Shubha Bala

Last night President Obama laid out his plan for Afghanistan.  The bottom line includes 30,000 more troops, deployed quickly and due to begin returning after 18 months.  We look at wh...

In 2001, many were excited at the prospect of Hamid Karzai leading Afghanistan's transitional government forward.  After winning the country's first presidential election, hopes ran h...

Hamid Karzai has been sworn in today as the president of Afghanistan for a second five-year term.  After an optimistic first presidential election in 2004, this second election was, i...

One day before President Barack Obama’s first visit to Asia, China’s foreign minister compared the 1959 Chinese takeover of Tibet to President Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves durin...

A case brought to the Georgia Supreme Court this Tuesday might decide whether Georgia can afford to levy the death penalty any more. Jamie Weis has been sitting in jail for four years...

Some indicators say the U.S. economy is pulling out of its tailspin, but as winter approaches, the number of people who have lost their homes is on the rise. Libby Hayes, executive di...

Washington Takeout: Democrats on Capitol Hill continue pushing their campaign for health care reform. Takeaway Contributor Todd Zwillich drops by to tell us how the insurance compan...

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last five days, you've seen the “Balloon Boy” story, in which a Colorado family claimed that their 6-year-old son had climbed into a hom...

On Sunday, a suicide bomber killed at least 42 people in Iran, including five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard. The Sunni guerilla group Jundallah, or 'Soldiers o...

Washington Takeout: Once again, health care reform conversations are happening behind closed doors. Takeaway Contributor Todd Zwillich drops by to tell us about Senator Conrad's (D-...

In post-Katrina New Orleans, the education landscape has been rebuilt almost as dramatically as the city itself. There are 88 public schools currently open in the city, but most of th...

His work spanned the world of conservative politics, journalism and the use of words. William Safire, former columnist for The New York Times, novelist, Nixon speechwriter and etymo...

Iran test-fired missiles over the weekend and revealed a previously undisclosed nuclear facility. We check in with Julie Mason, White House correspondent with The Washington Examiner,...

As the U.N. General Assembly convenes, it brings together all of its 192 member countries; this year, the U.S. is playing a larger role than usual. President Obama will attend some of...

In July, President Obama spoke at Macomb Community College in Michigan about his commitment to supporting community colleges as a way to restrengthen America's economy. Following up o...

Yesterday President Obama announced that he is scrapping the Bush administration's plans for a land-based missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. He's opting instead ...

The Copenhagen Conference, planned for December this year, aims to create a "Copenhagen Protocol" to address worldwide climate change.  In preparation for this winter's conference, re...

Preliminary tallies in the second-ever Afghan presidential election show incumbent President Hamid Karzai leading in the polls with 55% of the votes. But the cloud of suspicions about...

In 2004, CIA Inspector General John Helgerson completed a report looking at abuses inside CIA prisons.  The report has been kept a secret until today, when portions of the report are ...

President Obama arrives at Martha’s Vineyard next Sunday for a week-long vacation with his family. It’s not their first time vacationing on the island, but it is their first time as t...