THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, Nov 30 (IPS) - Mujeeb Rahuman (39), a mason in the Venjaramoodu village in Thiruvananthapuram, the southernmost district in India's coastal Kerala state, has been a chain smoker for the past twenty years.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 30 (IPS) - Amidst thunderous applause - and the ceremonious unfurling of a Palestinian flag in the General Assembly hall - the U.N.'s highest policy-making body Thursday voted overwhelmingly to elevate Palestine from an "observer" to a "non-member state".

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (IPS) - At perhaps a critical turning point in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, the U.S. government, the single largest funder in that fight, on Thursday unveiled a major new strategy for pushing towards achieving an "AIDS-free generation", the stated U.S. goal.

MEXICO CITY, Nov 29 (IPS) - Each scarf represents a life cut short. Each stitch, a tear. Each thread, a cry of frustration about death and impunity.

NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (IPS) - While India has drastically reduced the spread of HIV over the past decade, new strains of the virus that cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are troubling medical scientists in this country.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Nov 29 (IPS) - Caribbean governments have begun a quiet lobbying effort to convince Washington to rethink the subsidies it grants to the rum industry in U.S. territories, or face a formal complaint in the World Trade Organisation.

XALAPA, Mexico, Nov 29 (IPS) - Something smells rotten in the state of Veracruz. In Xalapa, the capital of this eastern Mexican state, known as the "Athens of Veracruz" because of its strong cultural tradition, fear is in the air.

NAIROBI, Nov 29 (IPS) - It all started with a fight, one that would change his life forever.

JAKARTA, Nov 29 (IPS) - At the age of 82, former Indonesian political detainee Mudjayin wonders if he will ever see justice served.