East Asia

North Korea joins ICBM club —but why now?

North Korea's launch of an "exo-atmospheric" rocket follows South Korean plans to develop ballistic missiles capable of hitting all of the North's territory, with US oversight.

Watching the Shadows

Military coup d’état against Obama?

Was Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette sacked from his command of a Pacific carrier battle group last month because he was plotting a putsch against Obama? 

New York City

NYC: obligatory disaster rant

"Mandatory evacuation" set a dangerous precedent for executive power and displacement of the poor—but will the "Frankenstorm" at least be a climate-change wake-up call?

Palestine

Israel shoots down Hezbollah drone?

Israeli warplanes swooped low over Lebanese villages in a show of force apparently aimed at Hezbollah the day after a mysterious incursion by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). 

Iran

Tehran protesters: ‘Forget Syria!’

At angry protests over economic conditions in Tehran, slogans included “Allahu akbar!” (God is great, associated with the 1979 revolution) and “Leave Syria alone, instead think of us!”

East Asia

Japan retreats from nuclear power phase-out

Japan’s cabinet turned down recommendations of a special panel to phase out nuclear power by 2040—a move openly portrayed as a capitulation to the nuclear lobby.

Oceania

US, New Zealand restore military cooperation

Leon Panetta in Auckland announced that US naval cooperation with New Zealand will be resumed—cut off in 1985, when the Pacific nation declared itself a nuclear-free zone.

Iran

Unprecedented maneuvers in Strait of Hormuz

With two US warships headed for Libya, 25 nations led by the US are converging on the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz for naval maneuvers on an unprecedented scale.

South Asia

India: police fire on anti-nuclear protesters

A months-long civil disobedience campaign against the Koodankulam nuclear plant in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state turned violent as police opened fire on protesters.

Afghanistan

Next: nuclear Taliban?

A jihadist attack on Pakistan’s Minhas Air Force Base coincides with a US Congressional report on threats to the “security” of Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal.