Another Arab State Edges Towards Full Democracy
Women in Kuwait voted and ran for office for the first time on Thursday, a development seen as pushing the Middle East another step closer to full participatory democracy. Read
scribbling on the state of the planet
Women in Kuwait voted and ran for office for the first time on Thursday, a development seen as pushing the Middle East another step closer to full participatory democracy. Read
A lawyer representing an Australian terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay hopes Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on military tribunals will lead to a change in the Australian government's stance, but Prime Minister John Howard still wants the suspect tried in a U.S. court. Read
The head of the worldwide Anglican Church has laid out a proposal aimed at keeping the fractious denomination together by means of a two-tier structure of conservatives and liberals, but a leading conservative archbishop says the church is already divided. Read
As Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi began his last official visit to Washington Thursday, the race to succeed him as leader of America's closest Asian ally looked increasingly likely to go to a conservative politician with hawkish views on North Korea and China. Read
India is closely watching developments this week on Capitol Hill, where a crucial bilateral nuclear cooperation deal jumped its first major hurdle Tuesday and faces a second test within days. Read
During a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Pakistan announced it would deploy up to 10,000 more soldiers along its borders with Afghanistan, where two-way terrorist infiltration has fueled ongoing instability and soured relations between the two U.S. allies. Read
A new study on homosexuality is being used to back up the contention that sexual orientation is determined in the womb and not by sociological factors. Read
The possibility that North Korea may test-launch a long-range missile is underscoring the significance of Japan's decision to collaborate with -- and seek protection under -- the U.S. ballistic missile defense shield. Read
The opening days of the inaugural two-week session of the U.N. Human Rights Council have done little to allay concerns that the new body will be hampered by some of the same approaches and biases that doomed its predecessor. Read
Hugo Chavez, the virulently anti-U.S. president of Venezuela who is seeking a seat on the U.N. Security Council while establishing close ties with such rogue states as Cuba and Iran, is now planning a meeting with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Read
Declaring themselves "saddened" by the U.S. Episcopal Church's stance on homosexuality, conservative leaders in Africa appeared Thursday to be preparing for a rupture in one of the world's largest Christian denominations. Read
In a victory for pro-life advocates, Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced Friday that his government would not lift a ban on the cloning of human embryos for research. Read
Thirteen years after U.S. troops were withdrawn under fire from Mogadishu, security and political analysts worry that the emergence of a victorious Islamist militia in the anarchic Somali capital may be setting the scene for a new, dangerous phase in the war against Islamic terrorists. Read
Ahead of a major summit next week, a China-Russia-Central Asia security bloc has defended its developing ties with Iran, while stressing that it does not see itself as an Asian counterpart to NATO. Read
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has launched an in-depth inquiry into whether his country should embrace nuclear power. Despite the argument that nuclear energy is a "clean" alternative to fossil fuels, environmental activists are unimpressed. Read
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, has been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki announced at a press conference on Iraqi state television shortly before 4 a.m. Thursday Washington time. Read
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has welcomed the restoration of U.S.-Indonesia military ties, but the Southeast Asian country's commitment to combating terrorism will be under new scrutiny within days when a leading terrorist is due to be freed from prison. Read
As the U.S. Senate debates a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, Australia's federal government has won praise and drawn flak for overriding a lower authority's legislation permitting same-sex couples to enter civil unions. Read
Islamists committed to implementing shari'a law in Somalia claim to have defeated warlords in Mogadishu after months of fighting in a country wracked by anarchy since 1991. Read
The U.S. government was aware from the outset of Yasser Arafat's hand in the 1973 murder of two American diplomats in Sudan, according to a formerly secret document released Monday by the State Department. Read
A year after charging that China's defense spending was threatening Asia's military balance, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld returned to the subject at the weekend but using a new approach - urging China to end the secrecy surrounding its military buildup for its own good. Read
The crisis within the world's 77 million-strong Anglican (Episcopalian) Church over homosexuality goes beyond an issue of human sexuality, to the far deeper questions of the authority of scripture and eternal salvation, a leading conservative bishop has warned. Read
Ethnic unrest continues in parts of Iran, prompting some exiled members of Iranian minorities to step up calls for a concerted effort to topple the clerical regime. Read
Despite incentives to reverse the trend, Japan's relentless population problems continue unabated, with new figures showing the country's fast-declining fertility rate has reached a new record low. Read
Washington's policy reversal on Iran's nuclear activity has been warmly welcomed by its European Union allies, but it's also drawing criticism from conservatives who warned that it may be a mistake. Read
South Korea's liberal ruling party has suffered a stunning defeat in nationwide local elections, and that could have implications for the government's sensitive policy of engagement with its Stalinist northern neighbor. Read