The reported killing of Osama bin Laden on May 1 by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan has brought to the fore many long-festering issues concerning our war in Afghanistan and the region. Some of the questions that have stirred the most immediate and fiery reaction in American political circles concern the extent to which Pakistan's government, military, and intelligence officials aided, abetted, and protected bin Laden and his al-Qaeda/Taliban associates.

China is the United States' biggest creditor and our second largest (behind Canada) trade partner. Official public meetings in Beijing and Washington between leaders of the two countries tend to give the appearance that, except for some minor disagreements, U.S.-PRC relations are all sweetness and light.

“This is the most exciting story I’ve ever covered in my life,” gushed veteran journalist Charles Sennott. “I’ve been a reporter for 25 years. I’ve covered the Middle East for more than 15 of those years. It was just so thrilling, so breathtaking, so unpredictable, and really a journey for the whole country of Egypt but also for those correspondents who’ve covered the Middle East for a long time.”

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators may have lost some of their headline cachet over the past few months, but they are aiming to reclaim the limelight with a revitalized “Occupy Spring” campaign, with special emphasis on a major May Day offensive on May 1 that includes calls for a “general strike” nationwide.

New York City Comptroller John Liu’s multiplying political misfortunes may prove to be a serendipitous blessing for America. According to reports from various New York media outlets — most of which, until recently, were singing his praises — additional arrests and indictments of Liu’s donors and campaign staff may be coming soon. As reported previously in The New American (see here, here, and here ), Liu (left) has suffered a series of stinging blows, with his top campaign financiers being arrested for funneling illegal cash into Liu’s coffers through fraudulent “straw donors.”

Tens of thousands of pro-life supporters marched through downtown San Francisco on Saturday, January 21, to mark the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates of abortion in this country. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to join the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. and state capitals across the nation on Monday, January 23, to protest the continuing slaughter, which has claimed the lives of more than 53.9 million unborn babies since 1973.

"Here at the State Department, we have worked to forge a worldwide anti-terror network," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at a May 2 press conference, following President Obama's announcement the previous night that Osama bin Laden had been killed. She continued: "Our partnerships, including our close cooperation with Pakistan, have helped put unprecedented pressure on al-Qaida and its leadership. Continued cooperation will be just as important in the days ahead, because even as we mark this milestone, we should not forget that the battle to stop al-Qaida and its syndicate of terror will not end with the death of bin Ladin. Indeed, we must take this opportunity to renew our resolve and redouble our efforts."

Like many other Republicans, Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah’s senior Senator, has been a vocal critic of President Obama’s support for Solyndra, the bankrupt California solar panel manufacturer. Once a prime showpiece of “green energy” and one of the top technology darlings of the Obama administration, Solyndra failed spectacularly last year — after having been lavished with $535 million in federal loan guarantees, as well as a $25-million tax break from the state of California.

The push is on to empower the International Criminal Court, the United Nations' global tribunal that claims universal jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression. Over the past year, the Obama administration, acting primarily through Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has been ratcheting up the campaign to legitimize the ICC as a global prosecutor and Supreme Court.

An environmental group claiming to represent the stewardship concerns of evangelical Christians handed pro-abortion politicians and the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency a huge present just before Christmas. On December 21, as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (left) announced the agency’s long-awaited stringent new regulations on mercury, the Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox, President and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), was standing alongside her to show his organization’s support.