TURKEY: It’s About What the Wife Wears

The ten-day campaign for election of the 11th president of the Turkish Republic kicked off last Friday, but the names of the candidates are still unknown. The name of Abdullah Gul, minister for foreign affairs, remains on top of the aspirants list. However, there is growing speculation that a more moderate leader may be nominated through multi-party consensus.

LEBANON: &#39Army Torturing Palestinian Refugees&#39

Palestinians displaced by the fighting at the northern Lebanese refugee camp Nahr al-Bared have accused the Lebanese Army of torturing and abusing civilians.

MIDEAST: A Village Makes Its Own Protest

Amidst acres of twisting olive trees in front of the Israeli apartheid fence, eight protesters in a weekly non-violent demonstration were injured and three arrested on Friday when Israeli occupation soldiers fired rounds of tear gas, smoke bombs, sound grenades and rubber bullets at the crowd in the West Bank village of Bili'in.

IRAQ: Iran Ties Weaken Government Further

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's increasing ties with Iran have triggered a splintering of his government.

MOROCCO: Not Everyone Has the Right to Cure

Despite an annual health budget of half a billion euros, large numbers of people in this nation of 30 million still have no access to essential medical care.

LEBANON: Women in the Frontline for Clearing Cluster Bombs

"Mine action is a male dominated sector, but it doesn't have to be," declares Christina Bennike, the dynamic head of Danish charity Dan Church Aid (DCA) in south Lebanon. "I really felt it would be important to address this from the beginning, then it would be natural instead of something different or unique."

IRAQ: Sectarianism Splits Security in Diyala

Militia from the Shia organisation Badr have taken over the police force in Diyala province north of Baghdad, residents say.

IRAQ: A Nail in Maliki Government&#39s Coffin?

The recent resignations of Iraq's Army Chief of Staff and several of his council military leaders underscore a continuing decomposition of Iraq's U.S.-backed government.

TURKEY: Constitutional Struggle Is Not Yet Over

The election of the 11th president has returned to the table as a hot issue after the military declaration Monday evening that it stands by its views expressed in the spring on the profile of the next head of state.

EGYPT: ‘Al-Qaeda Plot’ Raises Required Fear

Earlier this month, scattered reports of an al-Qaeda plot to stage terrorist attacks in Cairo was followed by a series of security clampdowns countrywide. While the government has subsequently downplayed the threat, some local observers have come to question al-Qaeda's very existence as a cohesive entity.

IRAQ: A Little Easier to Occupy from the Air

Many Iraqis believe the dramatic escalation in U.S. military use of air power is a sign of defeat for the occupation forces on the ground.

MIDEAST: A Divisive Word Surfaces

Right-wing lawmakers in Israel are fuming over a decision by Israel's education minister to permit use of a textbook in state-run Arab schools that includes the word "nakba" - Arabic for "catastrophe", the term Palestinians use to describe the founding of the Jewish state.

IRAQ: Football Succeeds Where Politics Fails

An Iraqi football victory seems to have united Iraqis across the country where politicians only divide it.

IRAQ: Baquba Denied the Healing Touch

Diyala General Hospital in the provincial capital Baquba has been hit by severe lack of supplies amid ongoing attacks by militants.

EGYPT: Opposition Protests Plans for Bank Sell-Off

Earlier this month, the government announced its intention to sell a majority stake of Banque du Caire (BDC), Egypt's third largest state-owned bank, to a strategic investor. But the planned sell-off, which comes as part of the technocratic government's much-vaunted privatisation programme, has come under heavy criticism by the political opposition.

IRAQ: Living Becomes Hard in a Dead City

Life in the violence-plagued capital city of Iraq's Diyala province has become a struggle for day-to-day survival.

MIDEAST: Prisoners Released – to Abbas

In all 255 shackled Palestinian security prisoners boarded buses with windows darkened at the Ketziot prison in southern Israel Friday morning and began their ride northward to the West Bank town of Ramallah - and to freedom.

TURKEY: Three Tickets To Parliament

With the Turkish legislative elections coming up Sunday, the picture of the post-Jul. 22 National Assembly takes a firmer shape. The number of the parties to share the red leather chairs of the spacious modern building in the Bakanliklar neighbourhood of Ankara will be limited to three.

TURKEY: Erdogan’s 300 At The Gates

After a quiet start, in relative indifference by the population, the electoral campaign has since last week gained momentum and decibels. Banners flying party colours alternate with the vivid red national flags in all public areas. Buses and vans, featuring aggressive patriotic slogans and moustached portraits of political leaders, parade their disco-like loudspeakers through the streets of all cities and villages throughout Turkey.

EGYPT: Palestinians Become Hostage to Border Politics

Ever since the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip more than a month ago, thousands of Palestinians have been marooned on the Egyptian side of the frontier.

IRAQ: Women Face Increased Violence in Kurdistan

Shawbo Rauf Ali, 19, clearly did not know that the picnic she was headed for would become a death trap. When she got there, her husband and several other men beat her to death on suspicion of extra-marital relations.