POLITICS: Israel Warned US Not to Invade Iraq after 9/11

Israeli officials warned the George W. Bush administration that an invasion of Iraq would be destabilising to the region and urged the United States to instead target Iran as the primary enemy, according to former administration official Lawrence Wilkerson.

POLITICS-INDIA: Ruling Coalition Rift Over US Nuke Deal Continues

Confronted with stiff opposition to the United States-India nuclear cooperation deal from the supporting parties of the Left, Manmohan Singh’s minority government has initiated talks with communist leaders to create a 'mechanism' to resolve mutual differences.

AUSTRALIA: ‘Uranium Sales May Fuel Asian Arms Race’

Australia’s deal to export uranium to India - which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty - will strengthen India’s nuclear capabilities and could lead to a heightened arms race on the subcontinent, say activists.

POLITICS-AUSTRALIA: Uranium for India – Business or Strategy?

Leading Australian academics say that while the United States’ nuclear deal with India may be part of the Bush administration’s "contain China" policy, Australia’s own agreement to provide uranium to the South Asian giant is based more on economic gain.

INDIA: Political Fallout of Indo-US Nuclear Deal Turns Severe

The United States-India nuclear cooperation agreement, tabled in India’s Parliament on Monday, has precipitated the worst-ever political crisis for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government since it was formed a little over three years ago.

KOREAS: &#39Bilateral Summit – Wrong Place, Wrong Time&#39

If you try to please your host too much you risk being snubbed. This could be the advice that South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun gets from his mentor and predecessor in office, Kim Dae-Jung, as he prepares to fly to Pyongyang for a bilateral summit this month.

POLITICS-INDIA: Nuke Deal With US Draws Domestic Opposition

The "breakthrough" United States-India nuclear cooperation agreement finalised three weeks ago in Washington has run into serious all-round opposition in India and put Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a piquant situation

JAPAN-US: Peace Activists Warn of Ongoing Nuclear Threat

Sixty-two years ago Monday, the U.S. bomber "Enola Gay" descended from the skies above the Japanese city of Hiroshima to drop an atomic bomb, ironically nicknamed "Little Boy", to devastating effect.

DISARMAMENT: US-India Nuke Deal May Spark Asian Arms Race

The U.S. decision last week to proceed with a controversial civilian nuclear deal with India has triggered strong negative responses from peace activists, disarmament experts and anti-nuclear groups.

POLITICS-JAPAN: Poll Defeat for Abe Puts Brake on Global Player Plan

Hiroshi Yoda, 60, hopes the stunning defeat for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Sunday's House of Councillors election will be a wake-up call for influential politicians who he says have lost touch with the public.

US-INDIA: ‘123’ Nuclear Agreement Completed

India and the United States have announced a bilateral agreement permitting the export of U.S. civilian nuclear technology to India in exchange for a promise that the South Asian giant will allow International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) inspectors access to its nuclear facilities.

POLITICS: South Sceptical of North Korean Assurances

When the six-party talks on the denuclearisation of North Korea ended last week, there was plenty of scepticism in neighbouring South Korea: to what extent can the reneging North be trusted to keep its pledges and promises in the future?

POLITICS-US: Bush Line Distorts Iran&#39s Real Interest in Iraq

As U.S. and Iranian diplomats met in Baghdad Tuesday for a second round of talks on Iraq, the domestic U.S. political climate appears decidedly more supportive of an aggressive U.S. posture toward Iran than just a few months ago, reflecting the apparent triumph the George W. Bush administration's narrative on Iran's role in Iraq.

FINANCE-US: OPIC Extension Tied to Terror and Environment

The U.S. House of Representatives extended funding until 2011 for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a government agency that backs U.S. corporations in developing nations, in an act that prohibits investment in "terrorist nations" and requires more rigorous human rights and environmental standards.

POLITICS-US: Candidates Hop Aboard the Iran Sanctions Bus

Last Thursday afternoon, in a tightly packed press room of the U.S. Capitol building, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi stood at the podium and smiled heartily as she pointed to two columns of U.S. postal boxes stacked behind her.

INDIA/US: Nuke Deal – Breakthrough or Bad Bargain?

After tortuous negotiations spread over four days in Washington, the United States and India have reported "substantial progress" on a bilateral agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation, but said they would now "refer the issue to our governments for final review."

POLITICS-US: Congress Pushes Sanctions on Iran

As the United States and its United Nations allies plan to push for stiffer economic sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear programme, an Iran sanctions bill making its way through Congress includes several key measures that may threaten U.S. diplomacy towards Tehran and split key allies on the issue, including Russia.

ENERGY: Nuclear Power No Panacea, Critics Say

The nuclear mishap caused by Monday's earthquake in Japan has unleashed another wave of environmental concerns about the use of nuclear technology to meet the world's energy needs.

POLITICS: Iranians Prefer Economic Development Over Nukes

An overwhelming majority of Iranians want improvement in their economy to be the top priority of their government, and 68 percent of that nation's citizens said they would give up their country's pursuit of nuclear weapons if it meant normalising political and economic relations with the United States and the West, according to a rare public opinion poll of Iranians released Wednesday.

JAPAN: Nuclear Bombing Gaffe May Hit Conservatives

Nationalists and pacifists alike have welcomed the resignation this week of Japan’s high profile defence minister, Fumio Kyuma, in the wake of uproar over his reference to the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as events that "couldn’t be helped".

INDIA/US: Protests, Hypocrisy at Nuclear Carrier&#39s Port Call

The port call of a United States nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Chennai in southern India has provoked strong protests from a spectrum of political parties, trade unions, peace groups and environmentalists.