U.S. Still Top Arms Supplier to South as Record Sale to Saudis Pends

Despite an unusual dip in global weapons sales in 2009, the United States retained its spot as the world's top arms supplier of developing countries, according to an authoritative new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

RIGHTS-CHILE: 14 Military Members Convicted in ‘Historic’ Ruling

Eleven members of the Chilean armed forces and three Uruguayan military officers were found guilty of the kidnap-murder of Chilean biochemist Eugenio Berríos, an intelligence agent of the 1973-1990 regime of Chilean Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

Kidnapping Spurs Fresh Call to End Impunity in DR Congo

Civil society is calling for an end to impunity for the harassment of human rights activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The renewed call comes as an activist kidnapped at the end of August have described their detention and torture by uniformed captors.

SOUTH AMERICA: Amnesties for Dictatorship Crimes Slowly Crumble

At very different paces, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay advance down the path towards annulling or at least neutralising the laws that protected those responsible for human rights crimes committed under their dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s.

E.U. Pushes for Bigger Voice at U.N.

U.N. member states are expected to pass a resolution Monday that will grant the European Union unprecedented speaking rights during formal meetings of the General Assembly, of which the next session – it's 65th – begins Tuesday.

Living on the Edge of Caravans

Broken bicycles and old suitcases mark the entrance to the makeshift camp. Ankle-deep in mud that is newly wet from a rain-shower, the visitor is taken by the hand by lively children to meet their parents.

Church Urged to Fight Death Penalty

The Church is being urged to abandon its apolitical stance to help end the death penalty in Belarus as campaigners for its abolition warn that two men could be executed within weeks in the former Soviet state.

MIDEAST: PA has its Back to the Wall

The village of Bani Naim, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, was under curfew and sealed off by Israeli soldiers stationed in troop carriers and jeeps, as peace talks continued in Washington.

CAMBODIA: Gov’t Heats Up Anti-Smoking Campaign

For anti-smoking advocate Mom Kong, the ubiquitous flashy cigarette advertisements he sees throughout Cambodia’s capital city are a major barrier to reducing smoking.

Thousands Rally for Islamic Centre on 9/11 Anniversary

If you think that most citizens of the United States are racist or anti-Muslim, perhaps you have been relying too much on television news , especially the shows produced by the private networks in the United States.

MIDEAST: Gazans Desert Their Donkey-Zebra

"We haven't had a single visit yet through Ramadan, what kind of zoo doesn't get visitors during holidays?" asks Mahmoud Barghoud, 22, co-creator of the Marha zoo.

CHINA: Journalists Risk Their Lives to Expose Corruption

Despite what are often overwhelming obstacles, a gutsy minority of investigative reporters in China continues to expose official corruption and criminal behaviour. But they do so at their own peril.

RIGHTS-PERU: U.N. Expert Concerned by “Climate of Impunity”

Trials of members of the security forces for human rights violations in Peru, especially in cases of massacres of civilians, are moving very slowly, creating "the perception of a climate of impunity," said United Nations expert Martin Scheinin at the conclusion of a visit to the country.

MIGRATION: Ecuador’s Open Door Begins to Close for Some

The Ecuadorean government's policy of "universal citizenship," which did away with visas or other requirements for foreigners entering the country, has clashed with the reality that Ecuador is being used for human trafficking -- so now there are some exceptions.

Global Development Blueprint Reveals Urgent Uphill Battle

A document outlining the U.N.'s strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 was finalised Thursday after months of heated negotiations.

DEVELOPMENT: Cambodia Mulls Affirmative Action for Women

Cambodian authorities must take sweeping measures to boost the number of women who sit in parliament if the country is to meet a key part of its global commitment to gender equality, advocates say.

NEPAL: Adoption Suspension Leaves Children in Limbo

A big question marks looms over the future of many Nepali children in various child homes in the country in the wake of the suspension by 11 countries of their child adoption programmes for this Himalayan nation.

POLITICS: Cautious Optimism on Arms Trafficker’s Extradition to U.S.

In the shadowy global network of arms traffickers, Victor Bout enjoyed a special place, according to Western intelligence sources. He was the poster boy, the kingpin, the lord of this deadly illegal trade.

U.N. Nudges Serbia into Talks over Breakaway Kosovo

In a much-anticipated vote Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously passed a compromise draft resolution aimed at reopening talks, facilitated by the European Union, between Belgrade and Pristina.

U.N. Chief Returns from “Damage Control” Trip to Rwanda

U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon returned Thursday from what has been described as a damage control trip to Rwanda, in an attempt to reassure President Paul Kagame that his concerns over the recently leaked Mapping Exercise report are being heard.

Mixed Civil Society Response to New EU Aid Funds

Civil society organisations welcomed the announcement of an additional 1.27 billion dollars in development aid funding by European Commission president José Manuel Durâo Barroso, but said it was insufficient to reduce extreme poverty by 2015, as stipulated by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).