Video  Asia Society’s Suzanne DiMaggio says Beijing will closely monitor Barack Obama’s Asia trip to get a sense of how much the U.S. hopes to increase its influence in the region.

Breakfast Video  Barack Obama, the US president, is on his first foreign policy trip since his re-election. His southeast Asian tour will take him to Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. The US hopes to increase its influence in the region. But as Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane reports, it is the historic visit to Myanmar that has divided opinion.

The panellists (L-R): Professor Paul Spoonley, AsiaNZ’s Dr Andrew Butcher, Terence O’Brien and Fran O’Sullivan  focused on what impact Obama’s re-election will have on the US’ relations with Asia, and how that, in turn, will affect New Zealand.  asianz-us-elections.mp3

Weekend Video  Israeli military says its “Iron Dome” defense system intercepted 13 rockets fired from Gaza on Wednesday in what appears to be retaliation for Israeli airstrikes that reportedly killed 10, including the commander of the Hamas military wing. The Israeli military said the some 20 airstrikes were part of a major offensive dubbed “Operation Pillar of Defense,” Reuters reports. …

Weekend Video  Israel has chosen to attack Gaza in order to avoid reaching a longer-term peace settlement than was being negotiated with the help of Hamas’ military leader Ahmen Jabari, who was assassinated in an Israeli attack Wednesday, says Israeli activist. Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin spoke to RT confirming that Ahmen Jabari was involved in peace settlement negotiations with …

Weekend Video  US Senator Roy Blunt  weighs in on Fox News.

Weekend Video  Former CIA Director David Petraeus stoked the controversy over the Obama administration’s handling of the Libya terror attack, testifying Friday that references to “Al Qaeda involvement” were stripped from his agency’s original talking points — while other intelligence officials were unable to say who changed the memo, according to a top lawmaker who was briefed. Rep. Peter King, …

Breakfast Video  As the world’s most populous nation unveils its new leadership, China’s political masters now face the unenviable task of addressing a slowing economy, rampant corruption, environmental pollution and deteriorating relations with some of its neighbours. The FT’s Beijing correspondents outline some of the challenges faced by China’s new generation of political leaders.

Video  Xi Jinping is to take the reins of China’s all-powerful Communist Party in a leadership transition that will put him in charge of the world’s number-two economy for the next decade. Xi, the current vice president and successor to President Hu Jintao, assumes power at an uncertain time with the party facing urgent calls to clean its ranks of corruption and …

Video  U2’s Bono sits down with World Bank President Jim Young Kim to talk about what’s needed to end poverty. Bono estimates that the billions of dollars of tax hikes and potential funding cuts in the US could affect  275,000 people and lead to around 65,000 deaths.  The figures come from the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Bono said based …