Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Nov. 5, the day after Barack Obama's election as US president, made his first state-of-the-nation address since he took office in May—and pledged to deploy a short-range missile system in Russia's Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad in response to US missile defense plans. He specifically invoked the Georgia conflict in his comments. "The conflict in the Caucasus was used as a pretext to send NATO warships to the Black Sea and then to quickly thrust on Europe the need for deploying the US anti-missile system," he said. (CIIC, Nov. 5)

Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic refused to answer questions at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Nov. 5 at the appeals hearing of Momcilo Krajisnik. Krajisnick, a former Bosnian Serb parliamentary leader, is appealing a conviction and 27-year prison sentence handed down by the ICTY for various war crimes related to his role in atrocities committed against Croats and Muslims during the Bosnian war. Karadzic had given written testimony in support of Karjisnik's appeal, but refused to be cross-examined on the grounds that such testimony could be harmful to his own case.

Presumed Islamist insurgents detonated two bombs that killed one and left 71 wounded in Narathiwat province of Thailand's restive south Nov. 4, and burned down a school the following day. Nobody was injured in the arson attack, but the two-story schoolhouse was destroyed. More than 80 Buddhist teachers have been killed in southern Thailand since an Islamist insurgency broke out in 2004.

The US military said Nov. 5 that it will investigate a report that an air-strike hit a wedding party in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, killing dozens of civilians and prompting new protests from President Hamid Karzai. "We cannot win the fight against terrorism with air-strikes," Karzai told reporters in Kabul, hours after Barack Obama won the US presidential race. "This is my first demand of the new president of the United States—to put an end to civilian casualties." (LAT, Nov. 6)

Israel launched an air-strike against Islamic Jihad militants in northern Gaza's Jebaliya refugee camp the night of Nov. 4 after rockets were fired into Israel. Palestinian security sources told CNN there were two Israeli strikes, though the IDF confirmed only one. The Palestinian sources said the first strike hit a group of militants, killing one and injuring three. The second, five minutes later, tageted the rocket-launching squad. (CNN, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 5) No casualties resulted from the Islamic Jihad attacks, although an Israeli army spokesman said that one of the rockets landed in Ashkelon, ten miles north of the border with Gaza. (The Scotsman, Nov. 6)

Israel's departing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced measures Nov. 2 in response to a rise in violence by extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank, including a halt to all government financing of "illegal" Jewish settlement outposts. The announcement amounted to an acknowledgment that public funds are still being spent on the outposts, contrary to government policy and a longstanding pledge to the US. However, the move applies only to some 100 outposts considered illegal under Israeli law—not to the more than 120 "official" settlements.

Voters in two US states Tuesday Nov. 4 defeated immigration-related ballot measures. In Arizona, Proposition 202 would have revoked the business licenses of employers that knowingly hire undocmented immigrants and would have strengthened penalties for identity theft. But in Florida, a referendum intended to protect immigrant rights went down to defeat. Amendment No. 1 would have changed the state constitution, deleting a provision allowing lawmakers to prohibit ownership of real property by undocumented immigrants. The Florida Legislature had never exercised its authority under the 1926 provision, enacted as a measure against Asian Americans.

The US Department of Defense Nov. 4 announced the transfer of one Guantánamo Bay detainee to Somaliland. DOD hailed the move as proof of the effectiveness of its review processes and of US desire not to hold detainees any longer than necessary. The Department reports that approximately 60 detainees at Guantanamo are currently eligible for transfer or release.