often backs the rebels, called on big powers to get ready a "Plan B" within weeks and create a no-fly zone to provide a safe haven inside Syria in case international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi fails to make headway.

The Qatari emir said he believed Arab and European countries would be ready to be involved, despite their public wariness of committing the forces meant for such a mission.

Addressing the typical Assembly, U. S. President Barack Obama arrested Iran of helping keep a dictatorship in power in Syria.

"Just the way it restricts the rights of its own people, the Iranian government props up a dictator in Damascus and supports terrorist groups abroad, " Obama said in a reference to Assad.

"We again declare that the particular regime of Bashar al-Assad ought to come to an end so your suffering of the Syrian men and women can stop, and a new dawn may start. "

The British-based charity Save the children released a harrowing report in relation to abuse of Syrian refugee children.

Khalid, 15, said he was hung by his arms from the ceiling of his own university building and beaten senseless. Wael claimed he saw a 6-year-old starved and beaten to death, "tortured greater than anyone else in the room. "

U. N. investigators point out Syrian government forces have dedicated human rights violations "on the alarming scale", but have also listed numerous killings and kidnappings by armed rebels attempting to oust Assad after 12 several years in power.

The children that Save the children spoke to in refugee camps in neighbouring countries said they had witnessed massacres and seen loved ones killed during the conflict.

Humanitarian conditions are worsening for the reason that violence drags on. The president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, which has been the only relief group in the grass the entire 18 months connected with conflict, said it was in dire need of supplies.

"We ought to concentrate mostly on health and shelter because there are 1. 5 million displaced men and women, " Abdul Rahman Attar told Reuters within a visit to Oslo. "We have to have more of everything. "

West turns up heat on Iran and Syria from UN.

Western and Arab leaders ramped up the pressure on Syria and Iran with the United Nations, as US President Barack Obama vowed to help keep Tehran from getting its face to face nuclear weapons.

The United States, France and Qatar led the charge on Tuesday as the West and its allies attempted to use the UN General Construction to win support for tougher international action contrary to the Middle East’s twin pariah routines.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon fixed the tone, condemning the bloodshed within Syria, where the beleaguered regime can be battling an armed revolt and subjecting its citizens from what the UN peace envoy dubbed “medieval sorts of torture. ”

Under pressure from his domestic rivals to adopt a tough stance, Obama said President Bashar al-Assad’s regime “must arrive at an end so the suffering on the Syrian people can stop, plus a new dawn can begin. ”

This emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad rubbish bin Khalifa Al-Thani, a key supporter on the Syrian opposition, called for Arabic military intervention.

“It is better for Arabic countries themselves to intervene out of their humanitarian, political and military duties and do precisely what is necessary to stop the bloodshed, ” he told the typical Assembly.

A US State Department official told AFP that america will soon announce an increase in its aid to the Syrian rebels, but would still stop less than sending weapons and ammunition.

And French President Francois Hollande urged the Un to declare protected areas within “liberated zones” under opposition control in Syria in order that humanitarian aid could reach refugees.

Obama seemed to be also unequivocal on Iran, which is locked in a standoff while using West over a nuclear program that Washington alleges was created to produce a weapon that could tip the total amount of power in an witout a doubt volatile region.
“A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge which can be contained. It would threaten the particular elimination of Israel, the safety of Gulf nations, and the stability from the global economy, ” Obama informed.

“That is why a coalition involving countries is holding the Iranian federal accountable. And that is why america will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, ” he declared.

Hollande also took a tough line on Iran, accusing the item of supplying weapons and men to Assad to prop upward his regime and dubbing this kind of “unacceptable. ”

Six weeks in front of the presidential election, Obama is pressurized on the foreign policy front, with criticism of his handling from the killing of US diplomats and claims he or she is not standing closely enough powering Israel.

His speech aimed to countertop those claims from White House rival Mitt Romney and in addition renew his outreach to the Muslim world after a fortnight of anti-American violence triggered by means of an online video that insulted Islam.

