Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Refuge for Rescued Wild Animals

An Argentine environmental group has proposed creating a Wild Animal Rescue Center in the central province of La Pampa for animals captured by hunters.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Prize for La Mosquitia Documentary Film

A documentary that collects the multiplicity of sounds and forms of life of La Mosquitia, the Honduran jungle region on the Caribbean coast, has won an award from the Environment Secretariat (ministry) and a private foundation.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: City Campaign to Protect Birds

An initiative - backed by the city government and the schools - aims to raise awareness about preserving birds in the metropolitan zone of the Mexican capital. Threats to the birds include cats and rats, as well as lack of food and water, and the effects of climate change.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Ceramic Absorbs Industrial CO2

Using porous ceramic microspheres, scientists at the Brazilian Federal University of Minas Gerais were able to cut industrial carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent.

MIDEAST: Another Nobel Message for Peace

In the week of Nobel Prize announcements, the most intriguing comment from the Middle East came not, as one might have expected, as a straight reaction to the shock of U.S. President Barack Obama being awarded this year's Peace Prize.

EAST TIMOR: Slow Progress for Corruption Watchdog

A lack of political will to tackle corruption in East Timor is holding the country back, said Sebastiao Ximenes, East Timor’s Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice.

POLITICS: NGOs Hold Arms Exporters to Account for Abuses

With 2,000 people dying daily in armed violence fuelled by irresponsible arms transfers, talks to create an international treaty regulating these weapons can no longer be delayed, says a coalition of NGOs in a new report "Dying for Action" published Wednesday.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Experts Call for U.S. Leadership on Deforestation

A bipartisan commission is calling for the United States to make halting global deforestation a major priority in both domestic and international climate change policies.

ENVIRONMENT-THAILAND: Scientists Hail New Species, Fossil

Who knows how many more fossils and species are lurking in the vast, unexplored riches of South-east Asia?

NIGERIA: Fish Could Play Greater Role In Food Security

The smell of roasting fish fills the air as one approaches the bungalow a few metres from the shore of the lagoon. Like most families in the village schoolteacher John Sewanu and his family of seven depend on the sea for food and income.

MIDEAST: Finally Taking Off Their Gloves

Amazingly, just when all four parties - the U.S., its allies in the Arab world, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel - seemed to have hit rock bottom in terms of the prospects of moving the region away from conflict and towards peace, all of a sudden everything seems to be pointing in the exact opposition direction.

POLITICS: China Resists U.S.’s ‘Covert' Trade Agenda

As the United States talks about rebalancing global growth, China sees a covert agenda of trade protectionism. And while Beijing seems to agree that there is a price to pay for its new ascent as a global power, it bristles at suggestions that it needs to let its export powerhouse fade from prominence by allowing its currency, the yuan, to appreciate faster.

SUDAN: Darfur's Misery Far from Over, Watchdog Groups Say

Details of the abuse of civilians in Darfur and southern Sudan, and reports of human rights violations committed by government officials, are emerging on the eve of a major conference in Moscow where NGOs, governments and intergovernmental organisations will discuss the overall situation in Sudan.

MEDIA: South-South Radio from Caracas to Africa

Poverty, attacks on human rights and corporate fraud will be among the main news coverage focuses of a new regional public radio network, Radio del Sur, which will link stations from South America and Africa.

HEALTH: Africa Leads World in Premature Infant Deaths

An estimated 13 million babies worldwide are born prematurely and more than one million die each year, say health experts.

US-ZIMBABWE: Yearlong Sanctions Bring Few Reforms

More than a year after the signing of an agreement to bring democracy to Zimbabwe, the United States continues to maintain sanctions against the southern African nation.

INDIA: Women Beat the Odds to Leave a Mark as Village Leaders

When Kusum Lata, 40, decided to run for election in her village, she felt frightened. "I was extremely nervous as everything was new to me," says the mother of four. But the support of her family and friends inspired her.

SOUTH AFRICA: We Have Land Rights but No Water Rights – Farmers

Thandi Sihadi stands next to a dry tap. As a maize and dairy farmer in one of South Africa’s driest districts, the lack of running water is nothing new to her.

DEVELOPMENT: Migrants Give More than They Take, Says U.N.

Often vilified and mistreated, migrant workers benefit both the countries they move to and the ones they leave behind, says the latest Human Development Report released Monday.

MIDEAST: Voices of Gloom Get Louder

Three Israeli soldiers, automatic rifles slung across their shoulders, are questioning a group of Palestinian builders. The top floors being added to the concrete house that lies right alongside Israel's security wall which divides off occupied East Jerusalem from Palestinian territory on the eastern side of the wall have evidently aroused some concern.

SOUTH AFRICA: New Regulations "Good and Bad" for Black Empowerment

The first decade of South Africa’s black economic empowerment (BEE) policies saw the creation of a predictable list of politically connected beneficiaries, featuring names such as Patrice Motsepe, Cyril Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale. Now new regulations may see other companies – including white-owned business – enter the BEE stage.