RIGHTS: These Names Have Never Been Spoken in a U.S. Court

"My name is Ahmed Mohammed," she told police after her arrest outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington in January.

CORRECTED REPEAT*/POLITICS: US-Iraq Deals Overshadowed by Rising Concerns

Iraqi parliamentarians are increasingly concerned that they are being left out of talks between Iraqi and U.S. officials over a strategic deal to determine the future relationship between the two countries, at a time when the U.S. Congress failed to include a provision in a bill to fund the Iraq and Afghan wars last week to restrict President George W. Bush's authority to sign such deals.

POLITICS-US: Senate Passes No-Strings War Funding Bill

While the future commander of U.S. military operations throughout South Asia and the Middle East assured lawmakers Thursday that the situation in Iraq is continuing to improve, the U.S. Senate approved an additional 165 billion dollars today to fund wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan at least through next winter.

POLITICS-US: As Bush Policy Crumbles, Allies Pick Up the Pieces

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."

POLITICS: Where Are Those Iranian Weapons in Iraq?

The U.S. military command in Iraq continues to talk about an alleged pipeline of Iranian weapons to Iraqi Shiites opposing the U.S. occupation, implying that they have become dependent on Iran for indirect-fire weapons and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

CULTURE-US: Muslim Youth Try Humour to Rout Stereotypes

"There are almost 1.2 billion Muslim people in the world. And at least 15 of us are not terrorists. It could even be more than that. Maybe even a lot more," quipped Obaida Abdul-rahim, 28, owner of the Muslim t-shirt business Phatwa Factory.

RIGHTS-US: Guantanamo Trials Hit Setbacks

Key elements of the George W. Bush administration's anti-terrorist detention policies appear to be unraveling, according to human rights and legal advocates.

POLITICS-US: The War on (Euphemism)

From the people who brought you the "war on terror" and the "axis of evil" comes a new verbal tonic for combating that amorphous emotion.

US/IRAQ: Soldier Refuses Tour, Citing “Stomach-Churning Horrors”

A U.S. Army soldier who served as a military journalist in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Philippines announced Thursday his intent to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq.

POLITICS-US: Bush Comments Rally Dems Behind Obama

U.S. President George W. Bush's comments in Israel Thursday ignited a political campaign row back home as Democratic leaders decried his comparison of engaging enemies to Nazi appeasement.

POLITICS-US: An Ocean Apart, Bush, McCain Play to Neo-Con Dreams

In separate speeches delivered an ocean apart, the two standard bearers of the Republican Party Thursday offered rosy visions of a future designed to gladden the hearts of Israel-centred neo-conservatives without offering any details about how their dreams will be achieved.

POLITICS: Bogus Claim, al-Maliki Stall U.S. Plan on Iran Arms

Early this month, the George W. Bush administration's plan to create a new crescendo of accusations against Iran for allegedly smuggling arms to Shiite militias in Iraq encountered not just one but two setbacks.

US/IRAQ: Tangled Web of Allegiances Leads Back to Tehran

If politics makes strange bedfellows, then the relationship between Iran, the United States and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq is the strangest ménage à trois in international relations today.

POLITICS: Lebanon Crisis Shows Hues of Iraq

Almost every country in the world has had a civil war, but rarely has a nation survived a second one.

RIGHTS-US: School Recruiting Could Violate Int’l Protocol

Pressed by the demands of the "global war on terrorism", the United States is violating an international protocol that forbids the recruitment of children under the age of 18 for military service, according to a new report released Tuesday by a major civil rights group that charged that recruitment practices target children as young as 11 years old.

POLITICS: Bush Tour Diminished by Hezbollah Show of Force

While this week's trip by President George W. Bush to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt was never conceived as a triumphant "victory lap" around the region, the swift rout of U.S.-backed forces by Lebanon's Hezbollah Friday has provided yet another vivid illustration of the rapid decline in Washington's influence in the Middle East during his tenure.

POLITICS: Washington Rallies Behind Embattled Lebanese Gov’t

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged her administration's support for the Lebanese government Friday in the aftermath of Hezbollah's takeover of West Beirut, accusing the Iranian-backed group of "killing innocent civilians" in a bid to "protect their state-within-a-state".

IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?

The P5+1 - the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany - will present Tehran with a secret incentive package in the next few days to convince Iran to suspend its enrichment programme and enter negotiations.

POLITICS-US: Lawmakers Seek Probe of “Media Generals”

As U.S. television networks continue their silence about their use of retired military officers to "sell" progress in Iraq, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on the Defence Department Inspector General to investigate the Pentagon-sponsored public relations effort.

US/IRAQ: Pressure to Cut Costs, Troops Strains “Surge”

Growing impatience in Congress over the enormous costs being racked up by the Iraq war, as well as the Pentagon's belief that it needs more troops in Afghanistan to fight insurgents there, is putting the vaunted success of the George W. Bush administration's "surge" strategy to the test.

RIGHTS-US: Abuse Claims Mount Against Pentagon, Contractors

As human rights groups demanded the release of a report on a long-running investigation of the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the unlawful interrogations of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, new torture claims were leveled at two U.S. military contractors by a former Abu Ghraib "ghost" detainee who was wrongly imprisoned and later released without charge.