US: Fundamentalist Protest Is Protected

In a contentious free speech case, the nation’s highest court has ruled that the right of a fundamentalist church group to protest at military funerals is protected by the First Amendment free speech clause of the constitution when the protest takes place in public and addresses issues of public concern.

LIBYA: Ragtag Rebels Stand Firm

The soldiers fighting against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in central Libya lack training, equipment and numbers, yet somehow continue to withstand attacks and push forward toward Tripoli.

Growing Humanitarian Crisis in Cote D’Ivoire

The U.N. has announced that some 200,000 people have already fled the Abobo neighbourhood, in the north of Abidjan. Each morning for a week now, luggage on their backs, bundles on their heads, the sick riding in wheelbarrows, new borns cradled in their arms, thousands of people have fled Abobo on foot.

Medicine Alliance Fighting Corruption in Zambia

"I had always associated corruption with politics and business," laments Chalwe Kabwesha. "When I failed to access ARVs and TB drugs at our clinic because of corruption, I got worried."

WOMEN’S DAY: An Arab Israeli Woman Fighting on All Fronts

"Every woman is a woman of frustration. Me, I'm just struggle." Hanin Zoabi, 41, is a Palestinian Israeli woman, a fighting woman. An elected member of the Israeli Knesset parliament, she is the first woman on an Arab party's list, Balad.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Regulations for Glacier Protection Law Criticised

The regulations adopted to enforce Argentina’s new glacier protection law do not guarantee the urgently needed protection of sensitive areas where mining activities are already taking place, warn environmental activists.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Cheaper and Cleaner Desalination

An engineer from Cape Verde working at the University of São Paulo Polytechnic School in Brazil has developed a system to transform saltwater into drinking water that is both cheaper than current methods and less harmful for the environment.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Solidarity Economy Legislation Under Study

Draft legislation to foster the development of a solidarity economy is under study in two Mexican states and could promote more environmentally friendly food production, its supporters say.

WOMEN’S DAY: Rallies Planned in Iran Despite Crackdown

Women's rights campaigners are hoping for a strong turnout to public rallies set to be staged across the Islamic Republic of Iran next Tuesday, despite a government crackdown on opposition demonstrators in recent weeks.

LIBYA: Heading Unarmed to Take On Gaddafi

The rebel forces fighting to oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi from power are slowly moving towards the Libyan leader’s bastions in the cities of Sert and Tripoli. Ordinary citizens are responding to the call to arms, even though they have no weapons.

BANGLADESH: Govt Under Pressure After Sacking Yunus

The Bangladesh government is drawing flak from the international community for removing microcredit pioneer and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus from the Grameen Bank that he founded and led.

Shining a Light on Women’s Rights

How does a woman challenge deeply entrenched cultural practices to convince her husband, her brother or father that she can demand equal rights?

Pregnancies Don’t Wait for Emergencies to End

When disaster strikes, the initial humanitarian response tends to focus on basic commodities like food and shelter. But as the crisis or conflict drags on, other critical needs often go unmet – such as prenatal care for pregnant women, and emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault.

Israel Grows Ever-Harsher in Treatment of Migrants

A new report from the Global Detention Project (GDP) on Israel's immigration detention policies reveals the tough reality behind the feel-good story offered in the Academy Award-winning "Strangers No More", an inspirational documentary about students from migrant families who attend the Bialik-Rogozin school in Tel Aviv.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Tri-Partite Agreement Presages Wider Zambezi Agreement

Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe are poised to sign a memorandum of understanding to improve power generation along the length of the Zambezi River.

LIBYA: Recovering From Horror, Waiting for More

The walls outside the Al-Jalah Hospital in downtown Bengazi are covered with posters of missing persons, mostly teenagers and young men who disappeared after the protests began. Inside, hundreds of gunshot victims recover from the street battle between Muammar Gaddafi's forces and Benghazi's citizens.

Kurd Issue to the Fore Ahead of Elections

Sultan Quyun, 58, longs for the day when the decades-long conflict between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces will come to an end. For her, the end of violence does not just hold the promise of a possible resolution of the Kurdish issue in the country, but would bring about, she hopes, a much-awaited reunion with her son.

Recruiting Now for New Offensive Against Gaddafi

As the defectors from the Libyan army organize the weapons they have recovered from Muammar Gaddafi's strongholds in the region, thousands of Libyan men are volunteering to join the soldiers in a possible attack on Tripoli to oust Gaddafi from power.

Rights Group Urges Probe of Bahraini Crackdown

A leading rights group here condemned actions taken by Bahraini security forces in suppressing peaceful protests in recent weeks, including the deaths of seven Bahraini citizens in the last fortnight, and called for a "transparent and independent investigation into government initiated violence".

Vietnamese Struggle for a Place in Poland

Thuan has had little luck. In his youth he joined the "boat people" fleeing Vietnam to Indonesia. Deported back after six years, carrying the stigma of an anti-communist, he could not find a job.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Energy Pie Greater Than the Sum of its Parts

Two million compact fluorescent lamps will be distributed to households and industry in Malawi by June, in just one of several measures to bridge the gap between electricity supply and demand. Across Southern Africa, energy shortfalls threaten to choke development.