POLITICS-US: Tax Protests Channel Enmity for Obama

Reports vary about how many people actually showed up at Tax Day Tea Party rallies in dozens of cities across the United States on Wednesday, Apr. 15 - the deadline for paying taxes in the U.S.

MIDEAST: Gaza Changed Everything, But Its People Still Suffer

Three months after the end of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, and nearly four months after former prime minister Ehud Olmert started it, the standoff between Israel and Hamas is as unresolved as ever.

MIDEAST: More Doors Closing Than Opening

Israel is digging in its heels. Government officials said Wednesday that Israel does not intend to cooperate with the upcoming United Nations investigation into whether Israel and Hamas both committed war crimes during the recent Gaza war.

MIDEAST: West Bank a Time Bomb Waiting to Explode

Tension between Israel and Palestinians is rising sharply as reflected in a number of increasingly bloody and violent confrontations since Israel's devastating war in Gaza at the beginning of the year.

US-LATAM: Summit Will Test Obama Magic

As Barack Obama packs his bags for his first trip as president to Latin America and the Caribbean, the big question is whether he will be bringing much with him - beyond his listening skills and charisma - that will excite the region and its leaders at the fifth "Summit of the Americas" in Trinidad and Tobago this weekend.

ENVIRONMENT: Paper and Fuel Wood Biggest Stresses on Forests

Protecting the earth's nearly 4 billion hectares of remaining forests and replanting those already lost are both essential for restoring the earth's health, an important foundation for the new economy.

MIDEAST: Israel Faces Up to Old Iran and New U.S.

Israel does not object to talks between the West and Iran if the intent is to stop Iran's nuclear programme and as long as Iran does not take advantage of these talks, top level Israeli government sources tell IPS. But the sources go on to reiterate that Israel still expects the international community to act firmly to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

THAILAND: After ASEAN Summit Fiasco, Summer of Discontent Looms

The dramatic scenes that unfolded at a regional summit forcing its cancellation Apr. 11 point to a disturbing possibility that this kingdom is heading for a long period of turmoil - pitting the conservative political establishment against the rage of the urban and provincial poor.

U.S.: Early Friction with New Israeli Govt

If the past week was any indication, the U.S.-Israeli relationship, which could scarcely have been smoother during the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush, appears headed for choppy waters.

US: Counterinsurgency Back In Vogue?

As the U.S. prepares to reduce its military presence in Iraq while intensifying its war effort in Afghanistan, hawks within both the Republican and Democratic parties have come increasingly to believe that counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine offers a solution to the central security challenges Washington will face in the 21st century.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE: One-State Supporters Make a Comeback

President Barack Obama has spoken out forcefully - including this week, in Ankara, Turkey - in favour of building an independent Palestinian state alongside a still robust Israel. However, many Palestinians have noted that President George W. Bush also, in recent years, expressed a commitment to Palestinian statehood. But, they note, Bush never took the actions necessary to achieve such a state - and neither, until now, has Obama.

US: Obama Team Debates Stance on Israeli Attack Threat

A recent statement by the chief of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. David Petraeus, that Israel may decide to attack Iranian nuclear sites has been followed by indications of a debate within the Barack Obama administration on whether Israel's repeated threats to carry out such a strike should be used to gain leverage in future negotiations with Tehran.

IRAN-US: Deal with the Elephant in the Room!

Despite recent overtures and the establishment of areas of common interest, Iran’s nuclear programme remains central to its goals in dealing with the U.S.

EUROPE: Communist Ideology, as bad as Nazism?

A declaration which equates communism to Nazism and condemns communist ideology as "directly responsible for crimes against humanity" has been debated in the European Parliament on the initiative of the Czech Presidency of the European Union.

EUROPE: Scrambling to get it Right on Afghanistan

As NATO prepares to celebrate its 60th year, Europe's somewhat fractured Afghanistan policy, which will feature large in discussions at the organisation's anniversary summit this weekend, needs to improve significantly if it is to gain any credibility in the region, say policy experts in Brussels.

G20: Where Is the Money, and Who Is the Moneylender

It seemed like a lot of money at the time. The leaders of the group of eight richest countries, the G8, met in Gleneagles in Scotland and announced 50 billion dollars in new aid, half of that for Africa and half for the rest of the world.

MIDEAST: Obama’s Lieberman Problem

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was sworn in Tuesday - just one day later his foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, set off a firestorm by saying he judged Israel was no longer bound by agreements reached at the late-2007 peace conference convened by the U.S. in Annapolis, Maryland.

G20: Give or Take a Trillion or Two

The ease with which leaders spoke of trillions of dollars at the G20 summit in London Thursday was no doubt intended to signal to the world just how serious leaders are about getting the economy right again. That these fabulous figures may never add up is another matter.

MIDEAST: All Unclear Over Israeli Policy

How genuine is Israel's new leadership about peace when the Prime Minister says that he will go a long way towards striving for a settlement with the Palestinians, but purposefully omits to endorse an independent Palestinian state; and, when his foreign minister warns, "If you want peace, prepare for war", a blunt statement on which the prime minister stays studiously silent?

G20: One Size Does Not Fit All

There is on the face of it a fairness in the language hanging over the G20 summit that is quite seductive. "A global crisis requires a global solution," everyone who matters seems to be saying, at least towards the richer end of the G20 spectrum. Such talk is getting louder by the day as heads of state and government head for a meeting in London Thursday to address the global economic crisis.

G20: Next Time, Perhaps…

If the draft declaration of the G20 meeting in London is anything to go by, the most specific outcome of this summit is that there will be another one later in the year.