Budget and debt problems are once again racking America. Barack Obama has failed to persuade the Republican majority in Congress to raise the national debt ceiling.

// Jul. 14, 2011 - 08:04 GMT

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, has virtually completed his four-day visit to China that started on July 10. He will visit Chinese military installations in Shandong and Zhejiang, but the political portion of the trip is over, and China has little reason to be happy about the visit.

// Jul. 13, 2011 - 08:24 GMT

These days, when international mediators talk about establishing a Palestinian state, they're really thinking about something else – namely, how to prevent a fresh Arab-Israeli conflict. The typical forms of influence include everything from diplomatic rhetoric to pledges of financial support.

// Jul. 11, 2011 - 08:22 GMT

Now he definitely isn't going to become president of France. A new “sexual lawsuit” against Dominique Strauss-Kahn in France seems to have placed a full stop on the presidential future of the former IMF head and the main presidential candidate of the Socialist Party.

// Jul. 07, 2011 - 08:32 GMT