MIDEAST: Hamas Win Brings an Uneasy Partnership

Disturbing tremors persist in Palestinian politics following Hamas's landslide win against the Fatah party in parliamentary elections most had expected the incumbent to take narrowly.

MIDEAST: Hamas Up Against Economic Rocks

The economic situation in the Palestinian territories following the rise to power of the armed group Hamas is rapidly growing bleak on news that the Israeli government plans to deny payments for civil servants, and that this may be followed by foreign aid cuts.

MEDIA: Al-Jazeera Succeeding Under Pressure

Its foreign bureaus were bombed by U.S. warplanes, it is banned from reporting from four Middle East countries - and Al-Jazeera is only growing in popularity.

IRAQ: Shias Head for Uncertain Govt

Six weeks after parliamentary elections, occupied Iraq is still struggling for a viable government, as violence and instability worsen.

EGYPT: Church Building Sparks Strife

Sectarian tension has risen again in Egypt after Muslims and Coptic Christians clashed over the historically sensitive issue of church building earlier this month.

MIDEAST: ‘Israel Will Work at Ignoring Hamas’

It took acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert more than 12 hours to respond.

MIDEAST: Hamas Victory Casts Shadow on Peace

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has won an apparent victory in parliamentary elections. The win shocked the ruling Fatah party and has raised concerns about the future of the peace process, and about Palestine relations with an international community that regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

HEALTH-MOROCCO: Civil ‘War’ Over Condoms

When the Moroccan Association for the Fight Against AIDS launched a campaign last month to raise money to fight AIDS, it had no idea it would have another kind of fight on its hands.

IRAQ: From Those Who Swear by Freedom

Journalists covering Iraq have run into some sort of balance of troubles.

MIDEAST: All Eyes Are On Hamas

Wednesday's parliamentary elections in the Palestinian areas are fraught by a combination of lawlessness in the region, complaints about Israeli interference in the electoral process, and the spectre that controversial militant group Hamas may win in the polls.

MIDEAST: Political Activity Rises Around Sharon’s Stillness

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke Jan. 4, and the likely brain damage that medical experts describe as effectively writing him out of the political landscape, has ushered in an unknown era for his political party, and in relations with the Palestinians and the greater Middle East.

IRAQ: Destruction Easier Than Reconstruction

While politicians deliberate over Iraq's future, Iraqis are dealing with the reality of the present. They are looking at the debris of a country where reconstruction has come to a standstill.

IRAQ: A Town Becomes a Prison

People of Siniyah town 200 km north of Baghdad are angry over a six-mile long sand wall constructed by the U.S. military to check attacks by rebels.

IRAQ: Fear Overshadows Eid Festival

What should have been a joyous four-day Islamic holiday for Eid al-Adha which Iraqis began to celebrate Jan. 10, has only highlighted the suffering under U.S. occupation.

MIDEAST: Sharon’s Health Worries Egyptians

The recent admission of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon into a Jerusalem hospital after suffering a massive stroke has left Egyptians wondering what effects this will have on the relationship between Egypt and Israel.

MIDEAST: A Stroke Affects a Region

For a full week, Israel's usually garrulous, confrontational politicians have been declaring on radio and TV that now is not the time to talk politics. Not while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is fighting for his life in a Jerusalem hospital after suffering a major brain hemorrhage.

IRAQ: Another Raid Brings Further Alienation

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni organisation that was created in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, was again targeted by the United States military last Sunday. The raid on its mosque served only to alienate Sunnis further.

RIGHTS-MOROCCO: They Can Still Hear Those Bombs

It has been more than two years, but for Mohamed Mahboub who was then head waiter at the Casa de Espana Club in Casablanca, that day will never end.

IRAQ: Because Kidnapping Is News

More than 400 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the occupation began in March 2003. Many more Iraqis have been kidnapped, but it is the abduction of foreigners that makes news, and makes them particular targets.

IRAQ: ‘Democracy’ Brings Bleak Days

Many Iraqis see dismal days ahead in the face of rising violence and the decision by the U.S. administration not to seek any further funds for reconstruction.

CORRUPTION-YEMEN: MPs to Fight Rising Menace

A group of members of parliament have formed a new group to fight growing corruption.