Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Betting on Renewable Energies

In the next two months Honduras is launching several renewable energy products that could save the country 87 million dollars and improve the operations of the government's national electrical energy agency.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Studying Flora for Biofuels

The Chilean government's National Resources Information Center will analyze 30 plant species to determine which are most suitable for developing biofuels and their potential for cultivation in this country.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Cultivating Sea Sponges

The creation of farms to grow sea sponges is opening the way for an economic and environmental alternative in Carahatas, a fishing community of 800 people in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Dolphin Census

With cameras in hand, youths from the environmental group Vida Marina (Marine Life) use boats to track the dolphins in the Caribbean off the coast of the Venezuelan state of Aragua. They are putting together a dolphin database.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Biodiesel Sustainability Is in Doubt

Animal fat is the second leading raw material used in making biodiesel in Brazil, representing 14.62 percent of the total in July, following soybean oil (78.7 percent).

CAMEROON: ‘Our Lives Are Defined By This Forest’

Pauline Siembe, a Baka pygmy in South East Cameroon, comes out of her smoky hut licking her fingers after a meal of pounded yam and bush meat soup.

AFRICA: Stop Rubber Stamping Trade Deals

Civil society should call African parliaments to account on international trade negotiations as parliamentarians have in the past not been "robust" enough in ensuring that such talks deliver on developmental priorities.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Too Much Water and Not Enough to Drink

Mmankosana Letsoela has been queuing since 5am to collect water. You would think that arriving so early at the bore-hole water pump; she would be the first in line.

VIETNAM: Preparation Mitigates Impact of Typhoon Ketsana

Three days may have been a small window of opportunity, but it was enough time to save thousands of lives.

HONDURAS: Anti-Coup Resistance Movement "Firmly United"

The National Resistance Front Against the Coup d'Etat (FRN) in Honduras is carrying out a nationwide consultation among its members to establish its position with respect to the expected talks between ousted President Manuel Zelaya and the de facto government, the movement's leaders said.

TRADE: “We Won’t be Frogmarched Towards a Doha Conclusion”

In a rare meeting of minds, a parliamentarian, a civil servant and a trade unionist, all three from Africa, agreed that the current course of the World Trade Organisation’s Doha Round of trade talks is detrimental to the interests of African countries.

POLITICS: China Swaggers On, Yet Future Looks Uncertain

Showing off China’s new wealth and national might on the anniversary of the birth of the People’s Republic, the country’s leaders attributed its rise as a rejuvenated world power to the 60 years of communist rule.

HEALTH-INDIA: Positive Approach to Life

At an age when most 20-year-olds dream of living a perfect life, Kousalya Periasamy found hers shaken by personal tragedies.

VIETNAM: Ethnic Minorities More Gender Divided

A drunk man slaps his wife, she hits the ground and the audience of mainly women laughs. At a question and answer session that follows in Tay, one of the many ethnic minority languages, women stand up to talk at length about why husbands shouldn't hit their wives and why, as women, they deserve equal respect.

ASIA: Mounting Costs of Climate Change Raise Fears of Conflict

The rising challenge of climate change has raised fears of growing conflicts as the impact of more extreme weather triggers food water scarcities across the Asia region.

MIDEAST: A Diplomat Visits, and Listens

The U.S. consulate on Agron Street is something alien in the carefully calibrated diplomatic world of Arab-Israeli politics.

RIGHTS: Security Council Backs Advocate for Women in War Zones

The U.N. Security Council Wednesday called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a special representative to intensify efforts to end sexual violence against women and children in conflict situations.

PAKISTAN: Local Residents Tacitly Approve of Swat Killings

Widespread reports of extrajudicial killings of suspected Taliban by the military do not seem to have raised alarm bells among a people that have been deeply traumatized by the militant group's atrocities.

HEALTH-KENYA: Affordable New Weapon Against Cervical Cancer

Faced with an increase in the number of cervical cancer cases, Kenya has adopted a simple, cheap yet effective visual inspection method of detection. Ideal for low resource settings, the test is offering reprieve to thousands of women who die annually from the disease.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: No More Blackouts In This Village

Travel through any Dominican town and you are likely to hear someone yell out, "llegó la luz" - the lights are back on! The country is notorious for its faulty and expensive electric service, which is more often dead than live.

VIETNAM: Anti-Smoking Drive Fails to Curb Male Tobacco Abuse

At a ‘tra da’ (iced tea) stand in Hanoi’s Truc Bach area, men in baggy white singlets sit on low plastic stools drinking strong green tea poured from a chipped porcelain tea pot.