TRINIDAD: Media Slip-Up Draws Wrath of Regulators

Everyone concedes that the media got it wrong that day. But a decision by the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) to launch a formal investigation is raising fears that the incident is being used to clamp down on press freedom here.

AFRICA: A Lot More Needed to Make South-South Trade Work

Trade experts are sceptical about the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s renewed emphasis on South-South trade to counter the global economic crisis.

ECONOMY: Meltdown Holds Mixed Results for South Asia

The global recession will raise the already high incidence of poverty in South Asia on the back of layoffs, decreased foreign aid and dwindling resources for social welfare, say economists and experts.

RIGHTS-US: New Name, Same Detainee Problem

Human rights activists and constitutional law experts were virtually unanimous in their condemnation of the positions taken on prisoner detention and treatment in federal court last week by President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice, which one group described as "a case of old wine in new bottles."

MEXICO: Cradle of Maize Rocked by Transgenics

Mexico has lifted the ban on experimental cultivation of transgenic maize imposed in 1999 in this country where the crop was first domesticated and shaped human culture. Biotech giants have put forward two dozen projects for approval and have announced investments of 382 million dollars up to 2012.

ISRAEL: Green Group Resists Oil Exploration

A group of Israeli environmentalists is campaigning to prevent oil exploration inside a nature reserve by the Dead Sea.

MIDEAST: Unity Moves May Test U.S. Resolve

Throw a stone into troubled waters and you won't see concentric circles rippling out. Many stones have recently been thrown into the muddy waters of the Middle East - the Gaza War, Israel's electoral lurch rightwards and the Arab world setting up stall in advance of the Obama Administration preparing new directions for the region.

BOTSWANA: Retrenchments Turn Villages Into “Little Hells”

The closure of two major mines and the scaling down of operations at most mines in Botswana have had a knock-on effect beyond miners in this southern African producer of diamonds.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Nature Preserve Left Unprotected

An environmental group in Argentina is calling for the protection of a nature preserve near the city of Mar del Plata, a popular tourist destination in the province of Buenos Aires, where biodiversity is under threat.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Paper from Recycled Plastic

Researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (230 kilometers from São Paulo) have created a synthetic paper, made from recycled plastic, that is useful for products that need resistance and durability, such as sign banners, packaging material and school books.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Eco-Friendly Refrigerants – Finally

Propane and butane gas-powered refrigerators, which contribute very little to climate change and don't harm the ozone layer like traditional refrigerators, will hit the market in Mexico this month.

RIGHTS-VIETNAM: End of the Road for Agent Orange Victims?

Where can Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange get justice? Probably nowhere, after the United States Supreme Court refused to hear, this month, a final appeal by Vietnamese plaintiffs against chemical giants Dow and Monsanto.

DEVELOPMENT: Preparing for Water Quarrels, if not Wars

The Fifth World Water Forum begins in Istanbul Mar. 16 in the face of some stark facts: of the world's water, 97.5 percent is the sea, and of the remaining, 70 percent is frozen in polar icecaps. That leaves precious little for 6.76 billion people around the world, expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050.

POLITICS: Perils Seen in Obama’s Afghan Strategy

With official announcements about a new strategy for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan expected in the coming weeks, details of the plan are starting to emerge in press accounts which describe a renewed focus on the war-torn Central Asian country and its volatile neighbour, Pakistan.

CULTURE: Ethiopian Film Takes Top Honours at FESPACO

Filmmaker Haile Gerima’s Ethiopian movie "Teza" has won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga at the 21st Panafrican Festival of Cinema and Television (Fespaco) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

ECONOMY-CHINA: National Interest First – Wen Jiabao

While much hope is focused on China as the one bright spot in the current financial gloom, Chinese leaders are drawing a line on global expectations, reminding the world that their country’s priorities come first.

EAST TIMOR: ‘Presidential Pardon May Hurt Legal System’

East Timor President José Ramos-Horta’s comments that he may pardon those charged with last year’s firearm attacks on his person, and that of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, have alarmed observers who say that the credibility of the young country's legal system is at stake.

MIDEAST: Singing Across the Divide

From the flattened buildings in Gaza, through angry demonstrations outside a Swedish tennis stadium, to the web pages of human rights reports, battles continue to rage over Israel's policies and the legacy of its Gaza war.

RIGHTS: Girl Soldiers Used Up, Then Thrown Away

To be a teenager and female is bad enough in the midst of a war zone, but it is often little better when the guns fall silent. Caught in a sort of limbo between childhood and adulthood, when it comes to peace and reconciliation, former girl combatants are often treated as invisible, advocates say.

CARIBBEAN: Culture of Sexual Coercion Exposes Women to HIV

The fight against widespread sexual violence in the Caribbean has been joined by a high-profile new women’s coalition that warns it could be a major reason for the spread of HIV among women and girls in the region.

HEALTH-KENYA: Drug Shortages Threaten Public Health

When public health facilities are so often short of drugs that a community worker has to buy basic medicines like painkillers in bulk for use by the community, then there is a problem.