MIDEAST: Could Have Danced All Siege

"I'd planned to have my wedding party on a Thursday night, when more people could come, and stay later. But because the Dabke dancers weren't free then, I held it on a Tuesday," says Mohammed Ghronaim, 27, from Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Civil Society Gives Rights Body A Failing Grade

A year after its creation, a South-east Asian human rights body has earned an unflattering label – that of being a window-dressing exercise to improve the image of a region that is home to governments notorious for suppressing political opponents, rather than expanding civil liberties.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Death Row Convicts Bear Brunt of Torture

As if being sentenced to death is not enough punishment, those on death row in Pakistan are also among those being singled out for abuse by jail personnel.

BRAZIL: Substantive Issues Missing from Election Campaign

In Brazil, 136 million voters will head to the polls in Sunday's presidential runoff election, after a campaign heavy on recriminations and moralistic attacks and weak on substantive issues.

LATIN AMERICA: Hunger Strikes Fuelled by Institutional Deafness

Protesters ranging from prisoners to government leaders have resorted to hunger strikes in Latin America in recent years to press their demands. Behind the growing use of the extreme protest measure is a lack of institutional responses, according to experts.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Vulnerable’ Asia Seeks To Reduce Disaster Risks

Even as Asian ministers discussed ways to reduce disaster risks here, news broke of a twin tragedy in Indonesia – a tsunami triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake, and the eruption of the country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi, whose name means "mountain of fire".

China Finds a New Gateway in East Europe

When China's new ambassador to Bulgaria assumed his post in mid-September he made headlines reminding the nation of a fact that may have been intentionally neglected by Bulgarian governments in the post-communist years of reform. Bulgaria was only the second country after the former Soviet Union to recognise the People's Republic in 1949, and that historical legacy was destined to endure.

BURMA: Poll A Showdown between Dead Strongman and Living One

The ghost of military-ruled Burma’s first strongman, Gen Ne Win, has returned to haunt the South-east Asian nation’s current junta leader, Senior Gen Than Shwe, as the country heads for its first general election in two decades on Nov. 7.

Afghan Women Demand Liberation, Not Lip Service

Afghanistan will not know peace until women are equal participants in negotiations, stresses a report released Thursday by the University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

Climate Change Denial Pervades U.S. Elections

In the run-up to the U.S. elections set to take place Nov. 2, the amount of money being spent and eccentricities on display have reached record levels. This has been particularly obvious in debates over energy and climate change.

PARAGUAY: Economy Soaring – For the Few

Paraguay's economy is currently growing at the fastest rate in Latin America, due to by growing demand and high prices for agricultural products, especially soy, which is driving the expansion. But the question is whether the benefits of the boom will trickle down to the poor majority.

PERU: New Leftwing Mayor of Lima to Face Uphill Task

When Susana Villarán is sworn in as mayor of the Peruvian capital on Jan. 1, she will face tough challenges, such as a meagre budget for public works, 1.5 million city residents without clean water and a mismanaged nutritional supplement programme.

Fake Medicines may Kill a Million a Year

Central and Eastern Europe is facing "significant challenges" in combating a multi-billion euro, and often lethal, trade in fake medicines, security and pharmaceutical groups have warned.

China Haunts Indian PM’s Tour

When Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns home from his current tour of Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam he will likely reflect on how closely the spectre of a an assertive China had dogged his travels.

ARGENTINA: Kirchner’s Death Raises Questions About President Fernandez

The death of former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) Wednesday brought to an end the political partnership he formed with his wife, President Cristina Fernández. Now all eyes are on her.

SOUTH AFRICA: Draft Bill Is ‘A Charter for Rogues’

A coalition of civil society groups marched to South Africa's Parliament on Oct. 27 to protest against the draft version of a new Protection of Information Bill. "This bill is a betrayal of all the democratic principles we fought for," anti-apartheid stalwart Kader Asmal told the crowd.

BRAZIL: Workers’ Party Support Base Redoubles Efforts for Victory

Every vote counts for the two candidates competing for the presidency of Brazil in next Sunday's runoff, and the governing Workers' Party (PT) is galvanising its electoral base into active campaigning, after the complacency instilled by eight years in power.

China Set to Reassert Clout in World Body

When a U.S. delegate once confronted a Chinese diplomat about Beijing's uncompromising support for Pakistan, the Chinese reportedly responded with a heavily-loaded sarcastic remark: "Pakistan is our Israel."

CHINA: As Tourists Come, Culture Goes

In 2005, the ‘National Geographic China’ magazine named this ethnic Tibetan village in western Sichuan province, sprawled over a valley wall amid snow-capped mountains, China’s most beautiful. Depending on how you look at it, that distinction was either a blessing or a curse.

ASIA: Irrigation Systems Deserve a Second Look, Say Experts

Asia’s search for ways to feed over one billion new mouths in the next 40 years is prompting experts to call for renewed faith in its wide network of irrigation systems in order to ensure adequate food production.

Cubans Queue Up for Copies of New Self-Employment Rules

"They brought me 100 copies, which sold out in less than half an hour," the vendor at one of the Cuban government's newsstands told IPS, referring to the nearly 100 pages of regulations published in the government gazette. The people queuing up "just about drove me crazy," he added.