IRAQ: Was Cairo Meet First Step Toward Peace Talks?

The final communiqué of the Cairo Conference of Iraqi political groups last week appears to be a tentative first step in a process that could eventually lead to a peace settlement in Iraq.

MEDIA: Born Again Non-Aligned News Network Has Chances

Hopes for a Non-aligned News Network (NNN) have been rekindled at a ministerial meeting of non-aligned countries here, this week, but the hurdles it faces are very different from those existing when the idea was first floated, in the heady days before the collapse of the Soviet empire.

COMMONWEALTH: Another Month, Another Island

The Commonwealth heads of government meeting taking place in Malta from Friday this week could turn out to be the most definite indication yet that little can be expected at the world trade ministers meeting in Hong Kong next month.

POLITICS-US: Cheney Tries to Raise the Stakes

Amid growing pressure to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and mounting charges by Democrats that senior administration officials misled the nation into war there, Vice President Dick Cheney appears to have taken charge of defending his boss and taking on the critics.

POLITICS-US: Cheney Tries to Raise the Stakes

Amid growing pressure to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and mounting charges by Democrats that senior administration officials misled the nation into war there, Vice President Dick Cheney appears to have taken charge of defending his boss and taking on the critics.

U.S.: The Politics of Pushback

On Veterans' Day, Nov. 11, President Bush told troops gathered at Pennsylvania's Tobyhanna Army Depot that, "It is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war [in Iraq] began."

POLITICS: North Korea Threat Props Up Japan-US Alliance

By pledging U.S. support for efforts to resolve the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, visiting President George W. Bush, on Wednesday, hinted at the importance of the alliance in countering Japan’s biggest security threat and also in tackling troubles elsewhere in the world.

CHINA: Moves to Dispel Wariness Ahead of Bush Visit

As United States President George W. Bush flies to China for talks with top Chinese leaders later this week, both Beijing and Washington are focusing on how China uses its rising economic power and new military clout.

POLITICS-INDIA: Nuclear Deal With US Turns Faustian Bargain

Indian leaders are finding, to their dismay, that they confront far tougher choices in implementing a controversial nuclear agreement they signed with the United States, than they had bargained for.

POLITICS-US: Republicans Cut and Run from Iraq and Bush

Although he dislikes foreign travel and formal summits, U.S. President George W. Bush must be relieved to be spending this week as an honoured guest in several Asian capitals. According to the stereotype, Asians are unfailingly polite.

MEDIA-US: Controversial WMD Reporter and NY Times Divorce

Was she an innocent dupe who was played mercilessly by exile chieftain Ahmed Chalabi and his neo-conservative and Pentagon backers who led the march to war with Iraq in March 2003?

POLITICS-US: At Sixty, It’s Uneasy Times for the UN

Like other schemes that have languished out of the spotlight in the backrooms of some of the nation's most prominent right-wing think tanks, the "U.S.-out-of-the-U.N." and the "U.N.-out-of-the-U.S." project appears to be reaching critical mass.

AMERICAS: Integration Remains an Elusive Concept

If the fourth Summit of the Americas left anything clear, it is the difficulty of reaching agreement on a concept of integration in the region.

POLITICS-US: Cheney Under Siege

Has U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney become so much of an albatross around his boss' neck that he will have to go?

CoTE D’IVOIRE: Another Question Rises Over French Intervention

Revelations that French forces killed a local man, and that generals then protected the killers, have cast new doubts over the French 'peacekeeping' role in the Côte d'Ivoire.

HEALTH: World Bank Gets Cold Feet on Bird Flu Drug Patent

Suddenly, in the face of a possible global pandemic of bird flu, the World Bank is developing signs of cold feet. It is choosing to distance itself from the role it has carved out over decades as an advocate of policies to ''help'' developing countries.

MIDEAST: UN Flounders Amid Growing Troubles

The Lebanese Hezbollah movement used an annual anti-Israel rally Friday to send a defiant message to the international community. It was some indication how difficult it is for the UN to deal with the crises in the Middle East.

PAKISTAN: Of Nukes and Quakes

India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran could not have chosen a worse moment than this week to demand that the 'Father of the Pakistani Bomb' A.Q. Khan be grilled by external investigators - just when Pakistan is fighting to cope with its worst earthquake and in need of international aid.

PAKISTAN: Of Nukes and Quakes

India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran could not have chosen a worse moment to demand that the 'Father of the Pakistani Bomb' A.Q. Khan be grilled by external investigators, for proliferating nuclear technology to Iran, than this week- when Pakistan was fighting to cope with its worst earthquake and in need of international aid.

POLITICS: Resentful Islanders Adopt Australian ‘Pacific Plan’

The 'Pacific Plan', a blueprint for regional development and integration largely drawn up by Australia, was adopted by the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) at a summit this week but amid resentment over a 'neo-colonial' approach.

POLITICS: India Abandons Global Nuclear Disarmament

Seven years after blasting its way into the world’s 'nuclear club', India has executed a major shift in its policy stance by jettisoning its long-standing advocacy of global nuclear disarmament in favour of nuclear non-proliferation.