MEDIA-IRAQ: Independence Carries a Heavy Price

On Jun. 28, IPS reporter Alaa Hassan was ambushed and shot six times as he drove to work in Baghdad, bringing to 75 the number of reporters who have been killed while working in the country since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

POLITICS-US: Requiem for Bush’s Unipolar Dream?

A week before the Group of Eight (G8) summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, U.S. President George W. Bush finds his power and authority - both at home and abroad - at their lowest ebb.

NORTH KOREA: Will Missile Tests Lead to New Talks?

Although it may raise regional tensions in the short run, Wednesday's test-firing by North Korea of at least seven missiles, including its multi-stage, inter-continental Taepodong-2 rocket, could speed resumption of long-stalled diplomatic efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear-arms programme, according to some experts here.

POLITICS: Israel Fears High Price for U.S. Strike on Iran

Israel has seldom been as quiet on Iran as in the last three months.

POLITICS: You Can’t Eat Peace

Against the backdrop of war and escalating violence in various parts of the world, participants at a five-day peace forum here urged a total ban on biological and nuclear weapons as well as the creation of a ministry that would be exclusively devoted to cultivating peace in all the countries of the world.

POLITICS-US: “Decent Respect” Might Help Image Woes Abroad

It was in 1776 that a group of British colonists living along the Atlantic seaboard of North America felt compelled to offer a public justification for their "Declaration of Independence" from their mother country out of "a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind".

POLITICS: German Urges Compromise on Iran Enrichment

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung's suggestion that Iran should be allowed to carry out a limited enrichment programme under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has exposed a fundamental crack in the façade of unity among the six countries that have given Iran a proposal aimed at halting all its enrichment activities.

POLITICS-US: Courts, Congress Resist Growing White House Power

As demonstrated by yesterday's landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of military tribunals to try "enemy combatants", the administration of President George W. Bush has consistently sought to expand the power of the presidency in the name of the "global war on terror".

RIGHTS-US: “Unlawful Combatants” Do Have Rights, Court Rules

In a major defeat for President George W. Bush with potentially far-reaching implications for his conduct of the "war on terror", the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday ruled that military tribunals established by the Pentagon to try suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba violated the U.S. constitution.

POLITICS-US: Signing Away the Constitution?

Last March, the U.S. Congress passed legislation requiring Justice Department officials to give them reports by certain dates on how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.

TRADE: U.S., Oman Pact Nixes Israel Boycott

The U.S. Congress is likely to approve a free trade agreement that includes strong foreign policy components with Oman, one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East, despite protests over the Arab country's record on labour standards, human rights and the environment.

RIGHTS: Pentagon Resists Ban on “Degrading Treatment”

As new reports detail further abuse by the U.S. military of its prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a behind-the-scenes battle is being fought between the U.S. departments of state and defence about whether a key section of the Geneva Conventions should be included in new rules governing Army interrogation techniques.

POLITICS: Defying U.S. Deadline, Iran Recalls 2005 Stall

Iran's announcement that it will not respond to the formal negotiating offer from the six powers until late August was both an expression of confidence and a bit of payback for European stalling in responding to Iran in 2005.

IRAQ: Rebuilding Not Yet Reality for Fallujah

One and a half years after the November 2004 U.S. military assault on Fallujah, residents tell of ongoing suffering, lack of jobs, little reconstruction and continuing violence.

MEDIA-IRAQ: Still Seeking Answers in U.S. Checkpoint Shooting

If one were to ask Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena why she chose to report from Afghanistan, Algeria, Somalia and Iraq prior to February 2005, despite the many perils that face reporters in war zones and areas of conflict, her response would probably be similar to the one she gave to journalist Amy Goodman of the radio news show Democracy Now!.

POLITICS: “Great Divide” Seen in Muslim and Western Opinions

A "great divide" separates the worldviews of Muslims and Westerners, according to the results of a major new survey which suggests that European Muslims, who held the most tolerant views, could be a bridge between the two groups..

MIDEAST: Hamas’ Suitcase Economy

Mahmoud Zahar says he will not be deterred in bringing suitcases stuffed with millions of dollars in cash into the Gaza Strip when he returns from his travels abroad. "We are going to continue to bring money in through Rafah crossing," he said recently, referring to the Gaza-Egypt border terminal.

YEMEN: Family, MPs and Lawyers Refute Gitmo Suicide Story

After four years of hope that they would get their son back, a Yemeni family has received just his body. They refute the claim by U.S. authorities at the military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba that Salah Ali Ahmad al-Salami committed suicide, and accuse U.S. soldiers of killing him.

POLITICS-US: Strategy Paper Reveals Bush Won’t Attack Iran

In every statement on Iran, officials of the George W. Bush administration routinely repeat the party line that "the president never takes any option off the table".

IRAQ: Residents Struggle to Survive, In and Out of Ramadi

As the threat of a giant U.S. military operation in Ramadi lingers and sporadic clashes plague the city daily, residents struggle to cope, both inside and outside the sealed city.

U.S.: Bush Hitches Republicans’ Political Star to Iraq

With less than six months before the mid-term Congressional elections, U.S. President George W. Bush and his top aides are gambling heavily - some would say recklessly - that Iraq will not be the political liability for Republicans that most pundits have believed it would be.