BIODIVERSITY: Sealed With a Comeback

After 50 years of near absence, grey seals are coming back to Polish coast of Baltic Sea. Not everyone is happy about it.

TWICE A VICTIM: PRO-DEATH PENALTY BIAS IN US CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Losing a family member to murder is one of the most traumatic experiences an individual can undergo. In the aftermath of their terrible tragedy, survivors must deal not only with the loss of their loved one but also with the criminal justice system -a system that does not always put victims first.

ATHENS OR SPARTA AS INSPIRATION?

In the last three decades, Central America has undergone a far-reaching qualitative change in its political and economic life. Armed conflicts have come to a halt, all of the countries have more democratic and pluralistic systems than in the past, and great progress has been made in terms of institutional foundations and freedom. But History must not be forgotten, because ours has not been an easy path, nor are there infallible antidotes against the actions of certain individuals or groups attempting to return to the past.

PAKISTAN: Scientists Turn Sights on Childhood Meningitis

She is already eight months old, but Aiman Azam can neither sit up nor clutch anything with her tiny hands. She cannot even hold her neck up or roll on her back. All she does is moan.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Shell of Amazon Fruit Replaces Flour in Bread

A bread made from the shell of the cupuaçú (Theobroma grandiflorum), a typical fruit of the Amazon forest, was widely approved in a consumer test. This alternative product, developed by researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP), achieved a favorable rating from more than 90 percent of those surveyed.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Renewed Permit for Gas del Caribe

After eight months of hearings, the Honduran Secretariat (ministry) of Environment and Natural Resources announced the two-year permit renewal for the controversial Mexican company Gas del Caribe, which operates in the Atlantic region of Omoa, in the Honduran northwest.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Free Bicycles in Buenos Aires

To encourage the use of bicycles, the Buenos Aires city government this month made about 100 two-wheelers available to anyone interested.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Innovative Octopus Farm Expands

The Mexican Mayab Mollusk Cooperative will expand its production of baby four-eyed octopus (Octopus maya) in order to expand its sales.

Threats Churn in the San Juan River

The conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua over the San Juan River masks a series of endeavors with the potential to damage this valuable natural resource.

“This Time There Will Be No Noah's Ark”

The collective duty of humanity is to seek a balance with nature. Everyone has to do their part; be more with less. The problem is not money, says Brazilian Leonardo Boff in this exclusive Tierramérica interview.

Climate Change Means New Crop Health Concerns

Phytosanitary problems could see dramatic changes in the coming decades as a result of climate change. A Brazilian project is dedicated to researching the possibilities and providing solutions.

AGRICULTURE: Desperation Over Subsidies

As the rains start to fall in Malawi, marking the beginning of the growing season, government is continuing to implement the fertiliser and seed subsidy programme which has since made the country a bread basket in the Southern African Development Community, SADC.

BANGLADESH: Solar Advocates See A Sunshine Nation

Good news may sometimes be hard to come by in this South Asian country, but for solar power advocates here, Bangladesh has been a sunshine nation for the last few years.

SOUTH AMERICA: Rain May Disappear from the World’s Breadbasket

South America still has vast extensions of land available for growing crops to help meet the global demand for food and biofuels. But the areas of greatest potential agricultural production -- central-southern Brazil, northern Argentina, and Paraguay -- could be left without the necessary rains.

WIKILEAKS: Africa Offers Easy Uranium

Wikileaks cables have revealed a disturbing development in the African uranium mining industry: abysmal safety and security standards in the mines, nuclear research centres, and border customs are enabling international companies to exploit the mines and smuggle dangerous radioactive material across continents.

MIDEAST: Racist Jews to the Fore

Emotions are running high in this working class town on the Mediterranean adjacent to Tel Aviv, the Israeli metropolis that has long been the symbol of liberal laissez-faire Israel. Principally, anti-Arab emotions: Racism is on the march.

ARGENTINA: Affordable Housing – A Distant Dream

While real estate investment and the number of upscale apartments for sale or rent are growing in the Argentine capital, tens of thousands of poor families are living in crowded shanty towns, and are demanding affordable housing and access to mortgage programmes.

RIGHTS: Guantanamo Closure Recedes Into Distance

President Barack Obama's hopes of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility appear as far from being realised as ever in the wake of new legislation approved by Congress this week.

MEXICO AT WAR, THE US IS TO BLAME

November 20 was the hundredth anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, the first major social revolution of the 20th century: a heroic deed carried out by two legendary popular figures, Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, whose victory was a victory for workers and peasant farmers: rights, agrarian reform, free, non-religious public education, and social security.

Justice at Last for Peasant Environmentalists in Mexico

"I feel I can breathe more deeply and look more towards the future. I feel at peace," Mexican peasant Rodolfo Montiel told IPS, from somewhere on the west coast of the United States.

NEW YEAR, NEW COUNTRY?

From the time I was capable of reason I remember hearing this old refrain, full of optimism, commonly remarked in Cuba around Christmas: "A new year, a new life." The expression is charged with unfulfilled desires, postponed goals, and possible hopes for the life that will begin with the new year -as if thinking about mere possibility was a way of getting closer to this "new life", better and different.