IRAQ: A Government Without Governance

The national unity government led by Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has failed to deliver its promises to improve life for Iraqis. Five months after the government took over, the country still faces a rising tide of sectarian violence, and inadequate public services.

RELIGION: Apology May Not Calm Crisis

In another attempt to mollify the Islamic world following apologies from the Vatican earlier, Pope Benedict XVI personally intervened during his Angelus, the traditional Sunday noon blessing, to reject any anti-Islam sentiment, and appeal for dialogue.

ECONOMY: IMF, World Bank Face Growing Pressure for Reforms

The state of the global economy and efforts to fine-tune the decision-making process at the World Bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to include a greater voice for developing nations will dominate the lenders' high-profile annual meetings in Singapore next week.

AFGHANISTAN: Coalition Marches Into a Tight Corner

The coalition forces in Afghanistan could find it easier to fly in than fly out of what is emerging as another trap for them.

AFGHANISTAN: Bumper Harvest Skews Anti-Drugs Policy

The biggest challenge facing the government of President Hamid Karzai is a criminalised, drugs-dominated political economy that is militating against any attempt to improve security and consolidate the rule of law in Afghanistan.

MIDEAST: Blair Plays Dubious Statesman

It was not perhaps the best day for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to talk peace in Lebanon. The date was a reminder how closely Britain led by Blair has backed the U.S. led 'war on terror' since those attacks in New York and Washington five years back.

U.S.-9/11: Five Years In, Bush Is Losing Terror War

To consider whether U.S. President George W. Bush is winning his "global war on terror" (GWOT) five years after al Qaeda's devastating 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, one has only to look at the news of the past few days.

POLITICS: Havana May Breathe Vigour Into Non-Alignment

Will next week's summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana, Cuba, be a wasteful jamboree marked by ponderous speeches and lofty but empty rhetoric? Or will it rejuvenate the movement and transform it into an exciting enterprise that reflects the aspirations of the vast majority of the world's people who live in 116 member-states and 17 observer countries?

U.S.-9/11: Five Years In, Bush Is Losing Terror War

To consider whether U.S. President George W. Bush is winning his "global war on terror" (GWOT) five years after al Qaeda's devastating 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, one has only to look at the news of the past few days.

MIDEAST: Olmert Faces His Battle Now

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert must be wondering from where the next blow to his increasingly tenuous hold on office is going to come.

POLITICS: EU and Iran Find Their Roles Reversed

Scheduled talks between Javier Solana, high representative for the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Iran's National Security Advisor Ali Larijani were postponed Wednesday over disagreements on the nature of the exchange - would the parties discuss or negotiate?

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Coke, Pepsi Face Public Ire

A month after seven Indian states imposed severe restrictions on the sale of colas and other aerated drinks, the Coca-Cola company has become the target of a vigorous popular campaign in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state.

TRADE-LATIN AMERICA: New Context Helps Economic Drivers Face Threats

Shifting world dynamics mean that a proposed overhaul of the U.S. tariff preference system threatening to exclude Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela - the three main countries currently driving trade within Latin America - needs to be examined in a global context.

POLITICS-US: Intel Estimate on Iran Blocks Neo-Con Plans

In the struggle over U.S. policy toward Iran, neoconservatives in the George W. Bush administration spoiling for an attack on Iran's nuclear sites have been seeking to convince the public that the United States must strike before an Iranian nuclear weapons capability becomes inevitable.

MEDIA-US: “Fascism” Frame Set Up by Right-Wing Press

The aggressive new campaign by the administration of President George W. Bush to depict U.S. foes in the Middle East as "fascists" and its domestic critics as "appeasers" owes a great deal to steadily intensifying efforts by the right-wing press over the past several months to draw the same comparison.

SOUTH AMERICA: Politics at the Core of Mercosur Trade Tangles

The economy ministers of the five Southern Common Market (Mercosur) countries are set to meet Thursday in Río de Janeiro. One of the items up for discussion is a regional currency to replace the dollar in cross-border trade.

TURKEY: Mideast Conflagration Spreads

The bomb blasts in Turkey earlier this week did more than kill three and injure 20. They dealt another blow to Turkey's tourism sector and its image as a rock of stability in an explosive Middle East.

IRAN: Europe Has Six Days to Resolve Suspension Dilemma

After months of bickering over arbitrary deadlines, the Iranian government delivered its long-awaited response to the P5+1 package punctually on the eve of its self-imposed deadline Tuesday.

MIDEAST: West Bank Faces War Fall-Out

Just three weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was still enthusing about his plan for a unilateral withdrawal from most of the West Bank. The fighting in Lebanon, he said in an interview in early August, had not doused his determination to move forward with his plan. In fact, he said, the conflict with Hezbollah would ultimately help in promoting it.

POLITICS: Bush Ensured Iran Offer Would Be Rejected

Even before Iran gave its formal counter-offer to ambassadors of the P5+1 countries (the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China) Tuesday, the George W. Bush administration had already begun the process of organising sanctions against Iran.

NEPAL: Fuel Fiasco Illuminates Revolution’s Rifts

Chanting members of the Maoist student union swarmed onto the streets of Nepal's capital Saturday to protest fuel price hikes - but had to cut short the demonstration when they ran out of kerosene to fuel their homemade torches.