Obama said the Arab Spring would lead to improved democracy and living standards inside a Middle East region more in accordance with US values but, while they condemned the film, he was adamant no insults could justify assault.

He vowed that the militants who stormed the us consulate in Benghazi on Sept 11, killing the American ambassador in order to Libya and three colleagues, might face justice, and said america would always defend free dialog.

“There are no words which excuse the killing of innocents. There isn't a video that justifies an attack on an embassy, ” he said.
Numerous Muslim leaders, however, demanded international action to quit religious insults, in a challenge to Obama’s defence of flexibility of expression.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono involving Indonesia, the world’s most populated Muslim nation, quoted the Widespread Declaration of Human Rights while saying that “everyone must see morality and public order. ”

“Freedom involving expression is therefore not complete, ” he added.

Debate in New York in the run-up to the assembly aimed at the violence in Syria plus the risk that the Iranian stand-off might lead to a broader conflict if Israel or america launched a pre-emptive strike.

Ban spoke for several delegates when he called on world powers to put aside their differences and unite behind an idea to pressure the parties to stay their conflicts through negotiation.

The particular UN chief dubbed the Syria turmoil “a regional calamity with international ramifications” and said: “The international community should not look one other way as violence spirals uncontrollable. ”

“We must stop the assault and flow of arms to both sides and set in motion a Syrian-led transition at the earliest opportunity, ” Ban added.

The 15-nation Security Council has become paralyzed by deadlock over the particular 18-month-old war, which Syrian activists say has left greater than 29, 000 dead.

Ban also expressed concerns for your mounting tensions surrounding Iran, denouncing precisely what he called: “The shrill warfare talk of recent weeks. ”

Iran’s Web design manager Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is in Big apple, shrugged off talk of a good attack on his country’s nuclear features and said the Islamic republic wouldn't normally end what it claims is usually peaceful civilian nuclear research.

Is the United States actually 'retreating? '

You'll find two must-read articles in current press: Pankaj Mishra's "America's Inevitable Retreat through the Middle East" in the Nyc Times, and Edward Luce's cautionary "An Us recovery? Don't believe the hype" within the Financial Times.

Mishra does an excellent job of tracing why U. S. involvement in the Middle East is likely to decline in the years ahead. Not only has the Us pursued policies that have alienated the majority of people in this region, but it cannot count on compliant dictators and monarchs to complete our bidding. Instead, governments of all types might be more sensitive to popular notion, which bodes ill for U. S. efforts to shape the particular region's future.

But is this a bad thing? The problems that the Middle East might face in the years ahead -- social unrest, youth being out of work, contentious domestic politics, poorly formulated institutions, etc. -- are by their very nature difficult for outsiders to correct. In fact, as we've mastered in Iraq and Afghanistan, extensive and direct efforts to mold the politics of thousands of people whose traditions differ from ours will certainly fail, and especially when the majority of people are angry about our earlier policies. And as you've most likely noticed, even our more well-intentioned failures tend to be very expensive. Luce's slightly gloomy prognosis just reinforces this time: A sluggish U. S. recovery will inevitably limit what the us can do, and if we keep wasting lives and funds on fool's errands, recovery will likely be delayed even more.

One should not overstate these trends, of study course. Richard Nixon used to complain that the us was becoming a "pitiful, dependent giant, " which was wrong then and is also wrong today. The United States will likely be the world's most powerful country for quite some time to come; it just won't contain the same sort of influence that once enjoyed. The real question is how it will adjust to a slightly more modest role, and what strategies it will adopt going forward. To act in response intelligently, the United States should overcome the psychological barrier of the somewhat reduced role, and to discover how to take advantage of America's enduring strengths rather then constantly doing things that challenge them.

