THAILAND: Bangkok Braces for Month of Floods

As the Thai Airways flight descends into Suvarnabhumi International Airport, passengers pull out cameras to snap pictures of flood waters rising inexorably and predicted to inundate the capital city by the end of the week.

U.S.-NORTH KOREA: Persistence Pays Off with “Rogue” Regimes

The United States and North Korea are resuming the joint search for U.S. soldiers still missing from the Korean War, one of the few positive areas of interaction between two countries estranged for more than 60 years.

VENEZUELA: Government Distributes Land to Yukpa Indians

The Venezuelan government's decision to expropriate 25 ranches to distribute 15,800 hectares of land to communities of Yukpa Indians in the northwest of the country partially makes up a long-standing debt to the native group.

NICARAGUA: “We Women Want to Be Heard”

Fátima Hernández, a young Nicaraguan rape victim who has become a symbol in her country in her fight for justice, is now working to help women in a similar situation, and preparing to take her case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

BOLIVIA: Native Protesters Celebrate Law Cancelling Rainforest Road

With victory cheers and predictions of future campaigns in defence of their ancestral territory, indigenous protesters from Bolivia's Amazon jungle region celebrated the new law that banned the construction of the road through their rainforest reserve.

Civil Society Groups Call for Action to Curb Land Grabbing

Civil society organisations are calling on governments in developing countries to stop leasing and selling out land to transnational corporations because it leads to land degradation and food insecurity.

Q&A: “We Are Facing the Threat of a Social and Health Catastrophe”

For Brazilian pediatrician and public health expert Paulo Buss, the worst enemy of health is unemployment. And if unemployment continues to rise, the result will be a global "catastrophe", he told Tierramérica.

Permanent People’s Tribunal Sets Up Shop in Mexico

"We have a duty to show what the reality is, and we will do so with complete independence," said French judge Philippe Texier, a member of the Permanent People’s Tribunal, which has opened a chapter in Mexico.

Canada Blocks Torture Case Against Bush

Beaten. Chained to walls. Exposed to extreme temperatures. Deprived of food, water and sleep. Hassan bin Attash, Sami el- Hajj, Muhammed Khan Tumani and Murat Kurnaz suffered years of inhumane and illegal treatment while in U.S. custody either at Guantánamo Bay or in military bases in Afghanistan.

Plot Allegations Stir Complex Nationalist Feelings in Iran

The news of Iran's participation in an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington and subsequent harsh rhetoric by senior officials in both Washington and Riyadh have generated deep and complex nationalist feelings on the part of the public here.

PAKISTAN: Diplomatic Tensions over U.S. Talks with Militant Groups

Assurances by visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton here late last week that Pakistan has a major role to play in future peace talks in Afghanistan have helped ease growing tensions between Islamabad and Washington.

SPAIN: Detained Immigrants “Are Treated Like Criminals”

"It was very tough, like being in prison," says 29-year-old Algerian immigrant Sid Hamed Bouziane, in slow Spanish, about his 28-day stay at the Immigrant Detention Centre, or CIE, in the southern Spanish city of Málaga.

COLOMBIA: Election Campaign Marred by Violence

"Political power will be fought for metre by metre in the Oct. 30 local and regional elections in Colombia, because this is a country imbued with violence, with different armies disputing different parts of the territory," said Alejandra Barrios, director of the election observation mission (MOE).

MEXICO: Women Reject Normalisation of Gender Violence

Ninety percent of the non-governmental organisations in Mexico are founded and run by women, says journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, even as crimes against women remain cloaked in impunity.

Cape Verde Recognised for Political, Economic Leadership

When the former president of Cape Verde, Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires, was recently awarded the five-million-dollar African Leadership prize, the ex-Portuguese colony that he headed for nearly 10 years was singled out as one of the key African success stories for "good governance", including multi-party democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights.

U.S.: Not Just a Protest, But a Little Utopia

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has withstood political pressure, bad weather, police violence, and over a thousand arrests, and is continuing to grow in New York City a month in.

ARGENTINA: The Cristina Fernandez Era

President Cristina Fernández's smashing victory in Argentina, with nearly 54 percent of the vote, raises questions about how she will handle her growing supremacy.

LIBYA: Hatred Divides Libya After Gaddafi

The long-time dictator who ruled Libya for nearly four decades with an iron fist may be gone, but racial hatred surfaces increasingly now by the day.

TUNISIA: Women Seek to Set Their Stamp

Nine months after a popular election toppled the dictatorship of former Tunisian president Zine Abidine Ben Ali, voters headed to the polls Sunday to cast their ballots for fresh leaders to rewrite the laws of the country's political system.

EGYPT: Bumpy Ride to a New Human Rights City

The upheaval of the Arab Spring has provided fertile ground to plant the seed of a new framework for human rights that moves beyond monitoring violations. Rights advocates want to integrate human rights into the fabric of daily life and are working at the community level to establish the first Human Rights City in the Middle East.

U.S.-IRAQ: Obama Confirms Full Withdrawal by Christmas

In a decision promptly denounced by Republicans, President Barack Obama announced here Friday that all U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the Christmas holidays in late December.