U.N. Chief May Be Heading for Showdown with Israel

When the Israeli government gave its blessings to a U.N. panel of inquiry probing the military attack on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza last May, there was widespread speculation that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon may have struck a backdoor deal over its mandate.

Trial of “Child Soldier” Opens at Guantanamo

Omar Khadr was only 15 when he was captured by U.S. forces in 2002 in Afghanistan. Now, eight years later, the 23-year-old is on trial in Guantanamo Bay, in the first military commission trial since the beginning of the Barack Obama administration.

BRAZIL: Environmental Impact Studies on Dams Count for Little in Amazon

"It's a fait accompli," acknowledges André Villas-Boas, head of the independent SocioEnvironmental Institute (ISA), resigned to the fact that the legal actions and protests have failed to block the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil's Amazon jungle region.

AUSTRALIA: Compensation Isn’t Justice in Aboriginal Death – Critics

Late on a hot summer morning in January 2008, 46-year-old Aboriginal elder Mr Ward climbed into the back of a prisoner transport van for the 360- kilometre, four-hour journey from the small Western Australian goldfields town of Laverton to Kalgoorlie, a larger mining centre, where he was due in court to face drink driving charges.

MIDEAST: Homeless Take On Israeli Forces

A bruising battle of will is taking place between Israeli security forces and Palestinians recently made homeless after two Palestinian villages were razed and hundreds left homeless.

POLITICS-RWANDA: “Climate of Repression” as Voting Concludes

As voting concluded in Rwanda’s presidential elections, with incumbent President Paul Kagame expected to win by a landslide, fears remain that not all citizens will accept the results amidst claims the elections were neither free nor fair.

COLOMBIA: Santos Inherits Country of Economic Contrasts

During the eight years that Álvaro Uribe governed Colombia, annual economic growth averaged 4.3 percent. Nevertheless, President Juan Manuel Santos, who was sworn in on Saturday, has taken over a country with the highest unemployment rate in Latin America.

CUBA-US: Milestone Theatre Production Breaches Cultural Blockade

"When time starts to change, no one can stop it," says a character in "El canto del pozo ciego" (Blind Mouth Singing), a play that is reviving the cultural exchange between Cuba and the United States, which has been virtually nonexistent over the past 10 years.

BURMA: Call for War Crimes Inquiry Foils U.N. Envoy’s Trip

When a U.N. human rights investigator for Burma called for an international inquiry to look into possible war crimes by the country’s military regime, he added significant weight to similar calls that had been made in other quarters.

SINGAPORE: Youth Games Expose Olympic-sized Cracks

Just a month after the buzz from the vuvuzelas ended at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Singapore is busy preparing to host the next major event in the world sports calendar – the Youth Olympic Games. But few seem to know, or care, about the inaugural youth version of the venerable Olympic Games.

INDIA: End to Fuel Subsidies Brings Damaging Diversions

While India's opposition parties are agitating against moves by the pro-reform government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to remove subsidies on petrol and other fuels, experts say the country has laboured too long under price distortions that have not benefited poorer people -- or the environment.

MIDEAST: Injured Workers Man Battered Services

Outside the battered Civil Defence station in northern Gaza's Jabalia region, Mohammed Zidan, a seven-year veteran of fire-fighting and rescue services, stands on crutches in front of battered Civil Defence vehicles.

AUSTRALIA: Enough of Uranium Mining, Say Aboriginal Communities

As a mining giant prepares to open a major uranium mining site in Western Australia next year, the clamour for the state to once more ban mining of the radioactive mineral has become louder.

WORLD: Cooking Up a Climate Deal

Another round of negotiations towards a global treaty on climate change concluded in Bonn on Aug. 6, with activists calling on parties to rediscover a spirit of compromise and make offers rather than demands.

ISRAEL: Kibbutz Returns With Moneyed Communism

It was an idea that became an institution, and that became the moving spirit behind the creation of the State of Israel. These were people who wanted to change the world. Now, they're content to live a life of carefree irrelevance. That's the Kibbutz today.

ARTS: Walking in the Shoes of a Muslim in New York

A woman waits on a subway platform, head bowed, pretending to ignore the insults. Perched on bar stools, a group of friends listen to racist jokes, suppressing giggles. Kneeling, a young war veteran tells his fiancée of his decision to return to combat. Two men wait expectantly at a job interview. An old man and a young graffiti artist sit together on a bench, discussing the power of language.

MIDEAST: On the Freedom Flight From Gaza, For a While

I tasted freedom for the first time in three years. After being stuck in Gaza since 2007 I travelled to Malaysia for a holiday. It was like visiting another planet. Being treated like a human being and being able to experience what many young people around the world take for granted, was a miracle.

EUROPE: Citizen Rights Don’t Apply to Roma

All major European countries plan mass expulsions of Roma or demolitions of Roma settlements. Rights groups warn that these measures entail the criminalisation of an entire ethnic group, and break EU law.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Native People Demand Autonomy Over Territory

In the view of governments, international bodies and some sectors of civil society participating in negotiations towards new global rules on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the REDD programme is the last chance to save tropical rainforests.

COLOMBIA: Dismal Human Rights Record Has Not Dented Uribe’s Popularity

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe ends his second consecutive term Saturday with 75 percent approval ratings and strong international support reflected by his designation this week as vice chair of a United Nations-appointed international panel to investigate Israel's attack on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in May.

IRAN: Eyes on the Skies Over Bushehr Nuclear Reactor

Iran's light water nuclear power plant at Bushehr is preparing to go "live" - again.