The fiery brunette with a burning ambition had risen from an impoverished childhood, her family abandoned by her father, to make hundreds of millions of dollars in the country’s shady natural gas business. Briefly arrested on charges of theft and bribery, she’d recast herself as a rising opposition voice in a country sliding toward authoritarianism

A disputed Turkish protocol

Secretary Gates flew overnight to join his NATO counterparts at their quarterly meeting, where Afghanistan will be one of the main topics. The defense ministers will be joined by senior Afghan officials

He has refused to end settlement buildings in occupied East Jerusalem, in a move condemned internationally.

Obama administration first demanded “total freeze” in the settlements on occupied lands, then failed to get Israel end the building constructions and what’s more, Israel ordered new ones. In the end,

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon arrived in Cyprus on Sunday, January 31. His visit aims to show support for the ongoing peace talks between the two sides of the island.

“We will continue, for example, to do what it takes to create jobs. That is reflected in my budget. It is essential,” he said.

‘More spending’

Iraqi authorities say the bomber joined

The swift and sharp protest came from Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei, who said his government was “strongly indignant” about the proposed US sale of weapons to Taiwan, which China considers

U.S. President Barack Obama recently decided to speed up the deployment of defense systems, placing special ships off the Gulf and missile defense systems in Arab states such as Qatar, the U.A.E.,