POLITICS-US/IRAN: Khamenei in Control and Ready to “Haggle”

For months, the U.S. news media, the attention of pundits and elected officials have been riveted on the aims of ultra-conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

POLITICS-DARFUR: Grim and Getting Grimmer

Despite a recent peace accord, a new U.N. Security Council resolution, and agreement by Sudan to permit a U.N. assessment team to travel to Darfur to determine how to strengthen peacekeeping forces there, the situation in the region, as well as in eastern Chad, has continued to deteriorate, according to sources here.

MIDEAST: Israel a Winner Again in U.S.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could not have asked or hoped for much more - surprisingly enthusiastic, if still qualified support from U.S. President George Bush for his West Bank withdrawal plan.

POLITICS-US: Is Illegal Immigration a Manufactured Crisis?

Driving Pres. George W. Bush's plan to send 6,000 National Guard troops to the border with Mexico and Congressional plans to build hundreds of miles of fences along it is a sense that the exodus of immigrants from Mexico has reached a critical level.

POLITICS: U.S. Shuts Eyes to Abuses of Key Ally, Egypt

The George W. Bush administration has called on the U.S. Congress to keep annual aid to Egypt of nearly two billion dollars intact for the next fiscal year, despite a massive crackdown on pro-democracy activists and suppression of political dissent in the country.

POLITICS-US: Bush Democracy Doctrine, 2003(?)-2006, R.I.P.

Less than 18 months after U.S. President George W. Bush declared in his 2005 Inaugural Address his unequivocal commitment to the "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world", tyrants, particularly in the Islamic world, are taking heart.

POLITICS-US: Bush Democracy Doctrine, 2003(?)-2006, R.I.P.

Less than 18 months after U.S. President George W. Bush declared in his 2005 Inaugural Address his unequivocal commitment to the "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world", tyrants, particularly in the Islamic world, are taking heart.

MIDEAST: Israel Confronts New Withdrawal Symptoms

When he began contemplating his first visit to the United States as prime minister a few weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert must have thought that his plan for a unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank would win him accolades in Washington and would guarantee a successful trip. After all, his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, had been hailed around the world for pulling Israel out of Gaza and evacuating all the Jewish settlements there just nine months ago.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Post Polls, Fiji Faces Uncertain Future

While the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) of Mahendra Chaudhry has agreed to join Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's new government, rather than sit in the opposition, few are willing to bet on the longevity of the multi-party arrangement in Fiji, a country notorious for its brittle racial relations

POLITICS: Reversing Policy, U.S. “Froze” Iran Talks in March

In yet another apparent episode of the inability of the White House to steer a consistent diplomatic course in the Middle East, a new report says that the George W. Bush administration ordered U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in March to postpone indefinitely the talks with Iran on Iraq for which Khalilzad had previously gotten White House approval.

POLITICS: Iran’s Snub Calls for New EU Offer

Iran's rebuff to a European "package of incentives", including a light-water nuclear power reactor, in return for halting uranium enrichment, marks a serious escalation of tensions with the West. But it does not close the doors to solving the Iran nuclear crisis through diplomacy.

POLITICS: Iran’s Snub Calls for New EU Offer

Iran's rebuff to a European "package of incentives", including a light-water nuclear power reactor, in return for halting uranium enrichment, marks a serious escalation of tensions with the West. But it does not close the doors to solving the Iran nuclear crisis through diplomacy.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Aid Plans Heading for Crisis

The future of EU spending on external aid for developing countries has been cast into doubt following a vote Thursday in the European Parliament. A legislative proposal governing how the EU will allocate and spend overseas development aid has been rejected, and this may force a suspension of EU aid spending.

OIL-LATIN AMERICA: Nationalisation in Context

A perusal of the history of the nationalisation of energy resources in Latin America shows that Venezuela's process three decades ago involved lengthy negotiations with the foreign companies involved - in stark contrast to Bolivia's recent surprise occupations of natural gas fields, refineries and petrol stations.

BRAZIL: Nationalisation in Bolivia Ignites ‘Sub-Imperialist’ Public Opinion

Bolivia's nationalisation of its energy resources has triggered a public outcry in Brazil, demanding that the government take a stronger stance to "defend national interests" - undeterred by the fact that these particular interests happen to be located in other countries.

POLITICS: Iran Nuclear Conflict Is About U.S. Dominance

As the George W. Bush administration pushes for a showdown over Iran's nuclear programme in the U.N. Security Council, it has presented the issue as a matter of global security - an Iranian nuclear threat in defiance of the international community.

BOLIVIA: Nationalised Power to the People?

Bolivian President Evo Morales' decision to nationalise his country's natural gas fields earlier this month will not being immediate economic benefits to the poor, but may dent the country's poverty rates in the mid-term and check the sweeping power of foreign companies, analysts here say.

IRAN: Activists Fear U.S. “Help” Could Spur Crackdown

The United States is struggling with Iran's fundamentalist government on two fronts - while U.S. diplomats are negotiating with other members of the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Tehran, Washington has allocated 75 million dollars to inspire "regime change".

POLITICS-US: Cui Bono? Negroponte or Rumsfeld

Monday's nomination by U.S. President George W. Bush of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to take over the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the hapless Porter Goss has predictably intensified speculation over what is really going on behind the scenes.

POLITICS-US: Cui Bono? Negroponte or Rumsfeld

Monday's nomination by U.S. President George W. Bush of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to take over the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the hapless Porter Goss has predictably intensified speculation over what is really going on behind the scenes.

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM: A Cocktail of Anger Erupts

A double anger erupted out of the European Social Forum on to the streets of Athens Saturday. Anti-globalisation protesters attacked police and multinational targets, alongside local groups protesting injustice to immigrants.