PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 20 (IPS) - The new round of a terror campaign by Taliban militants against liberal politicians and health workers has led to fresh alarm within government and civil society. Many see this as a ploy to postpone elections due mid-2013.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 19 (IPS) - A leading South African economist and investment strategist has warned that national priorities may be a more compelling factor influencing business decisions in the BRICS group of countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – than the prospects of increased market access through the alliance.

CAIRO, Jan 19 (IPS) - Egyptians love to have a good laugh. At every opportunity they rattle off jokes and take jabs at themselves, their society, and – where they dare – their ruler.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 19 (IPS) - A national poll revealed that 83 percent of voters in the United States believe it is important for the country to be a member of  and provide funding to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, commonly referred to as UNESCO.

SANTIAGO, Jan 18 (IPS) - Chile's positive economic performance in 2012 is not enough to boost President Sebastián Piñera's waning popularity, as many Chileans believe the country's much-touted growth does nothing to compensate or solve decades of accumulated injustices, several analysts told IPS.

JERUSALEM, Jan 18 (IPS) - A meeting between Iran and world powers is tentatively set for the month-end in Istanbul, and might constitute a litmus test over a compromise regarding Iran's uranium enrichment programme. Strangely enough, in Israel, Iran's nuclear quest is now off the public radar.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jan 18 (IPS) - After Hurricane Sandy swept through the northeast of the United States late October 2012, millions of New Yorkers were left for days without electricity.  But they still had access to drinking water, thanks to New York City's reliance on protected watershed areas for potable water.

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (IPS) - The presidential election topped news coverage in 2012 from the three major U.S. television networks, closely followed by violence in the United States and Middle East, and extreme weather events in the United States, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (IPS) - Activists and watchdog groups across the United States unveiled a new national push on Thursday to urge policymakers to roll back a controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision that led to the unprecedented spending of about 6 billion dollars, much of it untraceable, during recent national elections.

LIMA, Jan 17 (IPS) - Peru's economic growth is largely dependent on its wealth of natural resources, which provide over 50 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 80 percent of exports. In view of this fact, the government is developing a project for the valuation and protection of this natural bounty.