U.S.: Guilty Plea for Child Fighter Averts “Publicity Nightmare”

With tongue in cheek, constitutional experts congratulated the U.S. government Tuesday for negotiating a plea deal with Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, thus avoiding a trial in the military commission "puppet theatre" of a defendant who was just 15 at the time of his offences.

DEVELOPMENT: Cambodia Passes On Demining Skills

Ngoun Thy shuffled through the darkened room. To the right, mortar shells, lined up in a row. To the left, a spool of aged wiring and a pile of metal.

Growing China Worries Neighbours

China’s imperious behaviour in recent territorial spats with its edgy neighbours has touched a raw nerve. Anxiety about its intentions and the future outlook loom large as leaders of the 16-nation East Asia Summit gather this weekend in Hanoi to discuss regional matters.

VENEZUELA: Hunger Strike Off as Gov’t Agrees to Talks on Native Demands

An 81-year-old Jesuit missionary in Venezuela ended a week-long hunger strike Monday after the government agreed to high-level talks to negotiate the release of three indigenous prisoners facing murder charges and to discuss land claims by Yukpa communities.

Argentine Census to Count Blacks for First Time in a Century

Wednesday is census day in Argentina, and an army of census-takers will be knocking on doors to collect data on, among other things, the number of blacks and indigenous people, and same-sex couples, in the country. But it is happening under a cloud of controversy and distrust.

Wikileaks Paints Grim Picture of Iraqi Civilian Casualties

Two revelations await the reader of the Wikileaks section dealing with civilian deaths in the Iraq War: Iraqis are responsible for most of these deaths, and the number of total civilian casualties is substantially higher than has been previously reported.

Leaked Report, New Iraqi Alignment Reveal U.S. War Failure

A newly released Wikileaks document on Iraq and the new political alignment between Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki both provide fresh evidence that Gen. David Petraeus's war against Shi'a militias in 2007-2008 was a futile exercise.

Women Warriors Take the Offensive in War Zones

The world's traditional peacemakers - a title long conferred on women - may be undergoing a gradual transformation.

Churchill Denied Relief to Bengal Famine Victims, Book Says

A new book on the Indian famine of 1943, also known as the Bengal famine named after the specific region where it occurred, has squarely put the responsibility for the famine on then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

DR CONGO: ‘An Opportunity to Say Never Again’

Civil society in the DRC's eastern province of South Kivu is determined that meaningful action will follow from the publication of the U.N.'s Mapping Project, a report detailing some of the most serious human rights violations by state and non-state actors in the DRC between 1993 and 2003.

AUSTRALIA: Campaign Continues for Parliamentary Seats for Aborigines

Ken Wyatt stood, draped in a traditional kangaroo-skin shroud. In a voice wavering at times with emotion, the only indigenous Australian ever elected to this nation’s lower house of Parliament presented his inaugural address.

Looking Beyond Burma’s 2010 Elections

While scores of international observers wait on tenterhooks for the first election in Burma in two decades - and one of only three multiparty elections in 60 years – a report by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights there suggests that the world need not wait for Nov. 7 to judge the outcome.

More Iraqi Prison Abuses Exposed on Wikileaks

The publication of a motherlode of secret field reports from the Iraq War are shining a bright light on heretofore unknown or underreported suspicions about the power of private security contractors and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by their fellow Iraqis, often with their U.S. military counterparts "turning a blind eye".

MEXICO: Juarez Residents Fight for Safe Public Spaces

The setting sun creates long shadows on the pavement in the crowded Del Safari neighbourhood in the southwest of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Casting the shadows are young people playing percussion instruments or children breakdancing or performing daring skateboard jumps.

AFGHANISTAN: Do Peace Talks Have Traction?

Reports over the past 10 days of high-level talks between the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and senior representatives of the Taliban have spurred growing speculation here about whether Washington is looking for a speedy exit to the longest foreign war in its history.

Honduras Worried About Becoming Narco-State

Fears of becoming a narco-state have prompted Honduras to refocus its anti-drug strategy, in order to block the infiltration of Mexican drug cartels, which are moving southward into Central America, experts told IPS.

Uribe and Other Hurdles for Colombia’s Land Law

Although it was to be expected, former president Álvaro Uribe's return to politics in Colombia has caused a stir and has a clear aim: to block two of his successor Juan Manuel Santos's pet projects -- reparations to victims of the armed conflict and the restoration of land to displaced peasant farmers.

TAIWAN: Activists Seek More Safeguards in Accords with China

Activists here are calling for the use of democratic mechanisms and enhanced transparency to "hedge" risks posed to Taiwan by a series of agreements negotiated between Taipei and Beijing.

MIDEAST: Treasure House Under Threat

Few outside of Gaza would consider its history much beyond the decades of Israeli occupation. But Gaza is a historical treasure house. Many of those treasures are now in Israeli museums, and those that remain are becoming difficult to preserve due to the Israeli siege.

The Prospects and Pitfalls of 1325

Ten years after the Security Council issued its landmark resolution 1325, designed to address the "disproportionate and unique impact of war on women", U.N. officials and international human rights advocates say it is high time the principles it espouses move from paper to reality.

U.S.: Report Details Tea Party Ties with Hate Groups

Asserting that "the majority of Tea Party supporters are sincere, principled people of good will", the head of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) and other U.S. civil rights leaders are calling on the populist political grouping to purge itself of known racists lest they influence the direction of the movement.