GUATEMALA: Multi-Partner Alliance Wages War on Hunger

"Now I get supplies to feed my children, and I have a family garden where I grow carrots, onions and beets," Marta Quinilla, a native of Uspantán, an area northwest of the Guatemalan capital that was devastated by the 36-year civil war, says cheerfully.

U.S.: Kerry, McCain Come to Obama’s Rescue Over Libya

Hoping to head off growing insurgencies in both major parties over Washington’s participation in NATO’s military campaign against Libya, two key senators Tuesday unveiled a resolution that would give President Barack Obama the authority to continue operations there for up to one year.

Libya Says NATO Strike Kills 19 Civilians

The Libyan government says 19 civilians have been killed in a NATO air strike on the home of one of Muammar Gaddafi's top officials, a day after the Western military alliance admitted killing civilians in a separate attack.

U.S. Civil Rights Advocates Still Fighting “Race War”

Exactly 40 years after former United States President Richard Nixon labelled his administration’s drug policy a "war" in 1971, a huge coalition of civil rights leaders, advocates and educators converged in Washington D.C. to expose an on-going conflict that they believe is less ‘a war on drugs’ and more an assault on the rights of African Americans in the 21st century.

NICARAGUA: Rape Victim Launches New Hunger Strike for Justice

After a series of hunger strikes and vigils, Fátima Hernández had managed to become an exception, as one of the few rape victims in Nicaragua to obtain justice. But now her fight has started all over again and the hope that her case offered to others might become a mirage.

ITALY: Refugees Find Easier Reception, For Now

It’s 4.30 in the morning and the full moon is low in the sky above Lampedusa harbour as the Guardia di Finanza patrol boat escorts a fishing boat containing 19 Tunisian migrants into the closed military port. They include six women, one child and – to the amusement of the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) team - one sheep. The migrants are driven away in a coach to one of the two holding centres, some of them wrapped in silver emergency blankets. But the sheep remains in the port.

PERU: Dam Project Temporarily Suspended to Calm Protests

The outgoing government of Peruvian President Alan García has suspended construction of the Inambari hydroelectric complex, part of an energy deal with Brazil. But activists say the move is merely aimed at calming tempers among local people opposed to the dam, while handing the problem on to García's successor, president-elect Ollanta Humala.

North and South Sudan Sign Pact over Abyei

North and south Sudan have signed an agreement to demilitarise the disputed Abyei region and allow in Ethiopian peacekeeping forces, former South African president Thabo Mbeki said on Monday.

Protests Follow Syrian President’s Speech

Protesters have taken to the streets across Syria to denounce a speech by President Bashar al-Assad, saying his address did not meet popular demands for sweeping political reform.

BOOKS-PAKISTAN: Between a Rock and a Hard Country

It is almost obligatory these days to subtitle books on Pakistan with some conjunction of 'failed', 'dangerous', 'lawless', 'deadly', 'frightening' or 'tumultuous'. Pakistan is a 'tinderbox', forever on the brink, in the eye of the storm, or descending into chaos. It is an 'Insh'allah nation' where people passively wait for Allah.

FILM-LATIN AMERICA: A Long, Tortuous Road to Justice

Fredy Peccerelli and his team of forensic anthropologists sort through human bones and other remains - shoes, clothes, ID cards. A stack of long, thick bones dark with dirt accumulates as they painstakingly reconstruct what they can from Guatemala's La Verbana Cemetery, where for decades anonymous corpses have been dumped.

New Arsenal Emerges in Struggle over Iran’s Internet

Millions of Iranians who have lived under an intense level of internet filtering and advanced monitoring systems for years may soon benefit from new technology that sidesteps the censors.

OP-ED: Ban’s Second Term: The Case for a Woman Secretary-General

Last Friday's recommendation to give the incumbent U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon another five-year term drew the international community's attention to another opaque, non- democratic process that is the hallmark of the 15-member Security Council's decision-making.

MIDEAST: When a Spy Speaks

The man who, for the last eight years, embodied Israel's secret operations and had a penchant for the use of forged documents by his spies has been ordered by his former boss to relinquish his own diplomatic passport.

MIDEAST: Medical Crisis Worsening in Gaza

"During the first years of the siege, we could still manage, but nowadays we have no alternatives," says Dr. Hassan Khalaf, Deputy Health Minister in Gaza. "It is a major crisis: many health services have stopped, and I'm afraid this will spiral out of control, because Gaza doesn't have the essential medicines and supplies needed."

OP-ED: Experts Fear Israeli Design to Balkanise Arab States

Developments in Libya have raised fears among Egyptian analysts and political figures of the possible break-up of the North African nation into two warring halves. To support the assertion, they point to longstanding Israeli designs - supported by the western powers - to balkanise the Arab states of the region.

NEPAL: Govt Clears Last Minefield but Threats Remain

Nine years ago, Bhagwati Devi Gautam was a field labourer in Rukum, one of Nepal’s worst insurgency-hit districts. Hurrying to attend a programme on the occasion of International Women’s Day, she was forced to halt at a police checkpoint for the mandatory examination of her handbag.

BRAZIL: Women Gain More Ground in the Presidential Palace

By appointing women this month to two key ministries, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has nearly met her goal of having 30 percent of women in her cabinet, and is putting women in predominant roles at the Planalto Palace, the seat of government.

ARGENTINA: Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Scandal “Toxic” for President

Above and beyond the impact it might have on Argentina's Oct. 23 general elections, few doubt that the government of Cristina Fernández will feel the effects of the fraud scandal involving the alleged misuse of public funds by the former right-hand man of the head of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Association.

U.S.: Obama’s Claim of Libya War Powers Widely Disputed

President Barack Obama’s claim that U.S. military operations against Libya should not be subject to the War Powers Act and do not require Congressional approval is drawing heavy fire from friends and foes alike.

Another Push for Reproductive Rights

By 2015, women demanding family planning products and services in the developing world will likely reach 933 million, a terrific increase from the current 818 million women demanding access to these basic reproductive commodities.