After Torture, Homelessness Is Lucky

When Saoul decided to take the risk of leaving Chechnya for France, he could not imagine how much trouble protection could mean once he got here.

HONDURAS: Putting Defence In the Hands of Civilians

Prominent academics and activists say one of the main pending challenges in Honduras is a resumption of the demilitarisation of the country and the strengthening of civilian control over defence policy that was brought to an abrupt halt by the June 2009 coup d'etat.

ARGENTINA: Boosting Agribusiness – and Family Farms

A plan to boost agribusiness, but based mainly on family farming and cooperatives, in Argentina is geared to producing and exporting more food – in a more sustainable manner.

Moana Nui Set to “Undress” APEC

This November, when the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum holds its annual rotating summit in Honolulu, it will attract more than the attention of the world's media.

Afghan Women’s Rights ‘Under Threat’

Women's rights in Afghanistan are once again under threat after 10 years of progress, two leading British aid agencies have said.

SOUTH SUDAN: Oil Conflict Threatens to Break Out

The communities living on the South Sudan-Sudan border may face genocide if the conflict between the two countries disputing control of oil reserves is not resolved.

SUDAN: China Could Oil the Peace Process

China, a major player in the oil industries of South Sudan and Sudan, could use its influence to stop the escalating violence between the two countries that has seen the displacement of thousands of people and a reduction in oil production, a United States State Department official says.

MIDEAST: Israel Builds Settlements, and Wants Talks

Days after his half-hearted conciliatory U.N. appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already approved the construction of 1,100 flats in occupied East Jerusalem. Yet on Sunday, he threw his support behind the new Mideast Quartet's peace plan with the Palestinians.

Dubious EU Integration Inspires Taiwan

The European Union’s economic alliance may be embattled and on the verge of collapse but in some parts of the world its integration model is still a beacon. Experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait – one of the world’s potentially most explosive areas - are studying the conflict resolution experience of the European Union in the hope of taking the precarious relationship between China and Taiwan forward.

GREECE: Lost Generation Begins to Leave

Every working day a long queue of people forms outside the State Translation Service in Thission in downtown Athens from early in the morning. Most are youngsters processing documents they need to leave Greece for study or work. Many move on to queue later outside embassies for visas.

U.S.: Al-Awlaqi Killing Gets Mixed Reviews

While the administration of President Barack Obama Friday celebrated the killing of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militant and U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, the reaction among human rights groups and Yemen specialists was more critical.

Q&A: Environmental Awareness Through Imagery

Through photo and film, French photojournalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand aims to demonstrate the environmental impacts of human activity and to raise public awareness about environmental issues.

MEXICO: Women Left Out of U.N. Forest Plan

Despite the growing participation of women in forestry projects in Mexico, the national strategy for the United Nations-led REDD+ forest plan in this country lacks a gender focus.

Q&A: Africa’s Legislated Civil Society Crackdown

Assassinations, intimidation and disappearances were the manifestations of civil society repression in Africa, but this may be changing as the crackdown on civil society is becoming more formally accepted and increasingly "by the book", according to Ingrid Srinath, secretary general of the global civil society network, CIVICUS.

Occupy Wall Street: “It Is a Revolution”

Since Sep. 17, hundreds of demonstrators in the Occupy Wall Street movement have transformed the quiet Zucotti Park in lower Manhattan from a place where Wall Street traders once relaxed during lunch breaks into a demonstration camp.

PAKISTAN: Guns Aimed Increasingly at Women

Guns available in new abundance in the troubled north of Pakistan are increasingly being used on women in ‘honour’ killings and domestic disputes, according to local reports.

TAIWAN: Wrong Execution May Not End the Death Penalty

A Taiwan military tribunal has confirmed that the late Air Force private Chiang Kuo-ching had been wrongfully executed in August 1997 for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. But campaigners against the death penalty doubt that this will restore the moratorium on capital punishment the Taiwan government broke in April last year.

BAHRAIN: U.S. Congress Urged to Reject Arms Sale

More than a dozen U.S. and international human rights and arms control groups are urging Congress to block a proposed 53- million-dollar arms sale to Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, until it ends its crackdown against the opposition and adopts serious reforms.

Expanding Technologies Fail to Bridge Broadband Divide

Despite an overall increase in global internet usage and in the prevalence of information and communication technologies (ICTs), the gap between developing and developed countries remains vast when it comes to accessing broadband connections.

BOOKS: “The End of Loser Liberalism” and the Free Market Myth

The top one percent of earners in the United States now controls over 40 percent of the nation's wealth, their income steadily rising while much of the country earns less than what it did a decade ago and an all-time high of 46 million Americans now live below the official poverty line.

Bahrain Medical Staff Sentenced for Treating Protesters

Thirteen doctors and nurses who treated anti-government protesters during demonstrations in Bahrain earlier this year have been jailed for 15 years for crimes against the state.