IRAN: Hardliners Reinvent Themselves

Promising a better life to the society's downtrodden, the son of a blacksmith and mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad, has stunned Iran by beating an establishment figure to become the nation's new president.

IRAN: Hardliners Reinvent Themselves

Promising a better life to the society's downtrodden, the son of a blacksmith and mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad, has stunned Iran by beating an establishment figure to become the nation's new president.

AFGHANISTAN: Kabul, Washington Press Pakistan on Taliban

Even as the war between U.S.-led forces and the Taliban intensifies in Afghanistan, a first rate diplomatic row has erupted between Pakistan and - who?

POLITICS: Burundi’s Peace Process Comes to the Crunch

With a local election under its belt, and legislative and presidential polls scheduled for the next two months, Burundi is entering the final stretch of a lengthy and difficult peace process.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Cardinal’s Death a Loss to Pro-Democracy Activists

South-east Asia lost its greatest symbol of ''people power'' with the death Tuesday of Cardinal Jaime Sin, former head of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

POLITICS-NEPAL: Maoists, Parties Take Tentative Steps Closer

Nepal's political stalemate, which started in 2002 with the dismissal of parliament, hit a new low last week when seven major political parties declared they would boycott municipal elections the government plans to hold by April next year.

IRAQ: The Democratic Engine Is Just Not Starting

Now that Sunni Arabs have been included, Iraq's parliamentary committee that is drafting the new constitution is the closest to an elected, representative body that the country has ever seen.
      In the two months that the committee now has to come up with the draft and in the referendum that will follow in October, it will become clear if that is enough to stabilise the country and reduce the violence.

IRAQ: The Democratic Engine Is Just Not Starting

Now that Sunni Arabs have been included, Iraq's parliamentary committee that is drafting the new constitution is the closest to an elected, representative body that the country has ever seen. In the two months that the committee now has to come up with the draft and in the referendum that will follow in October, it will become clear if that is enough to stabilise the country and reduce the violence.

MIDEAST: Now Vacated Homes Become a Problem

It might have been expected that Israel, not wanting to have pictures of Palestinians triumphantly entering the evacuated homes of settlers in the Gaza Strip, would want to demolish those homes; it might equally have been expected that the Palestinians would want the houses to remain intact.

MIDEAST: Now Vacated Homes Become a Problem

It might have been expected that Israel, not wanting to have pictures broadcast of Palestinians triumphantly entering the evacuated homes of settlers in the Gaza Strip, would want to demolish those homes. It might equally have been expected that the Palestinians, wanting to be seen marching into the homes of their retreating occupiers, would want the houses to remain intact.

INDONESIA: Sulawesi Bombs Cloaking Corruption?

Tension remains high in Central and West Sulawesi, where greedy politicians and rogue Islamic groups - rather than a revival of sectarian violence or international terrorism - look to be behind the latest attacks directed against Christian targets in Tentena and Mamasa.

SOUTH ASIA: U.S. Interests on Tap in Pipeline Projects

South Asia has decided to enter the Big League of nations struggling to secure oil (and gas) supplies that are not (yet) under the sole superpower's control.

G8 SUMMIT: Privatisation Hangs Over Debt Relief

The G7 finance ministers agreed to write off the debt of 18 of the poorest countries, but firm prescriptions of privatisation hovered over the debt relief offer.

G8 SUMMIT: Privatisation Hangs Over Debt Relief

The G7 finance ministers agreed Saturday to write off the debt of 18 of the poorest countries, but firm prescriptions of privatisation hovered over the debt relief offer.

CORRUPTION-THAILAND: Government Beyond Accountability Looms

Four months after he was re-elected by an unprecedented majority, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra faces a corruption scandal the outcome of which could define the tone of his second term in office.

AMERICAS: United States Does Not Understand Latin America

The U.S. government, whose proposal was voted down this week in the Organisation of American States (OAS), is piling up defeats in Latin America because of a vision of the region that is "distorted" by its "war on terrorism," according to analysts.

POLITICS: Hawk or Dove, Advani Leads India’s Political Pack

The teeming crowds outside Lal Krishna Advani's bungalow on Thursday and the impassioned entreaties that he withdraw his resignation as party president say it all: India's powerful pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no taller political leader than this 78-year-old man who now swears by secularism.

/UPDATE*/POLITICS-NEPAL: Battle of Perceptions Favours King

Four months after Nepal's King Gyanendra seized power through a bloodless coup, the nation's beleaguered political parties are finding it increasingly difficult to win public support for their pro-democracy protests.

POLITICS-U.S.: Right-Wing Hostility to NGOs Glimpsed in Amnesty Flap

This week's flap over Amnesty International's characterisation of U.S. overseas detention facilities and practices as a ''gulag of our times'' offers insights into the Bush administration's and its neo-conservative supporters' deep distrust of some non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

POLITICS: Malaysia Moots Moderate Path for Islamic World

Despite its location on the margins of the Islamic world, the South-east Asian nation of Malaysia is coming out well ahead of other Muslim countries on the pivotal question of how to redeem the battered image of Islam and its followers.

AUSTRALIA: ‘Bio-Terror’ Attack Threatens Ties With Indonesia

An envelope of white powder posted to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra this week has put tension back into the improving relationship between Indonesia and Australia.