And that brings us to my main complaint having Mishra's article: his use of the word "retreat. " If Americans view a lower role as a "retreat" -- having all its defeatist implications -- are going to more likely to face a new domestic backlash from neocons along with other hardliners shouting "appeasement" and demanding increased defense spending as well as a renewed commitment to knocking brain together. Framing this trend like a "retreat, " therefore, will delay the mandatory adjustments and squander additional sources.

By contrast, if this trend is seen as a farsighted and voluntary adjustment to new conditions and strategic things, then the risk of backlash will likely be reduced and the shift won’t have much if any relation to America’s perceived credibility elsewhere. In this sense, the idea of a new strategic "pivot" to Asia had been smart rhetoric. We aren't being driven out from the Middle East; we're just choosing to assign resources where they will do us the most great.

More broadly, the key to making these adjustment lies in convincing Americans to take into consideration their global role differently. Instead of harping on our "global duties, " Americans ought to focus instead on the national interests. The litmus test of any foreign policy commitment seriously isn't what it will do intended for others, but rather what it will do for us. (Doing both equally is perfectly ok by us, but first things first).

America's current global posture as well as strategic toolbox were developed during the Cold War, when the major challenge was a well-armed and also easily identifiable great power foe. In that environment, it made sense for the us to secure what George Kennan termed the "key centers of business power. " The U. Ohydrates. achieved this goal through an energetic leadership role in NATO, its bilateral treaty relations in Asia, and its various security commitments within the Persian Gulf. The effort that the us and Soviet Union expended throughout places like Indochina or Afghanistan had been mostly wasted (and at excellent cost to these societies). Fortunately for us, we had a lot more resources to waste.

Times have changed. The United States may face a fresh peer competitor in the not-too remote future, but right now almost all security problems arise from local rivalries, failng states, and regional quagmires. In these circumstances, the main strategic objective is always to stay out of the quicksand. On top of that, we could try to stick potential rivals while using burden of trying to solve intractable problems. Passing the buck to others isn't some kind of inglorious retreat; it's actually a smart strategy that will leaves the us better prepared to deal to comprehend serious challenges when they occur.

Syrian children endure as Assad clings to power.

Brahimi's words came while their forces reportedly pounded rebels, killing no less than seven children.

A global children’s aid organization meanwhile warned that Syrian children are increasingly being “badly traumatised” after witnessing killings, torture along with atrocities in their country’s challenging conflict.

The UN-Arab League envoy said “there isn't a prospect for today or tomorrow to relocate forward, ” in remarks in order to reporters after briefing the NOT Security Council on his talks in mid-September with Assad.

Reporting on his first visit to Syria since assuming his article, Brahimi said Assad “knows a thing must change” but he only wants a go back to “the old Syria” which they and his father have ruled for a lot more than 40 years.

Brahimi painted a grim picture in the 18-month conflict, reporting on food shortages, the “medieval” torture regarding detainees, and damage to basically 200 of Syria’s 2, 250 schools.

The veteran troubleshooter, which took over as envoy by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan on September 1, also appealed towards divided 15-nation Security Council for united backing for his work.

The Syrian war has broken down the Security Council, where Russia and China have already wielded their veto powers 3 x to resist international action demanded by Western many Arab states.

US President Barack Obama has been to lead Western demands for action on Syria at the start of the UN General Set up on Tuesday.

Obama will be one of many opening speakers at the twelve-monthly meeting of world leaders where the Syria conflict, mounting fears of your military strike on Iran along with anti-West protests in Muslim places are set to dominate.

NOT leader Ban Ki-moon, France’s Web design manager Francois Hollande and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad can Khalifa Al-Thani, a key backer in the Syrian opposition, are also likely to lambast Assad on the starting morning.

Fighting raged across the continent again on Monday, killing no less than another 60 people — 28 civilians, 22 soldiers and 11 rebels, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The rebels have captured hundreds of kilometres (miles) of territory in the country’s north before six months, an AFP correspondent who visited the area in March reported.

“The army is not able to control the ground, so it tries to stay in power by dominating the skies, ” the Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman informed AFP.

