TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: “Parochialism” Stymies Integration Efforts

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has set ambitious targets for regional integration. But the goal of creating a customs union by 2010 has been postponed and the adoption of a single regional currency by 2018 may be missed due to national concerns.

MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE: Divided Over the Death Penalty

South-east Asian neighbours Malaysia and Singapore have had several political spats over the years, including long-running arguments over water supply and a territorial dispute over the Pedra Branca islets at the eastern entrance to the Straits of Singapore.

BURMA: As Vote Nears, Moods Range from Disdain to Determination

"Voting in X (number of) days," reads what sound like a reminder to voters in the front pages of weekly journals here ahead of the Nov. 7 general election in Burma, the first to be held in 20 years.

MIDEAST: But the Coffins Do Come In

Samir Tahseen Al-Nadeem died after waiting 35 days for an exit permit for treatment for his heart condition. He was 26. The medicines he needed could not get in. But the coffins do.

Emerging Powers to Challenge Elite Security Council

When the 15-member Security Council meets next January, the United Nations will celebrate a rare political landmark: the 10 rotating non-permanent members will include some of the world's rising new players on the global stage, including India, South Africa, Germany, Brazil and Nigeria - all sitting under one roof and negotiating around the legendary horseshoe table.

China Offers a ‘Marshall Plan’ to Some of Europe

China's display of largesse towards debt-ridden European nations has divided observers, inviting comparisons on one side to a Chinese Marshall plan for Europe, and to a Chinese communist takeover of the continent on the other.

KYRGYZSTAN: First Woman President Makes a Mark

When Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva was selected to be President of Kyrgyzstan, she became the first woman head of state in the predominantly Muslim Central Asian region.

SRI LANKA: Peace Dividend Perks Up Economy

The Taj Samudra, the flagship property here of Taj Hotels India, sits on what is arguably the best location in Sri Lanka’s capital. Overlooking the Indian Ocean, it is the only five-star hotel in this city from which guests can walk out straight into the largest sea-fronted green esplanade in the country.

Guatemala to Investigate Human Experimentation by U.S. Doctors

A high-level commission has been set up to look into appalling medical experiments carried out by U.S. researchers on hundreds of Guatemalans in the 1940s, and the government of this Central American country is debating alternative ways for the United States to make reparations.

Senate Urges Pentagon to Rein in Afghan Contractors

Failures in vetting, training and supervising Defence Department private security contractors are putting U.S. and coalition troops as well as Afghan civilians at risk and unwittingly aiding Afghan militants by hiring security contractors provided by the Taliban and by warlords, warns a new report released last week by the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.

POLITICS-THAILAND: Government’s Use of Emergency Law Under Fire

A powerful bomb that ripped through an apartment building on the Thai capital’s outskirts last week – one that killed the suspected bomb maker and three people – has provided the latest twist to an ongoing debate about the Thai government’s continuing use of a harsh emergency law.

TAIWAN: Activists Turn to Film as Weapon against Death Penalty

"We never want to see anyone else in Taiwan become a second Lu Cheng," declared Lu Ching, referring to her younger brother whom she believes was wrongfully executed in September 2000 after being forced to confess to a kidnap-murder.

KAZAKHSTAN: Prisoners Protest by Self-Mutilation

Horrific protests that have seen hundreds of inmates slice their stomachs open over conditions in jails in Kazakhstan are set to continue as the UN accuses the Central Asian country of trying to mask the real state of its prison system.

BOTSWANA: Not All Women in Local Government Making a Difference

Florence Shagwa, a female councillor at the Gaborone City Council, considers her three-year business qualification worthless.

KENYA: Room to Improve on Governance

Kimani Wanyama*, a homosexual man living in Nairobi, knows what human rights violations are all about. His attempts over three years to receive treatment for reoccurring rectal gonorrhoea had resulted in verbal abuse and intense stigmatisation from the very people who were meant to help him.

DEATH PENALTY: Arab Abolitionist Movements Seek Unity

Rights activists have called for nascent abolitionist movements of the Middle East and North Africa to coordinate their efforts to press Arab regimes to end capital punishment.

Pakistan’s Convoy Halt Forces U.S. to Reduce Tensions

By continuing its halt in NATO convoys headed for Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing into a second week, Pakistan's military leadership has brought an end to the unilateral attacks in Pakistan pushed by Gen. David Petraeus and forced Washington to make a new accommodation.

CLIMATE CHANGE: 7,000 Events Planned in 188 Countries

NGOs and ordinary citizens around the world plan to help raise awareness on the problems caused by climate change and urge governments to adopt policies to combat the phenomenon, with more than 7,000 activities in 188 countries on Sunday.

U.S.-CHINA: Will Renewed Military Ties Relax Regional Tensions?

While a growing dispute between the U.S. and China over the proper valuation of the renminbi is likely to dominate this weekend's annual meeting here of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), another aspect of the complex bilateral relationship between the two global giants may be on the mend.

RIGHTS-LATIN AMERICA: Making Forced Disappearance “Disappear”

Agustín Cetrángolo from Argentina is tireless in his fight to bring to justice those responsible for the forced disappearance of his father, who was seized in 1978 by the dictatorship of that South American country and was held in at least two different concentration camps in Buenos Aires before he went missing forever.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Identity of Black People Recognised, But Needs Neglected

Although their human rights are increasingly recognised, blacks in Mexico and Central America are the poorest and most marginalised people in Latin America, according to experts.