NIGERIA: Lake Communities Left High and Dry

The fittest are fleeing the shores of Lake Chad: Adamu Modu, a young fisherman, is joining a stream of able-bodied men heading south to find work in the southern part of the country.

RIGHTS-US: Afghan Prisoners Challenge Indefinite Detention

While the unsuccessful attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas day captured the headlines and put major political roadblocks in the path of prisoner release from Guantanamo Bay, the courts – far more quietly - continued to play a major role in influencing the detention issue.

TRANSPORT-INDIA: Trouble in the Air

If one were a night passenger on any airline flying out of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the past week, chances are one would have spent many a nail-biting moment waiting endlessly to board the aircraft.

MIDEAST: Route May Open, But Not to Peace

Just beyond the main Israeli checkpoint, ten kilometres short of Jerusalem, a white Nissan station wagon is abruptly edging to the side of the road. It comes to a halt on the shoulder.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Watch the Birdies

Ornithologists say that climate change is having a profound effect on bird behaviour and suggest that this phenomenon can act as an early warning system to the dangers posed to Earth.

RIGHTS: Groups Protest “Profiling” at U.S. Airports

Civil liberties advocates and organisations representing Muslims believe the Barack Obama administration's decision to require extra scrutiny for travelers to the U.S. from 14 predominantly Islamic countries will lead to practices that are discriminatory and ineffective.

FILM: Saving Lives Amid the Chaos of War

The documentary "Living in Emergency" is as graphic as it is gripping, following doctors working in humanitarian crises as they face death, disease and despair in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

YEMEN: U.S. Poised to Increase Aid

In the wake of a botched Christmas Day airliner bombing claimed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the direction of what used to be called the "global war on terror" settled on Yemen this week, with the United States slated to escalate economic and military assistance to the country's beleaguered government.

URUGUAY: From Open Sewer to Green Parkway

For decades, the Miguelete, the main waterway running through the Uruguayan capital, was a virtual open sewer that the capital had turned its back on, along with its past as the site of the traditional Sunday promenade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

RIGHTS-US: Yemeni Detainees Caught in Bomb Backlash

In the wake of the failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas day, legal experts and human rights advocates are pushing back against calls from politicians to halt the planned release of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to their home country, Yemen.

TANZANIA: Addressing Energy Crisis Through Alternatives and Efficiency at Household Level

Tanzania's electricity grid is fed by a mixture of natural gas, diesel and hydropower; however, over the past few years the country has experienced severe blackouts and power rationing in urban areas due to drought and subsequent low-water levels.

MIDEAST: ‘Prince of Peace’ – Obama or Netanyahu?

United States President Barack Obama’s intended broad Mideast policies are running into the complexities of peacemaking - especially after the ‘Prince of Peace’ began insisting on the necessity of, sometimes, fighting for peace.

DEVELOPMENT: Have a Hungry New Year (No Don’t)

The world's hungry have good reason to look to the new year with trepidation given the experience of the 12 months that preceded it.

POLITICS: Indonesia Mourns the Passing of a Beloved Leader

The news about fourth Indonesian president and cleric Abdurrahman Wahid being admitted to the hospital last week merited only a passing mention in the national media. It was overshadowed by reports on the country’s tumultuous political situation, such as allegations that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was involved in a banking scandal and the controversies hounding the country’s corruption eradication agency.

NIGERIA: Fears for the Future as Religious Violence Claims 35

Government has again clashed with a religious sect in the state of Bauchi. Just under six months ago, an Islamist sect called Boko Haram launched attacks on police stations across four northern states, and hundreds of lives were lost before the situation was brought under control.

MALI: Mobilising in Defence of Migrants

The number of migrants being deported and returned to Mali is increasing. Civil society has mobilised to support the returnees.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: 2010 Without Water in 5 Departments

The drought caused by the climate phenomenon known as El Niño will hit five of Honduras's 18 departments hard in 2010, and at least 50,000 families are likely to face food problems, according to a government source.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Replacing Polluting Trucks

About 150 new trucks will be given to cargo transport microbusinesses in several Chilean cities as part of a government program to remove polluting vehicles from circulation.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Drought Means Christmas in the Dark

The drought in the area of the southeastern Caroní River, the result of the phenomenon known as El Niño, is casting a shadow in all populated areas of Venezuela, as the government ordered restrictions on public lighting.

Ecobreves – CUBA: New Planetarium in Old Havana

A planetarium that will contribute to research and promotion of astronomy in Cuba was inaugurated this month in Old Havana.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Punishment Lifted for Illegal Loggers

The Brazilian government has put a three-year suspension on punishments for illegal logging issued up to Dec. 10, leading environmental activists to charge that the government is reversing the stance it took at the United Nations climate change conference held earlier this month in Copenhagen.