News headlines in August 2011, page 11

Almost three months since he was sworn in as the country’s president, Michel J. Martelly has already attempted to appoint two prime ministers to guide his government. Bernard Gousse, a minister of justice under the Gérard Latortue dictatorship (2004-2006) and businessman Daniel Rouzier, were both rejected by Haitian lawmakers.

Before Islam, Arabia lived for centuries under "asabiya", variously defined as Arabism, tribalism, or clanism, which led to many long wars. Prophet Muhammad challenged this order and introduced a community of values, the Umma, based on the tenet that "there is no difference between an Arab and a non-Arab, or between a white and a black, except in degree of piety". But only 30 years after Mohammed's death, the values he had taught were violated, and asabiya prevailed again. This was the beginning of a long decline of Muslim society, write Abbas Aroua, adjunct professor at the Lausanne Faculty of Medicine and director of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies at the Cordoba Foundation in Geneva, and Johan Galtung, founder of TRANSCEND, a Peace, Development and Environment Network, and author of "50 Years - 100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives".

With effective political and economic policies, Africa can be a haven for multinational companies (MNCs) even in the continent's least developed countries.

The sensational murder of Viola Drath, a 91-year-old socialite, inside a townhouse in Washington, DC apparently has a U.N. angle to it.

Legislation incorporating gender identity protection has ignited debate among activists for gay and lesbian rights, with some arguing that the legislation actually endangers women and threatens their physical safety, while others contend that gender identity protection is key to obtaining equality for the LGBT community.

Seven months after Tunisia’s historic uprising which saw the ouster of long-time dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and gave birth to the region’s Arab Spring, many Tunisians are losing confidence in the progress of their revolution.

In his Independence Day address to the nation on Aug. 15 Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed to fight corruption, but nationwide agitations since then demanding an effective ombudsman to check graft showed an unconvinced public.

As she stepped into her role as an ingénue on the macho stage of Thai politics, the backers of Yingluck Shinawatra, the country’s first woman prime minister, had hoped she would enjoy a honeymoon period.

After decades of not bothering to switch off the lights in unoccupied rooms in their Tokyo home, Masayoshi Sakurai and his children now meticulously make sure they do.

In a shuttered Cairo café, Egyptians crane their necks to watch the courtroom drama unfolding on a small television screen mounted high on the wall. The camera pans across the crowded courtroom and zooms in on a frail old man lying on a stretcher inside the caged defendants' box. Part Godfather, part Hannibal Lecter, he is the feared head of a powerful family at the centre of a web of violence and corruption. Beside him are his two sons, one known for shady business deals, the other groomed to head the cartel.