MIDEAST: Assault Leaves Debris in the Mind

Gazans have a colloquial term to describe the buzzing of Israeli warplanes that is an ever-present feature of their lives: zanana.

Ecobreves – CENTRAL AMERICA: A Digital System to Avoid Natural Disasters

The countries of Central America will set up a digital platform to detect areas of risk of natural disasters, and to share experiences in prevention and mitigation, reported the Honduran Permanent Commission for Contingencies, Copeco.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Nudist Resort Destroys Mangrove

Residents of Marquelia, a coastal town of some 15,000 people in the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero, have complained that municipal authorities allowed the destruction of mangrove forests in an area where a nudist resort is to be built.

Ecobreves – LATIN AMERICA: Unionists Demand Eco-Jobs

Labor unionists in Latin America and the Caribbean are calling for greater participation in sustainable development through the promotion of jobs in environmentally friendly technologies.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Biodegradable Plastic from Sugarcane

Brazil will produce 200,000 tons a year of biodegradable plastic made from sugarcane. This raw material could be used to make fuel tanks for vehicles and containers for yogurt, milk, detergents and other products.

The Nuclear Club's New Clothes

It's false that electricity production from nuclear reactors does not produce carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, explains Chilean environmental expert Sara Larraín in this exclusive Tierramérica column.

RIGHTS-SOUTH AFRICA: Khumbula Ekhaya (Remember Your Home)

With South Africa’s new president, Jacob Zuma, being inaugurated in a 9 million dollar extravaganza today, most of the country’s leaders are likely to still be recovering from the party by the time the sun rises on May 11.

DEVELOPMENT-EAST TIMOR: ‘Big’ Projects To Make Up Oil Losses

With an eye on tourist dollars, the government of East Timor has given the go-ahead to two major developments, including a shopping mall complete with stores, restaurants and the impoverished island nation’s first escalator.

PAKISTAN: Taliban Stop Civilians From Leaving

Thousands of people are stranded in violence-wracked Swat and Buner districts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) because the Pakistan Taliban have refused to allow them passage to safer places.

HEALTH-MEXICO: Shunned Abroad, Negligence at Home

The Mexican government is complaining about measures taken by other countries to protect themselves against possible contagion from the new H1N1 flu virus, which is widely seen as having originated in Mexico. But some Mexicans complain about stigma at home, as well as medical negligence.

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: Activists Freed on Bail, Charges Remain

Eighteen political activists who were sent back to prison May 5 following their formal indictment on charges of terrorism have been released the following day after an intervention from the highest level.

RIGHTS-US: Psychologists Under Fire for Role in Interrogations

A leading human rights organisation is charging that an American Psychological Association (APA) task force formed to advise the U.S. military on prisoner interrogations was "stacked with Defence Department and [George W.] Bush Administration officials" and "rushed to conclusions that violated the Geneva Convention."

POLITICS-US: Unwieldy Terror Watchlist Hits a Million

Hundreds of thousands of people are being wrongly identified because of the government’s wasteful and inefficient management of the nation’s one million-strong terrorist watchlist, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

CHINA: New Border Dispute Body at Time of Growing Tensions

Beijing has confirmed that its more assertive stance in recent territorial spats with its neighbours is a prelude to a more forceful projection of China’s rising military and diplomatic clout in the region and beyond.

POLITICS-INDIA: A Fighter Without a Pause

Mamata Bannerjee, six-time member of Parliament from West Bengal, bucks the stereotype of women political leaders in India.

POLITICS-US: Af-Pak Troubles Coming to a Head

Despite an overhaul of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, it appears that the U.S. strategy there is running into obstacles as varied as the U.S. Congress and the leaders of those countries, who are both visiting Washington this week.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Lethal Link Between Gender Violence and AIDS

When she went to the doctor, 25-year-old Francisca Barros received two pieces of earthbreaking news. The welcome news was that she was pregnant. The terrifying news: that she was HIV-positive.

RIGHTS-LIBERIA: Justice Delayed Is…

The rain was falling hard in the early hours of April 17, when forty detainees kicked down the doors to their cells at the National Palace of Corrections, scaled the prison’s barbed wire fence and rear watchtower, and disappeared into the dark, sodden jungle.

MIDEAST: Israel Hit by Doubts Over U.S.

Almost a full fortnight before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is received at the White House, and already political nerves here are all a-jangle. Is a showdown with Israel's staunch ally about to materialise?

PAKISTAN: Military Crackdown on Taliban Uproots Civilians

Thousands of civilians are continuing to migrate to safer places from Upper Dir and Buner districts - the new theatres of an internal war between Pakistan’s Taliban and the military in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

CHINA: Measures to Curb Swine Flu Unjustified?

Rebuked in the past for its sluggish response and attempts to cover up the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), China’s measures to curb the spread of the swine flu virus are earning opposite marks of being extreme and "unjustified."