Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Weed Problem Worsens in Lake Maracaibo

The lemna sp, or duckweed, extends like a skein about 30 centimeters thick over Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela. The weed covers 13 percent of the lake's 12,000 square kilometer surface.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Mapuches Unite for Rights

Leaders of the Mapuche, the largest indigenous group in Chile, announced a new offensive against the Michelle Bachelet government to demand greater land, political and cultural rights.

SAUDI ARABIA: New Bill Fails to Protect Domestic Workers, HRW Says

Despite a bill passed by Saudi Arabia's Shura Council on Wednesday, a prominent New York-based human rights group is asking for more protection for the estimated 1.5 million domestic workers in the country.

YEMEN: Problems Go Far Beyond Narrow U.S. Focus on Terror

Yemen's recent reappearance on the U.S. radar due to its reputation as a safe haven for al Qaeda has brought more attention to the country of 23 million and its persistent underlying problems – the least of which may be terrorism.

RIGHTS-US: Acquittal No Guarantee of Freedom

Lawmakers and human rights advocates are questioning the assertion by the administration of President Barack Obama that Guantanamo terror suspects could be imprisoned indefinitely even if they are found not guilty by a U.S. court.

BOTSWANA: Controversy over Government Loan to Fund Privatisation

Controversy has erupted over a decision by Botswana’s government to accept a loan from the African Development Bank, a departure from over two decades of running Africa’s "model economy" without borrowing.

ECONOMY-PHILIPPINES: Migrant Workers Use Remittances as Investment Tools

George Detubio, once an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is enjoying his new career as an entrepreneur. The 47-year-old owns a thriving business – distributing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products in this town, 200 kilometers north of Manila.

SOUTH AFRICA: Fight Sexism to Help Young Mothers

"My mother was surprised that my breasts were getting bigger, and told me to go to the clinic to take a pregnancy test. The nurses told me I was pregnant and so I cried. I cried because I thought I was too young to have a baby and I thought I wouldn't manage."

HEALTH-MADAGASCAR: Eight Women Die During Delivery Each Day

Eight Malagasy women die per day while giving birth, either due to complications during the pregancny or during delivery, according to a recently-published national Demographic and Health Survey (DHS).

RIGHTS-CAMBODIA: Decades Later, S-21 Survivors Recall Ordeal

"They cuffed me and told me to lie on the floor with my face facing down," the old man told the judges.

PAKISTAN: Displacement Traumatic for Pregnant Women

Pregnant women uprooted by the violence in the Malakand region, northwest Pakistan, have suffered acutely in refugee camps for the internally displaced.

LAOS: The New Silk Road

At the age of 13, Kommaly Chantavong, now 64, walked over 600 kms to Vientiane from her home in Lao’s northern province of Huaphan. She walked through the buzzing war with the French in bare feet. All she took were heirloom pieces of woven silk, legacies from her grandmothers.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Elites Hoarding Oil Revenues, Report Charges

The government of Equatorial Guinea has looted billions of dollars in oil revenue instead of improving the lives of its citizens, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Thursday.

HAITI: Deportees from U.S. Face Culture Shock, Retain Hope

In the shadow of the Eglise Sainte Claire in the Petite Place Cazeau neighbourhood of Haiti’s bustling capital, Frantz Saintil is visiting his daughter and reflecting on the more than two decades he spent abroad before finding himself back in his native country of Haiti seven years ago.

RIGHTS: Afghan Prisoners at U.S. Airbase in Legal Limbo

Following a loss in federal court, the organisation representing detainees held by the U.S. without charge at Bagram prison in Afghanistan called on the Barack Obama administration to "reverse the flawed policies of the previous Bush White House" and end the indefinite detention without trial of Afghan civilians held in U.S. custody.

RIGHTS-US: Muslim Groups Seek Reform of Charity Blacklisting

While President Barack Obama conceded in his speech in Cairo last month that U.S. rules on charitable giving "have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation", civil rights advocates are pressing the president to turn his words into action.

FILM: Shattering the Myth of “Agrarian America”

"How is it that you can buy a 99-cent cheeseburger but not even a head of broccoli?" wonders Michael Pollan, author and co-narrator of the new documentary "Food, Inc.".

PAKISTAN/INDIA: Citizens Push for Peace

The months following last year's Mumbai terror attacks have seen a renewed sense of urgency among peace activists in Pakistan and India. Citizens are pushing their governments to resume the composite dialogue process between the two nuclear-rival nations.

EAST TIMOR: Politics – Women Take the Plunge

Women in East Timor are being wooed to participate in the local council elections, likely to be held in September.

G8: Financial Crisis Or No, Rich Can Help Fight Hunger

The World Food Programme (WFP) is urging G8 leaders to turn words into action and meet urgent hunger needs in Africa and other developing nations as they gather in Italy for the 2009 G8 Summit.

IRAN: Censors Fail to Silence Cyber-Activists

To mark the tenth anniversary of Iran's student uprising in 1999 amid the continued rejection by many voters of the results of the disputed Jun. 12 election, student activists issued a national call to protest last week.