TRADE: Rich Countries Apply ‘Double Standards’ in WTO Doha Round

South Africa says the major industrialised members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are applying double standards when it comes to their interests and those of African countries in the Doha Round trade negotiations.

DR CONGO: Peace in a Discriminatory State?

War broke out in the eastern part of DRC again in August since which time 250,000 people have been displaced.

Frelimo triumphs in municipal elections

EUROPE: A GIANT CRIPPLE

In case president elect Barack Obama doesn\'t have enough files awaiting him on the desk of the Oval Office, the National Intelligence Council has prepared him some additional reading that may dim his characteristic smile. \"Global 2025: A World Transformed\" is the title of the futuristic document that is part alarming, part depressing, writes Joaquin Roy, Jean Monnet professor and director of the European Union Centre of the University of Miami. In this analysis, Roy writes that according to the report, by 2025 the European integration process will have suffered a period of growth too sluggish to be able to advance European interests. To bolster its coherence, the EU will have to resolve the \"democratic deficit that separates Brussels from the citizens\". The EU is capable of contributing to the \"stability and democratisation of the periphery of Europe\", particularly the Balkans and Turkey. But Brussels may fail to persuade the citizens of EU member states of the benefits of deeper integration and to convince them to meet the needs of an aging population \"by carrying out painful reforms\". As a consequence, the EU could turn into a \'\'gigantic cripple\", distracted by \"internal bickering and competing national agendas\". The result will be an EU incapable of \"translating its economic power into global influence\". This grim scenario is enough to take away Obama\'s smile. It is bad news not only for Europe but for the US as well. Optimists, however, feel that the predictions in the report are exaggerated, the product of shoddy speculation. The writing in many sections of the document resembles a first-year university essay. After all, a challenge -which is what the report outlines- is not the same thing as destiny.

US-IRAQ: Kurds Anxious Over Security Pact

Kurds are divided over a security pact between Iraq and the U.S., approved by a large majority in the Iraqi Parliament Thursday, in what appears to be a potential heavy blow to their major gains since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003.

POLITICS-MOZAMBIQUE: Few Women Mayors This Term

Bad news for women: of the eight women running for mayor in Mozambique's municipal elections held on Nov. 19, only three won. Overall, 114 candidates ran for mayor in 43 municipalities.

ECONOMY-CHINA: Misgivings Emerge Over Stimulus Package

World politicians and economists have cheered the stimulus package unveiled by Beijing this month, touting it as the biggest economic recovery plan of peace time - but there are misgivings.

CAMBODIA: More Khmer Rouge Leaders May Stand Trial

With its first trial delayed until early 2009, the Khmer Rouge tribunal is facing another challenge: how to balance its mandate to try only former leaders deemed most senior against pressure to prove its independence by ordering further arrests.

ENVIRONMENT: Europe Eases the Way for Cars

José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission's president, has a penchant for large cars. At the same time as he was publicly encouraging citizens to be more sparing in their use of energy, it emerged in 2006 that his vehicle of choice was a Volkswagen Touareg.

POLITICS-DR CONGO: The Devil You See…

Few Congolese believe Laurent Nkunda is the man with whom to negotiate peace in North Kivu. The crux of the matter is economics and geopolitics - both greatly influenced by Western interests.

RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Lawmakers Vote to Retain Death Penalty

In the end, not even an appeal from the internationally respected South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu made a difference.

MEDIA: IPS Signs Development Aid Agreement with Spain

Federico Mayor Zaragoza, chair of the IPS Board of Directors, and Soraya Rodríguez, Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation, representing that country’s Foreign Ministry, signed an agreement for media coverage of development-related issues Wednesday.

RIGHTS: Former Child Soldiers Work to Save Those Left Behind

"An AK-47 is not made for a kid. It is not made for a human being, let alone a kid," said Kon Kelei, a former child soldier from Sudan. Kelei was taken to a camp when he was four or five years old - he is not precisely sure - and trained to fight in battle.

MIDEAST: Settlers Stay, Or It’s Civil War

The resolution of the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict and future stability in the Middle East could hinge on Hebron, a little town in the southern Palestinian West Bank, 30 km south of Jerusalem.

SRI LANKA: Floods, Fighting, Food Shortages Hit Trapped Tamils

Incessant rains and flooding in the Vanni, the Tamil rebel stronghold in northern Sri Lanka, are adding to the woes of at least 200,000 people stranded in intensified fighting between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan army since mid-September.

ECONOMY-MALAYSIA: Job Losses Feared as Recession Bites

The global economic slowdown is slowly creeping onto Malaysian shores leaving many worried about the impact it will have on workers.

RIGHTS: Gender Violence "Pandemic" Highlighted at U.N.

Activists and U.N. officials called on governments to take stronger action to end violence against women Tuesday, with at least one out of every three women around the world having been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime - with the abuser usually someone known to her.

CLIMATE CHANGE: EU Saying, Not Doing, the Right Things

Senior European Union figures are portraying themselves as champions of sound ecological policies ahead of the international climate change negotiations that begin in Poznan, Poland Dec. 1. Stavros Dimas, Europe's environment commissioner, this week described a series of measures being considered by the bloc's 27 governments as "easily the most far-reaching legislative package on fighting climate change anywhere in the world."

RIGHTS-US: No Amnesty for Cheney et al, Say Torture Opponents

Judging by the rare leaks from President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, investigations and prosecutions of high-level George W. Bush administration officials for torture and war crimes are a distant prospect. But likely or not, that won't stop pundits from debating the question of whether those officials responsible should be held accountable.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: No More Excuses on Gender Violence

As the world marks the twenty-seventh International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations figures indicate that in the course of her lifetime, one in every three women is beaten, coerced into sex or abused, by a relative or acquaintance. In Africa, concerns continue to be raised over poor legislation and enforcement to protect women and girls from harm.

POLITICS: Russia-Georgia Conflict Left Legacy of Displaced

As the European Union launches a probe into the conflict between Georgian and Russian troops in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia last August - with much of the blame now being cast on Georgia for firing the first shots - thousands of civilians remain displaced and homeless at the start of winter.