By Ashfaq Yusufzai PESHAWAR, Pakistan (IPS) —Afghanistan is rediscovering the joy of cricket. It is seen as a tool of progress, a means of entertainment, and a way to wean youth away from violence in a country that has been ravaged by conflict for more than 30 years.Afghanistan will join Asia’s four Test playing nations […]

By Inés Acosta  MONTEVIDEO (IPS) —  Uruguay, about to become the first country in the world where the state will fully regulate production, sale and distribution of marijuana, will spend the next few months selecting a good quality strain of the crop that can be sold at a price similar to current illegal prices.Uruguayan President […]

By Giuliano Battiston  KABUL (IPS) — Will we get justice? That is the question many Afghans are asking as their war-ravaged country heads for presidential polls in April. For, the list of candidates includes several warlords who have been accused of heinous crimes and who are yet to be brought to justice.“The upcoming presidential election […]

By Ramy Srour WASHINGTON (IPS) — The U.S. government announced Monday it has repatriated two Saudi detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison, less than two weeks after two Algerian detainees were likewise sent back to their home country.A female soldier observes the first 20 captives at Guantanamo being processed on Jan. 11, 2002. Credit: […]

By Jacey Fortin ADDIS ABABA (IPS) — The African Union is preparing to deploy thousands of troops in the Central African Republic as a deadly conflict there spirals further out of control.On Monday, Dec. 9, African Union (AU) Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha met with diplomats at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to work out […]

By Samuel Oakford UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The world’s poorest countries are rethinking economic policies that – even during periods of breakneck growth – have failed to provide quality employment capable of matching a demographic boom.The disparity between growth and jobs is no starker than in the 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which, according to […]

By Karlos Zurutuza TRIPOLI (IPS) — There’s a car accident in Omar Mokhtar Avenue in downtown Tripoli. Nobody was injured but there’s a bumper hanging off the back of a car. In just a few seconds, a group gathers around.“Forget about insurance companies in Libya,” says Mansur, a 30-year-old satellite dish installer. “The main problem […]

By Karlos Zurutuza QAMISHLI, Syria, (IPS) — “I got married when I was 14 and I already had four children at 20,” recalls Nafia Brahim. In her fifties now, she is working hard so that no other woman loses control of her life.Brahim is one of 12 members of the assembly that runs the Center […]

MOSCOW (IPS) — Despite an endorsement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for their adherence to environmental standards in preparations for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian authorities are cracking down harder and harder on people trying to expose the environmental cost of projects related to the Games.Local environmental activists have for years been […]

  By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief   JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (NNPA) – When international icon and former political prisoner Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1994, it marked a watershed moment for the former minority-ruled country. Mandela, the standard bearer for the African National Congress, won with 62.6 percent of the […]