Amid Turmoil, a Nuke-Free Middle East May Be in Jeopardy

A proposed international conference on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, tentatively scheduled for 2012, may be in jeopardy amid the growing political turmoil sweeping across the Arab world - and Israel's fears of negative fallout on its own security.

COLOMBIA: Displaced Campesinos Want a Say on Land Restitution Bill

The Colombian government has been extolling a bill on Victims and Land Restitution which is being debated in Congress and is receiving extensive media coverage. But the demands of the victims themselves, forcibly displaced campesinos, are falling on deaf ears.

U.S.: Activists Fight Deportation of Bi-national Gay Couples

After Erwin de Leon successfully defended his dissertation, he felt relief at being closer to earning his doctorate in public and urban policy. But the achievement also meant that time was running out to find a way to stay in the United States.

Pollutants Banned, But With Exceptions

The fifth conference of the 173 parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Apr. 25-29, could bring to 22 the total number of internationally agreed forbidden pollutants. Alternatives to DDT - one of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) used in the fight against malaria - are gaining popularity, but its complete ban is not on the agenda.

THAILAND: Debate on Monarchy Tests Academic Freedom

History professor Somsak Jeamteerasakul has weathered a storm of insults since mid-December for doing the forbidden: he offered an alternative assessment of the most dominant institution in the country, its monarchy, in a forum at his university. Now military officials are dropping hints he could face more than just verbal attacks.

Wikileaks Files Reveal Failures of U.S. Intelligence

Was Adel Hamlily an agent for MI6, the British secret services, and simultaneously a "facilitator, courier, kidnapper, and assassin for al-Qaida"? Was there a secret al Qaeda cell in Bremen that even the German government knew nothing about? And could it be possible that an 11-year-old Saudi villager was leading a terrorist cell in London?

BANGLADESH: Women Defy Islamic Clergy

Bangladeshi women are pushing government to implement the recently approved National Women Development Policy (NWDP) 2011, which has met with strong resistance from Islamic clergy.

MIDEAST: Countdown to Birth of New Nation Begins

The countdown to the birth of an independent Palestinian state continues as September approaches. Although the new state will have the moral support of the majority of the international community, Israel’s lack of flexibility - supported by a possible U.S. veto - could stymie any recognition of permanent borders by the U.N. Security Council.

BALKANS: Cornered Hopelessly at Work

Katka Ceh has been selling vegetables at Pancevo’s open-air market since losing her job as a pre-school teacher in the nearby village of Kovacica more than a year ago.

Brazil at Risk of Agrarian Counter-Reform

A process of "agrarian counter-reform" is taking place in Brazil, according to activist João Pedro Stédile, a leader of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST).

Battle Continues for Libya’s Misurata

Libya's opposition fighters are battling Muammar Gaddafi's forces on the country's western border, while fighting continues in the besieged city of Misurata.

Sunshine and Shadow in Rwanda’s Rural Housing Programme

The gleam of new corrugated iron sheets shimmers through the blue-green haze that veils Rwanda's rural valleys and hillsides. It is a visible sign of Rwanda’s metamorphosis from a nation devastated by genocide seventeen years ago to the fastest modernising state on the continent.

BAHRAIN: McCarthyism in Manama?

As the savage crackdown on the majority Shiite opposition movement drags on in Bahrain, King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa's military regime – backed by the hefty armed forces of Sunni- dominated Saudi Arabia – has moved from launching outright assaults on peaceful protestors on the streets of Manama in broad daylight into the murky waters of what experts are calling state terror, featuring all the old tactics of petrifying a population into submission.

YEMEN: Children Dragged Into Dangerous Protests

Children are increasingly facing frontline risks at Yemen’s anti-government protests. Parents are bringing them to demonstrations in the belief that they too are necessary for sacrifices in the revolution against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

HEALTH: Fukushima, Chernobyl Raise Questions about WHO’s Role

The nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan and the 25th anniversary of the catastrophe in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine have thrown into relief contradictions in the role played by the World Health Organisation, which civil society organisations have spent years pointing out.

Washington Failing to Understand Iran’s Opposition

The popular uprisings that have brought turmoil to Arab countries across the Middle East and North Africa have also underscored Washington's dearth of knowledge about forces on the ground in authoritarian states in the Middle East. One of the largest questions bedeviling policy makers has been the composition of various emerging opposition movements.

GCC Brokers Power Transfer for Yemen’s Embattled Leader

The official Yemeni opposition group, the Joint Meetings Party (JMP), has announced it will sign a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Wednesday which will officially transfer President Ali Abdullah Saleh's powers, temporarily, to his vice president Abd al-Rab Mansur al Hadi.

Why U.S. and NATO Fed Detainees to Afghan Torture System

Starting in late 2005, U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan began turning detainees over to the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS), despite its well-known reputation for torture.

BOLIVIA: The Boomerang Effect for Morales

It wasn't easy to get to the Bolivian city of Riberalta from Brazil. The adventurous journey included potholes on the Brazilian highway, a rickety boat that ferried us across the Mamoré - the border river - and an unnerving ride on a motorcycle taxi. But the biggest complication was the roadblocks.

The Royal Are More Royal Outside Britain

Quite a treat Britain has on offer for the world these days. Or who would ever have been talking - in this day and age - about a prince and princess riding in splendour into a world of pageboys and palaces.

U.S.: Connecticut Likely to Abolish Ultimate Punishment

This month, Connecticut became the latest in a growing line of U.S. states to move toward ending capital punishment.