MIDEAST: Cracks Appear in Truce Already

Having bathed in the dreamy tranquility of Sharm El-Sheikh and imbibed the heady atmosphere of their ceasefire summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort, both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas returned to considerably less attractive political landscapes at home.

POLITICS: The Next President of Iraq?

Fresh from their success at the polls, Iraq's two main Kurdish political parties have put forward 72-year-old Jalal Talabani as their candidate for the presidency of Iraq. If he succeeds in winning the post, it will be a fitting coda to one of Iraq's most colourful careers.

POLITICS: The Next President of Iraq?

Fresh from their success at the polls, Iraq's two main Kurdish political parties have put forward 72-year-old Jalal Talabani as their candidate for the presidency of Iraq. If he succeeds in winning the post, it will be a fitting coda to one of Iraq's most colourful careers.

POLITICS: Is Beleaguered U.N. Chief Caving In to U.S. Pressure?

A rash of recent headlines in mainstream U.S. newspapers portray a U.N. secretary-general struggling to survive: "Kofi Annan Must Go", "Annan's Post at the U.N. May be at Risk, Officials Fear" and "Criminal Probe Eyes Kofi's Son".

RIGHTS-NEPAL: Bush 2 Code Applicable to King Gyanendra?

Barely a month after U.S. President George W Bush's second inaugural address, his government faces its first real test - how to live and lead by the Bush code. And that test ironically is not in the Middle East but in faraway Nepal, the world's only Hindu kingdom.

OIL-IRAQ: Violence Leaves Long Lines at the Pump

The George W. Bush administration and the Turkish government did their best to kiss and make up this week. After days of sabre-rattling from Ankara over Kurdish domination in Kirkuk, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared shoulder to shoulder with her Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, yesterday.

MIDEAST: ‘Pre-Negotiations’ Bring Some Promise

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon go into Tuesday's summit in Egypt with a strong common interest - to portray their long-awaited meeting as a success - but with very different agendas.

POLITICS-US: A Meeting of Minds and Policy

There is little doubt that George W. Bush and Natan Sharansky, a Soviet émigré who is a top political official in Israel, share a similar perspective about international affairs, especially in the Middle East.

MIDEAST: ‘Pre-Negotiations’ Bring Some Promise

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon go into Tuesday's summit in Egypt with a strong common interest - to portray their long-awaited meeting as a success - but with very different agendas.

SOUTH ASIA: Jinx Continues on Regional Summit

When India backed out of Sunday's summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) citing 'developments' in Nepal and the host country Bangladesh, the future of the seven-nation grouping looked bleaker than ever before in its chequered 20 year-old history.

POLITICS-US: Hawk-Realist Impasse Could Persist in Second Term

With the pomp and circumstance of the inaugural and the State of the Union address now out of the way, the foreign policy direction to be taken by President George W. Bush in his second term remains a subject of considerable speculation and uncertainty.

POLITICS-US: Hawk-Realist Impasse Could Persist in Second Term

With the pomp and circumstance of the inaugural and the State of the Union address now out of the way, the foreign policy direction to be taken by President George W. Bush in his second term remains a subject of considerable speculation and uncertainty.

POLITICS-U.S.: Middle East "Uber Alles" in the Second Term

Clearly buoyed by Sunday's election in Iraq, a confident George W. Bush told the nation that the Middle East will dominate U.S. foreign policy during his second term as president, just as his proposals to privatise the 70-year-old U.S. social security system will be his top priority at home.

POLITICS-SOUTH ASIA: Nepal Plays the China Card

Prithvi Narayan Shah, the 18th century founder of modern Nepal famously described his fortified kingdom in the Himalayas as a yam between the two boulders of India and China.

THAILAND: Opposition Struggles to Thwart Thaksin’s Second Onslaught

The outcome of Thailand's parliamentary election on Feb.6 will help answer a question that has gained prominence in the final hours ahead of the poll: Do Thais worship leaders with absolute power?

RIGHTS-NEPAL: 1990 Constitutional Monarch, 2005 King-Less Republic?

In May 1990, the winds of change that began with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and freeing of South Africa's Nelson Mandela, had reached the Himalayan Hindu kingdom of Nepal. The role of the god-king - the incarnation of Lord Vishnu - was challenged.

RIGHTS-NEPAL: 1990 Constitutional Monarch, 2005 King-Less Republic?

In May 1990, the winds of change that began with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and freeing of South Africa's Nelson Mandela, had reached the Himalayan Hindu kingdom of Nepal. The role of the god-king - the incarnation of Lord Vishnu - was challenged.

POLITICS-U.S.: More Cannon Fodder, Please

Amid rising concern about the over-extension of U.S. military forces and the growing budget deficit, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neo-conservative group whose past foreign policy recommendations have often been followed by President George W. Bush, is urging Congress to add 25,000 new soldiers to U.S. ground forces each year over the next several years.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Are Better Communications Possible?

Next year, when the World Social Forum (WSF) is "decentralised" and held in a number of different and still undetermined venues around the globe, the need to remedy the event's ongoing deficiencies in communications, both internal and external, will be even more pressing.

MIDEAST: Nuclear Heat Rises Over Iran

When Israel dispatched F-16 bombers almost 24 years ago to destroy Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor in Osirak, the pilots knew they only had to hit a single target. Were Israeli or U.S. planes to be sent today to neutralise Iran's nuclear programme, the mission would be far more complicated: with Iranian facilities spread out, the pilots would have to strike targets across the country, and none of them a large, clearly identifiable reactor.

TSUNAMI-IMPACT: Muslim Solidarity Missing in the Aftermath of Killer Waves

If the Islamic world needs another reason to nail Osama bin Laden as more of a monster who thrives on killing than having a heart for the world's victims, then Muslims should listen to the silence pouring forth from the al-Qaeda leader's camp since the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami.