ISLAMABAD Sunday, February 07, 2010 (IRIN) – On a pavement in Islamabad several men sit with small stands and boxes of the equipment they need to mend shoes. All are from the Bajaur tribal area on the Pakistani-Afghan border, where fighting has continued between militants and the Pakistan army since August 2008.

McClatchy Newspapers – KABUL, Afghanistan — Thousands of U.S., British and Afghan troops are poised to launch the biggest offensive of the war in Afghanistan in a test of the Obama administration’s new counterinsurgency strategy.

The Christian Science Monitor – Today Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi, speaking with unusual bluntness in front of 300 leading diplomats – including senior US officials – here in Munich publicly stated that China is getting stronger on the international stage.

AP – Police in central China have shut down a hacker training operation that openly recruited thousands of members online and provided them with cyberattack lessons and malicious software, state media said Monday.

AFP – Israeli security forces raided on Monday a Palestinian refugee camp in annexed east Jerusalem, arresting 11 people in what police said was an operation aimed at “putting order” in the area.