- Vice President Dick Cheney visited Afghanistan today [1] to meet with President Hamid Karzai. The visit is in anticipation of a NATO summit where Washington is expected to urge its allies to send more troops to the troubled country. The NATO-led force has about 43,000 troops in Afghanistan, charged with fighting Taliban militants. The militants have regrouped since US and Afghan forces removed the hardline Islamist movement from power after the September 11, 2001 attacks. They relaunched their insurgency two years ago. Cheney said of the need for troops, "all free nations have an interest in a secure, democratic Afghanistan."
- Germany's highest court has restricted an anti-terrorism law [2] making telecom companies store private data for six months. Uner the new ruling data may still be kept but is only to be accessed during investigations into serious crime. The original ruling was a result of the discovery of a number of alleged terrorism plots in Germany in recent years. The case was spurred by a class-action suit against the original ruling filed by 30,000 people. The German court's decision comes amid US debates over FISA and telecom rights.
- Senator John McCain met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown [3] today to discuss Iraq, the world economy and climate change. Addressing the fact that Brown hopes to cut British troops near Basra from 4,000 to 2,500 soon, McCain said, "having just come from Iraq, I can tell you unequivocally that the situation has improved dramatically over the last year. Iraqi people are going about their normal lives, but the fact is al Qaeda is on the run. They are not defeated." He added, "We appreciate enormously the long service and sacrifice of the British men and women in the military both in Iraq and Afghanistan."
