Spiegel January 19, 2010 Taliban insurgents on Monday plunged the Afghan capital Kabul into chaos with a series of well-coordinated attacks across the city. Militarily, the offensive was a failure. But the propaganda value of the attack, which comes ahead of the Afghanistan conference later this month, is clear, say German commentators. more
Spiegel January 18, 2010 Favorite Viktor Yanukovich has won the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election, and now faces a run-off against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Both candidates appear confident of victory — and raise Russian hopes for a rapprochement between the two countries. more
The Wall Street Journal January 18, 2010 The European Union finally has in place a president of the European Council, Belgium’s former prime minister, Herman van Rompuy, and a foreign secretary (a.k.a. high representative), Labour Party stalwart Catherine Ashton. True, the European Union’s “democratic deficit” remains and the heads of state missed an opportunity to […]
The Wall Street Journal January 18, 2010 SEVILLE, Spain—European Union countries are struggling to agree on a target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions ahead of a Jan. 31 deadline to deliver a concrete offer to the United Nations following the Copenhagen accord. more
The Wall Street Journal January 18, 2010 SEVILLE, Spain—Global climate negotiations should remain the responsibility of the United Nations, even if the Copenhagen climate summit in December didn’t provide a breakthrough, said Achim Steiner, U.N. undersecretary general and executive director of the U.N. environment program. more