The non-tribal upper caste landowners of Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh are welcoming the Polavaram dam project since it offers them compensation, and the promise of ‘development’ and tourism. The tribal fishermen on the other hand, find that the tourist launches plying the river by the score are destroying what little remains of their livelihood To source

When I first heard Ashley Judd was going to East Congo, I was surprised. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has mostly been ignored by the US media, and is certainly not on the list of hip causes that celebrities flock to support. DRC experienced the bloodiest war since World War II, with death toll estimated at 5.4 million. To source

The Pakistani state has failed its people, writes Kamila Shamsie. Environmentalists have long warned of the power of the illegal timber mafia and the susceptibility of deforested areas to flooding, landslides and soil erosion. To source

Worldwide military expenditure in 2009 totalled an estimated $1531 billion, according to new figures released today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This represents an increase of 5.9% in real terms compared to 2008 and an increase of 49% since 2000. SIPRI today launches the 2010 edition of its Yearbook on Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. To source

For nearly a decade, the Afghan military has been promoted as the cornerstone of counterinsurgency in the country. Billed as a rare success story in a conflict with few bright spots, the Afghan armed forces will undoubtedly prove pivotal to stabilising Afghanistan. To source

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons. To source

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from the indigenous people of the Marshall Islands as to whether they can sue the federal government again for blowing up and irradiating the land by conducting nuclear tests in the 1940s-50s. The high court on Monday turned away the appeal from the people of Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll, both parts of the Marshall Islands. To source