MALAYSIA: Surplus Electricity – But Bigger Dams Planned

Even before the problem-ridden Bakun Dam in eastern Sarawak can be completed, officials are talking of plans to build two more hydroelectric dams in the state, one of which could make Bakun look puny by comparison.

MEXICO: Repression of Opposition – Fuse For Oaxaca Conflict

The social and political conflict that has the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca in check, with the local government accused of corruption and human rights violations, reached the streets of the country's capital city Monday.

TRADE: U.S. Watchdog Urges Tighter Rein on Conflict Gems

The United States, the world's largest consumer of diamonds, should adopt stronger oversight measures to choke off a trade that fuels wars and human rights abuses in many exporting nations, a U.S. Congressional report finds.

RIGHTS-INDONESIA: Political Will to Nail Killers of Top Activist Missing

Human rights activists are accusing the government of lacking political will to nail the murderers of one Indonesia's leading anti-corruption activists - poisoned on board a Garuda flight to Amsterdam in September 2004.

MEXICO: Radio Waves Incite Rebellion in Oaxaca

"Compañeros, the enemy is the State." That was Thursday's wake-up call to its listeners from La Ley, a private radio station taken over by activists in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, which is fuelling social unrest that has the state government backed into a corner.

MEXICO: Oaxaca Protesters on Red Alert

In the heart of this southern Mexican city, protesters grouped in more than 350 different social organisations, who have been camping out in the parks and on the streets for over four months, are governing through people's assemblies and running radio stations that they have taken over, while their own security guards keep watch.

CORRUPTION-KENYA: An Amnesty Perhaps Not Worth Its Weight in Gold

A recent proposal by Kenya's government to provide amnesty to corrupt officials who return stolen funds has prompted concerns in the East African country, where some fear the initiative may encourage more graft - and ultimately a culture of impunity.

FINANCE: Norway Breaks Silence on “Illegitimate Debt”

Anti-debt campaigners are hailing as groundbreaking Monday's decision by Norway to cancel 80 million dollars in debt owed by five poor nations after it determined that the loans were not granted in a good faith effort to promote development.

POLITICS-THAILAND: Thaksin’s Pro-Poor Legacy May Last

By resigning Tuesday as the leader of his party, deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has confirmed that he will put on ice the abrasive politics he became known for during his five years in government.

THAILAND: Military Well in Control but Less Visible

If democracies can be built with military precision, then Thailand's coup leaders are making the right moves. On Monday afternoon, well before their own two-week-deadline, they withdrew tanks and troops from the rain-soaked streets of the capital.

ECONOMY-IRAN: Waiting for Ahmadinejad to Deliver

While President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is busy running a high voltage campaign against the United States and its policies, back home citizens are wondering if he will ever make good on an election promise to crack down on the corrupt and distribute Iran's vast oil revenues more equitably.

CHINA: Corruption Charges Can Be Convenient

As a new generation of Chinese communist party leaders consolidates its grip over the world's fastest growing economy, fighting corruption has become the new ideological weapon wielded in power struggles within its governing ranks.

POLITICS-ZAMBIA: The Fiscal Conservative or the Firebrand?

Elimination of double-digit inflation, economic growth in the region of five percent last year, a reduction of foreign debt from some seven billion dollars to 500 million: these are figures guaranteed to earn the president of a developing country another term in office, not so? Maybe yes, Maybe no.

POLITICS: Watchdog Body Finds Irregularities in U.N. System

The U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the organisation's 12-year-old watchdog body, has uncovered a rash of financial irregularities, including misappropriation of funds, waste, breaches of regulations, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

ECONOMY-ASIA: Coup Puts Indo-Thai Free Trade Deal in Doldrums

An ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Thailand may have been stalled indefinitely by the Sep. 19 military coup. The two countries were meant to renegotiate the FTA after elections in Thailand set for mid-October, but this process is now shrouded in uncertainty.

POLITICS-ASIA: Nepal Ripe for Army Coup?

Thailand's coup has hit close to home in Nepal's capital. Here, a hereditary monarch, who like his South-east Asian counterpart claims to be the incarnation of a god, sits in his palace brooding - or Internet gambling, depending on the rumours - after being forced to return power to the people in April, following three weeks of swelling street protests.

CORRUPTION: Wolfowitz Crusade Could Hurt Poor, Group Warns

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz's anti-corruption crusade could jeopardise those it claims to protect, the poor in developing nations, by letting powerful players off the hook and by not extending corruption probes to the Bank's past lending, a leading U.S. whistleblower group says.

ECONOMY-THAILAND: Back to Basics After the Coup?

As Thailand settles back to a normalcy of sorts after a dramatic military coup, attention is now shifting to the economic implications, underlying which is an uneasy conflict in values between the self-sufficiency championed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the gung-ho capitalism and consumerism espoused by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Corruption Charges May Haunt Zuma Yet

A vindication, a temporary reprieve, an affirmation of South Africa's justice system, an indictment of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA): the interpretations of Wednesday's dismissal of corruption charges against former deputy president Jacob Zuma are many, and varied.

THAILAND: Thaksin Removed in Silken Coup

Ending months of political deadlock, Thailand's army moved dramatically to oust caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup, led by army chief Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratklin.

POLITICS: U.N. Ties Prosperity to Good Governance

The economic success stories of the world's 50 poorest nations are also predicated on "good governance", including multi-party democracy, rule of law, gender empowerment, respect for human rights and transparency and accountability, according to the United Nations.