10 December 2014 Last updated at 07:54
Government plans to file charges of attacking archaeological monuments after activists set up banner near famed drawings
For more than 16 years, Hanif Masih worked as an indentured servant in a brick factory in Pakistan. Then, an aid organization purchased his freedom. Though he remains extremely poor, he is one of the lucky ones.
He is standing in the courtyard of the brick factory where he has spent so many years working. There's a massive smokestack in the background. The plant, about the size of a football field, is located in Kasur, a Pakistani city about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Lahore near the Indian border.
Masih looks on as two men sitting on plastic chairs at a table complete a transaction that will change his life forever. Though there is a third chair available, Masih stands quietly next to it as if the matter at hand has nothing to do with him. Having long ago learned his place, he wouldn't dare sit down.
Japan's looming benefit cuts an unspoken, unsettling election theme
CIA interrogations report sparks prosecution calls
The UN and human rights groups have called for the prosecution of US officials involved in what a Senate report called the "brutal" CIA interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects.
A top UN human rights envoy said there had been a "clear policy orchestrated at a high level".
The CIA has defended its actions in the years after the 9/11 attacks on the US, saying they saved lives.
President Barack Obama said it was now time to move on.
'Criminal charges'
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Ben Emmerson said that senior officials from the administration of George W Bush who planned and sanctioned crimes must be prosecuted, as well as CIA and US government officials responsible for torture such as waterboarding.
"As a matter of international law, the US is legally obliged to bring those responsible to justice," Mr Emmerson said in a statement made from Geneva.
Peru to take legal action over Greenpeace stunt at ancient Nazca lines
Government plans to file charges of attacking archaeological monuments after activists set up banner near famed drawings
Peru will seek criminal charges against Greenpeace activists who it says damaged the world-renowned Nazca lines by leaving footprints in the adjacent desert during a publicity stunt.
“It’s a true slap in the face at everything Peruvians consider sacred,” said Luis Jaime Castillo, the deputy culture minister, after the action by the environmental group on Monday at the famed drawings etched into Peru’s coastal desert, a UN World Heritage site.
He said the government was seeking to prevent those responsible from leaving the country while it asks prosecutors to file charges of attacking archaeological monuments, a crime punishable by up to six years in prison.
Cameroon conservation quandary over wildlife rampage
As activists mark Wildlife Conservation Day, elephants and hippopotamuses are trampling over farms and crops in northern Cameroon. Authorities face a difficult balancing act - conserve wildlife or protect property?
Residents in Mayo Danay in northern Cameroon say hundreds of elephants and hippopotamuses have been causing enormous damage to their farms and villages.
Ledou Ahmadou from Bougay village told DW he had lost all his crops to the animals.
"The elephants and hippopotamuses have destroyed my sorghum and onions and continue to attack us in our villages," he said.
The animals left the 4,000 hectare (9,900 acre) Kalfou Wildlife Park for greener pastures. Senior administrative official Nkwenti Simon Doh said parts of the park had been converted into farmland and villages by local inhabitants. This was putting pressure on resources. Doh said three hippopotamuses had been killed as the animals moved out and he urged people to show restraint.
The 390-Euro Man: A Pakistani Slave's Path to Freedom
By Hasnain KazimFor more than 16 years, Hanif Masih worked as an indentured servant in a brick factory in Pakistan. Then, an aid organization purchased his freedom. Though he remains extremely poor, he is one of the lucky ones.
On the day Hanif Masih is to be freed after spending half of his life as a slave, the 28 year old rubs olive oil into his hair. He wants the part to stay in place so he can look his best on such an important occasion.
Masih looks on as two men sitting on plastic chairs at a table complete a transaction that will change his life forever. Though there is a third chair available, Masih stands quietly next to it as if the matter at hand has nothing to do with him. Having long ago learned his place, he wouldn't dare sit down.
China takes nuclear weapons undersea away from prying eyes
December 10, 2014 - 1:46PMDavid Tweed
Hong Kong: China is preparing to arm its stealthiest submarines with nuclear missiles that could reach the United States, cloaking its arsenal with the invisibility needed to retaliate in the event of an enemy strike.
Fifty years after China carried out its first nuclear test, patrols by the almost impossible-to-detect JIN class submarines armed with nuclear JL-2 ballistic missiles will give President Xi Jinping greater agility to respond to an attack.
The nuclear-powered subs will probably conduct initial patrols with the missiles by the end of this year, "giving China its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent," according to an annual report to the US Congress submitted in November by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Japan's looming benefit cuts an unspoken, unsettling election theme 
By Lisa Twaronite and Tetsushi Kajimoto
6 hours ago
Hiroko Shinohara frets about one issue Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has noticeably avoided on the campaign trail ahead of Sunday's election: the need to cut Japan's generous social welfare program that supports millions of people.
"I hope my own pension is OK, but I need to work as long as I can and save money, just in case," said Shinohara, 67, as she tended her family's traditional Japanese sweet shop in Tokyo.
"I really worry about people in their 30s and 40s now. Will there be any money left for them when they're old?"
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