Defense Intelligence Agency Director General Michael Maples noted Taliban attacks in 2008 were up by 55 percent over the previous year.

VOA: standard.2009.03.11

More than 40 boats carrying refugees seeking asylum in Australia have been intercepted this year, a sharp increase from previous years.

VOA: standard.2009.10.27

Indirect peace talks resumed last year under the previous Israeli government led by Ehud Olmert, but he has since been replaced by hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

VOA: standard.2009.04.26

This year's vote lacked the suspense of some previous elections, because all five candidates were unopposed and succeeded in getting the two-thirds majority required in the first round of secret ballots.

VOA: standard.2009.10.15

NATO announced that six more U.S.troops have died in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll for July to at least 66 and surpassing the previous month's record as the deadliest for American forces in the nearly nine-year-old war.

VOA: standard.2010.07.30