POLITICS-THAILAND: Junta Slips on Coup Promises

The political temperature in Thailand is poised to rise in the new year as the country's military leaders scramble to retain their fast eroding legitimacy following the mid-September coup.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: One Hand Launders the Other

This month, Siemens, the Germany-based global engineering and electronics company, informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that prosecutors investigating the company for corruption have seized bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, two leading "offshore" banking centres.

YEMEN: Economy Gets Help, But Has a Long Way To Go

Concerns have risen about the economic progress of Yemen in the New Year despite the aid pledged by donors at a conference in London last month.

DEVELOPMENT-NIGERIA: Burnt Alive, as History Repeats Itself

"The location, the timing all made a perfect situation for this kind of tragedy," said Bode Olufemi of Environmental Rights Action, the Nigerian affiliate of non-governmental group Friends of the Earth – this after walking through the distressing aftermath of an oil pipeline fire that broke out in Nigeria’s financial hub of Lagos, Tuesday.

ASIA: Tsunami Recovery Hit by Corruption, Apathy

Questions that have dogged the tsunami recovery effort through 2006 coalesced in a crop of media stories and critical reports as affected countries remembered in prayer and reflection the over 220,000 people killed in that December 2004 natural disaster.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Corruption Allegations and Score-Settling in Chile

The rightwing opposition in Chile has been reveling in the allegations of corruption in the financing of election campaigns by the centre-left governing coalition, but it may now find itself in the dock as accused, rather than accuser.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Angola’s Oil Not Flowing for Safer Water

The cholera epidemic which has been plaguing Angola for nearly a year has placed the spotlight on the continuing lack of safe drinking water in that country.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Drug Money Impact Heavy but not Decisive in Mexico

Estimates on how much drug money circulates in Mexico's financial system vary widely, but experts say it is not a central factor in the health of the economy. Nevertheless, they say its power to corrupt is immense, and that it is impossible to uproot.

BRAZIL: Popular Indignation Blocks Congressional Mega-Raise

The venality of legislators in Brazil, who awarded themselves a 90.7 percent pay raise, resulted in the reemergence of participative democracy in the form of mass demonstrations which prevented them from getting away with the measure.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM-KENYA: A Race to Leave Informal Settlements Behind

Come the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF), to be held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi next month, many delegates will doubtless be seen running to and from various events. Some may also be running for an event, however: the 'Marathon for Basic Rights: Another World is Possible Even for Slum Dwellers'.

HONDURAS: Governed by Vested Interests

Traditionally powerful families and drug traffickers have enormous political influence in Honduras today, according to analysts.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: U.N. to Probe Violent Underworld

Human rights groups say that this week's signing of an agreement between the United Nations and the Guatemalan government to investigate abuses by clandestine armed groups operating in the country has brought new optimism that such crimes will no longer be cloaked in impunity.

LABOUR-EGYPT: Workers’ Revolt Pays Off

More than 20,000 Egyptian textile workers have scored a rare win over plans to privatise their publicly-owned company, with a massive strike that forced the company's management and the pro-free market government to back down.

POLITICS: New U.N. Chief Vows High Ethical Standards

The incoming U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who took his oath of office before the 192-member General Assembly on Thursday, vowed to set "the highest ethical standards" in a world body which has come under fire for mismanagement, waste and malfeasance.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Will New UN Chief Stand Up to Big Powers?

When South Korea's former foreign minister Ban Ki-moon assumes duties as the new U.N. secretary-general on Jan. 1, he will succeed Kofi Annan of Ghana who spent over 44 years in the U.N. system, serving the last 10 years (1997-2006) as the chief administrative officer of the 192-member world body.

HEALTH: Corruption in Pharmaceutical Industry Kills

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is undertaking one of its toughest new assignments: taking on a powerful adversary in the world's multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Old Problem of Graft in Kenya Set to Dog the New Year

As 2006 comes to a close, concerns over Kenya's track record in tackling corruption are deepening in the East African nation. Authorities have consistently said they are committed to the fight against graft; but civil society organisations argue that various developments indicate a lack of political will to root out corruption.

CORRUPTION: Bribery Brings High Costs in Africa and Latin America

The police can be your friend, but the friendship often has to be paid for: more than half of Africans and one in three Latin Americans who have had contact with police officers in the past 12 months have paid a bribe at least once, says a Transparency International survey.

POLITICS-FIJI: Bainimarama a Hero but Coup a Mistake

Fiji's military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama's vision of a multi-racial country and his bold and frank criticism of the pro-indigenous Fiji government - that he finally ousted this week - as corrupt and inefficient, has received appreciation by many citizens.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: ‘War on Terror’ an Excuse for Disappearances

"A taste of their own medicine would be the best punishment for these people," says Mohammad Atif, 23, when asked how agents of the state who kidnapped and detained him for two years should be punished. "The only problem is no one can touch these people."

POLITICS-US: Conservative Evangelicals Stayed the Course

Top shelf conservative Christian evangelicals, Republican political leaders, and a host of right-wing pundits, columnists and radio and television talk show hosts have just about finished hashing out the whys and wherefores of election 2006's "thumpin'."