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On a state visit, President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard agreed on the presence of U.S. troops on Australian soil for the first time. The Pentagon won't set up new bases; it will use existing Australian facilities. Obama denied the move is a response to the growing challenge of China's expanding navy, but it's clear the U.S. is keen to reinforce its long-standing supremacy in the Pacific.
Where active-duty U.S. troops are deployed
1% NORTH AFRICA, WESTERN HEMISPHERE AND ELSEWHERE
5.7% EUROPE
7% EAST ASIA
86.4% U.S. TERRITORIES
NOTE: DATA ACCOUNT FOR 1,417,310 PERSONNEL BUT NOT FOR U.S. TROOPS STATIONED IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFGHANISTAN
Enemies Everywhere
6 | SYRIA
The isolation of President Bashar Assad grew after some of his closest allies wiped their hands of his embattled regime. The Arab League suspended Syria as a member after Assad refused to curb his brutal onslaught against protests. Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Assad may enter history as a leader "who feeds on blood." Turkey scrapped a planned oil deal with Syria and threatened to cut off electricity exports. Meanwhile, dissident fighters reportedly attacked a Syrian military base.
ON TIME.COM
'His iron hand and toughness ... impressed the Russians a lot. He became the antiterrorist No. 1 and the national hero.'
CONFUCIUS PEACE PRIZE COMMITTEE, an organization set up in China to rival the Nobel Peace Prize, on selecting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for this year's prize in part for his efforts fighting insurgency in Chechnya--a war many consider brutal and heavy-handed