FINANCE: IMF “Cure” for Food Crisis Also a Cause

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is responding to the global food crisis by doling out new emergency loans to 15 of the world's poorest nations, mostly in Africa.

JAPAN/CHINA: Warming Ties

When China accepted Japan’s offer of expert teams to help with emergency relief, following last week’s devastating earthquake, it may have had more to do with improving ties between the Asian neighbours than with Japan’s expertise in handling such disasters.

CLIMATE CHANGE-EUROPE: There's Money in Emissions

'Cap and trade' has become one of the stock phrases that one is almost guaranteed to hear at any European conference on climate change these days.

POLITICS-US: An Ocean Apart, Bush, McCain Play to Neo-Con Dreams

In separate speeches delivered an ocean apart, the two standard bearers of the Republican Party Thursday offered rosy visions of a future designed to gladden the hearts of Israel-centred neo-conservatives without offering any details about how their dreams will be achieved.

POLITICS: Bogus Claim, al-Maliki Stall U.S. Plan on Iran Arms

Early this month, the George W. Bush administration's plan to create a new crescendo of accusations against Iran for allegedly smuggling arms to Shiite militias in Iraq encountered not just one but two setbacks.

POLITICS: 1968 and the Birth of Diversity

The year 1968 has become a symbol, but not necessarily one that is easy to sum up. High-profile violent events involving multitudes of people marked it as revolutionary, but it is hard to define the nature of that revolution. Endless enigmas and controversies still surround it.

POLITICS: Bush Tour Diminished by Hezbollah Show of Force

While this week's trip by President George W. Bush to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt was never conceived as a triumphant "victory lap" around the region, the swift rout of U.S.-backed forces by Lebanon's Hezbollah Friday has provided yet another vivid illustration of the rapid decline in Washington's influence in the Middle East during his tenure.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Symptom of Dubious Liberalisation

The high food prices that have sparked riots in many parts of the developing world - from Indonesia, India and Bangladesh to Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti - should come as no surprise. These are only the latest in a series of events many developing countries have suffered as a result of opening their borders and neglecting domestic agriculture.

LEBANON: Hezbollah, In Opposition, Takes Charge

At least 11 people are dead and 30 injured during ferocious gun battles pitting opposition Shia Amal and Hezbollah fighters against members of the Sunni Future Movement, which is part of the majority March 14 alliance in government. As the opposition's militia men clamped down on government headquarters, the balance of power seems to have been shifted permanently in the Land of the Cedars.

IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?

The P5+1 - the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany - will present Tehran with a secret incentive package in the next few days to convince Iran to suspend its enrichment programme and enter negotiations.

MIDEAST: Israelis Believe Another War Is Coming

As Israel marks its 60th anniversary, Israelis are deeply pessimistic about the prospects of peace with their neighbours, with an overwhelming majority believing they will be at war again within the next five years.

INDIA/US: Nuke Deal Set to Time Out

Faced with continuing domestic opposition to the United States-India nuclear cooperation deal, the Indian government has launched 'one last push' to complete negotiations before the window of opportunity slams shut.

LEBANON: Wobbling In Uncertainty

As clashes between supporters of Lebanon's feuding factions become increasingly frequent, Lebanon seems to be walking a fine line between stability and violence.

MALAYSIA: Food Futures Behind Rising Prices

With stock markets and the property sector in the United States weakening, speculative investors are turning to fuels and the food sector as a "safe haven", driving up prices in the process, say some food security activists.

POLITICS: Washington Cool on New Israel-Syria Talks

Amid regional fears of a summer war between Israel and Syria, the two countries may in fact be inching closer to a deal. Not even President George W. Bush's recent disclosures to Congress, intended to prove Syrian-North Korean nuclear cooperation, appear able to dent the resolve for peace, or at the very least, a reduction in tensions.

BOLIVIA: Santa Cruz Autonomy Statute Violates Constitution

Voters in the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz, which is in the vanguard of an "autonomy" movement involving six of the country’s nine regions, will decide Sunday on a statute that runs counter to the constitution.

UKRAINE: Ungovernable As Always

The conflict between the pro-Western allies governing Ukraine, President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yuliya Timoshenko, is escalating in a country made ungovernable by political ambitions.

INDIA/IRAN: Course Correction

Relations between India and Iran, which deteriorated over the past three years from traditional friendship and warmth into mutual suspicion and tension, have started looking up again.

AUSTRALIA: Seeking a Bigger Global Role

Recent overseas trips by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd are said to have projected a more robust image of Australia onto the world and revealed a nascent desire to be regarded as a serious global player.

MIDEAST: Olmert Closer to Deal with Syria, Israel Is Not

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he is "very interested" in peace with Syria. He has sent a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad expressing a willingness to give back the Golan Heights in exchange for a comprehensive peace treaty.

POLITICS-US: Hawks Resurgent?

Are the latest accusations and tough language leveled against Iran, Syria, and North Korea evidence of a resurgence by the remaining hawks in the administration of President George W. Bush hoping for a final confrontation against one or more members of the revised "axis of evil" before his term ends next January?