CHINA: Microbloggers Launch Long March to Freedom

China’s rapidly growing legion of microbloggers is proving a worthy foe against ongoing government efforts to monitor, influence and censor information on the country’s vast Internet. Government efforts have failed to curb an outpouring of anger and grief in the wake of the recent Wenzhou train disaster.

Fukushima Clouds Hiroshima Anniversary

Matashichi Oishi, 78, a radiation victim from Bikini Atoll, the site of a U.S. hydrogen bomb test in 1954, will make his annual lone visit this week to commemorate the Aug. 6 anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima 66 years ago.

COLOMBIA: Native Reserve Braces Itself as Conflict Escalates

Sitting outside her small shop, high in the mountains in the Tacueyó indigenous reserve in southwest Colombia, Liliana Alarco tries to hold back tears as she recalls the day her young son was injured.

MEXICO: Microloans from Distant Lands a Mouse Click Away

Norma Isela from the city of Piedras Negras in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila needs 500 dollars to expand the merchandise inventory in her business selling shoes by catalogue and to broaden her offer of clothes and accessories. So far she has managed to raise 45 percent of that amount.

No Let-Up in Karachi Violence

There has been more violence in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where at least 42 people have been killed since Monday.

ARGENTINA: Worker Cooperatives Reduce “Hard-Core” Unemployment

During the social and economic collapse of 2002-2003, the Argentine state encouraged the formation of workers' cooperatives, which helped mitigate the worst effects of the crisis, reduced hard-core unemployment, and now as independent, democratic, worker-controlled organisations are providing services to the public and private sectors.

Q&A: “The Threat of Default Was a Crisis for Wall Street, Not Workers”

After weeks of political wrangling over a budget proposal to settle the country's 14-trillion-dollar debt, U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday signed into law a bill that would slash 2.1 trillion dollars from the deficit over the next decade.

MOROCCO: Arab Spring Haunts Flexible King

In spite of an amendment to the constitution, early general elections planned next October, and numerous social and economic reforms, the Moroccan monarchy may not survive the Arab Spring, activists say.

NORTH KOREA: Food At Last for the Hidden Hungry

"Even if 100,000 people die of starvation in North Korea, foreigners working there will not see it," says a humanitarian worker who spent three years in the impoverished, communist country.

U.S. Muslims More Tolerant, Opposed to Violence than Other Faiths

Muslims in the United States express greater tolerance for members of other faiths than any other major religious group, according to a major new survey and report released here Thursday by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center.

CUBA: Castro Says Migration Policy to Be Eased

Cuban President Raúl Castro’s announcement of coming changes to migration policy appears to be the result of repeated demands by the population for freedom to travel, a right ensnared for decades in the Cuba-United States conflict.

Palestinian Bedouin a Besieged Minority of the Minority

Israeli policies are destroying the livelihoods of Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank and the Negev in southern Israel, activists and aid workers warn.

Syrian Crackdown Shows no Respite

Syrian troops have again advanced in the central city of Hama, taking up new positions a day after activists said government forces killed 24 people throughout the country on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

PORTUGAL: Food Aid for “New Poor”, Extra Wealth for Nouveau Riche

"The crisis is only for some of us" has become a commonly heard phrase in Portugal, following the drastic fiscal adjustment policies imposed in May by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund as the condition for a 112 billion dollar financial bailout.

JORDAN: Ripe for Reform, Slow to Change

Having weathered the maelstrom that engulfed the Middle East earlier this year, Jordan's government has faced simmering unrest as protesters continue to press for political and economic reforms.

CHINA: Tianjin Embraces its Colonial Legacy

When the old Astor Hotel reopened to great fanfare from the local city fathers here in 2010, it marked more the return of the "Grande Dame of Tianjin" to the city’s growing collection of luxury hotels. It was a travel back to the future. It manifested the city leaders’ eagerness to embrace and rebrand the colonial heritage as a way of boosting Tianjin’s modern identity.

U.S.: Military Hawks Upset with Debt Deal

As both houses of Congress began debating the 11th-hour debt limit deal hashed out Sunday night by senior lawmakers and the White House, neo-conservatives and other national security hawks complained bitterly Monday that the final package may force major cuts in defence spending in the coming years.

Deadly Syrian Crackdown Continues

Syrian activists say at least eight people have been killed after government forces launched fresh attacks in several cities.

MEXICO: Families of Missing Migrants Converge on Capital

After journeying 1,500 km from Honduras, 56-year-old Maura Sánchez reached the central Zócalo square in the Mexican capital Monday along with hundreds of other demonstrators, to demand respect and justice for undocumented migrants in this country.

MIDEAST: Boats Run Short of Sea to Sail On

"My father was a boat-builder and I learned from him, worked on boats all my life. Now there's no work at all." Abu Fayez Bakr, 64, is one of two boat-builders in the Gaza Strip, the last of a dying trade, despite Palestinians' penchant for the sea and its bounty.

Nuclear Plant Now an Anti-Nuclear Attraction

Environmental groups hope that a mothballed nuclear power plant on Bataan peninsula will become a major tourist attraction and earn green dollars for the country.