Armed Conflicts

Rights Issues Mar Sri Lanka-EU Trade

By Feizal Samath
Sri Lanka is in for some hard bargaining when it negotiates a new aid pact in 2013 with the European Union (EU), which withdrew a key trade concession  two years ago over this country’s human rights record.

Palestinians Step Again Towards Nationhood

By Mya Guarnieri
A year after their bid for statehood flopped in the United Nations’ Security Council, the Palestine Liberation Organisation is again planning to seek an upgrade in UN status. On Sep. 27, the PLO will approach the UN General Assembly in hopes of becoming a non-member observer state. If their bid is successful, the Palestinians will be eligible to join various UN agencies and will also be able to bring allegations of Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court.

Immigrants’ Fear Palpable in Arizona

By Daniela Pastrana
Fear stalks the streets in the U.S. state of Arizona. Seven-year-old Matthew feels it when his mother crosses the line permitted by the guards of the Tent City - an extension of the Maricopa County Jail - to be photographed with a sign protesting the imprisonment of immigrants.

World Bank Releases Draft Strategy for Myanmar

By Carey L. Biron
Following on calls by civil society, the World Bank has released a draft summary framework for its re-engagement with Myanmar over the next year and a half. The formal interim strategy is slated to be ready by the end of October.

No Homecoming Where Taliban Rules

By Esmatullah Mayar
Nematullah Wardak from Sayedabad in Maidan Wardak province works in Kabul. For two years he has not returned to his village, a bus journey from the Afghan capital, for fear of the Taliban.

U.N. to Close Syria Observer Mission

By AJ Correspondents
The United Nations has ordered the end of its observer mission in Syria, and said that it would withdraw its staff within the next few days.

Colombian President Meets with Nasa Indians

By Constanza Vieira
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos travelled to a native reserve in the southwest of the country Wednesday to meet with thousands of indigenous people who had gathered there for nearly a week, demanding an end to fighting in their territory.

Rapes of Young Girls in DRC Still Unpunished

By Emmanuel Chaco
A rash of recent rape cases has sparked local criticism of the weakness of the justice system in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where inadequate resources and simple incompetence mean survivors of sexual violence hold little hope of obtaining justice.

In Peace, Palestinian Women Under Attack

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
After the brutal murder of a Palestinian woman in late July in a busy Bethlehem marketplace, local human rights groups are pushing for stronger reforms to stem violence against women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel’s Iran War Talk Aims at Deal for Tougher U.S. Policy

By Gareth Porter
Two recent interviews apparently given by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak provide evidence that the new wave of reports in the Israeli press about a possible Israeli attack on Iran is a means by which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Barak hope to leverage a U.S. shift toward Israel’s red lines on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Rebels Claim Responsibility for Syria Blast

By AJ Correspondents
The main Syrian rebel group has claimed responsibilty for a series of explosions in central Damascus near the hotel used by the U.N. observer mission in Syria.

Drug War Threatens Democracy, Mexican Peace Caravan Warns in US

By Daniela Pastrana
"The war on drugs is endangering the best thing that the United States has given the world: democracy,” Javier Sicilia, the Mexican poet who heads the movement of victims of the violence unleashed by the war on drugs in his country, said upon reaching the United States this week.

Gaddafi Loyalists Up In Arms

By Mel Frykberg
The security situation in Libya remains tense as violence by way of car bombings, political assassinations of high-ranking government and military officials, attacks on foreign diplomatic staff and NGOs, and young men sorting out minor disputes with AK-47s continues unabated.

Lean Times Get Leaner in Northern Cote d’Ivoire

By Robbie Corey-Boulet
Salimata Coulibaly, director of a medical centre in the town of Korhogo in the northern Cote d’Ivoire region of Savanes, stood before a chart displaying before-and-after photos of local children – one taken when each child arrived at the centre, and one after he or she responded to treatment for malnutrition.

Reining in Private Security Faces Regulatory Thicket

By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans
Alleged human rights violations and other challenges involving the use of Private Military Security Contractors (PMSCs) have sparked a series of international efforts to create systems of accountability for an increasingly complex transnational industry.

Q&A: Military Action in Mali Would Be a ‘Huge Risk’

By Souleymane Faye
Military action by West African states against the insurrection in northern Mali would be extremely risky without diplomatic support from neighbouring Algeria and Mauritania, according to International Crisis Group researcher Gilles Yabi.

Pakistan’s Measles Deaths Hinder Global Goals

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Measles outbreaks, which have killed at least 100 children in Pakistan’s militancy-hit border areas since May, have prompted calls by experts for better cooperation in territories adjacent to Afghanistan with international immunisation campaigns.

OP-ED: What to Make of the Latest Iranian-Turkish Row

By Farideh Farhi
Turkish-Iranian relations have been rocky since the deepening of the Syrian imbroglio, but the latest row suggests a new low.

Armed Forces Still Dictating Côte d’Ivoire’s Law

By Fulgence Zamblé
Even as Côte d'Ivoire gradually recovers from the bloody events of the 2010-2011 post-electoral crisis, massacres in the western part of the country and the frequent sound of gunfire in the economic capital, Abidjan, are signs of the long road ahead.

In Jerusalem the Past Is Alike, And Alive

By Pierre Klochendler
“This is King David’s palace!” proclaims the Israeli tour guide with much fanfare, ignoring the cautionary “King David’s Palace?” legend on the sign. Opportunely opening the Bible, he reads from 2 Samuel 6:16, “As the Ark of the Lord came to the City of David…”

Families of ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man’ Victims Still Struggling

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
Sachiko Masumura (79) was standing just two kilometres away from the hypocentre of Little Boy, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan over six and a half decades ago.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*