Trust Deficit – Worst Fallout of Fukushima

Kazuya Tarukawa, 36, left a secure job in the Japanese capital to tend to his family’s organic farm located 100 km away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor.

U.S.: To Arm or Not to Arm Syrian Rebels, That Is the Question

Just days before the opening meeting of the new international "Friends of Syria" in Tunis Friday, the debate over whether the United States should provide more support – including weapons – to opposition forces is gathering steam.

Somalia’s Rich Maritime Resources Being Plundered, Report Says

The international community has failed to grapple with the real underlying political and economic issues facing the troubled East African nation of Somalia, which has been surviving without an effective government for over two decades, according to a new study released here.

Jordanian NGOs Lead the Fight for Migrant Workers’ Rights

As the number of domestic workers flooding into Jordan from Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka reaches 140,000 annually, non-governmental organisations on the ground are working hard to protect migrant labourers’ rights and expose the terrible working conditions in the rich households that employ them.

GUATEMALA: Zero Hunger Plan Must Focus on Production, Experts Say

“We don’t want a repeat of welfare-oriented programmes, because they are unsustainable,” said Rony Palacios of the National Network for the Defence of Food Sovereignty in Guatemala, criticising President Otto Pérez Molina’s Zero Hunger plan.

Global Gender Imbalance Poses Critical Problems for Women

In 2005, there were 163 million more men in Asia, more than the entire female population of the United States. Asia is now facing serious consequences from sex selection, a situation the West might have inadvertently helped create.

Brazil’s Construction Boom Eases Integration of Haitians

Pierre was in the next-door country of Dominican Republic when the January 2010 earthquake destroyed half of Port-au-Prince and killed at least 200,000 of his fellow Haitians, including his wife and his mother.

U.S. States Grapple with Exploding Prison Populations

Budget constraints combined with exploding prison populations are prompting a number of U.S. states, including some of in the politically conservative south, to rethink their criminal codes.

Scientists Urge Reform for a Broken Global System

Unless governments work actively to build a brighter future for humanity, climate change, poverty and loss of biodiversity will worsen and continue to exacerbate existing global problems, top scientists warned ministers attending the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) governing council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday.

Scientists Denounce Climate Change Denial, Censorship

Amid revelations of a well-funded U.S. organisation's plans to deliberately distort climate science, scientists and journalists at a major scientific conference called on the Canadian government to stop its muzzling of scientists.

Q&A: Latin America Needs to Address the Transport of Nuclear Weapons

Latin America and the Caribbean celebrated their 45th anniversary as a nuclear-weapon-free zone amidst allegations of British deployment of nuclear weapons to the South Atlantic and with no specific regime for the transport of radioactive waste. 

Crackdown on Journalists Hits 15-Year High

UNITED NATIONS – The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide reached a 15-year high in 2011, driven by repressive states seeking to choke the flow of information.

PODCAST: INDONESIA – Community Radio Helps Revive Forests

Radio Ruyuk hosts a talk show on various environmental issues. Kanis Dursin reports on how farmers and small traders use community radio to save Indonesian forests.

INDONESIA: Community Radio Helps Revive Forests

Irman Meilandi unhesitatingly attributes the return of birds, wildlife and the forests around his hilly village of Mandalamekar in West Java province to conservation advice streaming in over community radio.

NIGER: Strained Welcome for 15,000 Malian Refugees

The little village of Chinagoder, on the Niger-Mali border, has become a refugee camp, flooded with Malian families fleeing fighting between their regular army and Tuareg rebels known as the MNLA - the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad.

Burmese Hinge Hopes on Free, Fair Polls

As campaigning for the Apr. 1 poll in Burma (also Myanmar) gets into full-swing, there are misgivings on whether the National League for Democracy (NLD) party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will get a fair deal.

ETHIOPIA: “Significant Progress Towards Improving Livelihoods”

Ethiopia says that the double-digit economic growth the country has experienced over the last seven years has started benefitting its majority by boosting their income and productivity in agriculture and small-scale businesses.

Palestinians Hear the Water

After a recent Israeli Supreme Court decision allowed Israeli companies to maintain quarrying and mining activities in the occupied West Bank, local human rights groups and activists say the decision has opened the door dangerously to Israel’s pillaging of other Palestinian resources.

FOOD SECURITY IN TIMES OF CRISIS

The uncertainties that lie ahead in the coming year present a challenge to the ability of governments to navigate the challenges that the recession will present to the less well off members of their population. Worry over food insecurity arises from the fact that sluggish job creation and income growth effect the access of the poor to food.

Paper Industry Decimating Indonesia’s Tigers

The survival of Sumatra's tigers, elephants, orangutans, rhinos, as well as indigenous communities, is threatened by the "world's fastest deforestation rate", caused by none other than the pulp and paper industry, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Community Station in Mexico Conquers Airwaves and Internet

It’s always cold in this city in Mexico’s Sierra Nevada mountains, more than 2,400 metres above sea level, at the foot of the Popocatépetl volcano.