Region

US military commanders have said that they need more troops to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. Last week, President Obama defended the expansion of the war, calling it a “war of necessity.” We speak with Harvard professor Stephen Walt, who argues that the President’s “safe haven” argument for expanding the US military presence in Afghanistan should be viewed with skepticism.

The Scottish Minister of Justice, Kenny MacAskill, says Libya failed to keep its word about the return of the Lockerbie bomber last week. MacAskill said Libya had agreed on a modest reception for al-Megrahi, who was released from prison in Scotland because he is suffering from terminal cancer. However, when he arrived at Tripoli airport, he received a hero’s welcome.

Throngs of South Koreans bid farewell to former President Kim Dae-jung. The former president, who died last Tuesday, was 85 years of age. He was interred today, Sunday. Some 24,000 people were present at his burial. The North Korean delegation that attended his funeral visited South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, delivering a message from the President of North Korea.

The Scottish government has again defended its decision to release the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer. In the US, the decision has been criticized. Scotland’s spokesperson said that: **”Compassionate release is not part of the US justice system but it is part of Scotland’s.”**

Children as young as 13 have been recruited, and boys as well as girls are at risk in the department of Vaupés, home to 27 different groups of indigenous people. Forced recruitment affects indigenous groups at risk of extinction. One of the most urgent cases is that of the Pizamira, whose members do not exceed 50 people.

The popular Chilean actor Benjamín Vicuña, one of the Latin American Ambassadors of UNICEF, will create a documentary about Haiti and, before it comes out, he said he looks “to achieve a more solidarious America.” The actor has been invited by the UN with the proposal of filming a documentary that will be exhibited throughout Latin America in September.

Today is election day in Afghanistan. A new poll shows growing American opposition to the war in Afghanistan. The Washington Post-ABC News survey found 51 percent of Americans view the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting. Just one-quarter of respondents say they support President Obama’s escalation of the Afghan war with at least 17,000 additional troops.

A legislative amendment already passed into Law by Congress would permit the Justice ministry to be renamed the Ministry of Justice and Peace, instead of Justice and Grace, its current denomination. In addition, the legislative amendment will create the National System for Promotion of Peace and Citizen Coexistence, an essential point of this model initiative for Latin America.

For the past eight years, a teacher native to Kenya has been dedicated to recuperating computers and other electronic items discarded for trash. After repairing them with a team of computer experts, he sends them to students in Kenya who have no access to these technologies. Jude Ndambuki developed a new bartering system: “if you plant 100 trees I will give you a computer.”

A North Korean diplomatic delegation has told New Mexico’s state governor Bill Richardson that Pyongyang wants bilateral talks with the United States about its nuclear programme. Pyongyang seems to have adopted a more moderate course recently: Two US journalists were released and North Korea is sending a delegation to the funeral of former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung.