Ashish Kumar Sen

Egyptian government heading toward autocracy, an opposition leader says

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government is asserting its dominance in ways that raise the specter of an autocracy similar to the regime Egyptians toppled almost two years ago, an Egyptian opposition leader warned foreign-policy specialists in Washington.

November 18, 2012

Protests against Jordan’s king rock capital

Jordan, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, was rocked Wednesday by a second day of protests that uncharacteristically targeted the king after the government raised fuel prices in a desperate act to reduce a massive budget deficit.

November 14, 2012

Haqqani Network talks peace but continues attacks in Afghanistan

The Haqqani Network, a group of Pakistan-based terrorists that has killed coalition troops in Afghanistan, is willing to participate in peace talks with the U.S. as long as the Afghan Taliban's top leader approves, according to a senior commander in the group.

November 13, 2012

Obama to visit Myanmar this month

President Obama will make history later this month by becoming the first U.S. president to visit the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, which after nearly five decades of military rule has shaken off its pariah status by taking tentative steps toward democratic reform.

November 8, 2012

Strike on Sudan arms factory points to Iran threat to Israel

Sudan's longtime ties to Iran — and the two nations' roles in arming Islamic militants — have come under scrutiny in the wake of an explosion at a Khartoum weapons factory, blamed on an Israeli airstrike, and the dockings of two Iranian warships at a Sudanese port.

November 5, 2012

Clinton designates Haqqani commander as a terrorist

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday listed a member of a Pakistan-based terrorist network linked to several deadly attacks, including one on the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan in September 2011, as a "specially designated global terrorist."

November 5, 2012

Syrian war boils over onto U.S. allies; outside jihadists rush in

Syria's protracted civil war is spilling across its borders, creating breeding grounds for extremists, sharpening sectarian schisms and threatening to destabilize U.S. allies in the Middle East.

October 25, 2012

Lebanese lawmaker calls for government to resign

A senior member of Lebanon's Parliament on Monday accused the government of colluding with assassins and said it must resign to prevent the country from drifting into chaos.

October 22, 2012

Piracy increasing near West Africa, declining near East Africa

Criminal gangs have stepped up attacks on ships off Africa's west coast, even as similar incidents involving Somali pirates off the continent's east coast have declined sharply, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

October 22, 2012

Asia will resist U.S. efforts to contain China, says Singapore diplomat

Asian nations will resist any U.S. attempts to block the rise of China, as Washington pursues a new strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Singapore's former ambassador in Washington.

October 14, 2012

Chinese policies blamed in worsening U.S. deficit

China has done nothing to end trade practices that favor Chinese enterprises at the expense of U.S. workers and businesses, says a report by a congressional commission.

October 11, 2012

Congressional report hits Chinese trade practices

China has done nothing to end trade practices that favor Chinese enterprises at the expense of U.S. workers and businesses, a report by a congressional commission says.

October 11, 2012

Fuel riches could bring Cypriots to table

The discovery of vast reserves of oil and natural gas off the coast of Cyprus has ignited hope for stalled talks to reunify the Mediterranean island, which is split into an internationally recognized ethnic-Greek south and an ethnic-Turkish north.

October 7, 2012

Head of U.N. alarmed by Turkey-Syria tensions

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm Thursday over the growing tension on the Turkish-Syrian border after Turkey’s Parliament authorized military operations against Syria.

October 4, 2012

Quarrel between Japan, S. Korea may destabilize region

The Obama administration's strategic pivot toward Asia could be adversely affected by a territorial quarrel between two key U.S. allies, Japan and South Korea, over a rocky outcrop of islands.

October 2, 2012

Iran’s foreign minister blasts Israel’s ‘war drum beaters’

Iran’s foreign minister on Monday accused Israel's leaders of being "war drum beaters" and said his country will zealously defend itself against any attack.

October 1, 2012

Iranian group is taken off U.S.’s list of terrorists

The Obama administration has taken a group of Iranian dissidents off the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations, culminating a long-running public relations campaign by the dissidents and their supporters.

October 1, 2012

U.S. takes Iranian dissident group MeK off terrorist list

The Obama administration has taken the Mujahideen-e-Khalq off the U.S. terrorist blacklist culminating an expensive PR campaign by the Iranian dissidents.

September 28, 2012

Netanyahu to U.N.: It’s 11th hour on Iran nukes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned world leaders Thursday that Iran could make a nuclear weapon by spring, and called on them to draw a "red line" to stop the Islamic regime.

September 27, 2012

Myanmar leader hails democratic reform

Myanmar's president told the U.N. General Assembly Thursday that no one can reverse the democratic reforms that have helped his nation shed its international pariah status over the past 18 months.

September 27, 2012