Despite Initial Euphoria, Palestine Remains Grounded at U.N.

When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the 193- member General Assembly in September, the rapturous welcome he received implicitly indicated the vibrant support for U.N. recognition of Palestine - if not in the Security Council, at least in the organisation's highest policy making body.

Defence Act Affirms Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens

Civil liberties groups and many citizen activists are outraged over language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 (NDAA) that appears to lay the legal groundwork for indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial.

HONDURAS: The Society of Fear

As the new year rolls in, Honduras is feeling more than ever the challenges posed by soaring rates of violent crime, police corruption, the penetration of the police by organised crime, and a wave of selective killings of journalists and experts in the fight against drugs.

The Oil That Comes in from the Cold

Thanks to soaring oil prices and new technology, oil producers in the hot sands of Arabia, the torrid Niger delta or the humid plains of the Orinoco are facing new competition from rivals in the frozen North.

AFGHANISTAN: Killing Heroin With Saffron

Weaning Afghanistan’s poppy farmers away from growing the raw material for the bulk of the world’s illicit heroin has never been easy, but Kashmir’s saffron cultivators may have the answer.

SERBIA: Royalty Rehabilitated in Retrospect

Serbia saw the first rehabilitation of a member of its royal family earlier this month, in a move by the supreme court described by historians as "deeply moral" and necessary - for generations who remember the Karadjordjevics as well as those who have learned about them from the history books.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Government Pardons Some 3,000 Prisoners

Only seven prisoners convicted of political crimes are among the nearly 3,000 inmates pardoned by the government of Raúl Castro. Most of the prisoners have reportedly already been released.

PORTUGAL: No Jobs? Just Emigrate!

Hounded by the economic crisis that shows no signs of letting up and by political leaders of all stripes, Portugal's conservative Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho sent out an unprecedented message to his fellow citizens: emigrate.

Peru Clashes with Inter-American Commission Over Human Rights Case

The Peruvian government will propose that the Organisation of American States review the powers of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and is seeking the support of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. The move is a reaction against a lawsuit brought against it by the IACHR.

AFGHANISTAN: Husband, 60, Wife, 8

Activists voice concern that Afghan women’s rights continue to be marginalised, and nowhere is gender inequality more starkly illustrated than in the country’s flawed justice system.

Argentina Investigates Human Rights Crimes of Spain’s Franco Era

A judge in Argentina has begun to investigate human rights crimes committed during Spain's civil war and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1936-1975).

Arab Monitors in Syria Flashpoint Towns

Arab League observers are to visit three key protest hubs in Syria as world powers have urged Damascus to give full access to monitor if the country is implementing a plan to end a crackdown on protests.

Q&A: War Crimes Court Should Strengthen Victims’ Participation

Most of the cases brought before the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) include gender-based crimes, but advocates say the court is still falling short in ensuring that women play an active role in decision-making and outreach at the highest levels.

BOOKS: U.S., Iran Both Squandered Opportunities for Detente

Veteran observers of U.S.-Iran relations know better than to be optimistic about the chances for reconciliation between the two countries. It has long been the pattern - indeed the curse - that when one side was ready to engage, the other was not.

U.N. Chief Will Pick New Team to Usher in Second Five-Year Term

When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took office in January 2007, one of his first announcements was to call for the resignation of all senior high-ranking officials so that he could pick his own team of players.

MEXICO: Youth on the Front Lines of Protest Movement

"We need to be the ones to provide the answers to the questions of our times, because we are the main victims of the voracious policies of capitalism," says Alexis Jiménez, a 23-year-old ethnologist who has spent the last two months camping out in front of the Mexico City Stock Exchange.

DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: Tribal People on the Warpath

This small town, barely 150 km away from the bustling eastern metropolis of Kolkata, hit news headlines in December 2008 when adivasis (indigenous people) led by Maoist rebels briefly captured it.

The Unsustainable Political Deficiencies of Environmentalism

The environmental movement won the ideological battle with the growth of awareness on climate change. Environmentalists are no longer seen as "loonies" or granola-eating hippies: the people seen as on the fringe" now are the climate sceptics who deny that global warming is caused by human activity.

SYRIA: Mass Protests in Homs as Arab Monitors Visit

Tens of thousands of Syrians have reportedly taken to the streets of Homs, as Arab League monitors finished their first day of observation in the city that has been the centre of the anti-government protest movement.

GUATEMALA: Military Allies Take Ex-Guerrillas, Journalists to Court

Relatives of former military personnel and businessmen are bringing lawsuits against ex guerrillas and journalists in Guatemala in connection with the 1960-1996 civil war – a legal offensive that human rights defenders say is politically motivated.

ISRAEL: Exercising the Right to Torture

In a case that has highlighted Israel’s abuse of Palestinian detainees, an Israeli military court recently acquitted a Palestinian man after it became clear that Israeli interrogators used excessive physical and psychological abuse as a way to coerce a confession from him.