ASIA: Moderate Muslims Troubled by Wahabis, But without U.S. Twist

Asia's moderate Muslims have unlikely allies that are giving legitimacy to a view they had asserted in the aftermath of the Sep. 11 acts of terror in the United States -- that Islam is not a monolithic faith, that there are many Islams.

POLITICS-SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Region Remains Islam’s Moderate Face

If U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was hoping to use his passage through South-east Asia this week to gauge how widespread Washington's latest bogey - Islamic extremism - is, then he should take comfort in the moderate voices coming from Indonesia and countries around it.

POLITICS-U.S.: Right-Wing Hardliners Tighten Grip on Foreign Policy

Ret. Gen. Colin Powell is unquestionably the most popular U.S. Secretary of State in the last half century, if not in U.S. history.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: By-elections Show Race to ‘Out-Islam’ Another

The two by-elections in Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's home state of Kedah this month did not change any political equation, but they could still impact on the future of the country's fragile democracy.

LABOUR-CANADA: Strike Over City Privatising Fits Global Pattern

A two-week strike by municipal workers in Canada's largest city that left rotting garbage strewn along streets and piled in neighbourhood parks fits a profile of labour unrest world-wide in recent years.

POLITICS: South Asia Now Laboratory of ‘War on Terrorism’

Events in South Asia in the last 72 hours are testimony to the fact that a 'triangle of terror' has emerged, which is now the principal focus of the global 'war on terror' that began after Sep. 11, 2001.

POLITICS-U.S.: Bush Begins to Lose Steam

Ten months after last September's terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush's efforts to keep the nation focused and enthused about his war on terrorism appear to be running out of steam.

POLITICS-U.S.: Hawks Unhappy Over Improving Ties with Beijing

Despite President George W. Bush's efforts to embrace Taiwan ever tighter, Vice President Dick Cheney and influential right-wingers close to key policymakers at the Pentagon complain the administration has become too complacent about what they call a growing threat from China.

POLITICS: Pakistan’s Biggest Hurdle is Continued Instability

President Gen Pervez Musharraf has unveiled October elections as part of a plan to nudge Pakistan back to democracy, but the country's biggest challenge remains its inability to fashion an institutional political structure that can survive individuals and provide durable stability.

POLITICS-U.S.: Hawks Unhappy Over Improving Ties with Beijing

Despite President George W. Bush's efforts to embrace Taiwan ever tighter, Vice President Dick Cheney and influential right-wingers close to key policymakers at the Pentagon complain the administration has become too complacent about what they call a growing threat from China.

POLITICS-U.S.: Bush Declares Independence – from World Opinion

Exactly 226 years ago, when British colonists declared their independence from the arbitrary and monarchical rule of their mother country, they felt compelled to publicly justify their decision out of "a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind".

SAUDI ARABIA: Al-Qaeda Arrests Increase Pressure on Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's recent admission for the first time that the al-Qaeda terrorist network blamed for the Sep. 11 attacks is active in the country -- and poses a threat to the kingdom's security -- is rife with domestic and international implications.

SAUDI ARABIA: Al-Qaeda Arrests Increase Pressure on Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's recent admission for the first time that the al-Qaeda terrorist network blamed for the Sep. 11 attacks is active in the country -- and poses a threat to the kingdom's security -- is rife with domestic and international implications.

POLITICS-U.S.: Unilateralist Path Scored as Self-Defeating

Some call the present era one of U.S. hegemony. Others, especially in Europe, call it empire.

RIGHTS: Peacekeeping Resolutions A Major Test of U.S. Global Role

The U.S. government's commitment to multilateralism and international law are being severely tested by two resolutions submitted to the U.N. Security Council by Washington's emissaries.

INDIA-PAKISTAN: Back from the Brink, But Confrontation Persists

Two weeks after Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed to ratchet down the level of hostility by exchanging assurances through their U.S. mediators or "facilitators", they continue to trade shrill bellicose rhetoric and indulge in boastful, dangerous nuclear sabre-rattling.

POLITICS: Tamil Tigers Have Still to Come Clean on Human Rights

While the Tamil Tigers have convinced the world that they are keen to talk peace with the Sri Lankan government in Thailand, they have hardly been convincing on another front: grappling with their Achilles heel -- human rights.

ECONOMY: Singapore, Malaysia Rivalry Hots Up

The fierce business competition between Malaysia and Singapore has in recent months taken on the dimensions of an air and sea battle -- fought not with guided missiles or jet fighters but with tempting deals to lure foreign firms into using their airport and seaport facilities.

POLITICS: Is Democracy in Trinidad and Tobago Under Threat?

A call for members of the elections commission to resign 'en masse' coupled with the government's refusal to call an immediate election to resolve the stalemate in Parliament has triggered warnings about the future of democracy here.

POLITICS-U.S: Hawks’ ‘Hot Pre-emption’ Invokes George Shultz

For geo-strategists here, the hot new phrase in the U.S. war on terrorism is "hot pre-emption."

SPORTS: Football’s Popularity Owes to Democracy, Surprises

Senegal's surprise victory over defending champion France in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, and the fact that, as of Monday, Africa remained undefeated with respect to Europe, serve as signs that football is democratic and popular, "of the people".