RIGHTS: The Ugly Truth About Prisoner “Rendition”

Countries that rely on "diplomatic assurances" that other countries will not torture transferred prisoners "are either engaging in wishful thinking or using the assurances as a figleaf to cover their complicity," charges a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW).

RIGHTS: New Abuse Photos Could Spark Riots, US General Warns

Civil libertarians and the Pentagon appear headed for yet another trainwreck in the ongoing dispute over the so-called second batch of photos from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

POLITICS: Groups Urge Iraq to Join ICC

When the Iraqi interim government declared its intention to endorse the treaty on the International Criminal Court (ICC), the news came as a happy surprise to many European nations and international civil society groups.

RIGHTS-US: Early Warnings on Prisoner Abuse Ignored

As early as March 2003, senior U.S. military lawyers complained to the Pentagon about the Justice Department's definition of torture and how it would be applied to interrogations of enemy prisoners captured by U.S. forces.

POLITICS: Japan Seeks Larger Military Role

Given a rapidly changing Asian security scenario wherein China and India loom large as future military powers, Japan has seen fit to take the first steps to carve out for itself a more active role in international defence, according to experts here.

POLITICS-US: It’s That Pesky Prisoner Abuse Scandal Again…

As the U.S. Congress left town for its August vacation, the George W. Bush administration was congratulating itself on its legislative victories.

POLITICS: Europe Plays Nuclear Poker with Iran

The Iranian government's threat to resume limited nuclear activities after the European Union (EU) missed a deadline on Sunday to offer new incentives is clearly part of a calculated attempt to mount pressure on the EU-3 (Britain, France and Germany).

POLITICS-US: Bush’s Man at the U.N. Draws Cheers, Jeers

U.S. Pres. George W. Bush poked a thumb in the eye of Senate Democrats today with his recess appointment of John Bolton as the United States' ambassador to the United Nations - and triggered wholly predictable responses from legislators and the foreign policy community.

POLITICS-US: Reviving the "Radical Centre"

As U.S. President George W. Bush announced the unprecedented "recess appointment" of ultra-nationalist John Bolton as his next ambassador to the United Nations, a group of diplomatic heavyweights was preparing to launch a bipartisan coalition to promote a return to a more moderate and multilateral foreign policy.

POLITICS: ASEAN Searches for Common Political Values

As the regional grouping, ASEAN, embarks on a journey to make itself more cohesive it faces the daunting challenge of finding common ground on democratic values that its ten politically disparate members can identify with .

POLITICS: India’s Energy Policy ‘Nuked’ by Geopolitics

India, one of the world's big guzzlers of energy, is caught between securing future supplies of depleting conventional energy sources, especially petroleum, and opting for nuclear power complete with an energy-intensive development pattern.

POLITICS-US: Experts Urge More Attention to "Nation-Building"

In light of its continuing travails in Iraq, the U.S. government, particularly the Department of Defence, must place "nation-building" on a par with war-fighting as a top priority in protecting national security, according to a major new report released here Wednesday by a bipartisan task force chaired by two former national security advisers.

RIGHTS-US: Navigating Gitmo’s Legal Labyrinth

As Washington prepares to resume military trials of "war on terror" detainees, a debate over their status is heating up in the U.S. Congress, with even some prominent Republicans demanding higher standards for interrogations and a ban on "cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment".

POLITICS-US: Civil War Spectre Spurs New Iraq Exit Plans

Growing pessimism about averting civil war in Iraq, as well as mounting concerns that the U.S. military presence there may itself be fuelling the insurgency and Islamist extremism worldwide, has spurred a spate of new calls for the United States to withdraw its 140,000 troops sooner rather than later.

RIGHTS-US: Legal Battle Erupts Over New Abu Ghraib Photos

As the Pentagon appointed a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to head the defence team representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it took steps to throw a roadblock into the release of a new batch of photos from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

POLITICS: Ex-PM Gets off Lightly as Burma Plans to Chair ASEAN

Though sentenced to a staggering 44 years in prison for corruption, Burma's former prime minister, Khin Nyunt has been allowed to go home by military rulers anxious to take up the chairmanship of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.

POLITICS: Iran Sits Pretty in World’s Hottest Region

Despite the best efforts of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to make Iran an international pariah, the Islamic Republic keeps wracking up one diplomatic victory after another.

POLITICS-US: "PlameGate" Is Hardly a Summer Squall

While to people living outside the Washington "Beltway," the current affair over the disclosure by top White House officials of the identity of a covert intelligence officer may seem somewhat esoteric, the stakes could not be higher.

POLITICS: Joint-Defence against Terrorism Tops Indian PM’s Agenda in US

Coming as it does in the wake of the July bomb blasts in London, it is inevitable that containing terrorism will figure prominently in the agenda of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit to the United States.

POLITICS-US: Welcome to RightWorld

It's always difficult to play defence and offence at the same time, but when the geo-political ground is shifting beneath one's feet and damaging leaks are spurting out of the White House and Downing Street plumbing like Fourth of July fireworks, it's more difficult than usual.

POLITICS: "Islamic Extremism" Alienates Most in Muslim World

Concerns about "Islamic extremism" and disapproval over violence motivated by it are growing in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries, according to a major new survey that also found declining support for Osama bin Laden in most of the Islamic world, with the exception of Jordan and Pakistan.