UN deepens the Iran nuclear crisis
The third round of United Nations Security Council sanctions now hanging over Iran's head in connection with its nuclear program is the harshest yet. Tehran has dismissed the measures as "legally defective". But with US and French ships in the Persian Gulf poised to carry out the interdiction of vessels suspected of carrying nuclear cargo to and from Iran, the stage is set for the next chapter - physical confrontation. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Mar 4, '08)

SPEAKING FREELY
The 'rape' of Okinawa
Another month, another suspected rape incident involving a US soldier on Okinawa island in Japan. Both US ("regret") and Japanese ("unforgivable") officials make the right noises. But until Tokyo questions why a large standing army of Americans is still garrisoned on Japanese territory, the problem will persist. - Chalmers Johnson (Mar 4, '08)

Pre-election hopes for Malaysian opposition
The weekend's elections in Malaysia have been called the best chance the opposition has had to weaken the ruling party's grip on power in at least a decade. Economic and social problems have beset Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, but the opposition may struggle to convert popular discontent into votes. - Ioannis Gatsiounis (Mar 4, '08)

SUN WUKONG
Green whirlwind sweeps China
China's National People's Congress this week upgrades its State Environmental Protection Administration into a mega-sized environmental ministry. This is part of a green policy geared to strengthening the country's "toothless tiger" laws. Whether other departments and provinces cooperate is another matter, particularly when their own interests are at risk. - Wu Zhong (Mar 4, '08)

Russia lays new tracks in Korean ties
The new administrations coming into the Kremlin in Moscow and Seoul's presidential Blue House, together with a new generation of leaders in Pyongyang, can radically change the political climate in the region and help resolve the peninsula's nuclear problem. - Leonid Petrov (Mar 4, '08)

In India, a gathering of ghost busters
In the 18th century, Guru Maharaj Deowiji of Malajpur was believed to have the ability to exorcise ghosts. Legend has it he passed on the power to his priests, who have in turn passed it on until today. The result is India's largest, if not only, "ghost fair", to which thousands of pilgrims flock each year to exorcise ghosts and spiritual possession. Psychologists call it mere superstition, but this is India, a land struggling to balance the ancient and the ultra-modern. - Shuriah Niazi (Mar 4, '08)



The 'laptop of mass destruction'
The "laptop documents" - 1,000 pages of data allegedly stolen from an Iranian computer - have been the US's hardest evidence of Iran's supposed intentions to build a nuclear weapon and an obstacle to the International Atomic Energy Agency declaring that Iran has resolved all questions about its nuclear program. Now there are indications the documents were obtained from Israel's Mossad via a terrorist organization. - Gareth Porter (Mar 3, '08)

Iran makes its mark in Iraq
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is making the most of his red-carpet treatment in Iraq, handing out platitudes as well as the offer of a US$1 billion loan. Baghdad's government needs all the support it can get, and plenty comes from Tehran. What it does not need is Iran's backing of the al-Qaeda-backed insurgency. But for Iran, this is a separate issue that has everything to do with Afghanistan. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Mar 3, '08)

INTERVIEW
Let's talk about bombs
Matthew Bunn, non-proliferation expert
Given Iran's extended period of violating its nuclear safeguards agreement, says US award-winning Bunn, many countries will probably not accept Tehran's claim that all of the information that suggests weaponization activities is fabricated and baseless. Nevertheless, there is still room to negotiate, he tells Kaveh Afrasiabi. (Mar 3, '08)

CHAN AKYA