POLITICS-US: Vets See Hope for a Broken System

Thirty-three-year-old Walter Williams was among the thousands of revelers who flooded into the streets of Oakland on Nov. 4 to celebrate Barack Obama's election as the 44th president of the United States.

RIGHTS-US: Activists Seek Executive Order Banning Torture

Shutting down the infamous detention centre at Guantanamo Bay is just one of a series of measures to reform U.S. counterterrorism practices being urged by the watchdog organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW).

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Gender Budgeting Still Finding Its Feet

With the world slightly past the halfway mark to the Millennium Development Goal deadline of 2015, pressure is mounting to promote gender equality. Goal Three is to promote gender equality and empower women - but in fact, every goal relates directly to women's rights.

MEDIA-PHILIPPINES: ‘Jeepney’ Street Paper Delivers Jobs Too

"We share with people our stories, rich stories that can be found in the streets," Cheran Banaria says of her work selling ‘The Jeepney Magazine’, the Philippines’ first street paper. "Before, I was really shy in facing and talking to rich people. I felt like an ant before them. But now, I can say I am a bit confident facing them."

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Researching a Male Contraceptive

Mexican researchers are developing a pharmaceutical that could be used as a male contraceptive, and which also promises to be an effective method to control populations of rats, dogs and cats.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Observatory of Cosmic Rays

Ten years after laying its cornerstone, the Pierre Auger Observatory, in Argentina, the only one in the southern hemisphere for studying cosmic rays hitting the Earth's atmosphere, will open its doors this month.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Decree Authorizes Destruction of Caves

A presidential decree in Brazil published Nov. 10 authorizes the destruction of caves. This country has 4,629 identified caves -- a total which grows 300 each year. Only the caves considered important will be protected.

JAPAN/US: Obama’s Election Unlikely to Disturb Ties – Analysts

While Barack Obama’s election as president of the United States is expected to shake up international relations it may not bring any change in Washington’s special ties with this country.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Opposition to Mekong Dams Overflows at Meet

In what looked like a blitzkrieg rally, about a dozen hand-held 'No Dams' signs appeared out of nowhere in the packed conference hall at a public forum here on the construction of dams in the Mekong region.

CULTURE-SINGAPORE: Long Way to Go as Asia’s Arts Hub

Shubigi Rao was not too happy when her husband, a pilot, was asked by his company to relocate to Singapore. Rao did not think that Singapore could offer opportunities for a budding artist like her.

ZAMBIA: New Spending On Rural Health

In an attempt to drastically reduce child mortality rates and boost maternal health, the Zambian government last year allocated a substantial budget to the public health sector. This move has resulted in a notable drop in child deaths, researchers say.

INDIA: Uneasy About Obama Victory

Unlike the rest of the world, which has welcomed the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States, Indian policymakers have misgivings, rooted in his campaign statements on Kashmir, nuclear non-proliferation and business process outsourcing from the U.S. to India.

EU-RUSSIA: Arms Overshadow Talks

Brinkmanship over weapons overshadowed a summit between the European Union and Russia held in the French city Nice Nov. 14.

DEVELOPMENT: Building a Stronger Women's Movement

For four days, Cape Town's convention centre will be filled with a profusion of languages, colours, and ideas as some 2,200 delegates from 144 countries take part in the 11th International Forum on Women's Rights and Development, organised by the Association of Women in Development (AWID).

BOOKS: Finding Humour and Tragedy in That Daily Ritual

We each spend, on average, three years of our lives going to the toilet - assuming we have one, that is.

MEXICO: Kidnapped Migrant Women – Out of Sight, Out of Mind

"I don't see any investigation, only grief and despair," said Heyman Vázquez, a Catholic priest who runs a shelter for migrants on the border between the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, referring to the recent kidnappings of 20 Central American women by groups of armed men.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Factions Torture Opponents

Unity talks between the two main Palestinian political factions Hamas and Fatah failed before they even began this week following Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's refusal to release 400 Hamas prisoners held in PA jails in the West Bank.

CULTURE-CHINA: ‘Shangri La’ Under Tourist Siege

The ancient Tea and Horse Caravan Road has come back to life. On top of sturdy short-legged horses, dark-skinned men wrapped in furs are making their arduous way up the narrow paths of the silver-clad Dragon Jade Snow Mountain.

RIGHTS-EL SALVADOR: Ex-President Cristiani Faces Charges in Spain

Charges filed by two human rights groups in Spain’s National Court Thursday against former Salvadoran president Alfredo Cristiani and 14 members of the army in connection with the 1989 slaughter of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter represent "a ray of hope" for victims of human rights abuses, say lawyers and Jesuit authorities.

RIGHTS-EUROPE: New Fascism Hunts Roma

A political ideology based on the desire to exterminate Roma gypsies is emerging in parts of Europe, a Brussels conference has been told.

FILM: Swazi Grandmothers Shore Up a Crumbling Society

In a country barely the size of the U.S. state of New Jersey, a disease has taken hold. Nearly 40 percent of Swaziland's population is HIV-positive, and the other 60 percent lives at constant risk for the disease.