The latest lethal air attack killed five people, including three children from the same family, when warplanes arranged in Aleppo, the commercial hub where troops and rebels have been locked in fierce fighting considering that mid-July.

Videos posted to Metacafe by activists, which AFP was not able to authenticate immediately, showed a mountain of rubble and men trying to clear away slabs of particles to free trapped residents.

A lady was killed in heavy putting of Aleppo’s northern neighbourhood regarding Sheikh Maqsud where several properties were destroyed, while another passed away in shelling in Aleppo domain, the Britain-based Observatory said.

And a five-year old child was killed by gunfire inside the town of Dael, in the southern province of Daraa, where the revolt against Assad’s rule erupted within March 2011, while the seventh child died in shelling within the central town of Quseir.

The Observatory said no less than 2, 000 children have been killed inside the Syrian conflict.

“Children should be going back to school, but instead there're suffering extreme violence, ” Abdel Rahman claimed. “This would not be possible were the international community not really silenced by its paralysis. ” British-based charity Save the kids said it has collected ”shocking testimony” revealing that “children have been the targets of brutal assaults, seen the deaths of mom and dad, siblings and other children, and also have witnessed and experienced torture. ” Released Tuesday, “Untold Atrocities”, a number of first-hand accounts of the conflict from Syrian children and mom and dad after fleeing their country, contains graphic information on how children have been caught up in Syria’s war.

The spark that lit Syria’s revolt has been the arrest and torture in March 2011 of a small grouping of boys in the southern village of Daraa, after they daubed rooms with anti-regime graffiti.

Opposition groups tolerated because of the Damascus regime have meanwhile called on both the military and rebels to end the violence immediately, at the tip of a meeting in the Syrian capital on Sunday.

The group also urged Brahimi to organise a major international conference of all concerned events to push for a democratic transition near your vicinity.

Syria’s main opposition coalition supplied a statement on Monday, guaranteeing no revenge attacks could well be carried out against the country’s minority Alawite sect, to which Assad sits.

At least 29, 000 people have been killed since the revolt erupted not too long ago, according to the Observatory, while United Nations puts the toll at a lot more than 20, 000.

Taiwan ships sail to debated islands.

 Suao - Dozens of Taiwanese fishing boats on Mon set sail for disputed East China Sea islands which can be also claimed by China and Japan and still have sent tensions between the 2 Asian powers soaring.

The fishermen make an effort to highlight Taiwan's claim over the uninhabited islands - known as Diaoyu in China but Senkaku in Japan - which lie 400km in the Okinawan capital of Naha as well as 200km from Taiwan.

The islands, which are administered by Japan, lie on vital shipping lanes and are considered to be located near potentially rich petrol fields.

The flotilla of 78 fishing boats for sale flying Taiwan flags and brandishing showing signs left Suao, a dock in northeast Taiwan, at 3 years ago: 00 GMT. They are supposed to arrive around dawn on Thursday.

Once there, they plan to sail inside Japan's 12-nautical-mile territorial zone surrounding the disputed islands.

Patrol fishing vessels

The numbers of vessels could swell, according to the activist class which organised the protest travel.

"I'm certain there will be based at other fishing ports to sign up us, " said Lin Cheng-an, a spokesperson for that Suao Fishermen's Association.

"Diaoyutai may be our traditional fishing ground since way back when. We pledge to use our lives to guard it or we'd disgrace each of our ancestors, " said Chen Chun-sheng, the head of the Suao association, in the weekend.

The departing boats carried signs written in Chinese people reading "Diaoyutai belongs to Taiwan" as well as "Fighting for fishing rights with regard to survival".

Taiwan's coastguard sent at least 10 patrol boats alongside your fishing vessels, an official using the Coast Guard Administration said.

Upon Sunday, more than 1 000 slogan-chanting Taiwanese activists and their supporters rallied outside the de facto Japanese embassy in Taipei, calling for a boycott of Japanese goods.

