POLITICS: Human Suffering Escalates in Cote d’Ivoire

For three days, 25-year-old Ousmane Traoré attended the private clinic in the populous district of Abobo, north of Abidjan. Suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen as a result of the Ivorian opposition demonstrations, he was forced to leave the main hospital in Treichville, south of Abidjan, due to a lack of assistance.

Obama Scores Win with New START Ratification

U.S. President Barack Obama scored key wins Wednesday in both foreign policy and domestic politics as more than the required two-thirds of the Senate - including 13 Republicans who defied their party's leadership - voted to ratify the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia.

Peace Must Be “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned”, Diplomats Say

The U.S. move to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan may be seen in Washington as the only effective and viable strategy to stabilise the country, but not everyone in the diplomatic community here at U.N. headquarters agrees.

POLITICS-BRAZIL: Continuity, With a Woman’s Face

In the countdown to her inauguration on Jan. 1, Brazilian President-elect Dilma Rousseff has completed her cabinet, which points to a government of continuity whose most novel aspect will be a greater female presence.

US Stepping Up Pressure on Pakistan

This week's leak to the New York Times of a proposal for U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) raids against Afghan insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan may be intended to put more pressure on the Pakistani military to take action against those sanctuaries.

CANADA: Buck-Passing Marks Postmortem of G20 Chaos

Six months after the chaos surrounding security and policing at June's G20 leaders' summit in Toronto, there is little agreement about where the buck should stop.

WIKILEAKS: Yours Obediently, Europe

Commenting on the state of trans-Atlantic relations in 2008, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter argued that European Union governments are "not our vassals" but "occupy an equal position with the U.S." Documents released over the past month appear to offer a different view.

EUROPE: More of the Last Dictatorship

Belarus is set to remain Europe’s last dictatorship after Alexander Lukashenka was returned to the presidency last weekend in an election result which his critics say was never in doubt.

U.N. in Test of Wills over Cote d’Ivoire Crisis

The United Nations is taking an unrelenting stand on the spreading constitutional crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, where two contenders - one victorious and the other vanquished - are battling it out for the country's presidency.

ECUADOR: Voters to Go to Ballot Box on Anti-Crime Measures

A referendum on reforms to the new constitution and criminal law is to be held in Ecuador in response to the mounting public security crisis, giving left-wing President Rafael Correa an opportunity to canvass public opinion on these thorny issues.

POLITICS: Women Still a Parliamentary Minority in Kenya

While some countries like Liberia can boast that they have a female President, Kenya is still grappling with allowing women room to exercise their leadership roles in Parliament and at local government level.

JAPAN: Becoming International, But Not Quite

Forget dropping names or slipping the hostess a bill or two. It’s luck that’s important in snagging a reservation at Dhaba, an average-priced Indian restaurant that has become such a must-go place for Tokyo residents that guests are limited to a maximum stay of two hours.

REFUGEES: Liberians Struggle to Cope With Fleeing Ivorians

Albertine Yahwah sits on a hard wooden bench, cradling her little baby in her arms. The 20 year-old walked from the Ivory Coast with her two children and her husband to reach this small town across the border in Northern Liberia.

THAILAND: Online Censorship Triggers Fear among Bloggers

When he is not designing another house for this city’s sprawling urbanscape, a Thai architect in his mid-forties worries about another run-in with this kingdom’s cyber police.

U.S.: Prisoners Coordinate Statewide Strike via Cellphones

In what some are calling the largest prison strike in U.S. history, inmates in the state of Georgia coordinated a strike across multiple prison facilities using pre-paid cell phones.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Repeal Marks Rare Victory for Obama

The U.S. Senate's repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy Saturday ended what had become for many an embarrassing and awkward policy - and marked a rare victory for the agenda of President Barack Obama in the U.S. Congress.

BOOKS-IRAQ: Division Accomplished

Few in Washington want to talk much about Iraq these days.

India-EU Deal Threatens Mom-and-Pop Retail

Retail giants pushing the European Union-India free trade deal promise consumers a "new and dynamic retail experience" but ignore the fate of India’s "mom-and-pop" stores and some 40 million people they employ.

MIDEAST: Israel Demolishing Talks

More and more Palestinians are paying the price for deadlocked talks over Israel’s continued settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Gains in Kandahar Came with More Brutal U.S. Tactics

The Barack Obama administration's claim of "progress" in its war strategy is based on the military seizure of three rural districts outside Kandahar City in October.

U.S., Last Holdout on Native Rights Declaration, Reverses Stand

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Thursday he was reversing the U.S.'s position and endorsing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.