Rights Groups Denounce Duvalier Ruling, U.S. Urges Appeal Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 31 Jan (IPS) - International and local human rights groups Tuesday strongly denounced the ruling by an investigating judge in Haiti that former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier should not face charges for massive human rights abuses committed during his 15-year reign, from 1971 to 1986. more...   US-BAHRAIN Rights Groups Oppose Smaller Arms Transfer Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 30 Jan (IPS) - The decision by the administration of President Barack Obama to approve limited transfers of military equipment to Bahrain is coming under renewed fire by human rights and pro-democracy groups here. more...   U.S. Condemns Boko Haram Attacks Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 24 Jan (IPS) - The U.S. State Department Tuesday "strongly" condemned recent lethal attacks carried out by the Islamist group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, but also warned against an excessive reaction by the government's security forces. more...   U.S. "Money Isn't Speech, Corporations Aren't People" Kanya D'Almeida NEW YORK, 21 Jan (IPS) - In most mainstream media the words "corruption" and "election fraud" accompany images of makeshift polling stations manned by armed guards in Burma or burning tires beside tattered ballot boxes in South Sudan – the insidiousness of stolen elections and a crumbling democracy is very seldom associated with the United States. more...   CANADA Opposition Builds to New "Tar Sands" Pipeline Jillian Kestler-D'Amours MONTREAL, 17 Jan (IPS) - As public hearings began earlier this month into a controversial pipeline that would transport crude oil from the Alberta tar sands to tankers along the coast of British Columbia, environmental groups and First Nations communities have raised staunch opposition to the project, which they say puts both the environment and their traditional way of life at risk. more...   U.S. Burma Release, Ceasefire Hailed by Obama, Rights Groups Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 13 Jan (IPS) - The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama Friday hailed the release by the Burmese government of hundreds of political prisoners, suggesting that it went far toward satisfying Washington's conditions for fully normalising ties between the two countries. more...   Egypt Follows Israel, Eyeing U.S. Aid Without Pre-Conditions Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 13 Jan (IPS) - The United States, the largest provider of military aid to Israel, has rarely, if ever, succeeded in using its leverage to get the Jewish state to abandon its continued repression of Palestinians or halt illegal settlements in occupied territories. more...   Report Exposes "Survival Sex Trade" in Post-Earthquake Haiti Kanya D'Almeida NEW YORK, 12 Jan (IPS) - Eighteen-year-old "Kettlyne", a Haitian orphan living in the rubble-strewn Croix Deprez camp – one of the many remaining tent-cities that houses refugees from the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake – is unable to feed her three-year-old daughter. more...   U.S. A Decade in the Purgatory Called Guantanamo Charles Davis WASHINGTON, 11 Jan (IPS) - Hundreds of protesters, dozens outfitted in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, took to the streets outside the White House on Wednesday to demonstrate against torture and indefinite detention on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the U.S. prison facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. more...   CANADA U.N. to Probe Missing and Murdered Native Women Jillian Kestler-D'Amours MONTREAL, 10 Jan (IPS) - As a United Nations committee initiates an inquiry procedure into the alarming number of missing and murdered Native women across Canada, human rights groups are hoping that an on-the- ground investigation by the international body will finally help stem systematic violence against Native women. more...