Tensions have mounted after Japan announced earlier this month so it had completed a planned purchase of a lot of the islands, prompting Taiwan to call to mind its envoy to Tokyo as well as triggering mass protests in China

2, 000 workers involved with Foxconn brawl, 40 hurt.

A brawl for a plant operated by Foxconn, which assembles products for Apple and also other tech firms, involved some only two, 000 workers and left around 40 people injured, its mother or father company Hon Ha
The event happened at around 11: 00 pm Sunday in a privately-managed dormitory for Foxconn workers for a factory in Taiyuan in upper China, Hon Hai said in a statement.

It said the incident started "as your own dispute between several employees" understanding that local police brought the situation manageable at around 3: 00 feel Monday morning.

"The cause of the dispute is under investigation by local authorities and we're working closely with them in this process, but it appears not to ever have been work-related, " that said.

Hon Hai spokesman Simon Hsing told AFP he could hardly confirm if the Taiyuan facility was shut inside wake of the brawl.

The particular Taiyuan plant employs 79, 000 personnel and manufactures automobile electronic factors, consumer electronic components and precision moldings.

Foxconn is the the planet's largest maker of computer factors and assembles products for Apple company company, Sony and Nokia.

Foxconn uses about one million workers with China, roughly half of them within its main facility in Shenzhen, that borders Hong Kong.

The company has come within the spotlight after suicides and work unrest at its Chinese vegetation since 2010, which activists have blamed on tough working disorders.

Japan's Vice FM to visit Beijing to Repair Ties.

Japan government has decided to dispatch their Foreign Ministry's top official to China on a two- day tour to fix frayed bilateral ties over islands inside East China Sea, the ministry claimed.

Deputy Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai will start his visit to Beijing Wednesday afternoon, and is expected to hold on to talks Tuesday with Chinese Vice Unusual Minister Zhang Zhijun, Japanese federal officials said.

Earlier in the day, Kawai lodged a protest on the phone with Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua regarding the latest entry of Chinese surveillance vessels into waters close to the Diaoyu Islands.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have soured inside aftermath of Japan's "nationalization plan" earlier this month with the Diaoyu Islands which are advertised by both countries.

Pakistan minister's party disowns film-maker bounty.

Pakistani political party on Monday distanced itself from the reward offered by one of its ministers to the death of a film-maker exactly who produced an anti-Islam film.

The actual Awami National Party (ANP), which is section of the ruling coalition, said it rejected the $100, 000 bounty proposed by Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour to anyone who killed anyone behind the "Innocence of Muslims" film.

Bilour invited members of the actual Taliban and Al-Qaeda to join in the "noble deed", and said given the prospect he would personally kill the maker with the movie, which has sparked furious protests along the Muslim world.

"The statement due to Mr Bilour has been rejected because of the party because we believe inside non-violence and our party is well known for that, " ANP spokesman Senator Zahid Khan told AFP.

"This kind of thing is beyond our imagination as it will end the difference in between ANP and extremists. "

Consultations for the matter were in progress, Khan mentioned, but they were being hampered simply because party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan has gone to north america to take part in the actual UN General Assembly.

The ANP is a secular party and holds electrical power in Pakistan's deeply conservative northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where anti-Western feeling runs high as well as the party is under pressure through religious hardliners.

A general election is looming inside the coming months, and analysts say Bilour's move may have been a misguided attempt to outflank the religious right on an issue that has brought about visceral public anger in Pakistan.

The federal government on Sunday rejected the incentive, which Bilour announced a evening after nationwide Friday protests resistant to the film descended into violence as well as looting which left 21 dead and even more than 200 injured.

The US ALL State Department also weighed inside on Sunday, with an recognized calling Bilour's remarks "inflammatory as well as inappropriate".

Netanyahu apologizes to Ban Ki-moon above Iran leak.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologized to Ban Ki-moon for releasing information on a conversation between the two around the UN secretary-general's visit to Tehran in August.

