RIGHTS-US: Groups Denounce Deal on Detainee Rights

Human and civil rights groups have broadly denounced a compromise deal on the application of the Geneva Conventions to detainees in the "global war on terror" worked out between the White House and a group of rebellious Republican senators whose efforts have been backed until now by their Democratic colleagues.

POLITICS-US: Top CIA Expert Slams Bush Anti-Terror Actions

The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) recently retired top expert on radical Islamists has strongly denounced the conduct of U.S. President George W. Bush's "global war on terrorism" and the continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, which he said is "contributing to the violence".

POLITICS: Italy Boosts Talks on Iran But Real Test Lies Ahead

After a tense week with several U.S. allies breaking ranks with the George W. Bush administration on Iran, an agreement has been reached to give diplomacy a bit more time.

POLITICS-US/IRAN: War, Diplomacy on Parallel Tracks

If you're feeling increasingly confused about whether the administration of President George W. Bush is determined to go to war with Iran or whether it is instead truly committed to a diplomatic process with its European allies to reach some kind of modus vivendi, you're not alone.

POLITICS: Iraq Occupation Depends on Sadr – and Iran

For many months, the George W. Bush administration has been complaining that Iranian meddling in Iraq is a threat to the country's stability and to U.S. troops. The irony of this publicity campaign over Tehran's alleged bid to undermine the occupation is that Iran may well be the main factor holding up a showdown between militant Shiites and U.S. forces.

POLITICS: Iran Defends Nuke Programme at General Assembly

"If the governments of the United States or the United Kingdom, who are permanent members of the Security Council, commit aggression, occupation and violation of international law, which of the organs of the United Nations can take them to account?"

POLITICS-US: Bush Clears Task Force to Meet With Iranians

While his handlers worked assiduously Tuesday to ensure that U.S. President George W. Bush did not run into his Iranian nemesis, Mahmood Ahmedinejad, in the corridors of the U.N., a legendary fixer for the Bush family announced that the White House had cleared him to meet with a "high representative" of Tehran's government.

RIGHTS-US: Big Jump Found in Anti-Muslim Incidents

Complaints involving anti-Muslim discrimination, harassment and violence jumped over 30 percent in 2005 compared to 2004, according to a new report released here Monday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim organisation.

MIDEAST: Embargo Squeezes Palestinian Workers

The U.S.-Israeli embargo on Palestinians imposed in the aftermath of the electoral victory of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, in the occupied territories has lead to severe poverty and nonpayment of Palestinian workers, a new study by a U.S. pro-labour group says.

POLITICS: Donors Warned Against “Cheap” Development

International donors and especially powerful multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank have failed to reduce the number of so-called "fragile states", leaving more countries vulnerable to chaos, conflict, disease epidemics and even to becoming breeding grounds for terrorism, the World Bank's own auditing body said Thursday.

POLITICS-US: Neo-Con Favourite Declares World War III

Two years before the 2008 presidential election, Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, is trying desperately to grab the national spotlight by declaring he'd be a lot tougher than the George W. Bush in prosecuting what he calls "World War III".

AFGHANISTAN: Coalition Marches Into a Tight Corner

The coalition forces in Afghanistan could find it easier to fly in than fly out of what is emerging as another trap for them.

POLITICS-US: Time Runs Out on Bolton Nomination

What looked like a virtually sure thing just one month ago - Senate confirmation of the Bush administration's controversial ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton - is suddenly looking unexpectedly shaky.

U.S.-9/11: Five Years In, Bush Is Losing Terror War

To consider whether U.S. President George W. Bush is winning his "global war on terror" (GWOT) five years after al Qaeda's devastating 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, one has only to look at the news of the past few days.

CANADA/AFGHANISTAN-9/11: An Increasingly Muddy Mission

One of the lasting legacies of the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks on Canada's southern neighbour is the involvement of 2,300 Canadian troops as part of a NATO contingent in Afghanistan.

UAE-9/11: Arabs, Muslims Shy Away From Going West

Saif Al Shaali, who was a United States resident since 2001, vows never to return to that country due to the shabby treatment that he, his wife and three children received at the Los Angeles, California airport in August.

RIGHTS-9/11: War on Terror Equals War on Minorities

The U.S.-led global war on terror - which began five years ago after a rash of terrorist attacks on the United States - has been transformed primarily into a war against minorities, says a London-based human rights organisation.

ASIA-9/11: GWOT Leaves Region in Turmoil

Five years after U.S. President George W. Bush launched his "global war on terrorism" (GWOT), the world has become more unsafe, more divided, more strife-prone, more paranoid, and ironically, more vulnerable to terrorism.

POLITICS: EU and Iran Find Their Roles Reversed

Scheduled talks between Javier Solana, high representative for the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Iran's National Security Advisor Ali Larijani were postponed Wednesday over disagreements on the nature of the exchange - would the parties discuss or negotiate?

U.S.-9/11: Poll Finds Waning Faith in Military Interventions

Five years after "9/11", the U.S. public is considerably less enthusiastic about projecting military power abroad, according to a major new survey, the first of a spate of polls that are likely to released in the run-up to Monday's fifth anniversary of the attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

RIGHTS-US: Bush Yields to Geneva Conventions on Detainees

In a major victory for the State Department and career military lawyers, the Pentagon Wednesday released a new Army field manual that requires all detainees held by the U.S. military, including suspected terrorists, to be treated according to the Geneva Conventions.