COLOMBIA: ‘Impunity’ – Keeping the ‘Black Hand’ Anonymous

The film "Impunity" has only just now arrived in Colombia, although the filming was completed a year ago and it was first shown to the public in Geneva in January. But the wait was apparently worth it because the documentary contributes key elements to the heated debate on the so-called "black hand" behind many of the atrocities committed in this South American country.

SUDAN: The Point of No Return

From across the border, they anxiously watch the drama unfold. As their home land of South Sudan prepares itself to split from the Islamic north, fighting continues across the disputed oil-rich areas. During the decades of civil war, almost 400,000 refugees dreamt of the day independence would come. But now it is finally there, many are not ready to go home.

LEBANON: Indictments Issued in Hariri Death Probe

A United Nations-backed court has handed down indictments requesting the arrest of four members of the Shia movement Hezbollah in connection with the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, according to media reports.

DEVELOPMENT: Partners, Not Donors Needed For Africa

On an unusually hot Belgian afternoon, Thoko Kaime, leans back in his chair and explains how ‘township’ actually means ‘slum’ in his home country of Malawi.

SYRIA: Ongoing Unrest Threatening Economy

As protests persist in Syria, the economy is becoming an increasing concern for many, who wonder if it will eventually falter in light of the recent unrest.

Egypt Rejects IMF Conditions

Egypt has cancelled plans to borrow 3 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund because of conditions that violated the country’s national sovereignty and a public outcry that warned against terms that were blamed for impoverishing many Egyptians.

U.S.: The Realist Who Moved Washington Closer to Reality

"We are in a multi-polar world now," Robert Gates told a Washington Post columnist within a year of his taking over the Pentagon in early 2007.

The Oxymoron of Political Leadership

Political will is all that's needed to bring electricity to the 2.5 billion people with no or unreliable access to power, or to feed the one billion who go hungry every day, or to finally begin to slash carbon emissions to avoid dangerous climate change, or just about any other global problem.

EL SALVADOR: Military Service Plan for At-Risk Youth Raises Controversy

Activists and experts on education flatly reject a proposal by the leftwing government of Mauricio Funes to bring back compulsory military service, for young people at risk of being recruited by youth gangs and organised crime.

MEXICO: Native Community Defends Land Against Loggers, Organised Crime

"Our patience has run out," says Mary, an indigenous woman with three children to care for on her own, since her husband was kidnapped from his home by an armed group. In this town in western Mexico, local residents have begun to defend themselves with sticks and stones against illegal loggers and organised crime groups that are their allies.

CARIBBEAN: Regional Bloc Struggles to Implement Agenda

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, including the new Haitian President Michel Martelly, will gather here Friday for their annual summit as impatience grows with an array of stalled regional integration initiatives.

Greek Parliament Passes Austerity Bill

The Greek parliament has passed an austerity package by a slim majority to slash 40 billion dollars off the national debt.

Taliban Fighters Attack Landmark Kabul Hotel

An overnight assault by Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers on a major hotel in Kabul has ended with the killing of the attackers by security forces and the deaths of up to 10 other people, according to officials.

THAILAND: PM Targets Drug Traffickers Ahead of July Poll

With an eye on the tightly contested Jul. 3 general election, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is tapping into the national unease gripping this country over a deadly habit shared by some Thais: drugs.

KAZAKHSTAN: Workers Fight Massive Crackdown

Workers striking in what has been described as the biggest organised threat to Kazakhstan’s authoritarian regime in the last decade are being beaten by hired thugs as the government ignores pleas for basic international labour rights to be observed.

POLAND: Hate This Speech

"What Hitler started, we will finish...go to the gas chamber, Jews, go to the oven." When Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski read this and similar comments in discussion forums, he decided to go to court.

China Offers a Different Freedom

For a populist premier like China’s Wen Jiabao, the irony of landing in a European capital celebrating the art of one of the Chinese communist party’s most outspoken critics who had been imprisoned by Beijing for months was never lost.

PALESTINE: Freedom Flotilla Ready to Sail Despite Threats and Sabotage

As the 10 ships of the Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human make their final preparations to set sail for the Gaza Strip, purported acts of sabotage have been added to threats from Israel.

ARGENTINA: Shedding Light on Dictatorship’s Sex Crimes

It's been nearly three decades since Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship came to an end, but the sex crimes committed against political prisoners are just now starting to draw more attention, after being pushed into the background in human rights trials.

COLOMBIA: Kidnapped in No Man’s Land

"Today we are launching the new campaign for demobilisation in Caguán. Planting seeds of hope against the terror of the FARC," Colombian Defence Minister Rodrigo Rivera recently wrote in his Twitter account.

Tourism, Climate Change – Threats to Antarctic Wilderness

Too many tourists and too much climate change are the main concerns of environmental organisations and the governments of signatory countries of the Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect 50 years ago.