When gunfire breaks out in Tripoli, it pushes a city on edge into paroxysms of speculation and rumor. The gunfire was heard in the early hours of Thursday, and went on in staccato bursts for a little more than an hour. It took place outside the Rixos Hotel, where the journalists stay, which is just a few minutes' walk to Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al Aziziya compound. Witnesses to the aftermath described "pools of blood" ...

Markets can be merciless, bloodlessly processing available information to price assets appropriately. In the aftermath of Japan's triple disaster — an incomprehensible 9.0 earthquake, an incredible tsunami that killed thousands and the resulting damage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear works — its stock market fell more than 14% before regaining some ground on March 16. A massive loss of wealth attended a grievous loss of life. With Japan facing short-term damage to its economy, all Japan-related assets have been written ...

Obama Sticks to a Deadline in Iraq When President Obama approved a plan to withdraw combat forces from Iraq  this summer, it was based on the assumption that a newly elected government would be in place by the time Americans headed home. Fourteen months later, that assumption is exploding but the plan remains the same. The delay and messy aftermath of the Iraqi election mean it may be months before the next government is formed, even as tens of thousands of American ...

Septiani Lenianingsih stands off to the side, away from the crowds that have gathered to watch the backhoe at work. The land the machine is plowing through was once the village of Malalak, but it's now a mass grave. Septiani, 18, watches silently, speaking only in whispers to her uncle who is helping direct the search for bodies swallowed up in the massive landslide triggered by Sumatra's earthquake last week. She was at her boarding school when it all ...

An Iranian reformist Web site on Friday released the identities of 72 people it says were killed by government forces in the aftermath of Iran's disputed presidential elections.

The mass trial of a third round of detainees arrested in the aftermath of Iran's disputed presidential election began on Sunday. Prosecutors read out charges against more than two dozen detainees who are being tried in the Revolutionary Court. The defendants are among more than 1,000 people arrested after the government cracked down on days of street protests following the June 12 election. Iran's election authority declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the overwhelming winner of the race. Opposition supporters accused ...

Trials for nearly 100 Iranians arrested in the aftermath of the disputed June 12 presidential elections began Saturday, two Iranian news agencies reported. "The court, to investigate the charges against the first group of those involved in the recent disturbances, is now in session," said the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). "The trial of those accused of participating in the Velvet Revolution started at 9:10 a.m. (12:40 a.m. ET) following recitations from the holy Qoran," the semi-official FARS ...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't seem to have many fans left. Just days before his Aug. 5 inauguration to a controversial second term, Iran's President finds himself in a critical struggle over his political future. One thing has led to another: an ill-advised vice-presidential pick, uncharacteristic defiance of the Supreme Leader, verbal fights with influential Cabinet Ministers. The humble son of a blacksmith is easily the most divisive figure in the 30-year history of the Republic. Could his end be just ...

Authorities in Indonesia released sketches Wednesday of two men believed to have carried out last week's bombings at two luxury hotels in Jakarta. One was about 40; the other 17, officials said. Analysis of their DNA matched that obtained from a homemade explosive found in a room at the Marriott Hotel where they had checked in, police said. But authorities still do not know their identities. The blasts last Friday at the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott killed nine people ...

The spin game is on as the world tries to talk itself out of the worst recession since the end of World War II. The good news is that there is a slowing in the rate of deterioration in the global economy. The tougher news is that this is hardly surprising. In the aftermath of unprecedented annualized plunges in real global GDP on the order of 6% to 7% in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter ...