INDIA: Smaller States Demand Self-Rule

In the Himalayan Mountains of eastern India’s Darjeeling locals are coping with the economic fallout of tourists cancelling their holiday plans in the area.

HAITI: OAS Whitewashed Flawed Polls, Says Watchdog Group

Fresh calls emerged Wednesday for Haiti to void its recent disputed presidential elections, following a new analysis from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) showing serious and unprecedented flaws in the Nov. 28 voting process.

Women’s Coalition Denounces Exclusion by Security Council

In October 2001, the United Nations Security Council endorsed a resolution recognising that women's participation is essential to sustain efforts for peace in the world. But did the international body ever ask world's women leaders to take part in the decision-making process?

BRAZIL: New President’s First Steps Fuel Optimism of Women’s Movement

The initial steps taken by Brazil's first woman president, Dilma Rousseff, have confirmed that a stronger female presence will indeed be a hallmark of her administration.

Defence Contractors Insulated from Budget Cuts

In one of U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower's most remembered speeches, he warned against "the acquisition of unwarranted influence" resulting from the close brotherhood between the country's defence agencies, Capitol Hill and private business interests.

US-LATAM: Disappointment May Yield to Distrust

While U.S. officials took strong exception to outgoing Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva's recent complaint that "nothing has changed" in Washington's relations with Latin America two years into the Barack Obama administration, many independent U.S. analysts ruefully nodded their heads.

ARGENTINA: President Is Hands-Down Favourite

Just over two months after the death of her husband, Argentine President Cristina Fernández is the front-runner in the polls for this year's presidential elections. She is also the politician with the best image in the country.

GREECE: As Austerity Bites, Police Get More Brutal

"The most terrifying thing is the memory loss. I can’t recall anything after I was knocked out - and for a long time afterwards," says Nasos Iliopoulos. His features are tense as he narrates his violent altercation with riot police.

CLIMATE CHANGE: ‘Water Towers of Asia’ Show Cracks

A concerted effort to formally document the magnitude and directions of climate trends in the Eastern Himalayas and thereby decide regional adaptation strategies is critical to ensure the region’s water security, according to water experts.

VIETNAM: Communists Gag the Web

By clamping down on the Facebook.com social networking service, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party is revealing its discomfort with the rapidly expanding avenue for free expression even as it pushes to transform the once poor agrarian nation into a modern industrial society by 2020.

South Sudan Voters Die in Ambush

At least 11 more people have been killed in violence over southern Sudan's historic referendum, officials have said.

CHILE: Flood of Indigenous Demands a Challenge for Government

While many are sceptical that the Chilean government will deliver on its promise of a shift in indigenous policy, the deadline is looming for the administration of Sebastián Piñera to live up to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recommendations with respect to imprisoned members of the Mapuche community.

Report Shows Rollback on Rights in China

A new report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) charges that China has largely failed to meet the commitments laid out in its first-ever National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP), introduced in 2009.

MIDEAST: Gaza’s Children Dare to Dream

Despite the lingering trauma of living under siege, regular Israeli military attacks and the consequences of a bloody war several years ago, Gaza’s children still dream of happiness and of normal lives.

UZBEKISTAN: Muslims Face Horrific Torture in Jails

Muslims are facing a dark future of repression and torture in Uzbekistan for years to come as the government’s relentless campaign of religious suppression continues.

SPAIN: ETA Ceasefire Met with Wide Scepticism

Spain's political parties demanded that ETA surrender its weapons and abandon violence for good, in response to a statement issued by the group Monday in which it declared a permanent ceasefire, verifiable by the international community, and called for negotiation.

Overhaul Foreign Aid to Rebuild Haiti

The international community's response was fast and effective during the emergency cause by the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti that claimed at least 230,000 lives. But the "impressive" outpouring of solidarity stalled when reconstruction began, as international and local institutions failed to measure up to the challenge.

U.S. Bank Blacklists U.N. Missions

When the United Nations decided to locate its secretariat in the city of New York, the United States as host nation signed a "headquarters agreement" back in 1947 not only ensuring diplomatic immunity to foreign diplomats but also pledging to facilitate the day-to-day activities of member states without any hindrance.

HAITI: Haphazard Aid Hindering Long-Term Recovery

That Haiti will not recover from the trauma of 2010 for many years is an unfortunate but understood fact. More disturbing, according to a new analysis, is that aspects of current aid efforts are undermining Haiti's ability to begin the reconstruction process and develop a strong, functional state infrastructure.

AFPAK: People Turning Against Taliban

The Taliban once regarded as true jihadists here are rapidly losing popularity in response to their ongoing targeting of mosques, schools and innocent people.

CAMBODIA: Chinese Dams Challenge Western Development Monopoly

A steady rise of new dams in Cambodia is becoming a platform for the country’s prime minister to showcase where the Southeast Asian kingdom’s ties with China - a late arrival among Cambodia’s foreign aid and development partners - is headed.