RIGHTS: U.S. Must Fight ‘Islamaphobia’, Says U.N. Official

The United States needs to ''confront'' the spread of ''Islamaphobia and Arabophobia'', a senior U.N. human rights official warned Monday.

POLITICS: Debate Goes from ‘War on Terror’ to Anti-U.S. Sentiment

An unintended but positive spin-off of the Iraq War has been a shift in the debate from the 'war on terrorism' to anti-U.S. sentiment.

MIDEAST: Israel Shaken by Rebel Pilots

"Only the best become pilots," they said in Israel in the early years of the state. Today, that still holds; only a few pass a gruelling battery of tests to become pilots. Even fewer complete the course, and those who do often move on to key positions.

POLITICS: Edward Said’s Death a ‘Fallen Tree’ for Palestinians

Edward W. Said, a lifelong champion of the Palestinian cause, died here late Wednesday after a decade-long battle with leukaemia. He was 67.

IRAQ: Watchdogs Raise Alarm for Media Freedom

The barring of two major Arab satellite TV stations from Iraqi government ministries and press events held by the country's governing council is an ominous sign for the future of the media in the nation, warn global press freedom groups.

POLITICS-SYRIA: US Could Find an Unlikely Partner

As the United States faces growing challenges in Iraq, help could come from an unexpected source. Syria, a member of the United Nations Security Council, which strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, is now ready to send peacekeeping troops.

U.S.-U.N.: An Empty Peacekeeping Force?

The United States is facing the bleak prospect of getting a new U.N.-mandated multinational peacekeeping force for Iraq - minus troops to support its soldiers occupying that country.

MIDEAST: Despite Exceptions, Region Misses Out on Women’s Potential

If you listen to what she says, she sounds like any chief executive officer in London, Paris, or California's technology belt.

POLITICS-U.S.: Public Wants Bigger U.N. Role

A solid majority of the U.S. public favours giving the United Nations a greater role in guiding the political future and reconstruction of Iraq despite President George W. Bush's insistence that Washington exercise virtually total control over both, found a poll released just hours after Bush's speech to the United Nations on Tuesday.

POLITICS: U.N. Chief Berates U.S. as it Seeks World Body’s Aid

U.S. President George W. Bush's address to the U.N. General Assembly seeking support for post-war Iraq was overshadowed Tuesday by U.N. head Kofi Annan's implicit criticism of Washington for invading that Arab nation without Security Council authorisation.

POLITICS-U.S.: ”Logic” of Occupation Points to Growing Trouble

Growing calls by prominent members of Washington's handpicked Governing Council in Iraq for the United States to more quickly transfer real power from U.S. occupation authorities are adding to the embarrassment of the Bush administration.

POLITICS: As India-Israel Ties Grow, So Do Pakistan’s Worries

For Pakistan, the warming of relations between India and Israel is simply the creation of what it calls an ''axis of oppression'' that will work to suppress the right of peoples fighting for self-determination in Kashmir and Palestine.

IRAQ: Occupiers are Near Prisoners

They are the hated ones, the despised face of U.S.. occupation in Iraq. But the men and women who make up the U.S. forces are living in a hell of their own.

RIGHTS: World Bank Said to Ignore Migrant Abuse in Mideast

The World Bank, which claims to fight child labour in poor countries, is holding its annual board meeting in a country widely known for exploiting migrant labour, a leading human rights organisation charged Monday.

AFGHANISTAN: As World Looks Away, Reconstruction Needs Grow

Afghan officials say they need three times as much as previously estimated to rebuild their country in the coming years, but experts and analysts here point out that the world is unlikely to commit more funds unless the worsening security situation there improves.

DEVELOPMENT-PALESTINE: Economy a Casualty of Conflict

That conflict is bad for the economy is known to many, but new International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures showing that it has shrunk the Palestinian economy's Gross Domestic Product by 30 percent drives home just how much debilitating it can be.

POLITICS-U.S.: Hispanic Soldiers Die in Greater Numbers in Iraq

One of the first U.S. soldiers to die in Iraq, Jose Gutierrez, was an orphaned Guatemalan who at the time of his death was not even an American citizen.

DEVELOPMENT: Shape of Iraq’s Economic Landscape Watched Closely

The direction of Iraq's economic future will be closely watched during the upcoming meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where discussions about the country's development landscape are expected.

IRAQ: Hard to Leave, Harder to Occupy

Once again Israeli and international media are reporting that the U.S. army is looking at the example of the West Bank and the Gaza strip to learn from the Israelis how to run its occupation of Iraq.

POLITICS-U.S.: An Administration in Disarray

While Hurricane Isabel granted President George W. Bush a brief respite this week from the constant stream of bad news coming out of the Middle East, its ravages on Washington and the mid-Atlantic states might pale in comparison to the gathering political storm over his war in Iraq.

MIDEAST: Forget Killing Him, Israel Needs Arafat

Yasser Arafat is in his element. After three years of relative diplomatic obscurity, his name is again on the lips of leaders around the world.