IRAQ: Uphill Coalition-Building Battle for Winners Unfolds

Iraq's major political forces are beginning what is likely to be a lengthy and uncertain process of talks to form a government. A key question is whether Iraq's politically diverse groups will join forces together based on ideological, ethnic, sectarian or merely pragmatist considerations.

U.S.: Years Later, Family of Man Killed in Iraq Soldiers On

It's been seven years since Fernando Suarez del Solar buried his son, Jesus. Seven years since Mar. 27, 2003, when just one week into the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Lance Corporal Jesus Suarez del Solar stepped on a piece of unexploded ordnance and came home in a flag-draped coffin.

IRAQ: Seculars Gain as Religious Parties Lose Ground

Iraq's largest secular bloc appears to be the biggest surprise of the parliamentary elections at a time when some of the most well-known religious groups and figures have sustained great losses, preliminary election results so far indicate.

POLITICS: The Pentagon’s Propaganda Networks – Part 2

Propaganda networks that conduct "psychological warfare" for the Pentagon have been in vogue for a long time. Mike Furlong, a senior Pentagon official who is now being investigated for running a covert network of contractors to supply information for drone strikes and assassinations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, had a long history of working in this field.

CULTURE: Poor Patronage Killing Arab Cinema

Arab cinema, which had a promising presence at international film festivals during the 1990s, may now be going through a declining phase for lack of patronage.

IRAQ: Women Miss Saddam

Under Saddam Hussein, women in government got a year's maternity leave; that is now cut to six months. Under the Personal Status Law in force since Jul. 14, 1958, when Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy, Iraqi women had most of the rights that Western women do.

IRAQ: Elections Bring Joy and Uncertainty

The holding of Iraq's third parliamentary elections on Sunday has generated a sense of satisfaction in Washington, but there is a feeling of anxiety about how the post-election negotiation process to form a new government might proceed.

IRAQ: Secular Candidates Have Their Best Chance

As Iraqis go to the polls on Sunday, a key question in the minds of many in Iraq and Washington is whether secular candidates can continue their recent rise and possibly come out as winners.

IRAQ: Are Kurds’ Days of Kingmaking Over?

In the run-up to Iraq's parliamentary elections next week, the once-united Kurds are not only suffering deep fissures but are expected to lose their privileged kingmaker position after the polls.

U.S.: Blackwater’s Migraines Multiply

Legal headaches are growing exponentially for the security firm formerly known as Blackwater – once the darling of the military-industrial community.

JORDAN: Where Iraqi Women Are Also Fathers

Back in Najaf, Iraq, Khayzaran and her family lived in a well-kept house. They had two cars and a small orchard. Her children, two girls and three boys, attended school and came home to modest feasts.

Q&A: UN Chief in Iraq Cautiously Optimistic About Elections

The improving security situation in Iraq in the recent years has meant more space for the United Nations to play an active role in the country's development in various sectors.

IRAQ: ‘Disgraced Soldier’ Fights Trauma With Documentary

A new documentary ‘Diary of a Disgraced Soldier’ follows the dismissal from the British army of an Iraq war veteran and his battle with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) linked to his videographing the brutalising of Iraqi youth by fellow servicemen.

POLITICS: U.S. Ambassador Accuses Iran of Role in Iraq Election Ban

Reiterating accusations of Iranian interference in Iraq's internal affairs, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Wednesday that he was in "100 percent agreement" with remarks by the top U.S. commander in Iraq regarding Iran's involvement in a highly controversial decision that eventually barred over 140 candidates from running in Iraq's parliamentary elections next month.

RIGHTS: Mideast and North Africa Cited for Press Abuses

A report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on press freedom around the world in 2009 depicts an especially gloomy situation in the Middle East and North Africa, where authorities continue to use repressive measures to muzzle journalists.

IRAQ: Govt Expels Former Blackwater Contractors

The Iraqi government has ordered hundreds of private security contractors who previously worked for Blackwater Worldwide or its subsidiaries to leave the country within seven days or risk arrest for visa violations, Iraq's interior minister said Wednesday.

U.S.: Court-Martial for Soldier Who Wrote Angry Song about Stop-Loss

Army Specialist and Iraq war veteran Marc Hall was incarcerated by the U.S. Army in Georgia for recording a song that expresses his anger over the Army's stop-loss policy. Now he waits to be shipped to Iraq to face a court martial.

AFGHANISTAN: Iraq Lessons Ignored at Kabul Power Plant

A diesel-fueled power plant, nearing completion just outside Kabul, demonstrates that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its contractors have failed to learn lessons from identical mistakes in Iraq, despite clearly signposted advice from oversight agencies.

IRAQ: Allegations of Fraud Scheme at Agility of Kuwait – Part 2

The Sultan family of Kuwait runs a variety of businesses alleged to be at the heart of a scheme to overcharge the U.S. military by as much as a billion dollars over the last seven years. The company is currently scheduled to face criminal arraignment on Feb. 8 in Atlanta, Georgia.

U.S.: Obama Calls for More Development, Counterinsurgency Aid

U.S. President Barack Obama Monday called on Congress to approve major increases over the coming months in global health, development, and counterinsurgency assistance as part of a record 3.8-trillion-dollar 2011 federal budget.

IRAQ: Agility Attempts to Vault Fraud Charges – Part 1

Agility, a Kuwait-based multi-billion-dollar logistics company spawned by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, is scheduled be arraigned on Feb. 8 on criminal charges of overbilling U.S. taxpayers for food supply contracts in the Iraq war zone that were worth more than 8.5 billion dollars.