Iran Hedges Its Bets on Syria

Iran is courting the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, seeking to maintain a crucial alliance in the event that Assad falls.

SOUTH SUDAN: Women Aim to Protect Their Rights in a Young State

As South Sudan maps out its economic future at the South Sudan International Engagement Conference (IEC) this week in Washington, women from the new country called on donors to invest in projects that ensure women benefit equally from development plans.

U.S.: Federal Court Grants Legal Victory to Transgender People

When Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman formerly known as Mr. Glenn Morrison, told her supervisors at the Georgia state legislature where she served as a legislative editor that she would start coming to work dressed as a woman, she was fired.

In Unprecedented Move, Canada Withdraws from Kyoto Protocol

Barely 24 hours after it signed a new global climate change agreement in Durban, South Africa, Canada became on Monday the first country to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding treaty to reduce emissions causing climate change.

Soviet-Armed Iraq Switches Allegiance to U.S. Weapons Systems

As the United States withdraws the last of its 50,000 troops after a nearly nine-year military occupation of Iraq, visiting Iraqi President Nuri al-Maliki had one final request: billions of dollars worth of U.S. weapons for his ragtag armed forces.

U.S.: Former Top Aide Offers Insight on Mideast and Iran

In his first public address since departing from the White House, Dennis Ross, former top Middle East aide to U.S. President Barack Obama, called for increased sanctions on Iran, a careful approach to new Arab regimes and a low-key approach to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

RIGHTS: West Turns Blind Eye to Torture in Uzbekistan

Despite its formal adoption of due-process reforms in 2008, the government of Uzbekistan under President Islam Karimov continues to practice torture routinely, and the situation may be worsening, according to a major new report released here and in Berlin Tuesday.

U.S.: Protestors Occupy Ports in Oakland and Beyond

Occupy movements in Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; and Longview, Washington claimed victory Monday when they prevented workers from loading or unloading ships at the three ports.

Forging Bond Will Be Test for Co-ops and Occupy Movement

Canadian cooperatives may grow as the global Occupy movement raises the profile of their business model through boosting interest in credit unions over traditional banks, but uncertainty remains about the degree to which the two camps will join forces from here on.

U.S.: New Republican Front-runner Roils Mideast Waters

Newt Gingrich has a well-documented reputation for bomb throwing, but his latest assertions about Palestinians threaten to blow at least two decades of U.S. Middle East diplomacy to pieces.

U.S.: Homeless Play Key Role in Occupy Movement

Homeless people make up a significant proportion of participants in the Occupy Movement in cities across the United States, from Los Angeles to Atlanta, where at times they comprise an estimated third of the occupiers.

U.S.: Military Option Recedes Amid Tug-of-War Over Iran Policy

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said Friday that he believes that sanctions and diplomacy are the right strategy to deal with Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "is doing everything we can to accomplish the stated objective without resorting to military force".

PAKISTAN: Soldiers’ Families Demand Revenge Against U.S.

As Islamabad and Washington wrangle over responsibility for the Nov. 26 cross-border airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani troops, families of the dead soldiers are demanding revenge on the United States.

AFGHANISTAN: The Pressure Is Now on Central Asian Supply Route

The Northern Distribution Network, the key re-supply route for U.S. and NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan, is set to experience a spike in traffic due to the closure of the Pakistani-Afghan border. But it will take several weeks for the United States and NATO to work out the logistics of rerouting cargo.

CANADA: Alternative School Sparks Fears of Division and Isolation

The Toronto public school board has approved the second 'Africentric' Alternative School despite persistent criticism that the format attracts mainly black students and is equivalent to segregation in a country that prides itself on national unity regardless of ethnic differences.

CARIBBEAN: Castro Comes Calling as U.S. Tries to Pull the Plug

Even the rains seemed to have joined forces against Cuban President Raul Castro.

Civil War Looms as Syrian Protests Grow Increasingly Complex

As the Syrian uprising enters its ninth month, it faces some of its most daunting challenges to date, despite the consolidation of near-unanimous international condemnation of the Syrian government.

U.S.: Occupy Targets Foreclosures

Five months ago, Gayla Newsome was at work when she got the call. A sheriff had come to her home of 15 years and put her two pajama-clad daughters out on the curb of her West Oakland street. Newsome knew the bank was about to foreclose, but thought she still had time to fight it.

Nigerian Bill Criminalises More Than Just Gay People

"The prospect of arriving home... being arrested at the airport - that's kind of scary," said Osazeme O., a dual citizen of Nigeria and the UK, in a wry understatement.

At the Nexus of Agrofuels, Land Grabs and Hunger – Part 1

While the United Nations climate talks in Durban enter their ninth day of political feet-dragging, researchers and peasants around the world are busy connecting the dots between so- called "green climate solutions", industrialised agriculture and chronic hunger.

US: For Many Women, a Prison Sentence Also Means Abuse

While most of the one million women in prison in the U.S. are incarcerated for non-violent offences, many experience harsh treatment that advocates say violates their human rights.