Though the violence that has hit France over the last two weeks is showing signs of abating, the political battle over how to deal with it may have just begun, reports David Tresilian from Paris

Race riots have the French press dancing on the hot coals of social injustice. Serene Assir reviews

Although parliament rejected the British prime minister's proposal to detain suspects for 90 days, human rights activists and Muslim groups still need to work hard to amend the anti-terrorism bill, writes Doaa El-Bey

India's burgeoning ties with the US is reason behind Pakistan's sudden turn to Israel, reporrts Graham Usher in Islamabad

Johnson-Sirleaf, stands poised to become Africa's first elected president. Why is she the first African woman to be officially given the mantle of leadership, wonders Gamal Nkrumah

Global efforts to "make poverty history" will fail unless world leaders act now to end gender discrimination, warns "The State of World Population 2005" released recently by the United Nations Population Fund. Sahar El-Bahr reviews the new report

At the UN General Assembly the international community once again strongly condemned the US blockade of Cuba, writes Faiza Rady