JAPAN: New Radiation Limits Demanded for Children

The threat of radioactive contamination faced particularly by children after the Mar. 11 nuclear disaster in Japan has touched the heart of the Japanese public, and become a major political and social issue.

RIGHTS-U.S.: Outrage Persists over Davis’s Execution

During the last days of Troy Davis's life, activists intensified what was already significant pressure on both U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ), a federal agency under Obama's purview, to save Davis, but Obama declined to act.

UZBEKISTAN: Don’t Let Logistics Trump Rights, Groups Tell Clinton

A broad coalition of 20 human rights, labour and consumer groups is appealing to the administration of President Barack Obama not to renew military aid and sales to Uzbekistan, widely considered one of the world's most repressive dictatorships.

Iranians in Iraqi Camp to Seek Refugee Status

In a development that could help resolve an eight-year-old diplomatic and humanitarian standoff, the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition group that has several thousand adherents at a military camp in Iraq, has agreed to allow residents to apply for refugee status and be interviewed individually by U.N. officials.

ENVIRONMENT: Youth Share Best Practices at Tunza

Participants at the ‘Tunza International Children and Youth Conference’ underway in this Indonesian city shared best practices and ideas with fellow delegates on Wednesday, hoping they would get replicated.

Q&A: Big Polluters Should “Stay Home” from Climate Conference

In order for global climate change policies and efforts to progress, intense local activism and countries most adversely affected by climate change must play a leading role.

Barroso: Greece Will Remain in the Eurozone

Greece will remain in the eurozone but must meet its reform commitments in full, Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission, has said.

Concern over ICC Funding

International justice advocates are worried that donors will deprive the International Criminal Court (ICC) of sufficient funding next year, hindering the court’s ability to fulfil an expanding mandate that will stretch from Kenya to Libya and potentially Ivory Coast.

BOLIVIA: General Strike Protests Crackdown on Native March

Bolivia's main trade union declared a 24-hour general strike Wednesday to protest Sunday's police crackdown on indigenous demonstrators who were protesting the construction of a road through a pristine rainforest preserve.

Q&A: Change the System to Save the Planet

To save the planet from climate change and the loss of biodiversity, we must leave capitalism behind and seek out a less consumerist, more socially just system, insists French environmental journalist Hervé Kempf.

CORRUPTION: China Begins to Watch Out

When Internet activist ‘Huaguoshan Zongshuji’ published a survey of luxury watches worn by Chinese government officials this month, the move was commended by the state media. Yet weeks later the survey was censored - shooting the one-party state’s uneasy relationship with corruption into the spotlight.

Q&A: “It Pays Off to Become More Energy Efficient”

With the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period set to expire in 2012, Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate action, is pushing for more countries to agree on binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

200 Million Depend on Melting Glaciers for Water

At least 200 million people in the world are in danger of being left without water, because they depend for their supply on glaciers that are melting, although paradoxically the process creates the illusion of plentiful water resources.

Q&A: “We Do Not Want It To Be ‘East’ And ‘West'”

About 80 percent of Qatar's population is foreign. Of the 1.6 million people living in the Arab emirate in 2010, 685,000 were Indian or Pakistani, 160,000 were Iranian and about 430,000 came from other parts of the world.

Jail Before Climate-Wrecking Tar Sands, Canadians Say

More than 200 Canadians engaged in civil disobedience, with 117 arrested in Canada's quiet capital city on Monday. The reason? To protest the Stephen Harper right-wing government's open support for the oil industry and expanding production in the climate-disrupting tar sands.

SOUTH AFRICA: In Need of a Unified Climate Change Policy

The implementation of a unified climate change policy across all of South Africa’s government departments will not be easy as the divisions currently work largely as separate entities, says Greenpeace Africa.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Youth Demand Action Now

Children and youth from 120 countries called on world leaders on Tuesday to pay heed to the looming climate crisis and act to prevent the natural disasters that are in store for the planet.

U.S. Knows Pressure on Pakistan Won’t Change Policy

The U.S. threat last week that "all options" are on the table if the Pakistani military doesn't cut its ties with the Haqqani network of anti-U.S. insurgents created the appearance of a crisis involving potential U.S. military escalation in Pakistan.

JAMAICA: Wanted: Light-Skinned Only, Please

Revelations that proprietors are requesting light-skinned workers from a government training institution is putting a new spin on Jamaica's so-called obsession with skin bleaching.

Palestine in Criminal Court Triggers Western, Israeli Fears

If Palestine fails to achieve full statehood recognition at the United Nations, the only other viable option is to get "enhanced" observer status with the 193-member General Assembly, the U.N.'s highest policy making body.

SERBIA: Mixed Feelings on Restitution Law for WWII Property

The Serbian parliament has adopted one of the most long awaited – and most controversial – laws in its recent history: the law on restitution of property confiscated by the communist regime after World War II.