RUSSIA: CHECHEN CIVILIANS FACE COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT
Marina Litvinsky
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Russian federal and Chechen authorities should immediately put a stop to home burnings and other collective punishment practices against families of alleged insurgents in Chechnya, said a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Thursday.

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AFRICA: 'INVESTMENT MUST ADDRESS MARGINALISATION'
Diletta Varlese, Terna Gyuse and Joyce Mulama
Sirte, Libya, Cape Town And Nairobi (IPS) - No gathering hosted by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is ever dull, and the Thirteenth Ordinary Session of the African Union, concluding in Sirte, Libya today has not disappointed.

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KENYA: A ROLE FOR MEN IN GENDER EQUALITY
Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI (IPS) - The recent Gender Festival in Kenya has underlined the important role that male activism can play in achieving gender equality and women's empowerment.

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HAITI: 'THE ELITES ARE LIKE A HUGE ELEPHANT SITTING ON'
Michael Deibert interviews Haitian Prime Minister MICHÈLE PIERRE-LOUIS
PORT-AU-PRINCE (IPS) - Haitian Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis assumed office in September 2008. Born in the southern city of Jérémie in 1947, she left Haiti with her family in 1964 following a pogrom by dictator François Duvalier against his perceived enemies in her town.

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AFGHANISTAN: FOUR THOUSAND MARINES TO 'DRINK LOTS OF TEA'
Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON (IPS) - After months of planning and putting pieces in order, aspects of the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan are beginning to be concretely implemented – including a surge of troops and attempts to curtail the poppy trade that allegedly funds insurgents.

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