U.S.: To Arm or Not to Arm Syrian Rebels, That Is the Question

Just days before the opening meeting of the new international "Friends of Syria" in Tunis Friday, the debate over whether the United States should provide more support – including weapons – to opposition forces is gathering steam.

Op-Ed: How Gender Values Point the Way for a More Effective U.N.

A growing list of U.N. Security Council Resolutions acknowledges the importance of gender in processes for peace. Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889 and 1960 note that women continue to be marginalised in peace negotiations and their potential is not fully utilised in humanitarian planning, peacekeeping operations, peace building, governance and reconstruction.

Karzai Demand on Night Raids Snags U.S.-Afghan Pact

Nearly a year after the Barack Obama administration began negotiations with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, both sides confirmed last week that the talks are still hung up over the Afghan demand that night raids by U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) either be ended or put under Afghan control.

Peace Activists Push for Nuke Abolition Summit in 2015

A coalition of anti-nuclear peace activists and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) is launching a global campaign for a summit meeting of world leaders calling for the total elimination of one of the world's most devastating weapons of mass destruction: the nuclear bomb.

JAPAN: Mothers Rise Against Nuclear Power

Japan’s nuclear power industry, which once ignored opposition, now finds its existence threatened by women angered by official opaqueness on radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was struck by an earthquake- driven tsunami on Mar. 11.

North Korea on the Verge of a New Era?

For the last two decades, U.S. administrations have come in like a lion and out like a lamb with their policies on North Korea. Determined to demonstrate Washington's resolve, U.S. presidents have played hardball with Pyongyang in an effort to precipitate regime change or at least bully the intransigent country into knuckling under.

PROFILE: Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il, is widely believed to be his father's choice as heir to the North Korean leadership.

U.S.: Former Top Aide Offers Insight on Mideast and Iran

In his first public address since departing from the White House, Dennis Ross, former top Middle East aide to U.S. President Barack Obama, called for increased sanctions on Iran, a careful approach to new Arab regimes and a low-key approach to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

U.S.: New Republican Front-runner Roils Mideast Waters

Newt Gingrich has a well-documented reputation for bomb throwing, but his latest assertions about Palestinians threaten to blow at least two decades of U.S. Middle East diplomacy to pieces.

U.S.: Military Option Recedes Amid Tug-of-War Over Iran Policy

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said Friday that he believes that sanctions and diplomacy are the right strategy to deal with Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "is doing everything we can to accomplish the stated objective without resorting to military force".

MIDEAST: Saudi Warning Could Escalate Nuclear Arms Race

The world's nuclear powers - both declared and undeclared - have come primarily from Asia: China, India, Pakistan and possibly North Korea.

Stepping Towards Nuclear-Free Middle East

Representatives from over 65 organisations and countries convened in Amman, Jordan last week in an effort to lay the groundwork for the United Nations' goal of creating a Middle East without nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

Most Israelis Favour a Nuclear-Free Middle East, Poll Shows

A clear majority of Israeli Jews would support a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, even if it meant that Israel too would have to give up its stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Growing Isolation a Dubious Win for the West

Scenes from Tehran Tuesday of bearded Iranian youth swarming over the walls of the British embassy evoked memories of the 1979-81 hostage crisis that created the image of Iran as a pariah state.

Iranians Resolutely Ignore Sanctions’ Pinch

As the Iranian economy struggles under international sanctions intended to halt its nuclear programme, one unofficial indicator that has yet to be rattled is the Islamic Republic's robust consumer confidence.

U.S. Ratchets Up Economic Pressure on Iran

Under intense pressure from the U.S. Congress and U.S. presidential election politics, the Barack Obama administration Monday declared the Islamic Republic of Iran a "primary money laundering concern" - a designation that stops short of blacklisting Iran's Central Bank but is intended to persuade more foreign governments, banks and companies to curtail business with Iranian financial entities.

Ex-Inspector Rejects IAEA Iran Bomb Test Chamber Claim

A former inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repudiated its major new claim that Iran built an explosives chamber to test components of a nuclear weapon and carry out a simulated nuclear explosion.

INDIA: Dangers of a Lax Nuclear Strategy

On August 26, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigned, taking responsibility for the disastrous meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was caused by the March 2011 undersea earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

US-IRAN: Key Senator Pushes “Nuclear Option” Against Central Bank

Amid simmering tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, a key pro-Israel U.S. senator has tabled legislation that would effectively ban international financial companies that do business with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) from participating in the U.S. economy.

IRAN: Calls for New Sanctions, Air Strikes Follow IAEA Report

A significant gap between the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama and staunchly pro-Israel majorities in both houses of Congress appears to have emerged over what to do in reaction to Tuesday's report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on possible military applications of Iran's nuclear programme.

IAEA’s “Soviet Nuclear Scientist” Never Worked on Weapons

The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published by a Washington think tank Tuesday repeated the sensational claim previously reported by news media all over the world that a former Soviet nuclear weapons scientist had helped Iran construct a detonation system that could be used for a nuclear weapon.