News stories by Ali Gharib, page 5

As the White House prepares the ground for direct diplomacy with Iran on a handful of issues, a group of Iran hawks gathered in Washington to discuss their views on how to handle what they describe as a 'series of provocative actions' by Tehran beyond its ongoing nuclear development.

Getting into the United States – even for citizens, let alone immigrants and other visitors – is a notoriously difficult process. But a new report says that the questioning, detention, and oft-extended searches are going too far, especially when they are trampling on the basic rights of citizens returning home.

After an initial period of putting policy-makers in place, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is slowly rolling out its strategy for dealing with Iran. But the process is a work in progress, said several experts at a policy conference here, happy to dole out advice for what the administration’s next moves should be.

In what has become a commonplace occurrence, a small boat pulled alongside a container ship and a band of men from the smaller vessel boarded the larger one. It was just another day off the Somali coast - the latest in a series of more frequent and bolder acts of piracy.

A branch of the Ugandan government that handles its anti-terrorism work is responsible for extended illegal detentions, torture, and other maltreatment at a facility based in a wealthy suburb of the country’s capitol, according to a lengthy report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) Wednesday in Kampala.

Secretary of Defence Robert Gates unveiled the U.S.’s much-anticipated new military budget Monday, which aims to reorient the armed forces toward irregular and counterinsurgency warfare while proposing cuts in several major weapons programs.

In a meeting on the eve of the G20 summit in London, the leaders of the U.S. and Russia set out to take the first concrete steps towards a 'reset' of relations between the two countries.

The international economic system needs a broad overhaul, said a strong majority of 70 percent of respondents to a global poll.

A new report from a New York-based think tank and delivered to U.S. President Barack Obama by a signatory who is also a current adviser recommends that Washington forcefully reinsert itself into the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, calling for 'a more pragmatic approach to Hamas.'

The Barack Obama administration announced this week that it will augment already massive foreign aid to its southern neighbour in a bid to help Mexico fight cartels smuggling drugs into the U.S., as well as sending a series of high-level U.S. officials to Mexico to consult with their counterparts.