IRAN: New Oil Minister Cements Ties with Military

Last week's appointment of a ranking member of Iran's influential Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the country's new oil minister could lead to a more unaccountable and unpredictable military with greater influence on the government in Tehran, analysts say.

Q&A: “Governments Must Listen to the People, Not the Polluters”

The historic 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro marked one of the world's seminal international conferences on the environment, creating or reinforcing a slew of U.N. treaties and protocols on climate change, biodiversity, desertification and forests.

South Summit of World Leaders in Search of a Venue

The ongoing political turmoil in Libya has derailed plans for a major summit meeting of developing nations scheduled to take place in Tripoli in October.

After the Arab Spring, an Israeli Summer

"The people demand social justice!" Across the country's major cities, over 300,000 demonstrators, five percent of Israel's Jewish population, chanted the rallying call for the third consecutive Saturday.

EGYPT: State Media has New Bosses, Old Habits

Six months since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, the state media organs that once glorified the dictator's policies and glossed over his failures have new leaders. Yet the mindset of decades of authoritarian rule remains intact, say media experts.

ISRAEL: High Costs Force New Settlements of Sorts

About 10,000 people marched through the streets of downtown Jerusalem last week chanting "The people demand social justice" and calling for access to affordable housing. The demonstration was one of about a dozen taking place simultaneously throughout Israel – which drew nearly 150,000 total protesters – as part of a growing movement against the high cost of housing and living expenses.

PAKISTAN: Tourism Takes On Taliban

Standing in the busy main market place of Mingora, it is hard to think that just two years ago this city in Swat district was under the tyranny of the Taliban.

Between Libya and the Deep Sea

NATO’s five-month bombing campaign in Libya, run under the guise of protecting civilians, is also killing victims fleeing the conflict, directly and indirectly.

ECUADOR: Big Bucks from China Drive Domestic Development

Ecuador sees the loans it has agreed with China as "good news," because they are long-term, and all that is required in return is "oil, and not the horrendous adjustments imposed by the IMF (International Monetary Fund)," leftwing Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa told analysts critical of the size and high interest rates of the loans.

COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Dig in to Fight Return of Stolen Land

While President Juan Manuel Santos described his government's land restitution policy as "a veritable revolution" during a speech in northwest Colombia, some 300 far-right paramilitaries were taking up positions less than 100 km from there to fight the effort to return land to small farmers displaced by the violence, human rights activists say.

SWAZILAND: Impossible for Children to Access Public Information

Many public officials in Swaziland do not think that access to information is a public right, but rather a privilege – which can be withdrawn at anytime.

TURKEY: Resignations Herald the Demilitarisation of Politics

The simultaneous resignations of Turkey's top military brass last week indicates that the civilian government may finally have more sway over politics than the top generals, according to analysts and activists.

Tunisian Women Fear the Algerian Way

A women’s group begins campaigning near La Marsa beach in Tunis to convince more women to come up and register in the electoral lists, in time for the deadline now pushed back to Aug. 14. Most of the women watching the proceedings are veiled.

South America Unites Against “Irresponsible Debtors” in the North

Default, insolvency, fiscal irresponsibility, debt crisis and similar terms form part of the vocabulary used to describe countries in the developing South in the 1980s and 1990s. A decade later, the world seems to have turned upside down.

SUDAN: Congressional Hearings Paint Picture of Crisis and Atrocities

Witnesses' chilling depictions of a new Sudanese genocide at an emergency congressional hearing Thursday quelled any remnants of doubt that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Nuba mountain region of South Kordofan.

Groups Hail Obama’s Order for Mass Atrocities Board

Human rights groups here have welcomed Thursday's directive by President Barack Obama to create a new, high-level inter- agency mechanism designed to help prevent mass atrocities overseas before they occur.

U.S. Silent on Iranian Raids Against Kurdish Terror Group

Iran and the United States don't agree on much these days, but there are a few views they hold in common.

Book Plots J Street’s Coordinates on Map of U.S.-Israel Politics

The "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby group J Street has drawn a lot of attention in its short lifetime. Despite decidedly moderate politics, its leader, Jeremy Ben-Ami, has repeatedly been the centre of controversy, and the group's very existence has stirred debate in the U.S. Jewish community about the boundaries of acceptable discourse on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Syria’s Assad Decrees Multi-Party System

President Bashar al-Assad has issued a decree authorising a multi-party political system in Syria, a day after the U.N. Security Council issued a statement condemning the regime's use of force against protesters.

EL SALVADOR: New Child Protection Law Starved of Resources

Lack of budget resources and political will, according to activists, is preventing fulfilment of the provisions of El Salvador's long-awaited new law for the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents.

SYRIA: U.S. Moves Closer to Call for Regime Change

Amidst growing calls in Congress for stronger measures to effect "regime change" in Syria, the administration of President Barack Obama is escalating its rhetoric against President Bashar Al-Assad.