EGYPT: Parliament Comes Down on Judiciary

Parliament has passed a law that critics say will keep the judiciary under control of the executive.

DEATH PENALTY-IRAQ: Saddam’s Execution Likely, Fair Trial Less So

The trial of Iraq's former president Saddam Hussein has been wracked with controversy and spectacle. Now entering its final phase, the question for all Iraqis and the world is whether he will be executed for the deaths of 148 Shiites, killed in Dujail in 1982, as requested by prosecutors.

IRAQ: Rebuilding Not Yet Reality for Fallujah

One and a half years after the November 2004 U.S. military assault on Fallujah, residents tell of ongoing suffering, lack of jobs, little reconstruction and continuing violence.

MIDEAST: Barrier May Separate A Little Less

A decision by Israel's new defence minister to review the route of the West Bank separation barrier, in order to limit settlement expansion and ease the daily lives of Palestinians, is likely to impact on the delineation of the border that ultimately separates Israelis and Palestinians.

POLITICS: A Thaw in Egypt-Iran Relations?

The recent visit to the Egyptian capital by a high-level Iranian official has reignited speculation about the state of Egyptian-Iranian diplomatic relations, officially frozen since 1979. Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is the highest ranking Iranian official to visit Egypt in the last 27 years.

MIDEAST: Hamas’ Suitcase Economy

Mahmoud Zahar says he will not be deterred in bringing suitcases stuffed with millions of dollars in cash into the Gaza Strip when he returns from his travels abroad. "We are going to continue to bring money in through Rafah crossing," he said recently, referring to the Gaza-Egypt border terminal.

DEVELOPMENT-MOROCCO: Active Civil Society Vital for Ambitious National Plan

A robust civil society in Morocco could have speeded up efforts launched a year ago to improve people's lives, development planners believe.

WORLD REFUGEE DAY-JORDAN: Kurds Stuck in No-Man’s Land

A small stretch of desert, sandwiched between the borders of Jordan and Iraq, is a "no-man's land", created by the Iraqi government's decision to cede part of its western frontier to Jordan. It has become a place where refugees from the war in Iraq bide their time, desperate for resettlement.

MIDEAST: Killings Spark New Confrontation

The death of seven Palestinian civilians have become the latest front in the public relations battle between Israel and the Palestinians, with each side trying to convince the world of its version of what transpired on the afternoon of Jun. 9 on a beach in northern Gaza.

IRAQ*: Basra Begins to Fall Apart

Basra in the south of Iraq is beginning to splinter under increasing violence and sectarian divisions.

IRAQ: Priceless Assyrian Relics Used for Target Practice

Home to some of the most significant standing monuments of ancient Assyria, the Khinnis site in northern Iraq is a historical and cultural hallmark in desperate need of protection, warn Mesopotamian archaeologists and Assyriologists.

EGYPT: Judges Join Opposition in Demanding Reform

The Egyptian parliament is considering a new law on the judiciary following major demonstrations last month in support of two pro-reform judges.

IRAQ: Another U.S. Cover-Up Surfaces

In the wake of the Haditha massacre, reports of another atrocity have surfaced in which U.S. troops killed two women in Samarra, and then attempted to hide evidence of their responsibility.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Braving Threats, Women Demand Legal Reforms

On Monday, Iranian women activists will again demonstrate in Tehran to demand changes in the oppressive laws that are written into the country's constitution.

IRAQ: Zarqawi Killing May Not End Violence

Iraqis seem divided over the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

IRAQ: Morgue Tells the Updated Story

Baghdad's central morgue received more than a thousand bodies each month this year, a doctor has revealed. The body count here gives a more accurate picture of the story in Baghdad than any official statistics.

IRAQ: ‘U.S. Military Hides Many More Hadithas’

An Iraqi doctor who was in Haditha during a deadly U.S. raid last year says there are many more stories like that in Haditha that are yet untold.

IRAQ: Ramadi Becomes Another Fallujah

These days, Ramadi is nearly impossible to enter. Against the backdrop of the Haditha massacre, IPS has received reports of civilians killed by snipers, and homes occupied with American snipers on their roof, while families were detained downstairs.

IRAQ: Multiply Haditha By Thousands

The Iraqi government has decided to launch its own investigation into the killing of 24 people by U.S. Marines in the western town Haditha last November.

MIDEAST: Still Some Food in the Garbage

Children rummage through garbage cans for discarded food for their one meal during the day. Families wait to buy discount-priced vegetables left unsold in the evening. These are not locally exaggerated accounts of the situation in Palestinian areas, but an official account by the World Food Programme.

IRAQ: Kurds Join In, With an Eye on Independence

Sipping tea at a café in Arbil, Moayed Rafiq, 25, watches news of a car bombing in Baghdad on an Arab television channel. Others around him also watch, quietly.