RIGHTS: Court Won’t Rule on Deaths at Guantanamo

A federal district court has thrown out the case of two men who died in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay in 2006 and who are seeking to hold U.S. government officials responsible for the men's torture, arbitrary detention and ultimate deaths.

DEVELOPMENT: Free Hungry Mouths of Red Tape

Developing countries must tone down the booming voice bureaucrats have in policies and target corruption if commitments to defeat hunger are to be turned into action, leaders and experts at a United Nations meeting said Wednesday.

HAITI: Food Crisis Looms

Haiti's misery after last month's earthquake will be compounded by a food catastrophe if the international community continues to ignore the country's agricultural needs, the United Nations has warned.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Countries Set to Break Promises

Promises made by the European Union (EU) on increasing aid to poor countries will be broken this year, according to new data.

RIGHTS: Ex-inmates Recount Ordeal in North Korean Prison

Kim Tae-Jin remembers shuddering in fear when he arrived at Yoduk Prison, a notorious detention centre in North Korea, in 1998. "First, a fear of brutal uncertainty struck me. I doubted if I would remain alive there for long," Kim recalled.

ASIA: Through Art, A Look at Migrants’ Temporary State of Being

"Migrant workers are not aliens," sang a local music band here called Paradon. "Any kind of work that Thais don’t do, they do it for Thais. No matter how dirty, they do it for Thai. Which job is dangerous, they do. They do it for Thais. Though it is a demeaning job, they do it. They do it for Thais."

POLITICS: U.S. Ambassador Accuses Iran of Role in Iraq Election Ban

Reiterating accusations of Iranian interference in Iraq's internal affairs, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Wednesday that he was in "100 percent agreement" with remarks by the top U.S. commander in Iraq regarding Iran's involvement in a highly controversial decision that eventually barred over 140 candidates from running in Iraq's parliamentary elections next month.

EL SALVADOR: Killings Bear Hallmarks of Death Squads

Human rights defenders and analysts in El Salvador suspect that death squads were responsible for two highly coordinated attacks in which 12 young men were killed this month.

EAST AFRICA: Women Want Visibility in Regional Union

As the East Africa Community (EAC) gradually moves towards a political confederation, women’s rights groups from the five member states are pushing for an East African Protocol on Gender and Development to bridge the gender gaps within the integration process.

MEDIA-INDONESIA: When ‘Adding a Friend’ on Facebook Can Be Risky

It is every parent’s worst nightmare in the Internet age – and for Syafei Asyhari, this happened when he found that his 16-year-old daughter, Latifa, fell into the clutches of traffickers she met online as friends.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Policy Changes Revive Poultry Industry

Ivorian poultry producers are enjoying strong growth thanks to the imposition of a tax on imports of poultry products from the European Union and South America.

SOUTH PACIFIC: ‘Poverty Measures Need Support of Rich Nations’

Social protection programmes could help alleviate poverty in the Pacific Islands region, but without the help of developed countries, they will not materialise, said an economic expert in this capital of Fiji.

HAITI: U.N. Supports Move to Protect Heritage

The United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO, and the government of Haiti have joined forces to try to safeguard and protect the Caribbean nation’s artistic heritage in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake which destroyed not only countless lives but also many national art treasures.

RIGHTS-BURMA: When Hard Times Hit, Some Children Go to Factories

Fifteen-year-old Cho Cho Thet knows little about the world outside of the garments factory where she works.

POLITICS: U.S. Steps Up Sanctions Diplomacy Against Iran

Faced with an increasingly impatient Congress and a defiant government in Tehran, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is currently stepping up its diplomatic efforts in the Middle East as it seeks to prepare the ground for tougher sanctions on Iran.

U.S.: Telecom Lobby Tests Pledge of Transparency

Despite President Barack Obama's pledge in his State of the Union address last month to "require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or Congress," the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says the Obama administration has been "fighting hard to stop the release of the names of these representatives."

RELIGION: Young Western Muslims Fight Misperceptions

Islamophobia is rising in the West, and sectarian clashes have undermined unity in the Muslim world, but there is hope from "within", says a group of young Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow (MLTs) working to address these problems.

U.S.: High Court to Decide on Impunity for Foreign War Criminals

Bashe Abdi Yousuf, a U.S. citizen, was a young businessman in Somalia when he was detained, tortured, and kept in solitary confinement for over six years. Aziz Mohamed Deria, also a U.S. citizen, lost his father and brother when they were abducted and killed by officials and never seen again.

CLIMATE CHANGE: U.N. to Mobilise Funds for Developing Nations

After countries failed to reach a binding agreement on greenhouse gas emissions at the crucial Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December, the United Nations moving forward to enforce a pledge to help developing countries cope with the worst impacts.

U.S.: Deportation System Called “Severely Flawed”

The number of people deported from the U.S. annually has grown from just over 69,000 to over 356,000 in the past eight years, while resource-starved immigration judges issue decisions without sufficient time to conduct legal research and analyse the complex cases they are asked to decide.

HAITI: Repairing the Third Rail – Part 3

As Haitians struggle to comprehend what has happened to their lives – and begin to try to put them back together – the United Nations is reaching out to "a vast and influential network" of about 60,000 voodoo priests.