Factions

NEW DELHI - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday urgedBangladesh's squabbling political factions to resolve their differences as she arrived in the country, which has been beset by weeks of general strikes, demonstrations and violence since an opposition politician disappeared last month. The government and the opposition declared a truce for Clinton's visit. Each side blames the other for the disappearance of Elias Ali, one of as many as 22 people, mostly politicians, who have gone missing this year, according to human rights groups.

DAMASCUS, Syria - He doesn't have a cellphone and doesn't use regular phones. He avoids his home and mostly ventures out under cover of night, a cap pulled low on his head to conceal his identity. "For 11 months, I have not been in a public place, not in a restaurant or a cafe," Yassin Haj Saleh, a former political prisoner, said as he arrived at a previously agreed-upon rendezvous spot as darkness fell. Despite his clandestine existence, Saleh is a prominent Syrian dissident, a prolific writer and columnist with a wide following both in print and on the Internet.

Instead of considering the much-anticipated next 10 episodes of"Game of Thrones"as a new season, viewers would do better to collect their weapons, gird their loins and approach it as a triumphant gamer does, as a new and exalted level. Winter is coming and with it more kings than kingdoms. With its ever-increasing cast of characters, each richly arrayed in native landscape, ritual, back story and entourage, HBO's glorious adaptation of George R. R. Martin's still unfolding sword 'n' sorcery epic makes Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" look like child's play.

Reporting from Myrtle Beach, S.C. -- Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are reading from the same script as they vie to be the “not Romney” champion of the frightened right. Monday, both candidates roved around this city of deserted beach resorts warning conservative voters that the reelection of Barack Obama would bring an end to America as we have known it. Among the alarmed were members of South Carolina's tea party. They were gathered on the third floor of a conference center looking out over a sandy beach occupied by no one but four gray-haired Occupy Wall Street activists.

Weary of continuing gunfire in the streets of the capital, Libya's interim government has given notice to out-of-town militias to hand in their weapons and leave Tripoli in order to help steer the country toward civilian rule. Militias have until Dec. 20 to leave, said Abdul-Rafik Bu Hajjar, head of the Tripoli municipal council, threatening to ban all traffic except vehicles from the Interior and Defense ministries if the militias fail to comply. His order has the backing of the new prime minister, Abdel-Rahim Keeb.

Libya's interim prime minister on Tuesday unveiled a new Cabinet apparently assembled with an eye to subduing regional factions, which have grown increasingly adversarial in the scramble for power since the overthrow of longtime strongman Moammar Kadafi. The new political leadership, which will run Libya until elections are held next year, faces the daunting task of creating a workable government and uniting a country ravaged by war and 42 years of dictatorial rule. "All of Libya is represented," Prime Minister Abdel-Rahim Keeb told a news conference in the capital, Tripoli.

With the demurrals last week of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ("I need to be able to say what I want to say") and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ("Now is not my time"), the Republican field in the 2012 presidential campaign lost a telegenic populist who might have energized tea partyers and an experienced conservative who might have soothed the party's establishment. Instead, the race, which now appears largely set, will pit the party's centrifugal forces against the efforts of candidates who so far haven't shown much ability to hold it together.

Nearly four months after he was severely wounded in an assassination attempt, President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a surprise return to Yemen on Friday in a risky attempt to assert control over a nation convulsed in protests against him and tipping toward civil war. Saleh's arrival was a dramatic gamble by a leader skilled at brinkmanship. But it was unclear whether he could save his presidency or calm the escalating factional fighting gripping his impoverished country. He called for negotiations and a cease-fire but offered no hint that he would step down, a demand of hundreds of thousands of protesters since January.

A proposed Palestinian unity government that was touted two months ago as a potential Mideast game-changer has been stalled by familiar political realities and lingering antagonisms. Since rival factions Fatah and Hamas announced a reconciliation after four years of feuding, the promised coalition government remains unformed due to disputes over who will serve as prime minister. Other goodwill measures, such as mutual prisoner releases, have also gone unfulfilled since May, and public attacks against each other have resumed.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told Iraq's leaders Monday that they must decide soon whether to ask for U.S. troops to remain beyond the end of the year. But the U.S. does not intend to broker negotiations among Iraqi politicians that could ultimately lead to agreement for a continuing presence, senior American officials said. Panetta's visit stood in sharp contrast to past tours by high-ranking U.S. officials under the George W. Bush administration or even by Vice President Joe Biden in trying to push Iraqi leaders to take action.