NIGERIA: Corruption Fuels Public Anger

As a nationwide strike and protests against the lifting of the fuel subsidy paralysed Nigeria for the third day in a row Wednesday, analysts say the billions of dollars a year lost to corruption in the oil industry could have been used to leave the subsidy in place.

BRAZIL: Growing Pains in a Country Under Construction

Major infrastructure works are sprouting like mushrooms in Brazil, generating millions of jobs and drawing more than 60 billion dollars in foreign investment in 2011. But this thrust has failed to sustain economic growth, which according to the latest projections is below three percent.

CAMEROON-CHINA: A Wedding with Uncertain Prospects

The Cameroon government is increasingly turning to China as a privileged partner in its development efforts. But there are many discordant voices who say the long-term effects of China’s economic relations with Cameroon could be disastrous for domestic industry.

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Balochistan a Hornet’s Nest for Journalists

"This could well be my last interview." There was audible nervousness in Jamal Tarakai’s voice as it crackled over the telephone line from the city of Quetta. The thirty-five-year-old journalist, hailing from the restive Balochistan province in Pakistan, believes he could be killed at any time.

Arab Observer Calls Syria Mission a “Farce”

A former Arab League observer in Syria has decried the organisation's monitoring mission to the country as a "farce", as the U.N. Security Council heard security forces had stepped up the killing of protesters after the observers' arrival.

Rio+20: The Moment When Everything Changed?

Humanity is driving Earth's climate and ecosystems towards dangerous tipping points, requiring radical new forms of international cooperation and governance, experts say.

A Touch of Spring for LGBT Arabs

With a yearning for human rights playing a vital role in the Arab revolts; putting an end to discriminatory LGBT laws may determine how the future democratic process unfolds.

Salvadoran Poet Roque Dalton’s Murder – Case Closed

It was the first time that a Salvadoran judge was holding a hearing to decide whether the case of Roque Dalton, a poet murdered 36 years ago, should go to trial. But the hopes of his family were dashed.

US-CHINA: Leading Think Tank Urges Naval Build-Up in South China Sea

While much of the world's attention has been focused on U.S.- Iranian tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, a key think tank is urging Washington to devote more focus and resources on another key hub for international commerce several thousand kilometres to the east.

IRAN: Elections Playbook Starts With Crackdown on Critics

Less than two months before Iran's parliamentary elections, as much of the opposition mounts a boycott of the polls, a wave of arrests and lengthy prison sentences for political activists and journalists appears to herald a renewed crackdown in the Iranian capital.

SRI LANKA: Female Unemployment Rises With Education

Every weekend it has been the same ritual for so many months. Buying the newspaper, going through the classified and the employment sections inch by column inch, marking job offers that could offer a chance, even remotely.

KAZAKHSTAN: Riot Town Has Its Say

Kazakhstan this week canceled, then re-authorised elections in a remote oil town where recent riots stemming from an oil workers strike left at least 16 dead and more than 40 buildings burned.

U.S.: A Movement Evolves to Occupy the Future

With its encampments mostly destroyed, the nascent Occupy Movement in thousands of communities across the U.S. and dozens more around the world has not faded away.

China Greets Gloomy New Year

For much of last year world politicians and market watchers dreamed of China coming to the rescue of a stumbling global economy while Beijing mandarins sat on the fence fretting about high inflation and social instability inside their country. As China prepares to greet the Year of the Dragon later this month, many predict more gloom and doom, and some are expecting that the battle to stave off recession will be fought closer to home.

ZIMBABWE: Chinese Become Unwelcome Guests

Alec Marembo has built his family fortune making bricks in Dzivarasekwa, a sprawling high-density suburb north of the capital of Zimbabwe. But due to the economic crisis of the last decade, his fortune started crumbling. Although he could break even when the downturn started, he finally gave in to competition from the Chinese.

TAIWAN: Poll Will Decide Nuclear Plant’s Fate

Voters in Taiwan’s upcoming presidential and national legislative elections will also decide the fate of a bitterly controversial 9.3 billion dollar nuclear power plant.

KYRGYZSTAN: China Expanding Influence, One Student at a Time

Among its Central Asian neighbours, China these days is more often feared than loved. This attitude is perhaps most apparent in Kyrgyzstan, where despite an overwhelming dependence on Chinese imports, Chinese-owned malls and mining pits have been the subject of attacks in recent years; nationalist editorials in the local press play on fears of the Middle Kingdom.

AFGHANISTAN: Trains Face a Rough Political Terrain

Last month the first cargo train crossed the ‘Friendship Bridge’ from Uzbekistan to the border town Hairatan in northern Afghanistan, and rolled along 75 kilometres of newly laid track to Mazar-e-Sharif.

Less Counter-Insurgency, More Asia in New U.S. Strategy

Capping a major eight-month review, President Barack Obama unveiled a new defence strategy here Thursday that places more emphasis on U.S. military capabilities in Asia and the Pacific and much less on counter-insurgency and nation-building operations in poorer and conflict-plagued countries.

GUATEMALA: Women Pin Hopes on First-Ever Female Vice President

Women's rights groups are pinning their hopes on Roxana Baldetti, the first woman to be elected vice president of Guatemala, to boost the chances of increased female participation in politics.

EGYPT: Military Rulers Clamp Down on Civil Society

Raids on the Cairo offices of civil society organisations accused of receiving unauthorised foreign funds are part of a wider campaign by Egypt’s ruling military council to silence its critics, say rights groups.