New Caricom Head Takes Over Bloc in Disarray

As he basks in the congratulatory messages coming from countries near and far, Irwin LaRocque knows the next three years will not be easy for him and the Caribbean regional integration movement.

Impunity Reigns in Restive Pakistani Province, Report Says

"First, they bound my arms, and then they threw me on the ground face down. The interrogators pulled my head back by grabbing my hair and kept asking, 'Who are you?'

Wealthy Pakistanis Leaving Taliban Areas

Wealthy Pakistanis from the country’s northwestern region are leaving their hometowns permanently to settle in safer areas far from the war zone. Doctors and other professionals are joining the exodus.

Study shows taking a combination of anti retrovirals while HIV negative can reduce the chance of infection.

Study shows taking a combination of anti retrovirals while HIV negative can reduce the chance of infection.

EL SALVADOR: Growing Tension Between Funes and Ruling Leftwing Party

Two years into his term, El Salvador's first-ever leftwing president, Mauricio Funes, finds himself more and more distanced from the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) that brought him to power and from the promises of change that got him elected, analysts say.

SOUTH SUDAN: Row Over Exorbitant Fees for Pipeline Use

Less than three weeks after gaining independence, South Sudan is embroiled in a row with Sudan over pipeline fees charged by the latter to export oil.

U.S.: Recession Turned Back Clock for Blacks, Hispanics

While recession in the U.S. delivered a series of record lows, from crashing property prices to residual birth and marriage rates, an analysis of new census data suggests it accomplished at least one record high - the wealth gap between whites and minorities.

EAST AFRICA: Massive Aid Needed to Stave off Disaster

International donors have given more than one billion dollars to ease the famine in Somalia and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, but U.N. officials say another billion will be needed to prevent the situation from deteriorating in other areas.

Worrying Dysfunction in DR Congo Airports

Major operational shortcomings are behind the recent spate of crashes at airports around the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising questions about safety for aircraft and passengers in the central African country.

65th Anniversary of World Church Service Celebrated

"It has been 65 years but please don’t retire" Vincent Cochetel United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees joked from the podium in the Museum of the City of New York.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Greater Protection of Islands Demanded

Despite their economic, strategic and environmental importance, Mexico’s 1,644 islands are neglected and little studied, according to a group of specialized agencies.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Water Purification with Solar Power

An electrical engineering student at the Federal University of Goiás in Brazil has invented a system to purify water without using electricity, thereby preventing carbon dioxide emissions.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Sawdust as Energy Source

A small town in the northeastern Argentine province of Chaco has built a plant that transforms timber industry waste into renewable energy, with the support of the federal government.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Protecting the Nacaome River Basin

Communities in the southern Honduran department of Valle are taking the first steps towards reforestation of the basin of the Nacaome River, which provides water and electrical power to some 120,000 people who live in the surrounding area.

PAKISTAN: Taliban Backs Off From Attacking Civilians

A series of Taliban attacks selectively targeting Pakistani security forces is being seen as an attempt to shore up the flagging popularity of the fundamentalist Islamic scholars.

PAKISTAN: Study Rebuts U.S. Claims of “No Civilian Deaths”

As the Pakistani public grows increasingly outraged at the United States' drone attacks in the northwest region of the country, a recent study by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism is contradicting U.S. officials' insistence that "not a single civilian life" has been claimed in the covert war.

Colombia’s History of Violence, Reflected in One Woman’s Life

There are lives that closely mirror the history of their countries, like that of Beatriz Echeverry, whose life has been shaped by some of the main human-caused and natural tragedies in Colombia over the last 60 years: forced displacement, a volcano-triggered mudslide that killed thousands, and kidnappings by the leftwing guerrillas.

Security Council Won’t Take Stand on Climate Change

The United Nations Security Council failed to reach agreement on a non-binding statement Wednesday asserting that climate change should be recognised as an international peace and security issue.

War Increasingly Spills Over into Classrooms

The most pressing global challenge to children's rights may be the increasing number of military attacks on schools in war zones, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday.

Commitment Marks the Second Nelson Mandela International Day

The United Nations Monday commemorated the second annual Nelson Mandela International day, a day marking not only the birthdate of the former South African president, but also to recognize his work as a freedom fighter and peacemaker.

Poverty and a lack of infrastructure have blamed for rising maternal mortality in Kenya.

Poverty and a lack of infrastructure have blamed for rising maternal mortality in Kenya. For every 100 000 live births, 560 women die. A new programme is showing promise in reducing these numbers.