INDIA: ‘No Reason For Unease at Obama Presidency’

As much of the world jubilates in the swearing in of Barack Hussein Obama as the President of the United States of America, Indian diplomats are uneasy about what his presidency would entail for relations between the two countries.

BOOKS-US: Wounded Veterans Treated as an Afterthought

"But the [George W.] Bush administration was never seriously interested in helping veterans. The sorry state of care for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans is not an accident. It's on purpose."

INDIA: ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’ Approach to Pakistan

Exasperated by what it regards as "a continuing pattern of evasiveness and denial in Pakistan's response to the terrorist attack on Mumbai", India seems to be fashioning a two-pronged approach towards Islamabad to get it to act firmly against terrorist networks based on its soil.

CULTURE-PAKISTAN: Artistes Caught in Crossfire

Arson attacks and killings have shut down girls’ schools and brought a thriving entertainment industry to its knees in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

POLITICS-US: Vets Health System in Need of Triage

Eighteen U.S. veterans kill themselves every day. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas. One in every three homeless men in the United States has put on a uniform and served his country. On any given night, the U.S. government estimates 200,000 veterans sleep on the street.

U.S.: Bush Foreign Policy Legacy Widely Seen as Disastrous

While in a farewell press conference Monday George W. Bush once again expressed the belief that his eight-year presidency, particularly his foreign-policy record, will be vindicated by history, the portents are not particularly good.

US-AFGHANISTAN: Bagram, Worse Than Guantanamo?

While millions know that the administration of George W. Bush has left Barack Obama with the job of closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, relatively few are aware that the new president will also face a similar but far larger dilemma 7,000 miles away.

PAKISTAN: Nightmare for Civilians Uprooted by Conflict

"We are in hell! No electricity, no clean drinking water! This is no life, we were better off at home!" fumes Arjumand Khanum, a refugee from Bajaur Agency, on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

INDIA: Seeking China's Support in Dealing With Pakistan

As the Pakistani government digs its heels in against India’s demands for action on the suspected masterminds of the November terrorist strikes in Mumbai, the Indian foreign policy establishment is looking to China and other regional powers, besides the United States, for support.

SPECIAL SERIES: Is a U.S.-Iran Deal on the Middle East Possible?

Would a negotiated agreement between Iran and the Barack Obama administration be feasible if Obama sent the right signals? The answer one gets from Iranian officials and think tank analysts is, "Yes, but..."

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Raids on NATO Convoys Crippling – Analysts

While NATO and United States forces have downplayed raids in Peshawar by pro-Taliban militants, destroying hundreds of their military vehicles and supply containers destined for Afghanistan, analysts here believe that the damage is significant.

PAKISTAN: NATO Convoys Under Taliban Attack

The past two months have seen an upsurge in violence unleashed by Pakistani Taliban in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the adjacent tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

RIGHTS: Politics Still Reign Over Principles at U.N.

The United Nations Wednesday commemorated the 60th anniversary of the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) against the backdrop of widespread political repression - most notably in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Burma (Myanmar), Iraq, Afghanistan and in the Israeli-occupied territories of West Bank and Gaza.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Hoax Call Hyped by Media – Get Hostilities to Brink

A hoax phone call from India to Pakistan’s President threatening military reprisals in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Mumbai city, hyped up by media, brought the nuclear-armed neighbours close to conflict.

SOUTH ASIA: Concern for Zardari's Civilian Gov't Stays India

After United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to New Delhi and Islamabad, in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, India has added a new rationale for stepping up pressure on Pakistan for taking decisive action against jehadi extremists operating from its soil.

U.S.: Mumbai Massacre Seen as Major Blow to Regional Strategy

A week after the massacre of more than 170 people by armed militants in Mumbai, U.S. officials are scrambling to prevent the incident from blowing up into a full-fledged confrontation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Reporting From Tribal Areas Highly Risky

Reporting from Peshawar - hub of Pakistan’s tribal areas, currently the focus of a pincer movement between the Pakistan army and the United States-led forces in neighbouring Afghanistan - has become a highly risky affair.

RELIGION-INDONESIA: ''My Roommate, the Terrorist''

For one Indonesian journalist, the acts of terror unleashed on the resort island of Bali in October 2002, that killed 202 people, were more than a major story to cover.

US-PAKISTAN: Obama-Tied Think Tank Calls for “Dramatic” Shift

A think tank closely tied to U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama is calling for a "dramatic strategic shift" in Washington's policy towards Pakistan, one designed to both strengthen civilian institutions and promote an effective counter-insurgency against al Qaeda and indigenous Islamist extremists in the tribal areas along the Afghan border who increasingly threaten the country's stability.

POLITICS-US: Vets See Hope for a Broken System

Thirty-three-year-old Walter Williams was among the thousands of revelers who flooded into the streets of Oakland on Nov. 4 to celebrate Barack Obama's election as the 44th president of the United States.

U.S.: Obama Foreign Policy May Not Require a Clean Break

While much of the world and many of his U.S. supporters are expecting a sharp break with his predecessor's foreign policy after President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20, they may be surprised by the degree of continuity between the two administrations.