Ecobreves – VENEZUELA Lionfish Alert: Lionfish Alert

Venezuela fears the arrival in its Caribbean islands of the lionfish (Pterois volitans), "a voracious predator that seeks refuge in reefs and lies in wait for its prey, especially young invertebrates, lobster and fish."

RIGHTS-US: Decision on 9/11 Trials Sparks Praise, Anger

The U.S. government's decision to bring five high-profile terror suspects to the United States to face trials in a civilian court has drawn reactions ranging from praise to condemnation to confusion.

WATER-ZAMBIA: Worries Ahead of Flood Season


The Zambezi is home to the fishing community on Mbeta Island. But after the river rose and swallowed their homes last year, they have learned to fear it as well.

CHINA: Simmering Issues Boiling Up in Run-up to Obama Visit

His victory speech is a smash hit on Internet sites; his image vies for popularity with those of communist China’s founding father Mao Zedong, and his book is a runway bestseller in this country’s big cities. But as China prepares to welcome him as the first black president of the United States, keen anticipation is mixed with unease.

EL SALVADOR: More Troops on the Streets to Fight Crime

José, a 46-year-old street vendor in the Salvadoran capital, says he is happy that the leftist government of Mauricio Funes decided to put more army troops on the streets to help fight the soaring levels of crime.

DEVELOPMENT: More Promises to Eat

Next week's United Nations food security summit is in danger of becoming a massive missed opportunity, experts and non-governmental organisations say. Fears mount that top leaders will not show up, and binding new commitments will not materialise.

AGRICULTURE-ZIMBABWE: New Methods to Maximise Yields

Last season, for the first time in her more than 20 years as a farmer, Elizabeth Runema harvested her maize crop at the beginning of February.

MIDEAST: New Face of Palestine, Now Showing

Other than to movie aficionados, the refurbishing of an old cinema hall is no cause for great excitement.

VIETNAM: Human Rights, Health: Twin Issues for Climate Change

Vietnam will be one of five nations most affected by climate change. Worst-case scenarios see large parts of the low-lying and flood-prone Mekong Delta area, which produces much of the nation’s rice crop, flooded.

RIGHTS-US: Rendition Redux?

On the heels of a federal appeals court ruling that only the U.S. Congress and the executive branch of government - not the courts - can interfere with government-sponsored "extraordinary rendition", a U.S. citizen from New Jersey is asking another court to tell the government it wasn't okay to secretly imprison and abuse him in three different African countries over a period of four months.

RIGHTS: Iraqi Minorities Dying Over Turf War

Iraqi minority groups are caught up in a power struggle between the country's Arab-dominated central government and the Kurdish-controlled regional government over the oil-rich Nineveh province - and they are paying with their lives, according Human Rights Watch.

UGANDA: Helping Hand For Homophobia From U.S. Christians

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill under consideration in Uganda was sparked by a conference in Kampala earlier this year at which fundamentalist Christians from the U.S. identified homosexuality as a threat to "family values".

SWEDEN: ‘Freemovers’ Get Trapped

After a spell of sleeping rough at the railway station, Farid has a roof over his head, by way of a small room he shares with five other students.

EDUCATION-URUGUAY: Literacy Starts at Home

"At first I was embarrassed and had a hard time getting involved, but then I started relaxing. I like it a lot, because it helps me share different things with my kids," says María José Jara, a young mother from a poor neighbourhood in this Uruguayan city, referring to an innovative and successful family literacy project.

EL SALVADOR: Nature Takes Advantage of Unlearned Lessons

Cruz Ayala, 55, weeps inconsolably over the bodies of his 71-year-old mother, Catalina, and his 15-year-old niece Carolina outside of a chapel in the town of Verapaz in the central Salvadoran province of San Vicente.

RIGHTS-US: Obama’s Terrorism Courts Still “Fatally Flawed”

Human rights advocates and legal scholars are voicing sharp criticism of President Barack Obama's revisions to the George W. Bush administration's Military Commissions Act of 2006, characterising them as unnecessary and saying the new law will lead to further delays and create a system of "second-class justice".

CHINA: Latest Africa Foray: Altruism or Hegemony?

Brushing off accusations that its investment is denuding Africa of precious natural resources, China has pledged "going all-out" to help African countries overcome poverty and fight new threats like climate change.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Breaking the Silence of Chagas Disease

One hundred years after the discovery of Chagas disease, endemic in many Latin American countries, the organization Doctors Without Borders (Médicos Sin Fronteras) staged a photo exhibit in Buenos Aires, as well as informational talks and concerts to raise awareness of the disease.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: The Reforestation of El Merendón

Around 58 hectares of forest hit by a weevil plague will be reforested with cedar and mahogany over the next five months in El Merendón mountain range, which serves as the lungs of the northwestern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Recycling Greenhouse Gases

A device invented by the company Carbono Brasil and the Federal University of Santa Catarina captures carbon dioxide and methane generated by industry and turns the gases into inputs for other productive activities.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Environmental Budget Plummets

Despite the Mexican government's statements in favor of environmental protection, the 2010 national budget sets aside only a small amount of money for it, denounced the environmental watchdog Greenpeace.