President Obama laid out his new Afghanistan strategy on Tuesday night, announcing an additional 30,000 US troops for the country in support of a new counter-insurgency strategy. While the majority of the analysis and discussion in Washington has centered on the levels of US forces or the President’s reasoning for it, the President emphasized that the “burden is not ours alone to bear.”

Twelve people have been killed and at least 31 injured after a soldier went on a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Base commander Lieutenant-General Bob Cone says the gunman was killed during the incident at the facility, while two other soldiers were apprehended as suspects. The base is locked down.

Wall Street has staged a substantial rally thanks to better than expected US jobs and productivity data, and Australian markets are likely to follow the buoyant lead. The number of workers filing new claims for jobless insurance fell more than expected last week to a 10-month low. Productivity surged at an annual rate of 9.5 per cent, improving the outlook for both the economy and inflation.

President Obama, who has pledged to place diplomacy ahead of confrontation in world affairs, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, a remarkable and controversial honor for a leader just nine months in office. The award committee cited Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," and said that he had given the world "hope for a better future."