ENVIRONMENT: Ozone Hole Divides in Two

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica divided in two last week, an unprecedented phenomenon that caught the scientific community by surprise, say officials at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

TRADE: Brazil Launches WTO Actions against US and EU

Brazil has challenged the world's two trade superpowers by initiating dispute settlement processes Friday at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), tackling the subsidies the United States gives its cotton growers, and the European Union its sugar producers.

DEVELOPMENT: South Cedes Water Rights as Requirement for Loans

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank pressure developing countries to sell off their water services to a handful of transnational corporations as a condition for financial assistance, says the independent organisation One World Action.

AGRICULTURE: Protectionists and Free-Marketers Clash at WTO

A group of countries led by the European Union and Japan, and noted for the high level of subsidies for their farmers, has lashed out at the broad scope of the reforms proposed for the Agreement on Agriculture of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Red Cross Concerned as Conflict Escalates

The intensification of the Colombian civil war in the past few months has forced the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to beef up its budget for attending to the humanitarian needs of the affected population.

ECONOMY: World Suffers Two Years of Declining Investment

The global flow of investments dropped abruptly in 2001, and the same trend is being seen this year, but the outlook for the middle term is promising, says the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

ENVIRONMENT: Humanity Tries to Mend Ozone Layer

Readings of the lower atmosphere show that ozone-depleting substances continue their slow decline since reaching a peak in the 1992-1994 period, proving that policies to control certain human activities are having the desired effect, says the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

RIGHTS: UN’s Robinson Departs Repeating Criticisms against US

Mary Robinson ends her term as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reiterating her condemnations of the policies the United States implemented after the Sep 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

ECONOMY: World’s Insurers Seek State Backing on Terrorism Claims

Executives of insurance companies, which lost a combined 40 billion to 50 billion dollars as a result of the Sep 11 attacks in the United States last year, say they will only be able to confront the risks posed by terrorism if they have government backing.

HEALTH: With Adequate Funds, Polio’s Days Would Be Numbered

The international campaigns launched two years ago to completely wipe out poliomyelitis did not achieve their goal, but they did reduce the number of new cases of the disease reported each year from nearly 3,000 to just a few hundred.

SOUTH KOREA: Women Trafficked for US Military Bases – IOM Report

More than 5,000 women, mostly from the Philippines and Russia, are caught up in a prostitution network in South Korea that targets U.S. soldiers, reported a United Nations agency Tuesday.

TRADE: New WTO Director Submits His Plans for Developing South

The new director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), economist Supachai Panitchpakdi, outlined a long-term assistance plan for developing countries and a project for opening of a branch office in Africa on his first day on the job Monday.

TRADE: EU Gets Green Light on Sanctions Against US

The European Union may charge the United States up to 4.043 billion dollars in additional tariffs in retaliation for the undue tax breaks the latter gives its exporters, according to the biggest trade sanction approved by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since its creation in 1995.

TRADE: The Changing of the Guard at the WTO

The leadership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will be put in the hands Sunday of a new director-general, this time from a developing country, Thai economist Supachai Panitchpakdi.

ENVIRONMENT: ‘El Niño’ Blamed for Floods in Asia, Not Europe

The latest cycle of the climatic phenomenon known as El Niño, which will last until 2003, probably has nothing to do with the floods in Central Europe, nor with the severe drought in Southern Africa, but is indeed related to the heavy rainfalls in China, India and Bangladesh, say leading meteorologists.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Violence Thwarts UN Food Aid Distribution

The climate of insecurity prevailing in Colombia is preventing the distribution of food aid to the population that needs it most, reported the United Nations food agency Tuesday.

HEALTH: Danger on the Roads of the South

Traffic accidents cause more than a million deaths and tens of millions of injuries around the world each year, but most occur in developing countries, says a new report by the Global Forum for Health Research.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Refusal to Fight Hunger with Transgenic Foods

The countries of southern Africa are suffering widespread hunger but some are refusing the genetically modified food included in international aid packages, saying the products are a threat to human health and the environment.

DEVELOPMENT: WTO and WHO Agree – Health over Trade

The principle that public health concerns should take priority over trade interests was publicly accepted Thursday by the international organisations entrusted with regulating these two areas, which are often the source of discord.

ENVIRONMENT: Info Technology as Tool for Sustainable Development

Information and communication technology can play an important role in fomenting sustainable development, says the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in a new report prepared for the international summit that begins next week in Johannesburg.

PERU: Swiss Authorities Return Montesinos’ Ill-Gotten Millions

Switzerland's justice authorities returned to Peru 77.5 million dollars that had been deposited in its banks under the name of Vladimiro Montesinos and other former Peruvian officials who are charged with corruption and human rights crimes.