Haiti Gears Up for Polls - Again, Sans Lavalas Wadner Pierre PORT-AU-PRINCE, 30 Jul (IPS) - After weeks of delays, Haitian President René Préval confirmed this month that presidential and legislative elections will take place on Nov. 28. The U.N. and Western donor nations are pledging millions of dollars in support of the polls, but with at least 1.5 million people still homeless from the January earthquake, questions loom over how to ensure voter participation. more...   HONDURAS Rights Situation Deteriorates Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 29 Jul (IPS) - Six months after the inauguration of President Porfirio Lobo, the human rights situation in Honduras continues to deteriorate, according to two major New York-based groups. more...   US Court Blocks Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Law Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, 28 Jul (IPS) - In a legal victory for the administration of President Barack Obama, a federal court Wednesday temporarily blocked the implementation of key provisions of a controversial Arizona immigration law that was to take effect Thursday. more...   Mentally Ill Adrift in U.S. Immigration System Esther Banales UNITED NATIONS, 25 Jul (IPS) - Mentally disabled legal permanent residents of the United States and asylum seekers face indefinite detention, erroneous deportation, and unfair hearings in U.S. courts, according to a new joint report from two leading human rights organisations. more...   US/INDONESIA Resumption of Special Forces Training Denounced Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 22 Jul (IPS) - Thursday's announcement in Jakarta that Washington will resume training for the Indonesian military's controversial Special Forces unit (Kopassus) has been denounced by human rights groups and two key lawmakers here. more...   US Women Fight More Than Fire in the FDNY Hannah Rubenstein NEW YORK, 22 Jul (IPS) - Leaning back in a squeaking plastic chair, one leg crossed over the other, the lieutenant is at once relaxed and commanding. She smiles often, absent- mindedly running her hands through short brown hair before speaking. Her words are thoughtful, her manner candid. more...   Palestinians Remain Split, US Doesn't Adjust Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, 22 Jul (IPS) - Last summer, a tight consensus formed in Washington around Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plans to build up state-like institutions in the West Bank and revive the territory's sagging economy from the lingering effects of the Second Intifada. more...   UN Chief Dilly-Dallying on Panel to Probe Israeli Killings? Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 21 Jul (IPS) - When the Security Council condemned the killings by Israeli military forces of nine Turkish civilians on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza last May, it also released a presidential statement "taking note" of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal for an international investigation of the incident. more...   Obama-Cameron Meet Overshadowed By BP and Libya Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, 21 Jul (IPS) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to Washington, DC on Tuesday was supposed to be an opportunity for the Conservative Party leader to build a rapport with U.S. President Barack Obama. more...   MIDEAST Israel's Next War Could Be Lebanon: Analyst Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 19 Jul (IPS) - While speculation over a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities intensifies, at least one influential analyst here is calling on Washington to focus more on the likelihood of a new war breaking out between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and how to prevent or contain it. more...