News headlines in September 2011, page 22

Afghan and NATO forces have ended their assault on Taliban fighters, 20 hours after the group launched coordinated attacks in Kabul, targeting NATO's headquarters, the U.S. embassy and the Afghan intelligence agency.

Just 24 hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that two U.S. hikers who have been detained for nearly two years would be released on bail, the country's judiciary insisted that the decision remains under review.

According to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.6 million more people slipped into poverty in 2010, placing the number of U.S. residents living below the poverty line at 15.1 percent.

When the sole Community Care Centre in Jammu and Kashmir providing medical and psychosocial services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) closed down for lack of patients it was a sure sign that the north Indian state had beaten back dire forecasts.

With Burma’s quasi-civilian government relaxing the iron grip on power maintained for half-a century by military juntas, the big question is: How real is the change?

Bellicose dialectic between Turkey and Israel reached a new height last week and has precipitated the deteriorating relationship between the two former allies to new depth. But it is for the moment unclear whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threats to cut the Israeli navy’s perceived power and presence to size in Eastern Mediterranean represent a true tactical decision in Ankara’s strategy to expand its influence in the Middle East, or a mere coup-de- theatre for domestic and Arab consumption.

Morocco’s offer of autonomy to Western Sahara to stave off demands for full independence is boomeranging on the kingdom with other regions now demanding similar freedom.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament this month adopted a bill creating a Specialised Court for serious violations of human rights. The involvement of jurists from outside the DRC in running the court has quickly become a major talking point.

When the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened Tuesday, one of the key questions lingering in the minds of most delegates was the state of Palestine - literally and metaphorically.

According to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.6 million more people slipped into poverty in 2010, placing the number of U.S. residents living below the poverty line at 15.1 percent.