MIDEAST: Israel in No Mood to Brook Dissent

The war on Gaza is widening. Not so much on the battleground inside Gaza as inside Israeli society. The Israeli army continues the battering of Hamas, but on another front Israelis are firing on their own democracy - and from within the very halls of democracy itself.

U.S.: Bush Foreign Policy Legacy Widely Seen as Disastrous

While in a farewell press conference Monday George W. Bush once again expressed the belief that his eight-year presidency, particularly his foreign-policy record, will be vindicated by history, the portents are not particularly good.

MIDEAST: Israel at Crossroads Between Ceasefire and Occupation

Into the third week of its war on Gaza, Israeli leaders are convinced they're still calling the shots. But, without a suitable diplomatic exit soon, the military "successes" could quickly begin to unravel, some sobering Israeli voices have cautioned.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Lowering Temperatures

Six weeks after the Mumbai terrorist attacks precipitated a grave new crisis in their mutual relations, the danger of a military conflict breaking out between India and Pakistan has receded.

MIDEAST: Gaza, and Israel’s Wars of Forced Regime Change

The war that Israel launched on Gaza Dec. 27 is the seventh war of choice Israel has launched against its neighbours since 1973, the last year in which it fought a war that was forced upon it.

MIDEAST: Israel Ponders End to Offensive

"Unlike the Qana tragedy in 1996 which brought about an immediate end to the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon, Tuesday night's Israeli shelling of the Fakhura UNWRA school will not bring about an abrupt cessation of the Israeli military campaign," says analyst Chemi Shalev in the Wednesday morning edition of Israel Today. "But it will definitely accelerate the diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire."

CHINA/US: Wealth of Nations Redefined

Chinese and United States leaders have hailed the 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries as one of the most defining bilateral ties of the 20th century, but Beijing and Washington are celebrating the anniversary in subdued mood.

POLITICS: Bush Plan Eliminated Obstacle to Gaza Assault

Until mid-2007, there was a serious political obstacle to a massive conventional war by Israel against Hamas in Gaza: the fact that Hamas had won free and fair elections for the Palestinian parliament and was still the leading faction in a fully legitimate government.

EUROPE: Czech Presidency Promises Controversy

The rotating EU presidency has been taken over for the first half of the year by a country with a president who may refuse to sign the EU Treaty, and with a weak government that has more faith in the U.S. than in Europe.

MIDEAST: In a Battle for Legitimacy

A confident Israel launched the second half of its war against Hamas in Gaza self-assured that it has already secured two central components of the war: the reaffirmation of its right to self-defence, and the legitimacy of its military action. The latter, Israel reckons, derives directly from the modesty, not necessarily of the scope of the operation (the most extensive against Palestinians in 40 years), but of its declared war goals.

POLITICS-BANGLADESH: Hasina Can Lay to Rest Ghosts of the Past

With a stunning landslide victory under her belt, prime minister-elect Sheikh Hasina Wajed has a second opportunity to put the ghosts of the past to rest and release Bangladesh from a cycle of crises that has plagued this country since its violent birth in 1971.

MIDEAST: Peace Process Blown to Bits

Formally, the Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" appears set to continue, in line with the last UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution. But the chances of finding a resolution are virtually nil in light of Israel's new campaign against the Gaza Strip.

ECONOMY: 'Financial Meltdown Decolonising Asian Minds'

The year 2008 may well go down in history as a watershed in which the global financial crisis, precipitated by the collapse of Western economic models, ‘decolonised’ Asians minds, say observers.

MIDEAST: Gaza Becomes a Chessboard for Israeli Leaders

Israel's devastating bombardment of Gaza, and the mounting death toll continue as Operation Cast Lead entered its fourth day Tuesday.

INDIA: Seeking China's Support in Dealing With Pakistan

As the Pakistani government digs its heels in against India’s demands for action on the suspected masterminds of the November terrorist strikes in Mumbai, the Indian foreign policy establishment is looking to China and other regional powers, besides the United States, for support.

POLITICS: Security Council Mildly Rebukes Israel’s Gaza Attacks

After an emergency closed-door session Sunday night, the 15-member Security Council issued a politically bland statement expressing "serious concern" over the devastating Israeli air strikes on Gaza and calling for an "immediate halt to all violence."

IRAQ: It Could be More Than Three Years to US Departure

Washington and Baghdad signed a security agreement earlier this month allowing the U.S. to maintain a military presence in Iraq for another three years. But while Baghdad officials hailed the pact as the "beginning of the end" of the U.S.-led occupation, Egyptian commentators - like much of the Iraqi opposition - say the agreement simply reflects U.S. strategic interests.

FINANCE: Crisis Pits Vatican Against Offshore Bankers

The financial crisis has the U.S. swirling with charges about the immoral greed of some corporate executives who recklessly bet their companies' futures to line their own pockets. The popular fix for this international calamity stops at the nation's borders: decouple top-line salaries and bonuses from stock prices and institute more transparency and regulation.

RIGHTS-INDIA: New Anti-Terror Laws Draconian Say Activists

Following the late November terror attacks in Mumbai, India has passed two tough laws being seen by rights activists as potentially eroding the country’s federal structure and limiting fundamental liberties.

POLITICS: U.S. Military Defiant on Key Terms of Iraqi Pact

U.S. military leaders and Pentagon officials have made it clear through public statements and deliberately leaked stories in recent weeks that they plan to violate a central provision of the U.S.-Iraq withdrawal agreement requiring the complete withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities by mid-2009 by reclassifying combat troops as support troops.

GREECE: Riots Fed by Years of Anger

It is late at night. The city is quiet and strangely empty. Only some spooky figures appear here and there, police in civilian clothes, photojournalists looking for telling pictures.