One of the largest earthquakes in the region, with a magnitude of 7.0, has hit Haiti Tuesday, killing possibly thousands, leveling buildings and destroying infrastructure. Reports say thousands of people are living out on the streets in the dust-covered capital.

The quake has been declared "catastrophic" by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Thousands remain missing, including personnel at the United Nations headquarters.

Relief agencies from numerous countries have begun deploying aid, but the full scale of the disaster is still unknown.

Increasing the troop strength to 100,000 in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama has approved sending additional forces to support Operation Enduring Freedom.

"I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan," said the President in his speech at West Point.

The President also announced the intention to withdraw American troops in 2011.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8389778.stm

Representatives from approximately 30 countries walked out of a session at the UN when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech describing Israel as "racist". His speech included accusations that migrant American and European Jews helped Palestine create a "cruel and repressive racist regime".

Taliban miltants executed an eloping Afghan couple on Monday, April 13th. Governor Ghulam Dastageer Azad of Nimroz province condemned the murders as an "insult to Islam". Even after being unseated from power in 2001, the Taliban continues to implement strict Sharia Law in areas of Afghanistan where the government, local police, and international security forces do not have a strong presence.

In a move that is another example of the new U.S. administration's optimistic approach to international relations, President Barack Obama has published Nowruz greetings to the people of Iran. The video will no doubt be a source of heated discussions in some circles, as anti-Iranian sentiments are still strong after years of nuclear fearmongering and the lack of understanding of how a nation's leader does not always represent the general attitude of the people towards the U.S.

I mentioned two weeks ago that Pakistan, in the wake of the Kabul terrorist attacks and with insurgent activities increasing, would have to start talking very seriously with the U.S. and with Afghanistan. Consequently, it was not entirely unexpected that the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

This ForeignPolicy.com article discusses the implementation of the recently updated U.S. counterinsurgency methods in Afghanistan. The second part of the article is an interview with General David Petraeus.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4587