ALMATY, Kazakhstan, Nov 29 (IPS) - This December will see the first anniversary of unrest which left at least 15 dead in the oil town of Zhanaozen in western Kazakhstan. As Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy visits the Kazakhstan capital Astana on Nov. 30, concerns are being raised that the last year has seen a serious erosion of rights in this Central Asian country, with political, civil and media liberties being curbed, as the authorities in Astana construct their narrative about what went wrong in Zhanaozen.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 29 (IPS) - More than a million people displaced from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas by growing militancy and military operations are facing severe hardship after losing businesses and work.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29 (IPS) - Along the borders of modern Europe, migrants have much to contend with, ranging from contradictory and confusing national immigration policies to horrific war zones, which these borders areas are slowly becoming.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (IPS) - The rule of law – an essential element of good governance – is prospering best in the countries of northern Europe and worst in Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and Cameroon, according to the latest edition of a five-year-old index released here Wednesday by the World Justice Project (WJP).

WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (IPS) - Ahead even of his Saturday swearing in, Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto met here on Tuesday with President Barack Obama to lay out a vision for a new bilateral relationship based more on economics and less on security issues.

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 28 (IPS) - The biggest trial for human rights crimes committed by Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship began Wednesday in Buenos Aires, with 68 people accused of crimes involving nearly 800 victims of the Navy Mechanics School (ESMA).

TEMUCO, Chile, Nov 28 (IPS) - "This is a project that reflects the occupation…of Mapuche territory," said Iván Reyes, an indigenous leader staunchly opposed to the construction of an international airport in the southern Chilean region of Araucanía.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 28 (IPS) - A long outstanding international conference on a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East, scheduled to take place in Finland next month, has been postponed, giving rise to speculation on whether it will ever get off the ground.

CAIRO, Nov 28 (IPS) - Brandishing flags and carrying banners denouncing "the new pharaoh", thousands of protesters thronged to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday to voice their opposition to President Mohamed Morsi's attempt to expand his powers.

HAVANA, Nov 28 (IPS) - There were no purple billboards on city streets, and no public service announcements on television to mark the date. But many different voices in Cuba remembered that this year marked the centennial of the birth of the local feminist movement, a platform for fighting for equality and against gender-based violence.