POLITICS-U.S.: Rummy Back on the Rocks?

Despite being asked by President George W Bush to stay in his post, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld appears to be in growing political trouble, and not just because of his cavalier reply last week to a question posed by a member of the Tennessee National Guard in Kuwait about the lack of armoured vehicles to protect U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

TRADE: Egypt Signs On to U.S.-Israel Model

High-level officials from Egypt, Israel and the United States signed a three-way trade deal Tuesday that would allow Israeli-Egyptian products duty-free access to the U.S. market, a further step toward launching a broader free trade pact in the Middle East.

POLITICS: Iraq Disputes U.N. Over Legitimacy of Election

Despite U.N. reservations about the legitimacy of upcoming polls and warnings about deteriorating security in military-occupied, war ravaged Iraq, the government is determined to hold elections in January, a senior official told the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

IRAQ: U.S. Military Obstructing Medical Care

The U.S. military has been preventing delivery of medical care in several instances, medical staff say.

POLITICS-US: Intelligence Reform No Victory for Civil Rights

Many of the more draconian provisions affecting privacy, secrecy and asylum-seekers, originally included in Congress' intelligence reform bill passed this week, were omitted in the law's final version. But the agreed compromise still contains language that troubles human and civil rights organisations.

POLITICS-U.S.: So Little Time, So Many Regimes to Change

The interregnum between November's election and the formal launch in January of U.S. President George W Bush's second term has a strange feel.

POLITICS: U.S. Attacks Global Court as its Soldiers Sanctioned

The United States is poised to punish some of its closest friends overseas for supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a growing number of its soldiers are being sanctioned for abusing prisoners in the "war on terrorism," said U.S. human rights groups Wednesday.

POLITICS-U.S.: Bush Gets – Barely – Weak Intelligence Reform

While opinions are divided over whether the revamp of the U.S. intelligence community laid out in the compromise bill just approved by Congress will improve the performance of the relevant agencies, there is little doubt that the failure of President George W Bush to push the bill through would have badly damaged his political credibility.

CORRUPTION: Mishandled Money Plagued U.S.-Ruled Iraq

U.S. management of the Iraqi economy was plagued by irregularities, corruption, failures and mishandling of billions of dollars, according to analysts and multiple recent audits.

POLITICS: U.N. Chief Rejects U.S. Calls To Resign

Buoyed by strong endorsements from western and African leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has refused to cave into demands by conservative U.S. forces seeking his premature ouster from office.

IRAQ: Healthcare Given A ‘New Look’

The Baghdad Medical City has begun to look nice in its new coat of paint.

IRAQ: Cost of Guards, Guns Deters Some Contractors

Somewhere between Halliburton and CARE, there is a cadre of contractors trying to help Iraq establish a working, private-sector economy. But the cost of securing their safety is frustrating many, as some firms report spending 25-30 percent of their contract revenues on armoured cars and small private armies.

POLITICS-U.S.: Groups Probe FBI Spying in ‘War on Terror’

U.S. civil rights groups have filed multiple freedom of information requests around the country to uncover evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local police are spying on political, environmental and faith-based groups in the name of fighting terrorism.

U.S.-IRAQ: More Troops Mean More Trouble

The Pentagon's announcement this week that it is adding 12,000 more troops to the approximately 138,000 soldiers it already has in Iraq has put an abrupt end to the fleeting sense of triumph that followed November's ''victory'' by U.S. marines who regained control of Fallujah, the main Sunni rebel stronghold.

POLITICS: South Backs Beleaguered U.N. Chief

The largest political group at the United Nations is expected to pledge its ''strong support'' to beleaguered U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose resignation is being demanded by right-wing newspapers and neo-conservative politicians in the United States.

POLITICS: U.S. Soldiers Seek Asylum in Canada

Canadian leaders, not the country's refugee system, should decide the fate of soldiers who have deserted the U.S. military to apply for asylum in their northern neighbour, according to a support group.

CANADA: Details of Arar Torture Could be Sealed

How to shed light on one Canadian's nightmare experience in a jail in Syria and the secretive U.S.-inspired, extralegal global system of interrogation and torture that put him there are challenges facing one judge here, who must also confront "national security" barriers put up by Ottawa.

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/POLITICS-U.S.: Neo-Cons Hop On Extreme Right’s Anti-UN Drive

Daunted by setbacks in Iraq and the prospective difficulties in achieving ''regime change'' in Iran and North Korea, neo-conservative hawks have joined the U.S. extreme right in training their sights on a much weaker target, the United Nations, beginning with its secretary-general, Kofi Annan.

IRAQ: Doubtful Democracy Will Not Inspire Others

While Cairo officially stands behind U.S. plans to hold elections in Iraq early next year, many observers here question the sincerity of Washington-style 'democratization', and the notion that legitimate elections can be held under occupation.

RIGHTS: U.S. Downplays Report on Guantanamo Prisoner Abuse

U.S. officials Tuesday insisted that detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have been treated ''humanely,'' despite a Red Cross report that concluded interrogators were using psychological and physical techniques that were ''tantamount to torture''.

IRAQ: Neglect Follows Siege of Fallujah

The Iraqi ministry of health is failing to provide enough support to hundreds of thousands who fled Fallujah.