The friction with Prohibit began on August 10, when Netanyahu phoned the secretary-general and also tried to persuade him never to attend the Nonaligned Movement's peak in Tehran. Minutes later, Netanyahu's place of work published a statement detailing the particular prime minister's arguments.

According to a senior Israeli official, Netanyahu called Ban several days later and also apologized. Netanyahu told Ban he or she still opposed the Tehran stop by but had no intention regarding embarrassing the secretary-general, whom he considers an associate of Israel.

At the starting of September, Ban phoned Netanyahu and briefed him on his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and also Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Based on a Western diplomat familiar with the conversation, Netanyahu told Ban he listened to Ban's speech in Tehran in which he condemned Iranian Holocaust denial and threats to destroy Israel. In line with the diplomat, Netanyahu told Ban he wished the secretary-general hadn't visited Tehran, but that he appreciated Ban's public statements and also the views he expressed in speaks with Iran's leaders.

The Prime Minister's Bureau declined to opinion

US slams Pakistan with regard to bounty.

The us condemned a Pakistani government minister's offer of a bounty to kill the maker of anti-Islam film that has triggered violent protests around the Muslim world.

As demonstrators held more rallies contrary to the film -- this time in Hong Kong, Turkey, Greece, Saudi Persia, Iran and Bangladesh -- perhaps Pakistan's government distanced itself from your comments by its Railways Minister, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour.

On Saturday, Bilour offered a $100, 000 "prize" for killing this filmmaker of "Innocence of Muslims" -- an amateurish film made in america -- and invited the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to be a part of the "noble deed. "

The state Department weighed in Sunday, by having an official recalling that US Us president Barack Obama and Secretary regarding State Hillary Clinton "have both said the video at the core of this is bad, disgusting, and reprehensible. "

The official added: "But that is no justification for violence and it is important for responsible leaders to operate and speak out against violence. "

"Therefore we find Mr. Bilour's story is inflammatory and inappropriate, " the state said in a statement.

Within Pakistan, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf declined the bounty offer.

"This seriously isn't government policy. We completely dissociate (ourselves) with this, " a spokesman for this prime minister's office told AFP.

Fresh rallies were held throughout Pakistan Sunday to condemn this film after violent nationwide protests Feb 5th left 21 people dead when police used tear gas and live rounds to deal with the problem protesters.

More than 50 people have died in protests and attacks all over the world linked to the low-budget movie, which mocks Islam and this Prophet Mohammed, since the primary demonstrations on September 11. Several Americans, including the ambassador for you to Libya, were killed in this Libyan city of Benghazi.

Your publication on Wednesday of characters mocking the Prophet Mohammed in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo provides further stoked anger.

In Portugal, an 18-year-old man who utilised Facebook to threaten the magazine's authors was charged Sunday with terrorism-related action, a judicial source said.

Police arrested the teenager from the southern city of Toulon upon Wednesday after he was reported by way of a person close to him who had previously been concerned over his radicalism.

Police found several knives at his residence and said the person had threatened to go after those accountable for the weekly.

Meanwhile, an influential US lawmaker cast doubt over whether there seemed to be even an anti-American protest occurring when the American ambassador to Libya was killed in a attack on the consulate in Benghazi.

The Obama administration initially said it believed extremists had not really planned the attack in Libya but rather had simply used a spontaneous protest within the anti-Islamic trailer as cover to combine in with the crowd as well as attack with weapons that integrated rocket-propelled grenades.

The White House for the first time Thursday described the assault as a "terrorist attack" and said it may have links to Al-Qaeda. But a Republican lawmaker cast doubt Sunday over perhaps the protests even happened.

"I have seen no information that signifies that there was a protest occurring as you have seen around any other embassy at that time, " Mike Rogers, chairman of your home intelligence committee, told CNN's "State from the Union" program.

"The notion regarding the film... I think the supervision was ill-advised to push lower that road, " he included.

Rogers said he believed it had been a revenge attack timed to coincide with the 11th anniversary of 9/11 but so it wasn't clear if the militants received known Stevens was there or maybe got lucky.

