Global briefing
Week in review: Al Qa'eda denounced by Libyan group
- Jihadist ideology is now under attack from its erstwhile proponents. A Libyan group has issued a new religious document denouncing the tactics used by al Qa'eda as illegal under Islamic law.
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Pakistani army gets tough to turn people against Taliban
Under increasing international pressure to deal with militant attacks, the army has been accused of resorting to desperate measures.
Taliban leader said to be in Karachi
Pakistan strongly denied a US report that Mullah Omar, the head of the Afghan Taliban, is living in Karachi.
Suicide bomb in Afghan town
A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle blows himself up in the heart of Afghanistan’s southwestern town of Farah.
Maoists suspected of derailing train
Suspected Maoist rebels have derailed a passenger train in eastern India, killing two people and injuring more than 40.
Karzai sworn in for second term
After an election dogged by fraud, Hamid Karzai is sworn in for a second five-year term as the president of Afghanistan.
Suicide blast outside Pakistan courthouse
A bombing in Peshawar is the sixth attack in less than two weeks by militants fighting back against an army offensive in the nearby Afghan border region.
Afghan minister ‘took bribe for copper deal’
Country's minister of mining allegedly picked up $20m in Dubai to give mining project to Chinese company
Popular general rattles Rajapaksa
Sri Lankan president’s failure to call snap January poll raises speculation he is trying to complete his term rather than suffer vote defeat.
Kabul ‘on lockdown’ for Karzai's inauguration
Security authorities have increased security in Kabul to stop Taliban attacks marring the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai.
British PM defends Afghan mission
Premier justifies action as death toll mounts and support wanes, but report says he is planning a Nato meeting in 2010 over an ‘exit strategy’.
Suicide bomber hits Pakistan police station
A suicide car bomb rips through a police station in Peshawar, devastating part of the building and killing four people.
Kolkata's vagrants re-sell donated food
Operating illegally on Indian Railways-owned land at the station, the goriber hotels, or restaurants for the poor, provide a lifeline to their customers.
Today's comment
A spiritual analysis of extremism
Jihad Hashim Brown : Westerners need to stop thinking they are celebrities living out pop-modern lives for us on a stage for all their eastern fans to wish they were them.
Your Prophet is your Islam
Omid Safi: Whenever I ask non-Muslims about the Prophet Mohammed: the response is invariably one of deafening silence.
Cold feet as I prepare for journey of a lifetime
Hadeel al Shalchi: By this time next week I hope to be in the final stages of possibly the most challenging duty of my faith – the Haj.
Most popular stories
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Rajapaksa faces first challenge at Sri Lanka polls
A newly strengthened opposition threaten the dominance of Sri Lanka’s ruling party for the first time in 15 years.
Clinton: US has 'no long-term stake' in Afghanistan
The US has no interest in staying in Afghanistan and its primary aim is to defeat al Qa’eda, Hillary Clinton says.
Anger and trepidation in streets of Kabul
The death of foreign workers in an attack on a UN house illustrates the chaos in Afghanistan.
Poll challenge for Pakistan’s Obama
Engineer Mehboob Ali Abbas has returned from Chicago to his home constituency to stand in elections for the Gilgit-Baltisan Legislative Assembly.
Spotlight
The legal legacy of a ‘hedonist’
- In an unprecedented case, the former prime minister Ehud Olmert faces trial for graft, while some of his ministers have been sentenced.
Frontiers
Why the historian is wearing flippers
- Prehistoric European cultures existed along coastlines that have since been reclaimed by the sea. Archaeologists are turning to the ocean floor to join the missing pieces of human civilisation.
Dispatches
Bad blood between Egypt and Algeria runs deeper than football
- Violence is latest incident in escalating diplomatic row between Egypt and Algeria, whose two World Cup qualifying matches this week inflamed decades-old tensions.
The week
- 14.11.2009 to 20.11.2009 Jet fighters took to the Dubai skies, five people survived two months adrift on open seas and Apple entered talks to allow music downloads in the UAE.
Review
- World Young Egyptian women, Ursula Lindsey reports, are taking to blogs and publishing books to give voice to their frustration with the indignities of single life, the pressure to marry and the stigma of divorce.
