Reuters: International News:
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee condemned Iran on Friday for a violent crackdown on protesters after presidential elections this year that the Iranian opposition says were rigged.
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The Guardian:
By forcing a flawed model of democracy on Afghans, the US has made Afghanistan less stable and less democraticThe fiasco of the elections in Afghanistan has been widely lamented. Most laments focus on a single obvious fact: by winning a new term through fraud at the polls, President Hamid Karzai has weakened his legitimacy, (Read More)
guardian.co.uk Politics:
The UK's constitutional jigsaw still needs to be completed, and politics looks set to become increasingly territorialIt has probably escaped the attention of all but the most assiduous Guardian reader, but this week marked an explosion of activity on constitutional reform, which is going to continue for the next few weeks.T (Read More)
New York Times:
American officials need to help resolve the impasse over election laws in Iraq, and Iraqis must learn how to forge reliable compromises.
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guardian.co.uk: The Guardian newspaper: Comment & debate:
In a country where brutal civil war raged just two decades ago, surprisingly little anger remains todayIt's hard to imagine a more tranquil place than Gaza: farmers taking their produce to market, women and children standing patiently at bus stops, towns crowded with shoppers, and along the almost empty sandy beaches no sou (Read More)
USATODAY.com - On Politics:
Rep. Bill Owens, D-N.Y., has already moved into his U.S. House office, but his challenger Doug Hoffman is crying foul. In a letter posted to his website, the Conservative Party candidate claims, “ACORN and the unions did their best to...
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guardian.co.uk Politics:
Major's victory in 1992 is the precedent Labour likes to talk about. But it's his defeat five years later that should concern themNo British prime minister ever takes his government into the fifth year of a parliament by preference. Four years is the preferred cycle of politicians and voters alike. If we had fixed-term parl (Read More)
The Guardian:
President's warning comes as Tehran rejects reprocessing dealBarack Obama has signalled a further escalation in the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions by serving notice that punitive measures could be agreed "within weeks".Obama used a speech in South Korea's capital, Seoul, to warn that the lesson of dealing with neighbo (Read More)
Huffington Post:
After being prodded by Glenn Beck into saying he was "unconceding" an upstate New York House election, Doug Hoffman has made it official. In a statement on his website, the Conservative Party candidate said was revoking his concession and blamed ACORN for his initial loss.As evidence surfaces, we find out that reported resu (Read More)
The Guardian:
Separating Iran-US talks from the nuclear issue would drive engagement on other key topics such as Iraq or AfghanistanAs Iran continues to play hide and seek in its response to a nuclear deal supposedly agreed in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency demands more clarity on Iran's nuclear plans. The IAEA said in it (Read More)
The Guardian:
The Palestinian Authority lacks the support to issue another unilateral declaration of independence – it should not be hastyThe Palestinian Authority has been making some rather strange decisions lately. In October, it opposed the Goldstone report on the Gaza war, which raised serious questions about Israel's conduct in tha (Read More)
The Guardian:
Snub to UK and praise for election commission show Karzai remains a man who does not like to be pushed aroundIn dwelling on the need to combat corruption, to talk to the Taliban and to transfer control of policing Afghanistan from foreign troops to the country's own security institutions, Hamid Karzai did enough to appease (Read More)
Comment - Columnists - Bronwen Maddox:
Israel has surely lost more this week in support abroad — in the US, above all — than it has gained in asserting its right to build houses around Jerusalem. (Read More)
The Guardian:
Barack Obama criticises Afghan government and Israeli settlement building, and says he won't read Sarah Palin's bookBarack Obama has backed away from his pledge to close the US prison at Guantánamo Bay by the end of the year, saying he hoped to shut it in 2010 but needed the co-operation of the US Congress.The president, on (Read More)
LA Times:
Just 4% of registered voters in the 72nd District went to precincts to fill Mike Duvall's old seat. Another 14% sent in ballots. Dismal turnout at the polls in Tuesday's special election to fill Mike Duvall's former Assembly seat is addin (Read More)