PAKISTAN: Tourism Takes On Taliban

Standing in the busy main market place of Mingora, it is hard to think that just two years ago this city in Swat district was under the tyranny of the Taliban.

Between Libya and the Deep Sea

NATO’s five-month bombing campaign in Libya, run under the guise of protecting civilians, is also killing victims fleeing the conflict, directly and indirectly.

ECUADOR: Big Bucks from China Drive Domestic Development

Ecuador sees the loans it has agreed with China as "good news," because they are long-term, and all that is required in return is "oil, and not the horrendous adjustments imposed by the IMF (International Monetary Fund)," leftwing Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa told analysts critical of the size and high interest rates of the loans.

Early diagnosis needed to fight TB

Tuberculosis kills 1.7 million people every year. In sub-Saharan Africa, the disease is also a major killer of people living with HIV. Stigma, poor adherence to medicines and lack of early diagnosis plagues the management of TB in these states.

COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Dig in to Fight Return of Stolen Land

While President Juan Manuel Santos described his government's land restitution policy as "a veritable revolution" during a speech in northwest Colombia, some 300 far-right paramilitaries were taking up positions less than 100 km from there to fight the effort to return land to small farmers displaced by the violence, human rights activists say.

Restoring the Cuban City with a French Colonial Air

The city of Cienfuegos, known in Cuba as the "Pearl of the South", is unique for its spotless cleanliness, the orderly grid pattern of its streets, its 19th century architecture and its air of "Grande Dame" elegance. Now its past splendours, ravaged by time or left to deteriorate because of economic difficulties, are being restored.

SWAZILAND: Impossible for Children to Access Public Information

Many public officials in Swaziland do not think that access to information is a public right, but rather a privilege – which can be withdrawn at anytime.

TURKEY: Resignations Herald the Demilitarisation of Politics

The simultaneous resignations of Turkey's top military brass last week indicates that the civilian government may finally have more sway over politics than the top generals, according to analysts and activists.

Tunisian Women Fear the Algerian Way

A women’s group begins campaigning near La Marsa beach in Tunis to convince more women to come up and register in the electoral lists, in time for the deadline now pushed back to Aug. 14. Most of the women watching the proceedings are veiled.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Recovery of Disappeared’s Body Raises Hopes

The details would have done credit to the plot of a spy thriller, except they are chillingly real.

South America Unites Against “Irresponsible Debtors” in the North

Default, insolvency, fiscal irresponsibility, debt crisis and similar terms form part of the vocabulary used to describe countries in the developing South in the 1980s and 1990s. A decade later, the world seems to have turned upside down.

Ethnocentric Fishing Practices Threaten Hawaiian Communities

As the world gears up to celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous People on Aug. 9, a joint lawsuit filed Wednesday in Hawaii's Federal District Court against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reveals the interconnectedness of environmental destruction and violations of native people's rights.

SUDAN: Congressional Hearings Paint Picture of Crisis and Atrocities

Witnesses' chilling depictions of a new Sudanese genocide at an emergency congressional hearing Thursday quelled any remnants of doubt that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Nuba mountain region of South Kordofan.

Groups Hail Obama’s Order for Mass Atrocities Board

Human rights groups here have welcomed Thursday's directive by President Barack Obama to create a new, high-level inter- agency mechanism designed to help prevent mass atrocities overseas before they occur.

U.S. Silent on Iranian Raids Against Kurdish Terror Group

Iran and the United States don't agree on much these days, but there are a few views they hold in common.

Climate Changes Bring Harsh Reality for Native Americans

In Shishmaref, an Inupiaq village on an Alaskan barrier island north of the Bering Strait, a way of life is gradually disappearing due to higher temperatures, rising sea levels, declining numbers of sea animals to hunt, and shrinking shorelines wrought by climate change.

ARGENTINA: One Poor Woman Who Feeds Thousands

The endeavour gave a deeper meaning to her life and turned her into an internationally recognised community organiser. Nevertheless, the real wish of Margarita Barrientos is that there would be more need for soup kitchens for the hungry, like the one she founded in the capital of Argentina.

NIGERIA: Refined Oil Shortage Continues for Africa’s Largest Producer

"We are suffering in the midst of plenty." That was how Nelson Ilemchi summed up his plight as he spent an entire day queuing to buy kerosene. Since January Africa’s largest producer of crude oil has been experiencing a protracted nationwide scarcity of the refined product.

Book Plots J Street’s Coordinates on Map of U.S.-Israel Politics

The "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby group J Street has drawn a lot of attention in its short lifetime. Despite decidedly moderate politics, its leader, Jeremy Ben-Ami, has repeatedly been the centre of controversy, and the group's very existence has stirred debate in the U.S. Jewish community about the boundaries of acceptable discourse on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Syria’s Assad Decrees Multi-Party System

President Bashar al-Assad has issued a decree authorising a multi-party political system in Syria, a day after the U.N. Security Council issued a statement condemning the regime's use of force against protesters.

EL SALVADOR: New Child Protection Law Starved of Resources

Lack of budget resources and political will, according to activists, is preventing fulfilment of the provisions of El Salvador's long-awaited new law for the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents.