POLAND: Eye on Coalition, Pres.-Elect Turns Conciliatory

Early signs since Lech Kaczynski was announced the surprise winner of Sunday's run-off election suggest that his presidency will be as closely watched in Washington, Moscow, Berlin and Brussels as it will be by Polish voters and politicians.

HEALTH: Bird Flu Brings Out Double Standards on Drug Patents

With hardly a hint of shame, voices from the Western world's political establishment are exhibiting a view that seems to say that the lives of people in the developed world matter more than those that populate the South.

HEALTH: Bird Flu Brings Out Double Standards on Drug Patents

With hardly a hint of shame, voices from the Western world's political establishment are exhibiting a view that seems to say that the lives of people in the developed world matter more than those that populate the South.

NEPAL: A Sliver of Silver in Cloudy Skies

Nepal's strongman King Gyanendra named dates for elections earlier this month-and then enacted a law that hamstrings journalists' reporting of politics.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Vote Figures for Crucial Province Don’t Add Up

The early vote totals from Nineveh province, which suggested an overwhelming majority in favour of Iraq's draft constitution that assured its passage by national referendum, now appear to have been highly misleading.

BRAZIL: Workers Party Survives Scandal Relatively Unscathed and Unchanged

The election of a new leadership for Brazil's governing leftist Workers Party (PT) indicates that despite the catastrophic predictions, political activity will continue to follow much the same track as before, with only minor adjustments arising from this year's explosive corruption scandal.

POLITICS-US: Washington on Tenterhooks Over Leak Case

Wrapping up a two-year investigation that a growing number of legal analysts expect to yield indictments of at least one, and possibly two, of the George W. Bush administration's most powerful men as early as this week, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has Washington on pins and needles.

POLITICS-IRAN: Rafsanjani Offers Hope On Nuclear, Oil Issues

The fact that it was former president Hashemi Rafsanjani who announced Iran's readiness to talk on the ''country's nuclear dossier without any pre-condition'' rather than his hardline successor, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, offers a glimmer of hope for reconciliation with the West on the key nuclear and oil issues.

POLITICS-IRAN: Rafsanjani Offers Hope On Nuclear, Oil Issues

The fact that it was former president Hashemi Rafsanjani who announced Iran's readiness to talk on the ''country's nuclear dossier without any pre-condition'' rather than his hardline successor, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, offers a glimmer of hope for reconciliation with the West on the key nuclear and oil issues.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Sunni Strategy Shifts Toward Voter Turnout

Despite last-minute maneuvering by Shiite and Kurdish leaders to offer the possibility of further changes in Iraq's draft constitution, and warnings by foreign jihadists against participation, all indications are that Sunnis will turn out in large numbers Saturday to cast ballots in the country's referendum.

IRAQ: Referendum Will Change Little

Iraqis will vote this weekend in a referendum that is billed as decisive for their political future, and by extension, crucial for restoring order in their violence-wracked country. But the country's leaders and the George W. Bush administration may find that the cycle of violence and political instability cannot be so easily broken.

IRAQ: Referendum Will Change Little

Iraqis will vote this weekend in a referendum that is billed as decisive for their political future, and by extension crucial for restoring order in their violence-wracked country. But the country's leaders and also the main mover behind the political process, the Bush administration, may find that the cycle of violence and political instability cannot be so easily broken.

SPAIN: From the Berlin Wall to Ceuta and Melilla

Spain's announcement that it plans to build a third fence to separate its enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco, using the most advanced technology aimed at keeping out undocumented immigrants, has drawn loud criticism while giving rise to many questions.

SPAIN: From the Berlin Wall to Ceuta and Melilla

Spain's announcement that it plans to build a third fence to separate its enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco, using the most advanced technology aimed at keeping out undocumented immigrants, has drawn loud criticism while giving rise to many questions.

MIDEAST: Sharon Leaves Everyone Guessing

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was doing his best to dispel the impression that another disengagement plan, from the West Bank this time, was in the works.

POLITICS-POLAND: Uneasy Partners Come to Rule

The results of the Polish election may have brought as many questions as answers for a domestic electorate disillusioned by political scandals and soaring unemployment.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Can the US Military Presence Avert Civil War?

The growing spectre of a full-scale civil war in Iraq - and the likelihood that such a conflict will draw in neighbouring states - has intensified a summer-long debate here over whether and how to withdraw U.S. troops.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Can the US Military Presence Avert Civil War?

The growing spectre of a full-scale civil war in Iraq - and the likelihood that such a conflict will draw in neighbouring states - has intensified a summer-long debate here over whether and how to withdraw U.S. troops.

EU: Turkey on the Doorstep, Again

Next Monday will give the start to one of Europe's longest political hurdle runs with the opening of the EU-Turkey accession talks expected to last 10 to 15 years - if all goes well.

EGYPT: At Least a Step Towards Elections

Two weeks after Egypt's first-ever multi-candidate presidential elections, people are scrambling to make sense of the implications of the contest for the long-term political landscape.

MIDEAST: Sharon Appears the Struggling Dove

In the last two weeks, they have become the most courted, the most polled and the best-fed group of people in Israel. For good reason: they hold the fate of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the ruling Likud party, and possibly even that of the state of Israel, in their hands.