IRAQ: Unfettered Media Denies Being Biased

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein and his dictatorial regime last year, one of the clearest signs that a new Iraq has emerged is the flourishing media business.

MIDEAST: The Palestinian-Hezbollah Connection

The narrow streets amid the breeze-block shacks of the Balata refugee camp on the edge of the large West Bank City of Nablus have been a focus of Palestinian militancy throughout the current intifada (uprising) that was triggered four years ago.

IRAQ: Rebels Begin to Control More Areas

Armed groups and foreign terrorists have established new camps in central Iraq as government forces attack rebels in the north and south, officials say.

IRAQ: Peace Talks Come Apart in Sadr City

The new outbreak of violence in Baghdad has shattered ceasefire talks between Shia militants and the Iraqi government.

MEDIA-IRAQ: Not an Easy Place to Cover

How does a journalist report from a country like Iraq where the dynamics of the situation and the danger level change so rapidly?

IRAQ: Such Close Neighbours in Baghdad

Mohammad Rabat is a farmer in his seventies. He lives with his wife and nine children in a single storey cement house in what has come to be known as the Green Zone.

MIDEAST: Case Builds Up for a Separation Wall

Three yellow Palestinian taxi vans stand forlornly near the checkpoint between Israel and the West Bank a day after Tuesday's suicide bombing in the city of Beer Sheva. The attack caused 16 fatalities, and Israel closed the approach to the city for Palestinians.

IRAQ: Peace Deal Is One Thing, Peace Another

Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his militia to cease fighting as a step towards the political arena, but the peace deal remains fragile amidst uncertainty and sporadic violence.

IRAQ: The Oil Is Still Flowing, Somehow

Saboteurs attacked an oil pipeline in southern Iraq over the weekend, sending up pillars of smoke and bringing a slowdown in supply. It was by no means an isolated incident.

RIGHTS: Islam Can be Liberating for Women, Says Palestinian Activist

"I think Islam can be very liberating for women if truly followed," said young Palestinian activist Rana Abu Ghazaleh in an interview with IPS on the conflict in the Israeli-occupied territories, the rise in fundamentalism, and women's rights.

IRAQ: Learning New Lessons, And Some Old Ones

As almost six million Iraqi children prepare to start their second year at school away from the shadow of Saddam Hussein's regime, officials see major challenges ahead.

IRAQ: In the Middle of a Battle They Do Not Want

Najaf was in the grip of eerie silence Tuesday despite the U.S. jets flying across clear skies and the sound of mortar blasts that shook the town.

IRAQ: Depression Spreads to the Market

Seventeen months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, many Iraqi traders say the economy is stagnating.

IRAQ: Dealing with This Man Called Sadr

The failed efforts of the U.S.-backed Iraqi government to reach a peace deal with Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has raised questions what can or should be done next to confront his armed movement.

IRAQ: How Much Has Changed, And How Little

What a difference a few months can make. The last time I was in Baghdad was late November. The city, the whole country for that matter, acutely felt under occupation. There were signs of it everywhere.

IRAQ: Assembly Off to a Faltering Start

More than 1,300 delegates from across Iraq gathered here Sunday to elect 100 members for the interim consultative assembly, but angry opponents disrupted the opening sessions and accused the government of undemocratic ways.

IRAQ: Insurgency Gets Some Editorial Support

The latest round of fighting in Iraq is the first real test for the country's new government after it took over from the U.S. and British-led occupation authority in the last days of June. The initial relative calm that greeted the handover has been slowly disintegrating across the country. The opposition against the new authorities has been powerful from the start.

IRAQ: Anguished Christians Flee to Syria

IPS annuls with apologies the above story moved Aug. 07, 2004, which contained a serious error.

MIDEAST: A Handshake May Not Be Enough

Another significant handshake in the history of Palestinians, not at the White House but before what remains of the Mukata'ah, the government centre of the Palestinian Administration in Ramallah.

RIGHTS: Women’s Discrimination Now a Global Concern – UN

More time, not a new deadline, is needed for universal ratification of the convention to eliminate discrimination against women, says Feride Acar, chairperson of the U.N. committee on the convention.

IRAQ: Palestinians Go Down with Saddam

The grass has all but disappeared off what used to be the football field of the Palestinian Haifa sports club on the edge of Baghdad. After more than a year as an improvised refugee camp that at one point housed some 2,000 people, it looks sun-bleached and bent by the wind. Hardly a soul moves outside the tents during the day when the heat is most oppressive.