The Tamil Tigers appear to be finished as Sri Lankan government troops close in on rebel fighters trapped in a small area on the northeastern coast. But it is Sri Lanka's civilian population that has suffered most during the decades-long civil war. A group of soldiers at the Palali air base on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is waiting for an Antonov aircraft to arrive from Colombo. All transportation links to the capital were cut off for years. Now the first journalists are being allowed to visit the region, which has been liberated by government forces. After more than a quarter century of civil war, the separatist movement that has controlled the region for so long, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has been expelled, at least from its strongholds.
The Tamil Tigers appear to be finished as Sri Lankan government troops close in on rebel fighters trapped in a small area on the northeastern coast. But it is Sri Lanka's civilian population that has suffered most during the decades-long civil war.
A group of soldiers at the Palali air base on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is waiting for an Antonov aircraft to arrive from Colombo. All transportation links to the capital were cut off for years. Now the first journalists are being allowed to visit the region, which has been liberated by government forces.
After more than a quarter century of civil war, the separatist movement that has controlled the region for so long, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has been expelled, at least from its strongholds.
Politicians in Israel are making their final appeals to voters before a general election on Tuesday. The favourite to become prime minister is Binyamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing opposition party, Likud. But his opinion-poll lead has been clawed back in recent weeks by Tzipi Livni, who heads the centrist Kadima, the largest party in the government. The BBC's Tim Franks, in Jerusalem, says opinion polls suggest the far-right will make the biggest gains. The final polls on Friday showed the Israel Beiteinu Party led by Avigdor Lieberman eclipsing Labour as third party in the Israeli Knesset.
Politicians in Israel are making their final appeals to voters before a general election on Tuesday.
The favourite to become prime minister is Binyamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing opposition party, Likud.
But his opinion-poll lead has been clawed back in recent weeks by Tzipi Livni, who heads the centrist Kadima, the largest party in the government.
The BBC's Tim Franks, in Jerusalem, says opinion polls suggest the far-right will make the biggest gains.
The final polls on Friday showed the Israel Beiteinu Party led by Avigdor Lieberman eclipsing Labour as third party in the Israeli Knesset.
ZAGAZIG, Egypt: Dressed in karate uniforms and track suits, the young Egyptian women break off in pairs and begin sparring, with one kicking and punching while the other tries to block the attacks. The nearly two dozen women and girls in a small gymnasium in this city of one million, north of Cairo, are learning to fight off assailants - a rarity for women in the Arab world. Such self-defense classes have popped up in the past year across Egypt, as this conservative Muslim country for the first time turns major attention to the issue of sexual harassment. Women, and even some men, have begun campaigns against sexual harassment around Cairo, using Facebook to raise awareness among the country's Internet-savvy youth. It is one way in which the Internet is turning public attention to issues that were kept hidden among Arabs in the past. Open discussion of the harassment issue first emerged two years ago, after blogs in Egypt gave broad publicity to amateur videos showing men assaulting women in downtown Cairo during a major Muslim holiday.
ZAGAZIG, Egypt: Dressed in karate uniforms and track suits, the young Egyptian women break off in pairs and begin sparring, with one kicking and punching while the other tries to block the attacks.
The nearly two dozen women and girls in a small gymnasium in this city of one million, north of Cairo, are learning to fight off assailants - a rarity for women in the Arab world.
Such self-defense classes have popped up in the past year across Egypt, as this conservative Muslim country for the first time turns major attention to the issue of sexual harassment. Women, and even some men, have begun campaigns against sexual harassment around Cairo, using Facebook to raise awareness among the country's Internet-savvy youth.
It is one way in which the Internet is turning public attention to issues that were kept hidden among Arabs in the past. Open discussion of the harassment issue first emerged two years ago, after blogs in Egypt gave broad publicity to amateur videos showing men assaulting women in downtown Cairo during a major Muslim holiday.
ISLAMABAD: When Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, holds talks with Pakistani leaders on ways to stop a runaway Islamist insurgency that is destabilizing Pakistan, he will find a pro-American but weak civilian government, and a powerful army unaccustomed and averse to fighting a domestic enemy. In a nuclear-armed nation regarded as an ally of the United States and considered pivotal by the administration of President Barack Obama to ending the war in neighboring Afghanistan, Holbrooke will face a surge of anti-American sentiment on clear display by private citizens, public officials and increasingly potent television talk shows. Some remedies offered by his hosts in Pakistan, where he was scheduled to begin a regional tour on Monday, are likely to be unappealing. On almost every front, the country's leaders are calling for less U.S. involvement, or at least the appearance of it. The main reason for the swell in resentment here is the very strategy that the U.S. government considers its prime success against Al Qaeda: missile strikes delivered by remotely piloted aircraft against militants in Pakistani tribal areas.
