LEBANON: Women Prisoners Play the Liberation Role

To a soundtrack of almost constant pounding of fists against iron doors, drama therapist Zeina Daccache is trying to capture the attention of a group of women prisoners. Many of the 45 women are suffering from drug withdrawal and alternately appear agitated, upset, energised and detached. Others chat loudly, take long puffs off cigarettes, or pace the room.

Rallies Grow Across India for Jailed Activist

Huge protests have taken place across India in support of a jailed anti-corruption campaigner who has been demanding a tough anti-graft law.

U.S.: National Outcry Builds Against Deportations

When 20-year-old Isaura Garcia called the 911 emergency hotline while being physically abused by her partner, she never imagined that her plea to U.S. legal authorities would lead to imprisonment and possible deportation.

CUBA: Dreams and Progress in a Rural Community

The day that electricity arrived in the Cuban village of Jova, there were shouts, laughter and tears of joy, even among the most incredulous, who had doubted it was possible. "I didn’t know what to do; it actually made me nervous," Carmen Carvallosa confessed.

U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Holds Fast to Status Quo

The United States is likely to maintain and sustain its huge arsenal of nuclear weapons for many years to come, even though President Barack Obama has repeatedly stressed that he stands for nuclear disarmament and global peace, non-proliferation experts believe.

AFRICA: Emerging Trend Towards Establishing Offshore Tax Havens

As several African governments examine the possibility of setting up their own "offshore" financial centres, the trade name for tax havens, campaigners are calling for transparency and fair tax regimes.

Int’l Pressure Mounts as Syrian Crackdown Grows More Violent

Though many expected the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to bring a significant boost to the beleaguered Syrian opposition movement, the past two weeks have instead brought the bloodiest government offensives to date.

MIDEAST: To Save From the Sea, and the Siege

It's a sunny Gaza morning and although a work day, the beach along Sheik Rajleen has enough people on it to keep Gaza's small number of lifeguards busy and alert. From a simple, raised wooden hut, a team of three monitor the sea, periodically calling out to swimmers below to move to calmer waters.

EGYPT: Sinai Simmers in Security Vacuum

Even before the recent revolution, Egypt's strategic Sinai Peninsula - inhabited mostly by restive Bedouin tribesmen - had a reputation for lawlessness. But in the months since the popular uprising that led to Mubarak's February ouster, the situation in Sinai appears more precarious than ever.

Why Pakistani Military Demands a Veto on Drone Strikes

Pakistani civilian and military leaders are insisting on an effective veto over which targets U.S. drone strikes hit, according to well-informed Pakistani military sources here.

COLOMBIA: Grassroots Rural Movement Unites Behind Call for Peace Talks

"Dialogue is the Path" is the slogan that drew 25,000 people to this northern Colombian oil port city on the Magdalena river that has a history of social struggle. Most of the participants came from remote corners of the country where the brutality of war is experienced in daily life in ways unimagined by city dwellers.

SOMALIA: City in Need of More Aid

The shelling and gunshots, once a common sound in Mogadishu, no longer ring out in the city's streets. The surprise withdrawal on Aug. 6 of the Islamist extremist group Al Shabaab from their stronghold in Mogadishu has meant that people now move about the city, for the first time in two years, without fear of constant attack.

SWAZILAND: Disagreement on How South African Loan Should be Spent

Despite the 2.4 billion emalangeni (342 million dollar) loan from the South African government to its cash-strapped neighbour, Swaziland is sinking deeper into debt.

CUBA: Wedding Follows, Four Years After Sex Change Surgery

Nearly four years after realising her dream of changing her body into a woman's to match her transgender identity, Wendy Iriepa rode through the Cuban capital in a vintage convertible, wearing a stunning full-length white bridal gown and unfurling a rainbow flag, the symbol of the sexual diversity movement, for all to see.

MIDEAST: Divided We Execute

The execution of a Palestinian father and son by Hamas security forces in Gaza throws up a sharp difference over the death penalty between Gaza and the West Bank. In the West Bank a temporary moratorium is in place.

PAKISTAN: Violence Killing the Poor

Taj Bibi’s eyes well up as she recalls the day her ten-year-old son was shot dead, a victim of the violence sweeping through the port city of Karachi since early July. "My three sons, the 12-year-old twins and Adnan, 10, went out to play cricket in the street after lunch. Around 4 pm, the twins came running to tell me that Adnan had been shot. By the time I got there he’d breathed his last," said Bibi, a Pashtun.

EGYPT: Labour Unions Shake Off Old Masters

The trade union federation that ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak used to repress labour movements and mobilise regime support for sham elections during his 30-year rule has been disbanded, striking a powerful blow to the old order.

OP-ED: Save Egypt’s Judiciary, Save Its Revolution

The appearance of Hosni Mubarak in the opening of his trial reassured millions of Egyptians that their revolutionary struggle was not in vain. But, as Egypt and the world watch the resumption of proceedings today, the truth about Mubarak's ability to participate in his trial is still unclear.

CANADA: Hawkish Foreign Policy at Odds with Popular Priorities

Canada has flexed its military muscles, first in Afghanistan for nine years alongside NATO forces, and now in Libya in its supply of ships and combat planes for the rebel forces, but little debate has happened on the ground among Canadians themselves on this direction.

EUROPE: ‘Rethink Rhetoric Against Islam’

Conservative governments and centre-right parties in Europe were attacking multiculturalism and denigrating Muslim immigrants long before Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik used similar arguments to justify mass killings in Oslo and Utoya Island.

ISRAEL: Rights Recede Under Opium of Occupation

The nationwide movement for social justice that sent tens of thousands of Israelis to the streets on the weekend was seemingly oblivious to the fact that, concurrently, the Palestinians were officially announcing their bid for U.N.- endorsed recognition of statehood.