MIDEAST: Pope Failing the ‘Test of Pain’

Before stepping into Jerusalem's interfaith and inter-political Middle East minefields, Pope Benedict XVI had posited himself as a "pilgrim of peace". But, only hours into his spiritual mission, the Pope found himself crashing up against the walls erected by pain - Jewish pain and Muslim pain, the memory of the Holocaust, and Palestinian pain of the continued Israeli occupation.

IRAN: Reformists a Force in Looming Presidential Election

With the official registration period for candidates over on May 9, the race for Iran’s presidency is entering its final stretch.

U.S.: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Greatest Threat of All?

A potentially major clash appears to be developing between powerful factions inside and outside the U.S. government, pitting those who see the Afghanistan/Pakistan ("AfPak") theatre as the greatest potential threat to U.S. national security against those who believe that the danger posed by a nuclear Iran must be given priority.

POLITICS: Obama Aide Puts Israel’s Nukes in the Diplomatic Mix

Last month in Prague, President Barack Obama vowed that he would seek a world without nuclear weapons. On Tuesday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller spelled out that this policy would apply to Israel, as well.

POLITICS-US: Officials Admit Pakistanis Reject U.S. Priorities

The advances of the Taliban insurgents beyond the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in recent weeks and the failure of the Pakistani military to counter them have brought a rare moment of truth for top national security officials of the Barack Obama administration.

MIDEAST: Israel Hit by Doubts Over U.S.

Almost a full fortnight before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is received at the White House, and already political nerves here are all a-jangle. Is a showdown with Israel's staunch ally about to materialise?

EUROPE: The Right Rises

Human rights activists have warned of a "proliferation" of far-right groups in central and eastern Europe amid an economic crisis fuelling support for extremist movements and political parties.

MIDEAST: Pilgrim of Peace Heads for Land of Strife

Pope Benedict XVI says his visit to the Holy Land will be as a "pilgrim of peace": the pontiff's pilgrimage starts in Jordan Friday (May 8) and continues on from there to Palestine and Israel.

U.S.: Major Foreign Tests Likely Over Next 100 Days

While Barack Obama has clearly improved Washington's image abroad during his first 100 days in office, the next 100 will almost certainly prove much more challenging for the new president's foreign policy.

LEBANON: Generals’ Release May Influence June Election

On Wednesday, a judge at the Hague-based "Special Tribunal for Lebanon" (STL) ordered Lebanon to release four senior Lebanese generals imprisoned since 2005 on suspicion of involvement in killing former prime minister Rafiq Hariri in February of that year.

MIDEAST: Hamas Gaining International Legitimacy

Delegations from the rival Fatah and Hamas organisations have again failed in Cairo to bridge their differences meant to usher in a Palestinian unity government, but this has in no way slowed inroads which the Islamist movement has been making to increase its international legitimacy - much to Israel's concern.

FIJI: Women Sidelined By Military Regime

Fiji, a multi-racial, multi-cultural country of 300 islands in the South Pacific, has undergone another coup - the fourth in 22 years. The women of Fiji want their voices to be heard as they work on ways to bring peace back to their country, and they are asking for the United Nations to support their efforts.

POLITICS-US: 100 Days of Latitude

One hundred days into his presidency, Barack Obama appears to have largely succeeded in putting U.S. ties with the rest of the world on a significantly more positive track, even as the foreign policy changes he has made thus far have been more rhetorical than substantive.

POLITICS-BOLIVIA: Unraveling the Conspiracy

The dismantling of a commando made up mainly of men described by the Bolivian government as foreign mercenaries could lead authorities to the people who organised around a dozen different attacks carried out since 2006 in the city of Santa Cruz.

US-MIDEAST: Obama and Netanyahu – Storm Clouds Ahead?

A big confrontation is brewing between the United States and Israel's new government over the Palestine issue.

MIDEAST: Hard Choices Coming up Fast

The parties to the Middle East conflict are coming to understand the U.S. President means business - that, unlike his predecessor in the White House, Barack Obama means to tackle the world's most intractable problem head on. And, soon.

ECONOMY: Struggle to Solve Crisis Moves to IMF, World Bank

Efforts to pull the global economy out of its nosedive enter a new phase this weekend amid warnings the decline is steeper than previously thought and signs the cockpit crew continue to jostle for the joystick.

SOUTH AFRICA: Election Will Not Bring an End to Political Turmoil

South Africa's fourth democratic election will not bring an end the political turmoil that has beset the country since 2007 when former president Thabo Mbeki suspended the country's head of public prosecutions and was replaced by Jacob Zuma as leader of the ruling ANC.

MIDEAST: Iran Hands Israel a Gift

Just when it seemed that the international community was gearing itself up to put pressure on the new Israel government to engage the Arab world and the Palestinian Authority seriously on peace, Iran's president hijacked the moment. But, in again lashing out against Israel, he handed the Israeli prime minister a whip of his own with which to question the merit of dialogue with Iran which the Obama Administration has been promoting.

EUROPE: Obama in a New Game Over Missiles and Iran

As the extension of the U.S. missile defence system to Eastern Europe is halted, U.S. President Barack Obama seems inclined to exchange it for Russian cooperation in taming Iran's nuclear ambitions.

ISRAEL: ‘If You Don’t Know, It Didn’t Happen’

Even though atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers have surfaced and the appointment of a right-wing government diminishes the chances for peace in the Middle East, no left-wing Israeli is taking to the streets.