army

By Camille Elhassani in Americas on December 19th, 2011
Photo: Reuters

Computer forensics testimony dominated the fourth day in the hearing to determine whether Army PFC Bradley Manning’s case should go to trial. Manning is the alleged source of the 251,887 US diplomatic cables published by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.  

By Marga Ortigas in Asia on November 13th, 2011
Photo by Reuters

The colourful and vociferous Philippine media called it everything from a “bloodbath” to an “ambush”.  Accusations were traded and fingers were pointed in all directions immediately after. But that was nearly a month ago. Now, the story has been relegated to the back pages of the broadsheets, if on the pages at all. 

Less passionately, it is now simply referred to as “the Al Barka incident”, after the locale in which it took place on the small southern island of Basilan in Mindanao. 

The “incident” nearly ruined an already tenuous truce between Philippine government troops and Muslim insurgents – who, by the way, no longer want to be called that. But they aren’t “rebels” either. Nor is it right, they say, to call them “separatists”. For the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), this is a battle to reclaim Muslim independence.  

By Lucia Newman in Americas on August 17th, 2011

Almost five years ago, Mexicans watched their President Felipe Calderon send soldiers out onto the streets of cities like Ciudad Juarez, announcing an unprecedented frontal attack on the country’s drug cartels.

Then, they saw the death toll rise year by year, from around under 3,000 in 2007 to almost 20, 000 in 2010. This year could be even higher.

When I went to Cancun for the Climate Summit in late November, a taxi driver told me that the leve of violence was seriously disrupting the economy - especially tourism - and that he hoped the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) , which ruled Mexico for 70 years, would be brought back to power in the next presidential elections.

By Kamal Hyder in Asia on June 23rd, 2011
Photo by GALLO/GETTY

In less than a month’s time, US forces will begin pulling out of Afghanistan.

By Andrea Schmidt in Fault Lines on June 21st, 2011
Gloria Arenas Agis

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By Camille Elhassani in Americas on May 30th, 2011
Obama nominated on Monday General Martin Dempsey (centre) to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [AFP]

Over the course of the next few months, Barack Obama will have replaced much of the defence leadership of the US in anticipation of watershed changes to defence policy.

On Monday, the US president announced the latest in a series of appointments: army General Martin Dempsey as his pick to be the nation's highest ranking military officer - chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In the announcement, Obama alluded to Dempsey's qualifications and the need for his skills.

By Imran Khan in Asia on May 7th, 2011
Photo by Reuters
For the last five days the world's media have laid siege to the house where Osama bin Laden was shot dead.

Today, Saturday, it is a very different story. All roads leading to the compound have been cordoned off, the Pakistani army has taken over security, and rumours are rife about the compound's future.

The first, and most prevalent one, is that the house is about to be torn down. The reasons are perhaps obvious: Osamaland is turning into a tourist attraction, with families visiting and news crews taking up every available space possible.

But, perhaps, there is another reason.
By Imran Khan in Asia on May 4th, 2011

In this part of the world, a tourist attraction is in the making.

The house where Osama Bin Laden was killed is surrounded by news crews and locals.

Young men smoke and offer up opinions to anyone with a pen or a camera.

They come from all over town to take pictures of the compound ... a gruesome souvenir.

I'm surprised by the size of the house, it dwarfs the rest of the buildings.

To be honest it looks like a prison compound from the outside.

One local I spoke to  told me that "I live local and you couldn't walk past this building without some security guard stopping you..I'd ask them who lived here. They'd reply a Pathaan. I always thought it was strange."

By Cal Perry in Middle East on April 24th, 2011



Every other journalist is trying to get into Syria, but on Saturday I was trying to get out. The government had made it perfectly clear: My visa was expiring and unless I left on April 23, I would "face the full force of the law".

I had agreed the night before with my cameraman, Ben Mitchell, over a drink that neither of us wanted to discover what "full force of the law" meant. So the debate was really whether I should fly out from Damascus or drive to Amman, Jordan, and fly from there.

The decision was made that he would fly out from Damascus, the Syrian capital, with the gear and I would drive to Amman. I had left my second passport there with a friend. One for Arab countries and the other for Israel. Welcome to 21st century diplomatic relations.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on April 22nd, 2011
[Photo by Reuters]

Thousands continue to take to the streets across Syria, despite reform pledges by president Bashar al-Assad. We bring you the latest news from our correspondents and other sources.

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