COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Bolivar’s Heirs Clash on Bicentennial

The latest political and diplomatic conflict between Colombia and Venezuela has coincided with celebrations of the bicentennial of the two countries' independence, won by their common liberator Simón Bolívar, whose ideals of integration continue to be undermined.

Muslim Centre Prevails in Battle over Site Near ‘Ground Zero’

In a case viewed by many as a test of religious tolerance in the post-9/11 era, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously Tuesday morning against designating the future location of a Muslim-led community centre as a historic landmark.

Obama Drops 2009 Pledge to Withdraw Combat Troops from Iraq

Seventeen months after President Barack Obama pledged to withdraw all combat brigades from Iraq by Sep. 1, 2010, he quietly abandoned that pledge Monday, admitting implicitly that such combat brigades would remain until the end of 2011.

MEXICO: Asbestos, a Toxic Neighbour

It's summertime, so the "Año de Juárez" public primary school in Barrios de San Lucas, a working-class neighbourhood on the east side of the Mexican capital, is deserted.

CAMBODIA: Demining Efforts Trip over Donor Fatigue

On the first day of May, a deadly reminder from the turbulent past exploded in one of Cambodia’s provinces.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Boost Cross-Border Trade for Food Security

Small-scale traders on either side of the Mwami Border Post between Zambia and Malawi are key to meeting local demands that larger importers do not.

MIDEAST: Hamas Slowly Islamising Gaza

Gazans are caught between a rock and a hard place. While Israel continues to apply a crippling siege on the coastal territory, Gaza's Hamas government is cracking down on civil and political liberties in what appears to be a campaign to slowly Islamise Gaza.

INDIA: Trade Talks with EU Put Drug Manufacturers on Edge

Their ongoing negotiations remain shrouded in secrecy, but there are already reports that India and the European Union (EU) will have a free-trade agreement ready by the end of August, and that they will be putting signatures to it before the end of 2010.

Despite Iraq Withdrawal, Greater Mideast Not Looking Good

While President Barack Obama Monday touted the continuing U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq as a key marker in the success of his regional policies, the latest news from the Greater Middle East, as well as a new public opinion survey, is far less encouraging.

U.N. Names Panel to Probe Israeli Killings on Gaza-Bound Ship

Despite initial misgivings, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received the tacit approval of the Israeli government to establish an international panel to probe the widely-condemned killings of nine Turkish civilians onboard a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza last May.

BRAZIL: Women’s Votes, Hard to Pin Down but Crucial

Female voters in Brazil could ensure an easy victory this October for the ruling Workers Party candidate, Dilma Rousseff. But recent polls seem to indicate that it is women themselves who are most reluctant to elect the country’s first female president.

ISRAEL: Women Take On the Orthodox

Jerusalem is a city blessed but also cursed by its own holiness. No more so than here at 'Ground Zero', the religious epicentre within the walled Old City, beneath the most disputed holy site -- the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary as known to Muslims, Har Habayit or the Temple Mount for Jews.

CHINA: New Technology Deals Blow to Writing Mandarin Characters

Yu Daihai, a 23-year-old college graduate from Dandong city in northern Liaoning province, uses his computer and mobile phone everyday to communicate with his friends. But technology is having an unwanted side effect: Yu, like a growing number of young Chinese, is starting to forget how to write his native language.

POLITICS-INDIA: Kashmir Cauldron Boils Again

The sight of armoured vehicles and soldiers in battle gear out in Kashmir’s streets in July is a grim warning of a storm gathering yet again over the restive valley.

U.S.: Controversy Highlights Plight of Black, and White, Farmers

The controversial firing of an African-American federal government employee over comments misconstrued to be racist has refocused attention on the plight of black farmers in the U.S. South.

POLITICS: Temple Row Sours Thai-Cambodian Ties – Again

Thailand’s tempestuous relationship with its eastern neighbour Cambodia looks set to worsen, fuelled by the latest round of anger over the future of a 10th- century Hindu temple perched atop a steep cliff along the two countries’ border.

HUMAN RIGHTS-CHILE: Unfinished Business

The controversial proposal to pardon some convicts in Chile for humanitarian reasons, which was put forward by the Catholic Church and partially taken up by President Sebastián Piñera, has revived the debate on the country's human rights situation, both past and present.

PERU: Families of Victims of Biggest Shining Path Massacre Seek Justice

For 26 years, Gregoria Aguilar has been mourning the loss of her son, son-in-law and nephew, who were killed in the biggest massacre committed by the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas in Peru's highlands.

MALAWI: Innovative Campaigning by Women Candidates

You will find Beauty Kasonda on her campaign trail at funerals, weddings, church functions or just about any local gathering in her community. Kasonda does not have the sort of funding her male counterparts have for campaigning in the country’s November 2010 elections but she is not letting that stop her.

COLOMBIA: Report Suggests “Correlation” between U.S. Aid and Army Killings

"There are alarming links between increased reports of extrajudicial executions of civilians by the Colombian army and units that receive U.S. military financing," John Lindsay-Poland, lead author of a two-year study on the question, told IPS.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Realising Trade in Virtual Water

The vegetables Omphemetse Monyi sells at the Francistown bus rank come from 400 kilometres away in South Africa. One approach to development might seek to replace her suppliers with local farmers, but Southern Africa's water managers are considering the merits of reinforcing a regional trade in "virtual water".