FRANCE: 'Defying Rules on Arms Sales to Israel'

French arms sales to Israel are "in total contradiction" of European Union rules on the defence industry, the author of a new study has said.

MIDEAST: Israel Threatens to Outlaw Palestinian Memory

Israel is set to approve a radical new bill which threatens to legalise discrimination against its sizeable Arab minority for the first time.

ECONOMY: 'Africa Should Seize Control over its Development'

Colonisation can be blamed for Africa's underdevelopment but today Africans must take their fate in their own hands and become ambitious. The continent badly needs industrialisation but it has fallen back into the trap of merely exporting commodities because of booming prices.

MIDEAST: Gaza Collects So Much Rubbish

Suliman Khodari begins his shift at 5am on one of Gaza City's busiest streets. With his horse-drawn cart, Suliman spends seven hours every morning hauling away the rubbish left by residents and shop owners of the neighbourhood. But he is not a scavenger.

POLITICS-LEBANON: Family History Counts for Women in Race to Parliament

In Lebanon’s Jun. 7 parliamentary poll, women represent only two percent of the candidates, many of them with family names that have been appearing on ballots for generations.

POLITICS: U.S. Public Most Liberal in Decades

Despite the overwhelming electoral approval of now-U.S. President Barack Obama’s progressive campaign platform, many in the media continue to portray the U.S. as a "centre-right" country, says a new report from a media watchdog and left-wing political organisation.

ENVIRONMENT: Damaged Ecosystems Not Lost Forever

Most polluted or damaged ecosystems worldwide could recover within a single lifetime if societies commit to their cleanup or restoration, according to researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

CARIBBEAN: China Consolidates Influence as U.S. Frets

Since the year began, China has given the clearest signals yet that Latin America and the Caribbean will be its new commercial and strategic focus, as it doles out billions in soft loans and grant aid, and ties up sweet trade agreements with countries ranging Brazil to finance-starved Cuba.

CHINA: Cashing In on ‘Earthquake Tourism’?

Cashing in on huge public interest in one of the deadliest earthquakes of recent history, China has officially endorsed ‘disaster tourism’ as a form of economic subsidy to devastated areas. Home debris and whole sections of partially wiped out cities and villages during last year’s massive earthquake in southwestern China will now be open to tourists, the state media announced this week.

MIDEAST: Israel Prepares for North Korean Fallout

The tremors of Monday's North Korean nuclear test have been felt all around the world, no more so in a country seemingly not directly affected by whether or not North Korea is a full-fledged nuclear power. In Israel, there is deep concern, an existential fear even - over the implications that Iran will be next in the nuclear line.

BIODIVERSITY-EUROPE: Not Just About a Frog Here or There

Politicians across the European Union are waking up to the fact that biodiversity is fast becoming a crucial environmental issue that needs to be tackled soon.

SRI LANKA: U.N. Urges Focus on Relief and Reconciliation

A United Nations team including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon returned from a trip to Sri Lanka Tuesday, where they met with government leaders and inspected the battered conflict zones and refugee camps.

COLOMBIA: Security Bought at a Terrible Price, Report Warns

Colombia’s government must urgently address human rights abuses to enhance its security policy and bring lasting peace to the country, says a new policy brief by the International Crisis Group (ICG).

NORTH KOREA: Japan Has Little Leverage Over Volatile Neighbour

North Korea’s nuclear tests are a grave security concern to Japan and have significantly raised tension in the region.

PAKISTAN: Pakhtuns Open Their Doors to Uprooted Civilians

For Pakistan’s Pakhtuns, hospitality is part of an old tradition that assures even strangers a warm welcome into their homes.

MIDEAST: Showdown Looming Over Settlements

A showdown over Israeli settlements in the occupied West bank is looming between Israel and the United States barely a week after the encounter at the White House between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What's becoming increasingly clear is that the May 18 encounter was no friendly 'getting-to-know-you' meeting between a new President and a new Prime Minister of the Middle East's most enduring alliance.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Final Steps to Eliminate Ozone-Depleting Gases

The Brazilian government this month launched its HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) Elimination Program, in keeping with the Montreal Protocol, whose goal is to halt consumption of these gases and eliminate them by 2030.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Gas Company Case Goes to OAS

Residents, environmentalists and civil society groups will ask the Organization of American States to intercede on their behalf with the governments of Mexico and Honduras to relocate installations of Gas del Caribe, a Mexican firm that has caused damage in the Honduran region of Omoa.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: New Environmental Party

Political leaders and environmental activists in Argentina this month founded the Green Initiative Party, which will field its own candidates in June’s legislative elections.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Testing Tiny Device to Fight Epilepsy

Mexican researchers say they are ready to involve patients with epilepsy in tests of a millimeter-sized device placed in the brain and which releases substances to control the illness.

TRADE-US: Green Groups Say E-Waste Bill Is Too Lax

Environmentalists are expressing discontent over recently introduced legislation regarding the U.S.’s exporting of electronic waste, or "e-waste".