Gearing up for the G8
After last year's fiasco in Genoa, the upcoming G8 Summit will be held in a remote Canadian resort. Gamal Zayda from Montreal examines its agenda

The Padilla puzzle
An American citizen suspected of plotting to detonate a "dirty bomb" on US soil remains in jail indefinitely despite not having been charged. Anayat Durrani, in Washington, reports

Writing on the wall
As Africa gears up to adopt the New Partnership for Africa's Development, Gamal Nkrumah asks whether NEPAD really can be an effective blueprint for the continent's survival

An Afghan agreement of sorts
Karzai has been elected Afghan president for the next 18 months. Will he be able to manage the warlords and rebuild the country? Iffat Malik examines the prospects

Victory to the right
In a landslide victory for the centre-right at last week's parliamentary elections, French voters approved Chirac's agenda of tax cuts and tough line on crime and immigration, writes David Tresilian from Paris

Lean, mean, eavesdropping machine
These days, despotic regimes are not the only ones sidelining democratic processes and citizens' rights, writes Mukul Devichand from London

War against world hunger
Leaders of the rich nations stayed away from the World Food Summit that ended last Thursday in Rome, but their counterparts in the underdeveloped world attended in record numbers with Africans meeting to discuss a continental economic rescue plan. Samia Nkrumah attended and spoke to the Ghanaian leader

A word with Kufuor
Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor was one of the 80 heads of state and government who represented his country at the latest World Food Summit. He shared some thoughts on the summit and commented on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) --read on--

Nurturing NEPAD
African heads of states attending the World Food Summit in Rome used the occasion to brainstorm on NEPAD, the African initiative that is being marketed as the cure to the continent's many ills