Libya Group Agrees ‘Trust Fund’ for Rebels

The international contact group on Libya has agreed to set up a temporary "trust fund" to help the international community channel assets to the opposition Transitional National Council in Benghazi.

Libyan Rebels Reject African Union Road Map

Libya's opposition Transitional National Council has rejected outright the African Union's proposal to negotiate a way out from the country's deepening crisis.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Gbagbo Being Held by Ouattara Forces

Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered to the forces of presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara and is being held by them, the U.N. has said.

Gaddafi Accepts AU Plan to End Fighting

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has accepted a "road map" for a ceasefire with rebels, according to a delegation of African leaders.

Bahrain’s Hospital of Ghosts

Salmaniya Medical Complex, once one of the most renowned medical facilities in the Gulf and a jewel in the crown of Bahrain's public healthcare system, has been transformed into a virtual ghost town.

Manufacturing Cote d’Ivoire’s ‘Good Guy’

As Côte d'Ivoire's bloody leadership contest draws to a close and the surrender of Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president, seems imminent, a long list of atrocities and electoral irregularities mark the records of both him and his opponent, Alassane Ouattara.

NATO Vows to Protect Misurata Amid Criticism

NATO has vowed to protect Libya's civilian population and give priority to the besieged city of Misurata, a day after rebel fighters accused the military alliance of acting too slowly.

SOMALIA: Manifestation of Stealth Trusteeship

Somalia is currently under what James Fearon and David Laitin of Stanford University call "a neo-trusteeship system". Various external powers, while disagreeing among themselves, make the important decisions for the Somali people.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Pro-Ouattara Forces Launch Palace Assault

Heavy fighting is continuing in Abidjan where forces loyal to Côte d'Ivoire's presidential rivals are battling for control of the country's main city.

SOUTH AFRICA: The Invisible People

Since psychiatric care was decentralised last year in South Africa, patients have been moved from hospitals into community day hospitals that don't have the appropriate resources to deal with mental illnesses. As a result, many of society's most vulnerable have slipped through the cracks in the system and now walk the streets like invisible people.

OP-ED: Misunderstanding Bahrain’s Shia Protesters

Listening to the rhetoric coming out of Tehran, one might assume that Bahrain's Shia opposition is relying on help from its co-religionists next door. But, in fact, the opposite is true: the Shia opposition wants nothing more than for Tehran to stay out of the sectarian dispute unfolding in the tiny kingdom.

‘Democratic’ Poll Cloaks Kazakh Autocracy

Kazakhstan's nine million registered voters went to the polls Apr. 3. Incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev is not expected to lose.

U.N. Staff Killed in Afghanistan Quran Protests

Afghan officials say at least 11 people have been killed at a United Nations operational centre in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif when protests over the burning of the Quran by an American preacher turned violent.

HAITI: Seeding Reconstruction or Destruction?

Last year, tens of thousands of tonnes of tools, seeds and plant cuttings were distributed to almost 400,000 Haitian farming families, perhaps one-third to one-half of the country's farming population.

Syria Braces for Mass Demonstrations

Syrian opposition movements are readying for a day of rallies, dubbed "Friday of Martyrs", across the country even as authorities announced a raft of measures aimed at meeting some of the protesters' demands.