Kazakhstan Escapes Censure Over Rights

As Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) comes to an end, its authoritarian leadership has been accused of ignoring pledges to improve human rights and instead stifling opposition and cracking down on freedom of expression.

CHINA: Dubious Confucian Answer to ‘Clowns’

The Chinese boycott of the Nobel Peace Prize, which this year was awarded to a jailed Chinese dissident, has evoked unflattering associations with brutal regimes that imprisoned political opponents and refused to acknowledge their popular sway.

Mideast Peace Key to Countering Iran, Arabs Told U.S. Diplomats

Gleeful Israeli leaders and their neo-conservative supporters here have spent much of the past week insisting that the State Department cables published by Wikileaks prove that Sunni Arab leaders in the Middle East are far more preoccupied with the threat posed by an ascendant and possibly nuclear Iran than with a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Judge Declines to Rule on Targeted Killings of U.S. Citizens

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a court challenge to the policy of the administration of Barack Obama to target and execute U.S. citizens outside combat zones who do not pose an imminent threat.

OP-ED: Stimulate the Green Race to Tackle Climate Change

While negotiators in Cancún are struggling to make progress, there is something interesting happening in the world. And, it is good news. Countries have started to recognise and act upon the economic value in meeting the demand for green technology.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Protesters Say “No” to Climate Market

The short-cuts that the United Nations system is offering companies to profit from strategies against global warming were the target of loud protests on the Day of Action for Climate Justice.

Time Runs Short for Progress on Iran Nuke Talks

The first meeting between Iran and the world's major powers in more than a year ended Tuesday with little to show apart from a vague promise to meet again next month in Turkey.

Cuba Commutes Sentences; Only One Person Still on Death Row

Human rights activists are pleased with the decision by Cuba’s Supreme Court to commute to 30 years in prison the death sentences of two Salvadoran men convicted of terrorism. But dissidents continue to call for complete abolition of the death penalty.

Q&A: Universal Basic Income Would Combat Inequality in Latin America

Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay and even Brazil are close to being able to provide a universal basic income to all citizens, which is the way to make cash transfers an effective tool in fighting inequality, according to Martín Hopenhayn.

CHINA: More Growth Lies Ahead, But Hurdles Too

As China’s economy continues to soar, many experts here remain only cautiously optimistic about the country’s future growth, confident that its fundamentals remain strong but concerned that a real estate bubble and rising inflation could slow economic growth.

Cables Belie Gulf States’ Backing for Strikes on Iran

The dominant theme that emerged in U.S. media coverage of the first round of Wikileaks diplomatic cables last week was that Arab regimes in the Gulf - led by Saudi Arabia - shared Israel's view that Iran's nuclear programme had to be stopped by military force, if necessary.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Straining Gnats and Swallowing Camels

What some people view as modest but real progress in the climate change talks, now in their second week in this southeastern Mexican resort city, others see as no more than smokescreens or "false solutions."

U.S.: Govt Forced to Release Docs on Spying Programme

Last week's release of 900 pages of U.S. government documents dealing with the implementation of the nation's primary surveillance law suggests that the government has been systematically violating the privacy rights of U.S. citizens.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Legislators Seek to Influence Cancun

"And what about after 2012?", when the Kyoto Protocol climate change treaty’s first period of commitments ends, was the question floating around an international meeting of legislators held over the weekend in the Mexican capital.

Preparing for a Chinese Eton

Zhou Hongxia thought the King’s Scholars classroom was cold and damp and rather dark, the wooden benches carved and stained with the ink of hundreds of students that have filed through it over the centuries.

U.S. Execution Capital Reconsiders Ultimate Punishment

On Monday, Dec. 6, a district court in Texas will be asked – for the first time in that U.S. state's history – to decide whether the death penalty is unconstitutional based on the "disproportionately high risk of wrongful convictions" in Texas.

MIDEAST: As Palestinians ‘Commute’ to Work

It's 5am. The late autumn dawn is about to break. But for 3,500 Palestinian workers, a hard day's work began hours ago.

INDIA: Brakes Applied to SUVs – ‘Socially Useless Vehicles’

Indian owners of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and luxury cars, who have been benefiting from subsidies on diesel meant to help farmers, may soon have to pay real prices for their fuel.

U.S.-WEST AFRICA: Report Urges Enhanced Maritime Security

The United States and its allies should give much more attention - and resources - to ensuring that weak West African governments along the oil- and gas-rich Gulf of Guinea can protect their territory and coastal regions from terrorists, drug and human traffickers, and other threats, according to new report by an influential think tank released here this week.

Southern Africa Collectively Gearing Up For REDD

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is moving to support its member countries to tap into benefits from the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) framework.

CLIMATE CHANGE: New Forest Agreement – REDD Hot Issue at Cancun

A large number of social organisations are not pleased with the international convention on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) being negotiated at the COP16 climate summit.