ISLAMABAD: When Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, holds talks with Pakistani leaders on ways to stop a runaway Islamist insurgency that is destabilizing Pakistan, he will find a pro-American but weak civilian government, and a powerful army unaccustomed and averse to fighting a domestic enemy.
In a nuclear-armed nation regarded as an ally of the United States and considered pivotal by the administration of President Barack Obama to ending the war in neighboring Afghanistan, Holbrooke will face a surge of anti-American sentiment on clear display by private citizens, public officials and increasingly potent television talk shows.
Some remedies offered by his hosts in Pakistan, where he was scheduled to begin a regional tour on Monday, are likely to be unappealing. On almost every front, the country's leaders are calling for less U.S. involvement, or at least the appearance of it.
The main reason for the swell in resentment here is the very strategy that the U.S. government considers its prime success against Al Qaeda: missile strikes delivered by remotely piloted aircraft against militants in Pakistani tribal areas.
Britain and her Nato allies in Afghanistan are stuck in a stalemate with the Taleban, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, admitted today. His pessimistic view of military progress in Afghanistan coincided with a new poll of Afghans which reveals that confidence in the future is significantly lower than it was three years ago. The poll of 1,500 people in Afghanistan's 34 provinces, commissioned by the BBC and two other international broadcasters, found that only 40 per cent of Afghans still believed their country was heading in the right direction, compared with 77 per cent in 2005. Mr Miliband said the figures were realistic. In other findings, 59 per cent supported the continuing presence of British forces in the country, and 63 per cent supported the role of the Americans.
Britain and her Nato allies in Afghanistan are stuck in a stalemate with the Taleban, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, admitted today.
His pessimistic view of military progress in Afghanistan coincided with a new poll of Afghans which reveals that confidence in the future is significantly lower than it was three years ago.
The poll of 1,500 people in Afghanistan's 34 provinces, commissioned by the BBC and two other international broadcasters, found that only 40 per cent of Afghans still believed their country was heading in the right direction, compared with 77 per cent in 2005. Mr Miliband said the figures were realistic.
In other findings, 59 per cent supported the continuing presence of British forces in the country, and 63 per cent supported the role of the Americans.
A nationwide survey of Afghans out Monday shows plummeting support for US and NATO/ISAF forces in Afghanistan, and a rise in the number who believe attacks on those troops are acceptable. The poll of 1,500 people in Afghanistan's 34 provinces, conducted by three Western broadcast networks -- ABC News, the BBC and Germany's ARD -- also shows lower support for President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan central government. Forty percent of Afghans surveyed say their country is heading in the right direction, down 77 percent from 2005, according to the poll. Afghan opinion of the United States has nosedived: 47 percent had a favorable opinion, down from 83 percent in 2005. US favorability plunged 18 percent in 2008 alone, according to the survey. "For the first time slightly more Afghans now see the United States unfavorably than favorably," ABC News said. The biggest complaint: civilian deaths resulting from US and NATO air strikes, which 77 percent say is unacceptable because the risk to civilians outweighs the strikes' value in fighting insurgents. Forty-one percent blame Western forces for poor targeting, while 28 percent blame the insurgents for hiding among civilians.
The poll of 1,500 people in Afghanistan's 34 provinces, conducted by three Western broadcast networks -- ABC News, the BBC and Germany's ARD -- also shows lower support for President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan central government.
Forty percent of Afghans surveyed say their country is heading in the right direction, down 77 percent from 2005, according to the poll.
Afghan opinion of the United States has nosedived: 47 percent had a favorable opinion, down from 83 percent in 2005. US favorability plunged 18 percent in 2008 alone, according to the survey.
"For the first time slightly more Afghans now see the United States unfavorably than favorably," ABC News said.
The biggest complaint: civilian deaths resulting from US and NATO air strikes, which 77 percent say is unacceptable because the risk to civilians outweighs the strikes' value in fighting insurgents.
Forty-one percent blame Western forces for poor targeting, while 28 percent blame the insurgents for hiding among civilians.
ABC just reported that at court hearing this morning, the Obama administration stated that it will adopt the Bush administration's arguments on an extraordinary rendition case: A source inside [the courtroom] tells ABC News that a representative of the Justice Department stood up to say that its position hasn't changed, that new administration stands behind arguments that previous administration made, with no ambiguity at all. The DOJ lawyer said the entire subject matter remains a state secret. Information about this case is below the fold from diary I wrote yesterday.
ABC just reported that at court hearing this morning, the Obama administration stated that it will adopt the Bush administration's arguments on an extraordinary rendition case:
A source inside [the courtroom] tells ABC News that a representative of the Justice Department stood up to say that its position hasn't changed, that new administration stands behind arguments that previous administration made, with no ambiguity at all. The DOJ lawyer said the entire subject matter remains a state secret.
Information about this case is below the fold from diary I wrote yesterday.
Katherine Richardson, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen, who is organising next month's event, said: "This is not a regular scientific conference. This is a deliberate attempt to influence policy."
