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/ 28 May 2008

Canadian minister quits over security lapse

The Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, dubbed ”Bumbling Bernier” by his critics, resigned on Tuesday after admitting that he left sensitive government documents at the home of his former girlfriend. Bernier (45) has come under criticism in recent weeks after it emerged that the woman concerned, Julie Couillard, had been involved in relationships with men linked to the Hells Angels.

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/ 27 May 2008

Australian troops ‘scorned’ for low-risk missions

Australian soldiers are ashamed of their low-risk missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and are scorned by troops of other nations, two officers charged in comments published on Tuesday. ”The restrictions and policies enforced on infantrymen in Iraq have resulted in the widespread perception that our army is plagued by institutional cowardice,” Major Jim Hammett said.

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/ 26 May 2008

UN: Russia shot down Georgian spy plane

The United Nations said on Monday that a Russian air force plane shot down an unmanned Georgian spy drone over Abkhazia last month, strengthening Tbilisi’s claims that Moscow is aiding the rebel territory.The UN report was the weightiest independent endorsement to date of Tbilisi’s allegation that a Russian jet downed its spy plane on April 20.

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/ 23 May 2008

Running mate sought as Obama shifts gear

Democratic party officials disclosed on Thursday that Barack Obama has sanctioned a hunt for a vice-presidential candidate, a further sign that he regards the battle with Hillary Clinton as being over. Time magazine, in a report in its next issue, quotes a friend of Bill Clinton saying he wants his wife to be the vice-presidential candidate.

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/ 10 May 2008

Big guns roll through Red Square once more

Seventeen years have gone by since T-90 tanks last rolled across the historic cobbles of Moscow’s Red Square. But on Friday they were back — with an unmistakable diesel-fumed roar — and trundling past Lenin’s tomb and the fantastic domes of St Basil’s Cathedral. Led by a rather tubby general holding a sword, Russia held its annual Victory Day parade.

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/ 29 April 2008

Russia shows off upgraded nuclear bomber

Russia showed off on Tuesday the first modernised Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber, which a senior air force official said would help Moscow match the nuclear capability of a potential enemy. Russian television showed the giant, white-painted airplane releasing parachutes to slow down the speed as it landed at Engels airbase in the Volga region of Saratov.

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/ 29 April 2008

Blast kills 15 Afghans in east of country

A suspected suicide bomber killed 15 Afghans and wounded 14 more in eastern Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan on Tuesday, a Nato spokesperson said. The Taliban have vowed to step up suicide attacks this year to undermine the faith of Afghans in the ability of their government to provide security.

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/ 26 April 2008

A neocon by any other name

Robert Kagan, author, essayist, former diplomat, pre-eminent thinker of what is called ”neoconservatism” — and now foreign policy adviser to Republican presidential nominee John McCain — would like it to be known that there are many things that he is not.

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/ 23 April 2008

Terror fears: Denmark evacuates embassies

Denmark has evacuated staff from its embassies in Algeria and Afghanistan because of terror threats following the reprint in Danish newspapers of a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad, officials said on Wednesday. The threat ”is so concrete that we had to take this decision”, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

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/ 8 April 2008

Rethink for Clinton after top strategist resigns

Hillary Clinton’s faltering presidential campaign will undergo a ”mini-makeover” that will emphasise her more caring side following the departure of its main strategist, Mark Penn. Penn’s exit, announced on Sunday, follows clashes over his outside work for other clients as well as screaming matches with senior campaign staff and withering criticism of his strategy.

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/ 7 April 2008

Bush fails to sell missile-defence plans

United States President George Bush’s attempts to patch up the US’s battered relationship with Russia failed on Sunday when Vladimir Putin said he continued to oppose the US’s European missile defence plans. Bush and Putin held talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. It was their last encounter before Putin steps down as president.

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/ 4 April 2008

Russia’s Putin stands firm against Nato

President Vladimir Putin on Friday maintained Russian opposition to a United States missile defence system and Nato’s enlargement during talks with alliance leaders, officials said. No progress was reported from the summit but Putin, in his last major international appearance before stepping down in May, and Nato leaders said the talks had been positive.

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/ 4 April 2008

Tensions rise at Russia-Nato summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday started a tense summit with Nato leaders amid mounting tensions over United States anti-missile defence plans and the alliance’s expansion toward Russian territory. In a rare moment of cooperation, Russia and Nato concluded a deal on land transit for non-military freight to Afghanistan.

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/ 3 April 2008

Zim awaits presidential vote results

Zimbabweans waited anxiously on Thursday for an end to a deafening official silence over the outcome of their presidential election, after the opposition took control of Parliament. The country’s electoral commission wrapped up final results on the parliamentary contest in the early hours, in which President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party lost its majority.

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/ 2 April 2008

Bush sets up Nato clash over Ukraine, Georgia

United States President George Bush set the stage for a clash at his last Nato summit on Wednesday by pressing reluctant West European allies to set former Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine on a path to membership. He also urged allies to follow the example of France and host nation Romania in providing extra troops for Nato’s battle against Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan.

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/ 29 March 2008

Muslim nations condemn Dutch Qur’an film

Muslim nations on Friday condemned a film by a Dutch lawmaker that accuses the Qur’an of inciting violence, and Dutch Muslim leaders urged restraint. Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, launched his short video on the internet on Thursday evening, prompting an al-Qaeda-linked website to call for his death.

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/ 28 March 2008

Kremlin: Nato ties hinge on Ukraine-Georgia issue

The fate of bids by ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia to join Nato will show if the Western alliance is serious about cooperating with Russia or bent on going it alone, a Kremlin spokesperson said on Friday. Dmitry Peskov said that despite its longstanding status as a partner of Nato, Moscow was still at a loss about the alliance’s plans.

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/ 25 March 2008

Medvedev presses Nato over expansion

Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev maintained pressure on Nato on Tuesday not to grant membership to Ukraine and Georgia, saying a week before an alliance summit that it would undermine European security. Ukraine and Georgia are lobbying Nato to grant them a Membership Action Plan, which is seen as the first step towards joining the alliance.