Canada Seeks to Drop Native Peoples from New Biodiversity Pact

Blame Canada if countries fail to agree to a new binding treaty to curb the rapid loss of plant, animal and species that form the intricate web of life that sustains humanity. That is the view of indigenous representatives from Canada in response to a late night move by the Canadian delegation to strike a reference to indigenous peoples' rights at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) members' conference here.

JAPAN: Foreigners Can Live Here, But Not Vote

Rising opposition is likely to block the passage of a bill giving voting rights to foreign nationals who have permanent residency in Japan – even though the majority of this group has been born here.

PAKISTAN: After the Bitterness of the Floods Comes ‘Sweet Water’

Pakistan’s recent catastrophic floods has had many alternately worried and depressed, but the indigenous community that calls the mudflats between the creeks of the Indus delta home has been having a decidedly far different reaction.

U.S.: Think Tank Calls for “Bold Leap Forward” in India Ties

On the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's maiden voyage to India early next month, an influential think tank is calling for "a bold leap forward" in ties between the two nations.

Q&A: What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq

The U.S.-led invasion and then occupation of Iraq brought a sharp setback to the rights of women in that country, UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid tells IPS in an interview.

LATIN AMERICA: Women Peacekeepers Have a Vital Role to Play

In June 2009, Chilean army captain Andrea Fuentes travelled to the city of Cap-Haïtien, in north Haiti, to serve for six months in her country's contingent in the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

BURMA: Ahead of Poll, Junta Faces Off with A Familiar Foe – Radio

As military-ruled Burma heads towards its first general election in two decades in November, its citizens are tuning in to their enduring faith in the old communication order – the power of the radio.

RIGHTS-CHINA: Jury Still Out On Fewer Crimes Punishable by Death

China’s top legislative body is considering scrapping the death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes, including tax evasion, tomb raiding and animal smuggling. But the impact these changes will have on the total number of prisoners the country puts to death is uncertain.

EGYPT: Gag Tightens on Media Ahead of Elections

Media watchdogs see the "invisible hand" of the ruling party behind a string of firings and resignations that have removed some of Egypt's most prominent government critics from their soapboxes just weeks before parliamentary elections.

MIDEAST: This Peaceful Position Takes Courage

A former captain in the Israeli Air Force, previously an ardent Zionist who lost many members of his family in the Holocaust, has been labelled a psychopath and denounced by many Israelis for the moral stand he has taken against the Israeli occupation.

CHINA: On the Thousand Mothers March

Rebiya Kadeer has taken up a campaign for the rights of a people usually far from world headlines: the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim minority in China.

Risking Death to Report the Truth

Alma Guillermoprieto was one of only two journalists to investigate rumours of the notorious massacre in El Mozote, El Salvador in December 1981. Because the slaughter of 1,000 unarmed civilians was perpetrated by the U.S.-backed Salvadorian Army, the Ronald Reagan administration attempted to discredit her work.

HAITI: Tensions Mount Ahead of Controversial Polls

The United Nations' role in rebuilding Haiti is again being questioned days after peacekeepers clashed with a group of activists protesting the renewal of the 12,000-member U.N. military and police force near the Haitian capital of Port-au- Prince.

INDIA: Many Scientific Reports Plagiarsed

Embarrassing retractions of scientific papers and a thinly-disguised report favouring introduction of genetically modified crops by the country's top science academies have revived calls for more stringent action against plagiarism and unethical practices.

Chinese Art Appears With Health Warning

China's rebel artist Ai Weiwei had intended a political message. And may be a truly memorable metaphor for the state of modern China and humanity as a whole. But the final outcome of his multimedia installation at the London's Tate Modern may have been rather unexpected, for what he got was a striking symbol of the 'Made in China' effect on the world.

EUROPE: For Women, East Is Backward East

Women's rights organisations in Eastern Europe say they are struggling to overcome centuries-old gender stereotypes.

MIDEAST: Earning a Living in No Man’s Land

Crossing through the metal-caged tunnel that leads from the Israeli side of the border into northern Gaza towards the Palestinian checkpoint, several groups of young Palestinian men and boys can be seen scavenging through piles of rubble.

CENTRAL ASIA: U.S. Military Aid Far Outpaces Democracy Assistance

Desperate to secure supply routes to Afghanistan, the United States has been spending at least six times more on military aid for the mostly authoritarian states of Central Asia than on efforts to promote political liberalisation and human rights in the region, according to a new report released here by the Open Society Foundations (OSF).

BHUTAN: Slowly, Internet and Communication Let the World In

An introduction in Bhutan these days is usually accompanied by "I'm on Facebook!" Anjali Bista, 11, is no exception.

AFGHANISTAN-US: Report Shows Drones Strikes Based on Scant Evidence

New information on the Central Intelligence Agency's campaign of drone strikes in northwest Pakistan directly contradicts the image the Barack Obama administration and the CIA have sought to establish in the news media of a programme based on highly accurate targeting that is effective in disrupting al Qaeda's terrorist plots against the United States.

POLITICS-BAHRAIN: More Than A Matter of Putting Women in Office

Women candidates seem to be getting scarcer in Bahraini elections, but women leaders here say female poll participation is no longer about getting into office.