RIGHTS: New Charges Added to Blackwater Lawsuit

New charges filed against private security contractor Blackwater accuse the company of murder, destruction of audio and videotaped evidence, distribution of controlled substances, tax evasion, child prostitution, and weapons smuggling.

POLITICS: Negative Views of U.S. Persist Despite Faith in Obama

A new survey of global opinion reveals strong negative feelings toward U.S. foreign policy, even as an average of 61 percent of those polled have at least some confidence in President Barack Obama to make sound decisions.

ENVIRONMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: How Friendly is Biodegradable Plastic?

Awareness of pollution and the amount of waste going into limited landfill space is encouraging the growing adoption of products with biodegradable plastic packaging. But environmentalists are challenging the claims made for these green products.

CHINA: Rights Groups, U.S. Officials Call for ‘Restraint’

Human rights groups have expressed concern over the deadly clashes involving Uighur protestors in the western China's Xinjiang region Sunday, which left 156 dead and over 800 injured.

MEXICO: Record Protest Vote Amid Sweeping PRI Gains

The centre-right governing party and the leftwing opposition in Mexico were dealt a major blow in the midterm congressional and local elections on Sunday, in which the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) made a resounding comeback, reviving memories of the past.

IRAQ: Questions Remain About the U.S. Role

The United States largely complied with a plan, negotiated with Iraq's government last November, to withdraw its troops from the centre of all Iraqi cities by Jun. 30.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Neglected Diseases Under the Microscope

Neglected diseases, neglected people. Marcel Tanner uses the phrase to emphasise the attitude of drug developers towards tropical diseases that primarily affect the marginalised poor.

DEVELOPMENT: MDG Goals Face ‘Triple Crisis’

The developing world faces a "triple crisis" as global economics, food prices and the impact of climate change affect the world's most vulnerable people, a new UN report warns.

CARIBBEAN: Caricom Family Wooed by South American Cousins

The suspicions of several Caribbean leaders about Venezuela’s growing political and economic clout in the region boiled over last week as they met for their four-day annual summit in Guyana.

EAST TIMOR: Disabled Athletes Shine With Pride

Getting around isn’t easy for Jose Noronha. With minimal use of his legs, he has opted for a red wheelchair-bicycle hybrid that he pedals with his hands, a common sight in Dili, East Timor’s capital.

CHINA: Chinese Question Government’s One-Child Policy

When China’s population control was imposed in 1980, it was meant to be a temporary measure which the government promised to phase out in three decades. It was intended to halt the baby boom of the 1950s and 1960s.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Women Jailed for Defending Water Source

Residents of the northwestern Argentine province of La Rioja oppose exploration for an open-pit mining operation and have denounced "political persecution" against them.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Grass for Ethanol

From greenhouse-grown grasses in the southern Mexican town of Atlixco, some 150 km from the capital, a new type of biofuel could ultimately emerge.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Invention to Curb Industrial Pollution

Industrial sulfate pollution could be practically eliminated using a biological process discovered at the Engineering School of the University of São Paulo.

LABOUR-URUGUAY: Stitching a Future Together

The group of women cross this Uruguayan town every morning, some on bike and some on foot, on their way to CODEMUR, a women’s cooperative that resurrected a garment factory abandoned by its owners.

SWAZILAND: Add Water and Stir

What is the first step towards transforming life in a hardscrabble rural community? Address issues of water.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Song and Dance to Empower Women Farmers

Community theatre will be the main thrust of an innovative pilot project that aims to give women farmers stronger influence in agricultural policy-making in Southern Africa.

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Fears Over New Land Deal

Concern is mounting in Kenya that the government has leased a big slice of agricultural land to Qatari foreign investors to produce food for export.

EUROPE: Croatia on Uncertain Course for EU Membership

The Swedish government, which now holds the rotating presidency of the European Union for the second half of this year, says plans to bring Croatia into the EU have not been derailed despite recent political events in the country. Croatia is officially set to join the Union as its 28th member in 2011.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: AU Heeds Perpetrators Not Victims

The final day of the African Union summit has been dedicated to the issue of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, charged with seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture.

POLITICS-BOTSWANA: Parties Block Women Candidates for Upcoming Elections

As Botswana prepares for general elections in October, gender activists are protesting against the lack of female parliamentary candidates.