General David Petraeus recommended to a congressional committee on Wednesday that U.S. troops in Iraq not be reduced from their current levels. Democrats and some Republicans expressed frustrations with what they characterized as Petraeus’ vague assessment of military progress within Iraq. Currently, almost 140,000 military personnel are set to remain in the country through much of autumn.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the presidential candidate of Zimbabwe’s opposition party, will not participate in a runoff following last month’s contested election. The party, citing independent monitors, claims that Tsvangirai clearly won the election over current president Robert Mugabe. The statement contradicts an earlier party claim that Tsvangirai would participate in a runoff.
The Dalai Lama defended both the Chinese government’s hosting of the Olympics and the rights of demonstrators to non-violently protest China’s rule in Tibet. He also denied the accusation that he masterminded recent unrest in Tibet, and criticized Beijing for their violent tactics in suppressing protests by Tibetan monks.
Nepal held elections yesterday, the first to occur since Maoist guerrillas agreed to end a decade-long war waged against the state. The Maoists were one of 54 parties running for seats in the country’s 601-member assembly. Despite violent incidents in several polling stations, most of the nearly 10,000 voting sites remained orderly.
Paris police officers clashed with certain members of a largely peaceful march of high school students protesting teacher job cuts on Thursday. Several participants near the front of the march began throwing rocks at officers, who responded with tear gas. The national government plans to cut 8,800 middle and high school teaching positions in the coming school year.
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