Faced with an increasingly impatient Congress and a defiant government in Tehran, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is currently stepping up its diplomatic efforts in the Middle East as it seeks to prepare the ground for tougher sanctions on Iran.

The ceasefire announced late last week between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels in the northern part of the country is being greeted here as an important initial step toward stabilising the Arab world's poorest country and reversing advances by al Qaeda's affiliate there.

Despite President Barack Obama's pledge in his State of the Union address last month to 'require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or Congress,' the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says the Obama administration has been 'fighting hard to stop the release of the names of these representatives.'

Nicaragua slammed the door on any possible debate on the restitution of therapeutic abortion - performed to save the life of the pregnant woman - despite demands that it do so voiced during a United Nations review of human rights in the country.

Islamophobia is rising in the West, and sectarian clashes have undermined unity in the Muslim world, but there is hope from 'within', says a group of young Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow (MLTs) working to address these problems.

Female journalists worldwide complain about discrimination on the grounds of gender. However, their colleagues in Gaza also face death threats, the dangers of working in a war zone and the struggle for daily necessities as the Israeli siege on Gaza drags on.

Bashe Abdi Yousuf, a U.S. citizen, was a young businessman in Somalia when he was detained, tortured, and kept in solitary confinement for over six years. Aziz Mohamed Deria, also a U.S. citizen, lost his father and brother when they were abducted and killed by officials and never seen again.

After countries failed to reach a binding agreement on greenhouse gas emissions at the crucial Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December, the United Nations moving forward to enforce a pledge to help developing countries cope with the worst impacts.

Views within Iceland towards membership of the European Union (EU) are mixed. Though Iceland has officially decided to apply for EU membership this does not mean that it will join, even if invited to do so.

The number of people deported from the U.S. annually has grown from just over 69,000 to over 356,000 in the past eight years, while resource-starved immigration judges issue decisions without sufficient time to conduct legal research and analyse the complex cases they are asked to decide.