"This had to be a pre-planned event. We know it had been an act of terrorism. I do think the administration has come to the conclusion it's an act regarding terrorism now, " he said.

The State Department is below rising scrutiny about what is apparently inadequate security for Stevens and also the consulate in Benghazi before this attack.

China ships in Japan waters

A few Chinese government ships were in Japanese territorial waters off a new disputed island chain on Mon, the coastguard said, in the latest salvo of an increasingly heated international dispute.

The move came each day after China dealt a diplomatic snub to help Japan by postponing long-planned occasions marking the 40th anniversary connected with ties, as relations plumb depths not seen for many years.

It also came as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda aware Beijing's uncompromising stance could affect its economy and also have knock-on effects on the bigger world.

Japan's coastguard said that adjusted 0200 GMT, two maritime surveillance ships the other fishery patrol boat were in sovereign waters off Uotsurijima, the greatest island in the Japanese-administered Senkaku string, which China claims as your Diaoyus.

The ships are certainly not naval vessels; maritime surveillance comes within the State Oceanic Bureau, which is area of the Ministry of Land and Sources. Their roles include law enforcement in Chinese waters.

Fisheries patrol boats come within the aegis of China's Agriculture Ministry, and have the effect of policing fishing and marine sources.

The coastguard said six different vessels were in contiguous waters, an area under international law that extends nearly 12 nautical miles outside a new territory.

Osamu Fujimura, Japan's prime government spokesman and chief cabinet secretary, said Japan has "protested strongly" over the intrusion through diplomatic channels.

Up to 14 Chinese government ships are working the area for over per week, dipping in and out connected with contiguous waters.

Beijing sent vessels towards the islands on September 11, your day Tokyo announced it had completed a deal to obtain three of the uninhabited rocks using their private owner.

Commentators say the nationalisation of the islands was intended to prevent their purchase by the nationalist governor of Tokyo, who said he wanted to develop them.

But Beijing responded angrily and unleashed a firestorm connected with protest, which also saw at times violent rallies rocking several towns, with Japanese businesses suffering vandalism and arson at the hands of rioters.

On Sunday, Chinese state media announced Beijing was "postponing" celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic ties.

A new ceremony, which was due to occur on Thursday, was to be hosted by way of a friendship organisation. It has been held every decade and not before been cancelled.

The Japanese government on Monday described your cancellation as "regrettable".

"It is vital that we deepen the all round strategic and mutually beneficial connection between Japan and China, without letting somebody event affect ties, " Fujimura instructed reporters.

Asia's two largest economies have wrangled because the 1970s about the islands, which lie on important shipping lanes and they are believed to harbour mineral sources.

Periodically the row flares, sometimes affecting the multi-billion dollar trade ties between the two nations.

Disputes have usually been salved with the passage of time.

But the latest episode, which comes as China is along the way of a delicate leadership transition so when Japan's political scene has grow to be increasingly unstable, shows no symptoms of dying down.

On Saturday around 800 Japanese demonstrators waved national flags while they marched through downtown Tokyo, denouncing Beijing to be a "brute state" and "fascist" inside the first mass-rally since the challenge began.

Japanese dailies the Mainichi and also the Yomiuri said Monday that Tokyo was hoping the two countries' foreign ministers could meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New york this week.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal ahead of the UN meet, Noda warned China's attitude could damage its economy.

He said Japanese companies were now facing a sort of economic harassment in China.

"Recent delays in customs and visa issuance usually are of concern, " he said.

"Damaging our ties over such things would be bad for not simply the two countries' economies, but also for the global economy. ".

