MEDIA: Journalists Increasingly at Risk Says UN Report

A record 77 journalists were killed last year, making 2009 one of the most dangerous years for media workers, according to a report published Thursday by UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural agency.

U.S.: Obama Criticised for Health Package Abortion Ban

The largest civil liberties group in the U.S. faulted President Barack Obama for signing an executive order on Wednesday that bans federal funds from being used for abortion procedures and revives funding for expired abstinence-only sex-education programming.

ARTS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Women Dancers Can Fill Granaries

"Some said, how can women dancers tell us about climate change? Some said, how can dancers talk about planting trees? Others asked, how can women dancers build schools? But now the government says a drum has managed to fill our granaries, a dancer has managed to build schools."

RIGHTS-UGANDA: Bearing the Pains of Double Discrimination

They endure stigma, discrimination, violence and extreme poverty, but Ugandan women living with disabilities say the greatest challenge facing them centres on their reproductive health.

URUGUAY: Agro-Export Boom May Have Lethal Consequences

Behind the explosive growth of the agriculture and plantation forestry industries in Uruguay lies clear proof of the indiscriminate use of chemical products that pose serious threats to the environment and human health.

TRINIDAD: Sharing a Cell with Cockroaches and Rats

One of the newest opposition politicians to join the Trinidad and Tobago Senate, Verna St Rose-Greaves knows a lot about human rights abuses.

HAITI: Artists Join UN to Rebuild Cultural Life

As international donors prepare to meet at the United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss ways to rebuild Haiti, after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, the country’s artistic community has been mobilising to make culture a key aspect of reconstruction.

U.S.: Republicans Seek Deal on Detainees

The prominent scholar who believes that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-styled mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks, should receive no trial is nonetheless advising Sen. Lindsey Graham on a proposal to the White House to create "an overarching detainee framework", including a new approach to habeas corpus petitions and indefinite detention of "too dangerous to free" detainees without trial.

TUNISIA: Rights Groups Condemn Harassment of Ex-Prisoners

The Tunisian government should stop the harassment of political prisoners after their release from jail, say rights groups in two new reports.

LAOS: Residents Fret Over Parched Mekong River

Like many residents of this slow-paced Lao capital, graduate student Packno usually enjoys meeting up with her family and friends for dinner at any of the restaurants along the Mekong River.

MIDEAST: Israel Hovers Between War and Peace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current visit to Washington is not just about trying to smooth over the crisis which has rocked U.S.-Israeli relations over the past fortnight.

TRINIDAD: Last Chance for Stalled Smelter Plant

The full-page newspaper advertisements touting the benefits of a controversial aluminium smelter plant appeared here just as the court of appeal is preparing to rule on whether such a facility is ever built in Trinidad and Tobago.

RIGHTS-MALAWI: Full Court Trial for Gay Couple

Two men who married each other in a traditional engagement ceremony will have to undergo trial and face years of imprisonment if found guilty of having a homosexual relationship.

MIDEAST: EU Boosts Israel Ties, Ignores Illegal Settlements

Diplomats representing the European Union (EU) have drawn up a new plan for strengthening their relations with Israel despite the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: More and More Garbage

The government of the Argentine capital is depositing twice the volume of solid waste in sanitary landfills than is allowed under the 2005 "zero garbage" law.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Bioinsecticide Against Dengue

A biological insecticide developed at Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation is an effective weapon against dengue because it does not harm human health or the environment, say researchers.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: A Green University

The private Ibero-American University of Mexico is working to reduce its harm to the environment through the ambitious "Green Campus" program.

POLITICS-NEPAL: Statesman’s Death Leaves Worries About Peace Process

The death of Girija Prasad Koirala, who played a role in some of the biggest political changes in Nepal in recent decades, has many wondering about what will happen to the fragile peace process that he is widely credited for having made possible.

POLITICS-SUDAN: African Leaders Call for Peaceful Elections

With less than a month to the historic multi-party poll in Africa’s largest country, Sudan, eminent African leaders are calling for a peaceful and calm election process.

U.S.: Families Sue Over Guantanamo Deaths

The families of two prisoners who died at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, are asking a federal court to reconsider its ruling dismissing their lawsuit, which seeks to hold federal officials and the U.S. government accountable for their sons' torture, arbitrary detention, and ultimate deaths.

NIGERIA: Acting President Consolidates Power Amid Unrest

This week, acting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet, further securing his tenuous hold on the country's top post amidst rising unrest in the Niger Delta and flaring religious tensions in the central region of the country.