James McCarthy, head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), speaking on the eve of the group's annual meeting in Chicago, warned that Barack Obama has just four years to save the planet. "We have a moment right now of extraordinary opportunity, with a new president, positioned with scientific leadership that has known no equal in recent times," he told BBC News. "If in his first term, in the next four years, we don't make significant progress in these areas, then I think the planet is in huge trouble. Without US leadership, which has been sorely lacking, we will not get to where we need to be." (BBC News, Feb. 12)

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Barack Obama administration Feb. 10 to end the indefinite detention of journalists by the US military overseas. The organization cited 14 cases in which US forces had detained journalists for long periods—with one reporter, in Iraq, still incarcerated. Paul Steiger, chairman of the committee and a former Wall Street Journal editor, also called on the government to investigate the killings of 16 reporters by US forces in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. (NYT, Feb. 11)

The Barack Obama administration apparently surprised a panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Feb. 9 by pressing ahead with an argument for preserving state secrets originally developed by the Bush administration in a case involving Guantánamo Bay. In the case, Binyam Mohamed and four other detainees filed suit against a Boeing subsidiary for arranging flights for the Bush administration's "extraordinary rendition" program. The Bush administration argued that the case should be dismissed because even discussing it in court could threaten national security.

Egyptian blogger and peace activist Philip Rizk was released without charge Feb. 11, four days after he was abducted immediately after he took part in a march in support of Gaza. He reports he was blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated around the clock by state security agents while in detention. The German government and legions of former and current classmates and professors mobilized an online campaign for the release of Rizk, a dual Egyptian-German citizen who studied at Wheaton College in Illinois and is a graduate student at American University in Cairo.

From the New York Times, Feb. 11:

The Palestinian Authority is pressing the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate accusations of war crimes committed by Israeli commanders during the recent war in Gaza.

Several Israeli military vehicles overran the Qalqiliya-area village of Jayyous the night of Feb. 11 and imposed a curfew on the area. The troops blasted into the area amid gunfire and sound bombs, announcing a curfew to residents, witnesses reported. As the soldiers entered the village Palestinian youths showered the vehicles with stones and empty bottles, sparking brief clashes. Locals host weekly demonstrations against the building of the separation wall on village land, and have reported an increase in Israeli military activity since the popular campaign started. (Ma'an News Agency, Feb. 11)

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hawkish ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu are locked in a battle for power after a tight election that could send peace talks into limbo. Livni's Kadima party won 28 seats in the 120-member Knesset, just one ahead of Netanyahu's Likud party, leaving the country facing perhaps weeks of political uncertainty. An overall lurch to the right makes it more likely Netanyahu will return to the nation's most powerful post, but Livni immediately started coalition talks, meeting with Avigdor Lieberman of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu—who observers say has emerged as king-maker.

Taliban suicide attacks struck government buildings at three sites in Kabul on Feb. 11, killing at least 20 people and wounding 57 in coordinated strikes that demonstrated the vulnerability of even Afghanistan's heavily fortified capital. At the Justice Ministry, five militants armed with explosives and Kalashnikov rifles killed two guards, stormed the building, and took control of several floors for about an hour. They shot to death 10 people before being killed.