MEDIA: Mr. Al-Jazeera Goes to Washington

The director of the Arab satellite television network al-Jazeera, Wadah Khanfar, is in Washington this week for the first time, part of a brief tour of the U.S. that will also take him to New York.

MIDEAST: The Old Bibi Is Back

"Reckless", "cavalier", "unscrupulous", "petty politician, not statesman"...these and such epithets applied to Benjamin Netanyahu by friends and foes alike - not that he ended up with many friends - when he was first Israel's Prime Minister back in the late 1990s.

KYRGYZSTAN: Election Falls Short for Intl Observers

Several days after what many have called an unfair election in the Kyrgyz Republic, the U.S. has shown its own reluctant agreement.

SOUTH AFRICA: Rights to the River

Millions of litres of water are being unlawfully diverted into dams set up by South Africa's major industries, big mining companies and commercial farmers - with potentially devastating consequences for management of the resource.

IRAN: Victims’ Families Share Stories, Defying Pressure

It has become common these days to hear about the killing of young Iranians at the hands of Iran's security forces and Basij militia. So many families have come forward with heart-wrenching tales about the deaths of their children in prison or during peaceful protests, it is difficult to keep count.

URUGUAY: Eight-Hour Day for Rural Workers

Seventy years old now, Mr. Arrúa lives a comfortable enough life in Durazno, a town in central Uruguay. But he still remembers when his father took him to work as a farmhand when he was only nine.

COSTA RICA: Women Ageing Alone, Easy Prey to Looting

Though América Herrera may not ever know it, she has become the poster child for a growing practice in Costa Rica, which experts define as financial or economic abuse of the elderly.

ENVIRONMENT: Swedes Going Green in Emergency

Patients in Stockholm can now be rushed to hospital in an ambulance that runs on processed sewage.

RIGHTS-US: Judge Slams Govt Over Afghan Detainee

A federal judge last week excoriated U.S. government lawyers for advocating the continued detention of a detainee at Guantanamo Bay after his "confession" was ruled inadmissible because it was extracted through torture.

MIDEAST: Building Peace on an Incomplete Wall

Beneath the towering eight-metre concrete slabs, an army jeep patrols the Israeli side of the 'security wall' that cuts through Palestinian territory, dividing the occupied West Bank from Israel.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Justice Waits While Debate Rages Over Tribunal

Kenya's cabinet is expected to meet Monday to review a bill establishing how the masterminds of the country's post-election violence will be punished.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Guantánamo Farmers Improve Standard of Living

A boost in capacity of an old hydroelectric dam and international cooperation for reforestation and for improvement of distribution networks are raising the standard of living for residents of the Guaso basin in the eastern Cuban province of Guantánamo.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Incentives for Cocoa Crops

The non-governmental Foundation for Rural Business Development is working in the Honduran jungle region of La Mosquitia, applying ecological techniques to grow cocoa.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: A Living Museum in the Middle of the Amazon

Learning about the Amazon's biodiversity will be easier after March 2010, with the inauguration of the Museum of the Amazon, near the jungle metropolis of Manaos. Scenic overlooks, giant aquariums and hanging walkways in the treetops will give visitors an opportunity for direct observation.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Government and Ecologists Clash over Pollution

The Chilean government began an environmental education campaign - "Care for the Air: Breathe Easy" - to encourage using bicycles and public transportation instead of individual cars, dampening the ground before sweeping to prevent raising dust, and to discourage the burning of leaves in the polluted national capital.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Desert Park Prepares for Vacationer Onslaught

Venezuela's National Institute of Parks is preparing monitoring and crowd control measures for the 100,000 tourists expected during the August-September school vacation season at the Médanos de Coro National Park, 400 km northwest of the capital.

US-IRAN: Waiting for the Dust to Settle

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is stuck between a rock and a hard place in its Iran policy. On the one hand, the recent unrest will take time to percolate into a reformed Islamic Republic. On the other, time is in short supply if the U.S. hopes to stop Iran progress toward a nuclear weapons capability.

RIGHTS-US: Landmark Disability Treaty Wins U.S. Approval

On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced his intention to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), in what will be the U.S.'s first signing of an international human rights treaty in over a decade.

POLITICS: How Far Should U.N. Go to Protect Civilians?

In what one U.N. official characterised as "a historical development", the General Assembly spent much of this week debating the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which calls for the international community to intervene with diplomatic and, if necessary, military action, in cases of genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

CORRECTED REPEAT*/RIGHTS-US: Byzantine World of Immigration Detention

Duarnis Perez, a native of the Dominican Republic, became a U.S. citizen at 15 when his mother was naturalised. But he didn't know that meant he was also a citizen. He thought he was an illegal immigrant, and so did the authorities.

RIGHTS-ETHIOPIA: Fears Over New Anti-Terror Law

A little over 18 years ago, when the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power, people were so eager to exercise democracy that even children started to challenge their parents saying "this is my democratic right". Perhaps it was too good to last.