ROME, Nov 26 (IPS) - "You don't need to go far, it is all around us," said Robert Dijksterhuis, head of the gender division in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to a room mostly full of women. "Up to

WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (IPS) - One day after the State Department announced that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama will not sign the 10-year-old treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, it insisted that Washington's policy on the issue was still being

NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (IPS) - "A bullet whizzed past us smashing the window to smithereens! My terrorised daughter slid under the nearest table. Everybody ran helter-skelter to save their lives. Just then three menacing-looking youths dressed in black exploded

LIMA, Nov 26 (IPS) - The Peruvian government is once again being called on to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Voluntary Surgical Contraception (VSC) programme carried out by the Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) regime, under which tens of thousands

BANGKOK, Nov 26 (IPS) - Eighteen months after the powerful Cyclone Nargis tore through military-ruled Burma, one question that dogged early relief efforts has lost relevance: does the country have an active civil society to help victims?

NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (IPS) - As Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wound down his state visit to the United States, Indian analysts say a major achievement has been ensuring that the civilian nuclear agreement between the two countries is

KABUL, Nov 26 (IPS) - When the Independent Election Commission announced that Hamid Karzai would be president for another five years, local and international powers began to demand that the newly re-elected president clamp down on the corruption that had

ANKARA, Nov 26 (IPS) - Turkey's new human rights bill has a flaw - not a single rights group was consulted in the drafting.

COPENHAGEN, Nov 26 (IPS) - The clean, ultra-modern chrome and glass lines of the Bella Centre, in the Danish capital Copenhagen, is a world away from the thronging canopy suspended over the tropical forests of Uganda, or the Democratic Republic

CAPE TOWN, Nov 26 (IPS) - In more than 34 years as a judge, he has not been as deeply concerned by anything as he was by the recent comment of a South African deputy minister of police that police

VIENTIANE, Nov 26 (IPS) - "Most workers have limited knowledge, ultimately you don't know how many hidden killers are in your workplace. The boss knows, but he won't tell you," Wang Fengping, an engineer who was once employed by Hong

BEIJING, Nov 26 (IPS) - The jury is still out on what Beijing and Washington achieved during President Barack Obama's first state visit to China last week. But one trait has emerged more strongly than anything else.

WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (IPS) - U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed an announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday that Israel will impose a 10-month "moratorium" on settlements, but

WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (IPS) - Human rights and disarmament activists reacted bitterly Wednesday to the decision by the administration of President Barack Obama, who will receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize next month, not to sign the 10-year-old treaty banning

SANTIAGO, Nov 25 (IPS) - More than 500 Chilean women have been killed by their partners, ex-partners or strangers since 2001. This year alone, there have been 52 "femicides", economist Gloria Maira said on Wednesday, the International Day for the

GEORGETOWN, Nov 25 (IPS) - When a psychotic senior superintendent of police and several subordinates sprayed three young criminal suspects with machine-gun and rifle fire for several minutes, killing all of them, early one morning in 2001, citizens in the

WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (IPS) - As climate scientists defend their work from sceptics in the aftermath of researchers' emails being stolen over the weekend, a new report hopes to provide an update on science's latest climate-related findings.

MONTEVIDEO, Nov 25 (Tierramérica) - "To use a soccer metaphor, which Brazilian politicians like so much, the Kyoto Protocol was the 10-minute warm-up before the real game begins," said scientist Carlos Nobre in reference to global climate change treaties.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Nov 25 (IPS) - While much of the world is busy chatting with friends or posting photos via Facebook, Internet users in Vietnam are worried that government restrictions on access to this popular social networking site

ROME, Nov 25 (IPS) - The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 102 times to 106 Nobel laureates between 1901 and 2009. Only 10 of those winners were women. Meanwhile, the Man Booker Prize has been awarded to 15