CAMBODIA-UN: Sihabouk Distances Himself from Ranariddh

A decision by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk, to approve the U.N. credentials of the country's ruling junta is the latest blow to the ousted First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh - the King's son.

UN-AFRICA: Annan Tries to Build Trust in Great Lakes Region

The United Nations must build trust among the new leadership in Central Africa and also insist on investigating reports of atrocities in the region, U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan said Thursday.

UNITED STATES-LABOUR: Welfare Workers of the World, Unite

Unions and activist groups in New York are campaigning to organise what could be the city's most neglected workers: more than 35,000 welfare recipients who participate in New York's Work Experience Programme (WEP).

MUSIC-USA: Roy Hargrove’s Crisol Updates Cuba’s Jazz Groove

Ever since the 1959 revolution in Cuba, the 90 miles of water separating the Caribbean island and the southern tip of Florida have seemed like the longest distance in the world. Now jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove is trying to bridge that gap - the U.S. embargo on Cuba notwithstanding.

US-LABOUR: Teamsters Vote Could Be Key to Union Reform

Another election battle has begun for union leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) featuring the same two candidates who faced each other one year ago, but at a radically different time for the labour movement.

US-HUMAN RIGHTS: Thousands March Against Police Brutality

The beating and torture of a Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, allegedly at the hands of 'New York's finest,' has spawned a tidal wave of public outrage against the city's police.

NORTH KOREA-US: Defections Threaten Peace Talks

The defections of two North Korean diplomats to the United States was the latest thorn in the prickly relationship between the two nations and could threaten the peace talks due to start next month, political analysts said Thursday.

MUSIC-USA: Elvis Still is “The King”

It's been 20 years since the death of "The King" of rock music or, as the supermarket tabloids would have it, since he went into hiding as a slick career move. Whatever, this month has seen the likeness of Elvis Presley planted firmly in everything involved in the world of music to the face of the current U.S. president.

US-MEDIA: Unlicensed Radio Station Fights to Remain on Air

The small town of Decatur, Illinois, is not the sort of place you would expect to find a radical radio station with a name like 'Black Liberation Radio'. And that, says the station's operator is why he faces harassment, and the threat to end the ulicensed radio's programming.

US-CRIME: Police Torture Allegations Shock New York

New York's large Haitian community has been enraged over an incident involving a Haitian man allegedly beaten and tortured by Brooklyn police after a scuffle outside a nightclub.

UN-HUMAN RIGHTS: Security Council Wants Precedence Over New Court

An International Criminal Court (ICC) to try cases involving genocide and other war crimes is now close to being established but the five major powers in the U.N. Security Council want to control such a body, officials here say.

MUSIC-AMERICAS: Concern Over AIDS Spawns Cultural Collaborations

Even as the spectre of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) spreads across the world, projects designed to alert people to the dangers of the pandemic take on an international face.

UNITED STATES-LABOUR: Part-Time Workers Enjoy Rare Spotlight

The United Parcel Service (UPS) strike is putting the larger plight of part-time workers, the fastest growing segment of the U.S. labour force, in the limelight.

UNITED STATES-LABOUR: Part-Time Workers Enjoy Rare Spotlight/REPEAT

The United Parcel Service (UPS) strike is putting the larger plight of part-time workers, the fastest growing segment of the U.S. labour force, in the limelight.

CAMBODIA: Hun Sen Rebuffs Requests from U.N. Secretary-General

The United Nations' latest attempt to offer advice to Phnom Penh on the month-old crisis in Cambodia ran aground this week when the country's de facto leader, Hun Sen, rebuffed most of the key requests made by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

UNITED STATES: Wave of New Citizens Seeks Political Voice

When the Republican-led Congress voted last year to deter illegal immigration by stiffening penalties, placing more guards at the Mexican border, and cutting welfare for even legal immigrants, few expected organised opposition from the immigrants themselves.

US-LABOUR: UPS Strike Is a Key Turning Point

A strike by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters against the United Parcel Service (UPS), the largest U.S. package-delivery company, is shaping up to be a major test of organised labour's strength, union analysts say.

KOREAS: Officials Upbeat about Pyongyang’s Posture as Talks Renew/REPEATING AND CORRECTING GARBLED COPY

Analysts of the longtime Korean conflict are optimistic that, despite the cloudy political scene in North Korea, Pyongyang is demonstrating a firm commitment to keeping peace talks - which resumed here Tuesday - on track.

KOREAS: Officials Upbeat about Pyongyang’s Posture as Talks Renew

Analysts of the longtime Korean conflict are optimistic that, despite the cloudy political scene in North Korea, Pyongyang is demonstrating a firm commitment to keeping peace talks - which resumed here Tuesday - on track.

UNITED NATIONS: Rights Groups Press for Activist Criminal Court

Human rights activists are pleased that plans to establish a new international court for crimes against humanity are on track, but they worry that many countries are still unwilling to grant the court full authority.

US-PALESTINE: Doubts Grow Over Hamas Role in Bomb Plot

U.S. officials continue to puzzle over whether two Palestinian men seized last Thursday for allegedly planning to bomb a subway station were influenced by Islamic fundamentalism, and particularly the Palestinian group Hamas.