U.S. Looks Increasingly Irrelevant as Mideast Peace Broker

While a growing number of influential voices here and in the region insist that the nearly 20-year, U.S.-sponsored "peace process" has reached its terminal phase, the administration of President Barack Obama remains committed to reviving direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Reduce Inequalities to Boost Health, WHO Says

Economic status, education, access to clean water and sanitation, nutrition and the environment determine the level of health of persons, communities or countries, and so does the extent to which rights are enjoyed or denied.

CUBA: Varied Reactions to Communist Party Policy Document

The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) began a wide process of consultation among its members this week with a view to an upcoming national conference charged with charting policies on issues that range from generational renewal and the internal functioning of the party to dealing with corruption and other social problems.

ELECTIONS-ARGENTINA: Victory Front for Fernandez

The polls all point to a crushing first-round victory for Argentine President Cristina Fernández in Sunday's elections, due to her administration's successful social and economic policies and the wave of sympathy she received after her husband's death, analysts say.

AFRICA: Gov’ts Fail to Invest in Hungriest, Poorest Regions

For millennia, people have coped with drought in the Horn of Africa, comprised mainly of drylands. Yet today, more than 13 million people there are starving because of political instability, poor government policies and failure to invest in the world's poorest people, say experts here in Changwon.

U.S. May Have Concealed Deterrent Aim of Iranian Plan

Scepticism about the U.S. allegation of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador has focused on doubts that high-level Iranian officials would have used someone like used car salesman Monssor Arbabsiar to carry out the mission.

DR CONGO: No Hope for Free and Fair Elections

With six weeks to go before the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, civil society organisations say the elections will not be fair, as many doubt the ability of the country’s electoral authorities to ensure transparency.

BRAZIL: Costly Water for the Poor Northeast

The visual impact is harsh: flattened hills, valleys full of mud, and kilometres and kilometres of bulldozed land - the modification of nature in Brazil's semiarid Northeast region is disturbing due to the enormous dimensions involved.

Q&A: ‘Soil is Key to Global Warming, Food Security’

Luc Gnacadja, in his second three-year term as executive secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is widely seen as delivering on his commitment to manage the world's drylands.

TUNISIA: Islamist Violence Rises Ahead of Elections

Violent and increasingly common protests organised by far right Islamists are shocking and dividing the nation, and potentially threatening stability in the birthplace of the Arab spring.

Chinese Film Festival Forced Underground

A Chinese independent film festival showcasing the work of some of the most daring Mainland directors has been forced underground following a police visit to the event’s launch last Saturday.

Iran Rejects Report of U.N. Rights Rapporteur

The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran defended his new critical report on the country Thursday after it was attacked by Iranian officials, who continue to insist he will not be allowed to visit the country.

U.S.-LIBYA: Obama Claims Vindication

The death of former Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi was hailed here Thursday by both the administration of President Barack Obama and some of his Republican foes as the latest in a series of victories for U.S. foreign policy.

SPAIN: ETA Announces End to Europe’s Last Armed Conflict

"This is probably the most important day ever for us, the Basque people, since the death of (dictator) Franco in 1975," journalist and historian Urko Apaolaza told IPS.

Rights Groups Demand General Assembly Action on Syria

A coalition of 29 international human rights organisations is appealing to the 193-member General Assembly to act "immediately" to help halt the unbridled violence in Syria which has claimed the lives of over 3,000 people, mostly civilians, since the political protests began last March.

As 2012 Polls Loom, Caution’s the Word for Obama Foreign Policy

U.S. presidents seeking a second term are not known for taking risks in foreign policy in election years.

Brazil Active in Effort to Widen Global Access to Medicines

Brazil is keen to take part in the international effort to expand access to medicines and to produce its own drugs, and will start by becoming the world supplier of medicines to treat Chagas disease.

OP-ED: A Long and Winding Road to the End for Gaddafi

I came across an anti-Gaddafi demonstration for the first time in February 2011 in Baghdad's Tahrir square.

RIGHTS: Brazilians Get Ready to Dig Up the Truth

The bill to establish a National Truth Commission in Brazil, which has made it through the lower house of Congress and is now in the Senate, is considered at least a start in clarifying, and preventing a repetition of, the abuses committed during the country's 21-year dictatorship.

LIBYA: Muammar Gaddafi Killed as Sirte Falls

Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after National Transitional Council fighters overran loyalist defences in Sirte, the toppled Libyan leader's hometown and final stronghold.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Steps Down Under Cloud

As he sits in a New York jail cell awaiting sentencing on a racketeering conviction, Christopher "Dudus" Coke has all the time in the world to reflect on the role he played in the downfall of at least two prominent Jamaican politicians, none more so than Prime Minister Bruce Golding.