AFGHANISTAN: Training Cops Not To Be Robbers

In a mud-walled village on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Qalat, police checkpoint commander Abdul Rasool complains he is tired of his country's six-year war and longs for peace.

CHAD: Spain Defends Pilots in Child Abduction Row

Authorities and civil society organisations in Spain have roundly condemned an apparent case of trafficking of children from Chad. But they defend the innocence of the seven Spanish crew members of a plane chartered by the French charity L'Arche de Zoe (Zoe's Ark) to remove 103 children from the country in north-central Africa.

ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: The Going Rate for Votes

What was the going rate for a vote? "About 100,000 pesos (50 dollars)," says Víctor Raúl Mosquera, the ombudsman for the northwestern Colombian department (province) of Chocó.

ELECTIONS-COLOMBIA: Unexpected Paramilitary Defeat in Cesar

Night falls and some 200 honking motorcycles and mopeds make their way along a tree-lined central avenue of the capital of the northeastern Colombian department of Cesar, celebrating the victory of governor-elect Cristian Moreno, "the candidate of the poor," in one of the birthplaces of the far-right paramilitary militias.

TRADE: Venezuelan Diamonds Under the Microscope

Venezuela will have to explain its policies on mining and exporting diamonds at the next annual session of the Kimberley Process, an intergovernmental initiative to halt the use of the diamond industry to finance armed conflicts and civil wars.

CORRUPTION: Little Check on Czechs

Corruption remains a key - and unresolved - issue in the Czech Republic's moves to reach the standards of Western Europe.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Damages Award Exposes Internal Security Act

A stunning court decision awarding a huge sum in damages to an activist who was detained without trial and tortured has galvanised activists campaigning for the repeal of Malaysia's harsh Internal Security Act (ISA).

COLOMBIA: Foreign Firms Cash in on Generous Mining Code

These are prosperous times for Canadian mining and oil companies extracting resources from Colombia.

ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: Deforestation Symptomatic of Corrupt Regimes

When a global anti-graft watchdog surveys the Asian landscape for corruption indicators, the continent’s forests depleted by illegal logging invariably enter the picture.

POLITICS: A Half-Million-Dollar Vacation at U.N. Expense

The U.N. Secretariat has doled out over half a million dollars on a single staffer - an assistant secretary-general (ASG) - who has been temporarily suspended with full pay while under investigation on charges of mismanagement and fraud.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Hero’s Welcome for Bainimarama at Regional Do

Fiji’s interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama will return from the 38th Pacific Island Leaders meeting in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, pleased, if not surprised by the hero’s reception he got - to the consternation of the leaders of Australia and New Zealand.

POLITICS-PAKISTAN: Daughter of the East Returns – With West&#39s Backing

The much bruited ‘deal’ between Pakistan’s twice-elected, twice-deposed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has cast a shadow over her triumphal homecoming on Thursday, after nine long years of self-imposed exile.

MEXICO: Cardinal Off the Hook, But Sex Abuse Controversy Rages On

The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico celebrated a legal ruling that dismissed a case against Cardinal Norberto Rivera in which he was accused of protecting an alleged pedophile priest, while the press published Church guidelines in which the clergy are asked to sign a letter releasing the archdiocese of responsibility in case of charges of sex abuse.

COLOMBIA: Elections Under Threat

With 11 days to go to Colombia’s Oct. 28 local and regional elections, the campaign has been marred by the slaying of candidates and activists, cronyism and patronage, threats by armed groups, and the prospect of fraud and votes cast out of fear.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: New Rules for Lucrative Adoption Business

Non-governmental organisations from Guatemala asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to consider a case involving international adoptions, a lucrative business in this Central American country that is about to be subjected to tougher rules.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Little Enthusiasm Over Anti-Poverty Campaign

The enthusiasm among social groups in Mexico and Central America for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is not reflected by the general public, which has displayed scant interest in this week's event.

ENERGY-MALAYSIA: Subsidising Gas to Private Power – State Utility Pays

A staggering 27.6 billion ringgit (8.2 billion US dollars); that's the amount the Malaysian public has incurred through gas subsidies given out over the years to private power producers by national petroleum corporation Petronas.

FILM-BRAZIL: Elite Unit – Heroes or Anti-Heroes?

The recently released film "Tropa de Elite" (Elite Squad) has sparked unprecedented debate in Brazil about the role and actions of the security forces as they combat drug trafficking mafias in shantytowns.

ENVIRONMENT-CHINA: Three Gorges Dam May Displace Millions More

As a trickle of environmental problems emerging from the Three Gorges dam area steadily grows into a deluge, Chinese authorities have begun weighing plans to relocate several million people to avert an ecological catastrophe.

CORRUPTION: Dirty Business Arises in Top European Companies

New investigations have thrown up serious questions about corruption in leading European companies.

Q&A: &#39&#39We Plan to Handle and Control the Army&#39&#39

Of the 60 years that Pakistan has existed, a total of 40 have been under the direct or indirect rule of the army. Each round of martial law has left the army with even greater power and influence. The current cycle - that began with army chief Pervez Musharraf seizing power in 1999 - has been no different.