Obama out to squash GOP hopes for Wisconsin pickup

President Barack Obama worked to squash GOP aspirations for a resurgence of support in pivotal Wisconsin on Saturday as campaign rival Mitt Romney pinned his hopes of making inroads there on an argument that hard-pressed middle-class voters would do better with a Republican in the White House.
With just six weekends left before Election Day, both men also were devoting considerable time to raising campaign cash to bankroll the deluge of ads already saturating hotly contested states. Baseball great Hank Aaron was supplying the star power at two Obama fundraisers in Milwaukee while Romney headed to San Diego and Los Angeles to tap into West Coast cash, if not votes.
With running mates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan campaigning in New England and Florida, respectively, the presidential campaign was spread far and wide - both geographically and strategically. Biden revved up union activists poised to canvass for votes in New Hampshire while Ryan appealed to Hispanic voters in Miami and talked space policy in Orlando.
It was Obama's first visit to Wisconsin since February, and the president was intent on shoring up support in Ryan's home state. Obama won Wisconsin easily in 2008 and recent polls have him ahead by single digits, but Ryan is popular.
"We've always thought that Wisconsin would be harder for us this year than it was four years ago," said Obama campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki.
In advance of Obama's visit, Romney's campaign made the argument that Obama's failure to turn around the economy had Wisconsin voters looking for a different path. Republican Gov. Scott Walker said the president had a "Wisconsin problem." The state's 7.5 percent unemployment rate is below the national average, but its manufacturing industry has been hit hard in recent years.
The Republican National Committee released a web video, "Since You've Been Gone," highlighting recent GOP organizing efforts in the state and Walker's success in fending off a recall election there.
Ryan, campaigning in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, reinforced Romney's argument that Obama hasn't been able to make needed changes in Washington, poking at the president's recent comment that it's hard to change Washington from the inside without mobilizing public pressure on Congress from the outside.
"Why do we send presidents to the White House in the first place?" Ryan asked. "We send presidents to change and fix the mess in Washington, and if this president has admitted that he can't change Washington, then you know what? We need to change presidents."
He also faulted Obama for a "policy of appeasement" toward the Castro regime in Cuba, saying all the president had done was "reward more despotism."
Obama has eased restrictions to allow Americans to travel to Cuba and to let Cuban-Americans to send money to family on the island. But the president has stopped well-short of discussing lifting the 50-year-old economic embargo, which is widely viewed in Latin America as a failure and has complicated U.S. relationships in the region.
Psaki said the president had supported democracy movements on the island and worked to give people there more say in their futures.
In an appearance in Orlando, not far from Florida's space coast, Ryan criticized the president for putting the U.S. space program "on a path where we are conceding our global position as the unequivocal leader in space."
Underscoring the importance of grass-roots efforts in the campaign's final days, Biden rallied union workers at a Teamsters union hall in Manchester, N.H., saying their organizing work would be the "antidote" to millions spent on advertising by Republican-leaning super PACs.
Biden said it was because of unions that the U.S. has a strong middle class, and he accused Romney and Ryan of having "a completely different value set, a completely different vision."
"They're doubling down on everything that caused the economic crisis in the first place," he said.
Romney is dedicating most of this weekend to courting donors in California - a state that he's not trying to win. He attended a private fundraiser in suburban San Francisco Friday night and planned to attend at least two more on Saturday in San Diego and Los Angeles.
The GOP nominee is feeling fundraising pressure: Last month, for the first time, Obama and the Democratic Party raised more than Romney and the Republican Party, $114 million to $111.6 million.
Romney's schedule - particularly his focus on fundraising over traditional campaigning with voters - has caught the attention of conservative opinion leaders.
"The logic of Romney's fundraising has seemed, for some time, slightly crazy," conservative Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wrote recently. "He's raising money so he can pile it in at the end, with ads. But at the end will they make much difference?"
Facing such criticism, the Romney campaign added a stop in Colorado late Sunday and will launch a three-day bus tour through Ohio on Monday. Over the past week, the Republican nominee attended just three public rallies, one televised forum and delivered a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles.
As Romney was preparing to board his flight from San Francisco to San Diego, a reporter asked whether he was going to begin campaigning more aggressively. Romney smiled, said nothing, and walked away.