IRAQ: U.S. Pushes In Their Excellencies

More than five years after the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, Arab capitals are beginning to send ambassadors to Baghdad. But some Egyptian commentators question the timing of the move, which they attribute to pressure from Washington.

MIDEAST: For Peace, the U.S. Will Have to Change

Barack Obama has been elected U.S. President at a time when the number of extremists has risen dramatically since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, going by the resistance to Western forces in the region. The U.S.-led 'war on terror' has itself now become a threat to peace.

LEBANON: Another Rupture Sealed, For Now

Over the past few months, Tripoli, a large harbour city sitting on Lebanon's northern shores, known for its mazy souks, century-old mansions and oriental sweets, has made front page headlines, falling prey to a series of deadly security threats. Following the recent political reconciliation between warring politicians, however, the army made headway towards establishing stability by infiltrating a terrorist cell accused of orchestrating attacks against the Lebanese army.

POLITICS-US: Top Obama Advisor Has Long Ties to Neocons

With the 2008 presidential campaign at its end, pundits have begun to discuss in earnest what expected winner Barack Obama's administration might look like. An important piece of evidence is Obama's campaign team, which largely escaped the harsh scrutiny that his opponent's lobbyist-laden team received.

POLITICS-US: Two, Three, Many Grand Bargains?

As the United States waded ever deeper into the Indochinese quagmire in the early 1960s, the Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara called for "two, three, many Vietnams" to bog down the superpower in unwinnable Third World conflicts that would drain its treasury and overstretch its military.

EGYPT: Ruling Party in Free Fall

A high-ranking member of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) is facing trial on charges of arranging the murder of a Lebanese pop singer. The case, along with a host of other public grievances, has badly tarnished the NDP's reputation ahead of an upcoming party conference.

MIDEAST: So Easy for Israelis to Shoot to Kill

Israeli soldiers shot and killed three young Palestinians in the Ramallah district of the central West Bank last week. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed the Palestinians were about to throw Molotov cocktails at soldiers and settlers in the Bet El settlement.

ECONOMY: World Bank Assails Israeli Chokehold on West Bank

The West Bank's economy continues to gasp for air despite increased international aid mainly because Israel keeps the Palestinian territory in a stranglehold, says the World Bank.

EGYPT: Tall Claims Only Lower Confidence

Following the volatile reaction of international markets to the U.S. financial meltdown, Egyptian officialdom has hastened to reassure a skittish public that the local economy would be spared the worst effects of the global crisis. Many independent commentators, however, are not so sure.

MIDEAST: Israel Targets Palestinian Students

The letter of acceptance that 28-year-old Hazem Hussain got for a business graduate programme in a Californian university once brought joy. Now he does not know what to do with it.

MIDEAST: Israel No Place To Be An Arab

The uneasy co-existence between Israel's Arabs and Jews has been further exacerbated by days of continuous rioting in the mixed city of Acre in northern Israel.

MIDEAST: Pressure Piling Up on Hamas Ahead of Unity Meet

Egypt recently re-opened its border with the Gaza Strip to limited traffic in advance of an upcoming Palestinian reconciliation conference to be held in Cairo next month. But some independent commentators say Egypt is merely using the border as a means of pressuring resistance faction Hamas into accepting its proposals for a Palestinian national unity government.

LEBANON: Lucky to be Just ‘Ugly’ and Slapped

"My maid is extremely ugly, I can't fight the urge to slap her when I see her early in the morning," boasts a Lebanese trader from Ain Anoub village just outside Beirut. He laughs.

MIDEAST: Israel May Have Become a Liability for U.S.

The relationship between two of Iran's strongest critics, the U.S. and Israel, is once again under the spotlight as the international heat on Iran's alleged nuclear programme increases following a warning from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Mohamed ElBaradei for the Islamic republic to show more transparency.

EGYPT: Anger Approaches Boiling Point

Public disaffection with the government appears to have reached an all-time high.

LEBANON: In an Uneasy Togetherness with Syria

Small countries right next to one another, Syria and Lebanon seem light years apart. The two countries have shared a rocky relationship for decades, characterised mainly by Syrian dominance. Once again this relationship appears to be put to test as reports of Syrian deployment on Lebanon's borders abound.

ISRAEL: Up Against the Red Light on Attacking Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will travel to Moscow next week for talks that will focus largely on Iran's nuclear programme at a time when there seem to be growing signs that the U.S. is unenthusiastic about the idea of an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

RIGHTS: U.N. Report Castigates Israel for Harassing Journalists

A new United Nations report on the human rights situation in Palestinian territories blasts the Israeli government for its heavy-handed treatment of journalists reporting on the military occupation.

Q&A: When Intelligence Is Used Unintelligently

All eyes were on Hans Blix, the seemingly unflappable Swede, on TV screens around the world before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

MIDEAST: Breaking the Silence

An Israeli police commander has called them "provocateurs", "militants", and, "lawbreakers". Earlier in the year the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) decided that their presence in the city of Hebron, 30km south of Jerusalem in the Palestinian West Bank, constituted a security threat and banned them from the city, stating that any member of the organisation caught there would be expelled forthwith.

U.S.: Brief Talks with Syria Spur Speculation

A series of meetings between U.S. and Syrian diplomats, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, at the United Nations over the past week is stirring speculation that Washington may at last be moving toward engaging Damascus.