Kandahar offensive ‘due in June’

The Nato-led coalition in Afghanistan will launch a long-planned offensive in the southern city of Kandahar in June, military officials have said. A US military source was quoted as saying the goal was to rid the city of Taliban forces before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in August. US troops are already leading a massive operation in Marjah, in the neighbouring province of Helmand.

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Deep foreboding

By Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor The Middle East is full of talk of war. Not today, tomorrow or perhaps even next year but the horizon is dark, and people who have to live with the Middle East’s grim collection of smouldering problems are finding it hard to look ahead with anything other than foreboding. By the end of this year, if sanctions have not persuaded Iran to stop what many countries insist is a nuclear weapons programme, the war party in Israel will be pushing for military action

Brazil leader begins Mid-East tour

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has arrived in Israel where he begins a tour of the Middle East. He is visiting Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan ahead of a more controversial visit to Iran in May. While in the region Lula will throw his country’s growing diplomatic weight behind the Middle East peace process.

Obama aide stokes US-Israel row

Israel’s announcement of plans to build 1,600 homes for Jews in East Jerusalem was "destructive" to peace efforts, a top aide to Barack Obama says. David Axelrod said the move, which overshadowed a visit to Israel by US Vice-President Joe Biden, was also an "insult" to the United States. Israel’s prime minister has tried to play down the unusually bitter diplomatic row between the two allies

Israel backs E Jerusalem building

Israel has approved the building of 1,600 new homes in east Jerusalem, in a move that threatens to overshadow US Vice-President Joe Biden’s visit. The move will infuriate Palestinians, whose leaders have only recently agreed to resume contacts with Israel – at Mr Biden’s urging. The international community considers East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1967, to be occupied territory.

US appoints new Syria ambassador

US President Barack Obama has formally nominated career diplomat Robert Ford as the first American ambassador to Syria in five years. There has been no US envoy in Syria since Damascus was implicated in the murder of ex-Lebanon PM Rafik Hariri. The White House announcement came on the eve of a visit to Syria by William Burns, a top state department official.

US jet bomb suspect ‘co-operates’

The Nigerian man suspected of trying to blow up a US plane on Christmas Day is now cooperating and providing "useful" information, US officials say.

Roadside bombs kill two soldiers

Roadside bombs have killed two British soldiers in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Holding fire

By Caroline Wyatt Defence correspondent, BBC News As the conflict rages in Afghanistan, a shift in emphasis towards protecting civilians has seen British troops employ a new strategy dubbed "courageous restraint". British troops from the 4th Battalion the Rifles come under fire in one of the most dangerous parts of Helmand province. One of their snipers is poised to take a shot at the Afghan who appears to be pointing out their exact position to the insurgents, a possible "dicker"

Fear of failure

By Jonathan Marcus Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News Some four years on from the last London conference on Yemen, the country’s problems have only got worse.

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