EGYPT: Muslim Brotherhood Shows Its Muscle

Confirming its longstanding reputation as Egypt's strongest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood performed even better than expected in the latest round of parliamentary elections.

IRAQ: Hospitals Come Under Siege

Hospital personnel are reporting regular raids and interference by the U.S. military as fighting continues in the volatile Al-Anbar province of Iraq.

YEMEN: Children Pushed by Parents Into Slavery

Twenty children, five of them handicapped, were rescued from a gang of traffickers in Yemen earlier this month. Rights group say the arrests point to large-scale operations.

AFGHANISTAN: Farmers Struggle to Kick the Opium Habit

For the first time since 2001, Afghanistan has made a dent in its opium poppy cultivation, but experts warn that the illegal crop could easily flourish again next year unless the country makes real progress toward sustainable economic development.

MIDEAST: Sharon Minus Likud Equals What

A reliable, pragmatic leader who is tough on Palestinian violence but willing to make calculated sacrifices for peace. A leader who does not trust the Palestinians, but understands that Israel's occupation of the West Bank cannot continue in its current form.

SYRIA: That Iraq Feeling Comes

The Rawda cafe in the centre of Damascus is reputed to be an opposition hang-out, and not many patrons are given to defending the Syrian government. The increasing international pressure from the UN investigation into the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri has brought widespread dismay among the tea-sipping and backgammon playing crowd. "It will hurt Syria," was the consensus.

RIGHTS: The Harsh Education of an Iraqi Feminist

Zainab Salbi was 11 years old when her father was handpicked to serve as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, regularly ferrying the former Iraqi president from Baghdad to his hometown of Tikrit.

/ARTS WEEKLY/ CULTURE-UAE: Breaking Records to Break Records

The tallest hotel, the largest excavated dry docks, the biggest bowl of spaghetti, the largest stained glass mural - the list is endless for the number of Guinness records that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) holds.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Witnesses Describe Ballot Fraud in Nineveh

Reports compiled by the U.S. military in Iraq from its informants and by non-governmental organisations from independent Iraqi sources provide the first detailed picture of a campaign of ballot fraud by Kurdish authorities in Nineveh province, the key to the outcome of the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum.

EGYPT: More Goods on the Israeli Bandwagon to the U.S.

An agreement to export Egyptian goods to the United States through Israeli quotas has been expanded.

MIDEAST: UN Flounders Amid Growing Troubles

The Lebanese Hezbollah movement used an annual anti-Israel rally Friday to send a defiant message to the international community. It was some indication how difficult it is for the UN to deal with the crises in the Middle East.

EGYPT: Bid to Get Syria Off the Hook

Egypt is engaging in intense efforts in a bid to ease pressure on Syria following publication of the preliminary UN report on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

RIGHTS-IRAQ: Hussein Trial Put Off Amid Doubts About Fairness

While international human rights groups have long wanted former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, they have serious reservations about whether proceedings that got underway in Baghdad Wednesday will meet international standards of fairness.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Vote Figures for Crucial Province Don’t Add Up

The early vote totals from Nineveh province, which suggested an overwhelming majority in favour of Iraq's draft constitution that assured its passage by national referendum, now appear to have been highly misleading.

IRAQ: Referendum Will Change Little

Iraqis will vote this weekend in a referendum that is billed as decisive for their political future, and by extension crucial for restoring order in their violence-wracked country. But the country's leaders and also the main mover behind the political process, the Bush administration, may find that the cycle of violence and political instability cannot be so easily broken.

SYRIA: Suicide Leads to Turmoil

The death of Syria's interior minister Ghazi Kanaan in Damascus Wednesday has raised new tensions ahead of the publication of the UN report on the murder of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. The report is expected next week.

MIDEAST: Sharon Leaves Everyone Guessing

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was doing his best to dispel the impression that another disengagement plan, from the West Bank this time, was in the works.

EGYPT: Unquiet and Uncertainty on Gaza Front

A new uncertainty has settled on Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip despite a resealing of the front.

REFUGEES-YEMEN: Calm Waters Bring New Danger

Yemenis are getting worried now that the sea will be calmer until March. It is the time of the year when thousands of Somali and other African refugees sail in.

AFGHANISTAN: Was Women’s Vote a Roar, or a Whisper?

While the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush describes the recent elections in Afghanistan as a major step forward for the war-torn nation, human rights groups here wonder if women will have an effective voice in the new parliament.

EGYPT: At Least a Step Towards Elections

Two weeks after Egypt's first-ever multi-candidate presidential elections, people are scrambling to make sense of the implications of the contest for the long-term political landscape.