Egypt Cracks Down as U.S. Stands By

In the face of police brutality, crackdowns on political parties and media, and a host of other violations ahead of Egypt's Nov. 28 parliamentary election, human rights advocates are calling on President Barack Obama to use U.S. leverage to persuade Egypt to reform its electoral process, allow international monitors to assess the election, and conduct transparent and accountable balloting.

SYRIA: Iraqi Kids Struggle on Dangerous Edges

Leila, 17, presses her hijab-clad head against the front door and strains to hear outside. "There's nothing," she says cautiously, turning towards her mother Rawda, the head of the household, in their quiet basement apartment. Along the brocade couch sit her two sisters, Mona, 19, Nadja, 15, and 10-year-old brother Khaled.*

BURMA: If Freed, Suu Kyi Would Face New Political Landscape

To some in her country she is known as "The Lady," and to others, the more endearing "Aunty Suu." Yet beyond the borders of Burma, which has endured nearly 50 years of oppressive military regimes, Aung San Suu Kyi has been long regarded as the icon of the country’s struggling democracy movement.

China Closes In Around its Rare Earth

The western world sees China erecting trade walls. But China sees a throwback to an era of plundering and forceful western politics that followed the Opium wars of the 19th century and precipitated the collapse of the Chinese empire.

INDIA: Dalits Turn to the Goddess of English

India's Dalits are turning to the ''Goddess of English'' for deliverance from centuries of religiously-sanctioned caste oppression.

MEXICO: Tens of Thousands of Missing Central American Migrants

The last time Estela Domínguez of Mexico saw her daughter Estela Paz was in April 2006, when the young woman left home with the goal of reaching Las Vegas, Nevada.

Trade, Clean Energy Top Obama’s Asia Agenda

Just days after his party suffered defeat in the U.S. congressional elections, President Barack Obama is finally taking a twice-postponed trip to Asia.

Nicaragua on Obstacle Course to Women’s Equality

Nicaragua has made some progress promoting gender equity and the empowerment of women, but it will have to step up efforts and overcome a number of hurdles if it is to eliminate inequalities between the sexes at all levels by 2015.

POLITICS-BURMA: To Vote or Not to Vote

Near markets, bus stops and busy areas in this city, groups of young people are busy handling out leaflets with a photograph of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her message saying "people have a right not to vote if they don’t want to".

FINANCE: Ahead of G-20 Summit, Capital Controls Gain New Currency

South Korea’s closing of ranks with Asian countries that have recently embraced capital controls signifies that such measures will be up for discussion at next week’s summit of the world’s 20 major economies in Seoul.

The Diaspora Gaining a Political Voice

Pablo Rodríguez, a Mexican migrant living in the United States, is a congressman in the Zacatecas state government in central Mexico, thanks to years of hard work by migrants’ organisations to recover the political rights people lose when they cross the border.

The G20 in Seoul – Summit or Abyss?

On Nov. 11, the Group of 20 (G20), representing the interests of countries who collectively produce over 85 percent of global wealth, will gather in Seoul, South Korea for its fifth summit.

ASIA-PACIFIC: Trade Concerns Loom In Yet Another APEC Summit

Yet another Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is around the corner, but questions remain about its impact on trade liberalisation more than 20 years after the forum was born amid grand visions of a world free of trade barriers.

GREECE: Chinese Turn Up, At the Right Time

The clichés of the China man in Greece are quickly unraveling. The cheap clothing trader and the small Chinese restaurant owner are still there. Chinese masseuses are still trawling the beaches in search for customers. This familiar crowd, though, is increasingly overtaken by throngs of picture-snapping and cash-dolling Chinese tourists.

BRITAIN: Not Executing, Just Enabling

European Union officials are reluctant to tighten up rules covering the trade in products designed for torture or the death penalty, despite suggestions that a British company has been exporting lethal injection drugs used in executions.

BAHRAIN: Poll Win Gives Women Candidates A Push

The recent election of Bahrain’s first female municipal councilor is boosting hopes among women here that they are seeing the beginning of the end to gender-based voting in this country.

RIGHTS-PERU: US Court OKs Extradition of ‘Butcher of the Andes’

A U.S. appeals court has given the green light to the extradition to Peru of retired Peruvian army officer Telmo Hurtado, who fled to Miami in 2002 to escape trial for the Aug. 14, 1985 massacre of 69 people in the southern Andean village of Accomarca.

Obama Foreign Policy Likely to Face Republican Challenges

While foreign policy issues played almost no role in Tuesday's election results, the historic Republican landslide will almost certainly make Barack Obama's vision of a more positive U.S. role in international affairs more difficult to pursue.

U.N. Journos Decry Move to Torpedo Rent-Free Offices

The United Nations is in danger of becoming irrelevant or even non-existent - specifically in the eyes of the developing world - because of a revived proposal to provide office space only to journalists who can afford to pay rent.

COLOMBIA: Senator Piedad Cordoba’s Legal Battle

"I am Piedad Córdoba: a feminist, humanist and pacifist."

Republicans Sweep U.S. House

Opposition Republicans have scored major victories in the country's midterm elections by taking control over the House of Representatives from the Democrats and scoring impressive gains in the Senate, which delivered a stinging blow to Barack Obama's presidency.