RIGHTS: U.S. State Dept. Names Iran Among Worst Violators

Releasing the latest edition of its annual human rights "Country Reports", the U.S. State Department Wednesday named Iran and China as among the world's "most systematic human rights violators" in 2005, along with North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Belarus.

BANGLADESH: Islamist Leader Held but Fear Continues

Few believe that the arrest of Shaikh Abdur Rahman, leader of the Islamist militant group, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), last week, would see the end to a violent campaign to turn this country into a theocratic state.

PAKISTAN: Anxiety Ahead of Bush Visit

Apprehension and expectation are uppermost in the minds of Pakistani leaders as United States President George W. Bush begins, Thursday, the business end of a four-day tour of India and Pakistan.

RIGHTS: Top U.S. General Dismisses Grim Abuses Report

A senior U.S. military commander has branded as "propaganda" a new report from a major human rights group revealing that of the 98 detainees who have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2002, 34 are suspected or confirmed homicides.

PAKISTAN: Cartoon Protests Cripple Local Trade

Weeks of often violent protests against the caricaturing of Prophet Muhammad have affected the economy of this city on the Afghan border and the only smiles around are on the faces of people who make the banners that festoon every shop and business.

POLITICS-US: How Neo-Cons Sabotaged Iran’s Help on al Qaeda

The United States and Iran were on a course to work closely together on the war against al Qaeda and its Taliban sponsors in Afghanistan in late 2001 and early 2002 - until Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped in to scuttle that cooperation, according to officials who were involved at the time.

AFGHANISTAN: Ignorance Feared Speeding HIV Spread

Afghan men, women and children returning home after years of living in the squalor of refugee camps in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran may be coming back with more than just their belongings.

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Shackled by Ruling Elite, Security Forces

Journalists face severe harassment and detention in Pakistan where freedom of expression is guaranteed under the constitution but attempts by the media to challenge the country's feudal and authoritarian structure are quickly crushed.

AFGHANISTAN: Women Stay Vulnerable to Violence

Gul Zarina, a mother of three, wants divorce from her husband. Sitting in front of the women's affairs department in this provincial capital in Afghanistan, she insists that maltreatment and domestic violence are her reasons.

POLITICS-U.S.: Special Forces, Big-Ticket Weapons Dominate Defence Plans

While the Pentagon emerged as the big winner Monday among U.S. government agencies in next year's budget sweepstakes, its failure to choose among the threats it says it must defend the country against may prove costly in the long run, both financially and operationally, according to analysts here.

POLITICS-U.S.: Guns Over Butter, Abroad and at Home

Despite his administration's growing concerns about preventing the collapse of states in strategic parts of the world, U.S. President George W. Bush has proposed cuts in development and disaster assistance while increasing the defence budget by almost seven percent.

AFGHANISTAN: Listen to the Farmer

For the last two years he has grown no poppy, and his family have begun to feel the pinch. This year this farmer from Nangahar province in Afghanistan plans to resume poppy cultivation.

AFGHANISTAN: Women Pass a European Milestone

Between a conference on Afghanistan in Bonn four years back and the one in London this week, a good deal has changed for women in Afghanistan - for Afghan women around capital Kabul anyway.

AFGHANISTAN: Political Errors Could Undermine Aid

The ten billion dollars pledged in aid for Afghanistan sounds like good news for the country, but some experts fear it could be undermined by political misdirection.

AFGHANISTAN: Continuing Violence Mars Healing Efforts

As Afghan leaders and international donors meet in London to discuss a new blueprint to rebuild and stabilise this war-shattered country, continuing violence and suicide attacks in the restless southern provinces overshadow the agenda.

POLITICS: Bungled Peace-Building Opens Door to Terrorism

Washington's attempts to bring security to Iraq and Afghanistan are not only making life harder for local people, they are breeding more terrorists, warn international security experts.

AFGHANISTAN: Opium Eradication Could Destroy Farmers

Proposals being considered for the widespread destruction of opium plantations could end up destroying the lives of millions of farmers, an independent report warned Monday.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Targets Schools in Power Struggle

War-weary Afghans want their government to give top priority to education, but arson attacks on schools are on the rise in Afghanistan with many being closed for security reasons.

RIGHTS-US: Hamdan Case Tests Indefinite Detentions

Since Hurricane Katrina smashed into the Mississippi Gulf Coast last August, the U.S. government has come under scathing criticism for being slow to respond.

AFGHANISTAN: London Conference to Focus on Counter-Narcotics

The Afghan government's fight against illegal poppy cultivation will be a key point on the agenda at the London conference to discuss Afghanistan's future. More than 70 countries will be attending the two-day meeting, which starts Jan 31.

AFGHANISTAN: Develop the Place, For Everyone’s Sake

A new push for the development of Afghanistan - and to improve security in the country - comes in response at least as much to the needs of Western countries as of Afghanistan.