MIDEAST: So What Was the Assault All About

Just over a week before they go to the polls, Israelis are in a grim mood. The gloom is fed by the leading candidates, all of whom are seeking to outdo one another in sombre assessment of the challenges that lie ahead.

IRAQ: Elections Could be a Telling Signpost

After strong polling for the provincial elections Saturday, Iraqis are looking out for new signposts of political recovery from the U.S.-led invasion and occupation.

SOMALIA: Counting the Cost After Ethiopia Withdraws

The suicide car bomb that struck Mogadishu Jan. 24, killing at least twenty people and injuring nearly fifty others is an explosive comment on the failure of the Ethiopian military deployment to Somalia two years ago to oust Islamist forces it believed represented "a clear and present danger" to Ethiopia.

POLITICS-US: Obama Taking Hands-On Approach to Mideast

During the three weeks of the Israel-Gaza war, then President-elect Barack Obama vowed he would be ready to engage on the Palestinian question "on Day One" of his presidency.

MIDEAST: Mitchell Mission Risks Deja vu

At the start of his Middle East presidential mission, Senator George Mitchell has listened to President Barack Obama's recommendation earlier in the week on Al-Arabiya television that he "should start by listening, because ultimately we cannot tell Israelis and Palestinians what's best for them."

MIDEAST: A Tale of Two Summits

Despite declarations of Arab unity at a recent economic summit, Egyptian commentators say that fundamental differences between rival Arab camps - especially over the issue of Palestine - are far from over.

UAE/US: ‘Civilian Nuclear Deal Hint to Iran’

The civilian nuclear deal between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States may fulfill the former's long-term desire to develop alternative energy sources and the latter's intention to promote a model for peaceful nuclear energy that sends a hint to Iran.

MIDEAST: Unconventional Warfare on the Rise

Violent conflict is hardly new to the Middle East, but increasingly it is taking the form of unconventional warfare.

MIDEAST: U.S. Engagement May Not Bring Change

The new U.S. President was as good as his word. Within 48 hours of taking the helm, Barack Obama declared it "will be the policy of my Administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians as well as Israel and its Arab neighbours."

POLITICS-US: Gaza War Lends Urgency to Obama’s Mideast Agenda

On Thursday, his second full day in office, Pres. Barack Obama took some bold steps that could have wide and positive repercussions in the Middle East.

U.S.: Rights Groups Applaud Move to Halt Gitmo Trials

U.S. and international human rights groups Wednesday praised President Barack Obama's directive to immediately suspend the work of military commissions established by his predecessor, George W. Bush, to prosecute suspected terrorists at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and pressed for its earliest possible closure.

POPULATION: Bridging the Family Planning Gap

Some 43 countries around the world now have populations that are either essentially stable or declining slowly.

COLOMBIA: Hostage Release Plan at a Standstill

"Operation Mistrust" could be the name of the efforts surrounding the planned unilateral release of six hostages by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has run aground a month after it was announced.

MIDEAST: Move On From Conventional Wisdom

In his inauguration address Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama made no direct reference to Israel's three-week campaign in Gaza; nor did he mention the urgency of addressing the old bugbear of international relations - how successfully to forge a Palestinian-Israel peace.

MIDEAST: Say it Plain, Mr. President

Europe now evidently understands what the U.S. has long understood - if you want to move Israelis on peace, you need to make them feel secure.

MIDEAST: Shock, Awe, and a Belated Soul-Search

"If only my three daughters will be the last victims of this horrible conflict," wept Dr. Ezzadin Abu Al-Aish, a Palestinian gynaecologist recovering from his wounds in Tel Aviv's Tel Hashomer hospital. An Israeli tank shell killed three of his nine children aged 20, 15 and 14 as well as a 14-year-old niece in their home in the Jebaliya refugee camp Saturday. Israel says its forces were responding to sniper fire.

U.S.: Liberals, Realists Set to Clash in Obama Administration

Just as the foreign policy of U.S. President George W. Bush was characterised by a continuous battle for control between hawks led by Vice President Dick Cheney and realists based primarily in the State Department and intelligence community - and, in its last two years, the Pentagon - so the incoming administration may find itself split along ideological lines.

POLITICS-US: Bush’s Path from “Humility” to “Bring it On”

George W. Bush entered the White House in 2001 with the least foreign policy experience and the most modest foreign policy programme of any modern U.S. president.

MIDEAST: Syria Makes Its Mark on Regional Politics

The main artery of Damascus's famous covered souk (market) sports a giant red banner expressing - in Arabic and English - the disgust and anguish of a nearby private business for the Israeli military's attacks on Gaza.

POLITICS-US: Vets Health System in Need of Triage

Eighteen U.S. veterans kill themselves every day. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas. One in every three homeless men in the United States has put on a uniform and served his country. On any given night, the U.S. government estimates 200,000 veterans sleep on the street.

MIDEAST: Coming Up to Crunch Time

"The war isn't yet over, but it's the beginning of the final chapter," said Eytan Ben-Eliyahu, former Israeli air force chief, on Israel Television Wednesday night. "This is the crunch moment," he added.