RIGHTS-PHILIPPINES: Stalled Talks With Muslim Rebels Hard on Civilians

With the government insisting that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in conflict-ridden Mindanao disarm prior to resumption of peace talks - and the rebels refusing to do so - prospects for quick resettlement of some 300,000 internally displaced people (IDP) seem bleak.

INDIA: China Swamps Handloom Silk Industry

Legend has it that India’s famed handloom silk industry began around 300 A.D. after a Chinese princess smuggled out the eggs of the silkworm moth and the seeds of the mulberry tree in her headdress.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: EU Funds for Environmental Projects

The European Union has earmarked for the next five years some 53 million dollars to carry out environmental projects in Honduras's poorest areas.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Treetop Walkway in National Park

The people of Caracas will soon be enjoying El Ávila National Park from among its tallest trees, some 30 meters above the ground, standing on a walkway of hanging bridges 120 meters long.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: An Engine Fuelled by Garbage

An engine that uses garbage, farm and ranch waste and derivatives of oil, coal and ethanol, is the latest invention of Embrapa, the Brazilian agricultural research agency, to bring low-cost energy to poor rural and isolated communities.

Q&A: Paraguayan Indigenous Minister Calls for Patience

Margarita Mbyvângi, the first indigenous woman to hold a ministerial post in Paraguay, is facing charges of ineffectiveness from among her own ranks. But she is asking for time to achieve her goal: that no one will suffer the slavery and rootlessness that she experienced for nearly 20 years.

POLITICS: Israel Deeply Wary of 2009 Anti-Racism Meet

At their anti-racism conference in Geneva next April, United Nations member states may find themselves - once again - in a heated dispute over how to properly address the Israel-Palestinian conflict in the context of racism, xenophobia and racial discrimination.

EUROPE: Time for Christmas, and to Fight over Fish

European Union governments have a strange way of preparing for Christmas: they squabble about fish.

RIGHTS-US: “Bad Apples” Didn’t Fall Far From the Tree

On the heels of a bipartisan Congressional report blaming high-level officials of the George W. Bush administration for employing harsh interrogation techniques on detainees captured in the "global war on terror", many of the world's most respected civil libertarians are calling for the establishment of an independent commission to investigate the alleged abuses.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Sanitation: 'This Is the Way We Live'

In 1925, Mahatma Gandhi remarked that "Sanitation is more important than political independence." More than 80 years later, access to basic sanitation remains out of reach for 546 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

RIGHTS-INDIA: New Anti-Terror Laws Draconian Say Activists

Following the late November terror attacks in Mumbai, India has passed two tough laws being seen by rights activists as potentially eroding the country’s federal structure and limiting fundamental liberties.

FINANCE-US: AIG's Offshore Strategies Hide a Scam

The company getting the biggest U.S. bailout operated a scam to help clients cheat on U.S. taxes, regulators say. It is AIG, American International Group, the world's largest insurance conglomerate.

FINANCE-US: AIG's Past Could Return To Haunt

The U.S. will invest 40 billion dollars in American International Group (AIG), and will provide credit lines that could bring federal funding up to 144 billion dollars. It's the largest subsidy that a U.S. corporation has ever received.

MEDIA-VIETNAM: Blogging Boom Faces Gov't Blockages

As Internet usage grows in communist Vietnam, fostering a vibrant community of bloggers, the government is looking at ways to regulate blogs, particularly those that tend to be political rather than personal.

MEDIA: Deaths Down, But Iraq Still Top Danger Zone

The improved security in Iraq has had benefits for everyone there. This has included fewer Iraqi civilian deaths, U.S. casualties, and, says a new report, journalists.

AGRICULTURE-SUDAN: Can Local Investors Beat Foreign Investment?

Sudan is hoping to use foreign cash to reinvigorate its under-performing agricultural sector, but there is growing disagreement over the extent to which outsiders, rather than local farmers, should be taking control of the industry.

EUROPE: Swap Aid for Fewer Migrants, the French Way

Should the amount of aid that African countries receive from Europe be linked to their efforts to prevent their nationals moving to this continent?

DEVELOPMENT: Investing in a Better World

Developing countries will be able to share best practices for development more efficiently via the newly created South-South Human Development Stock Exchange (SS-HDSX), as social entrepreneurs meet up with potential social investors on this online platform.

ZIMBABWE: Negotiations Must Move “Outside the Box”

With talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his opposition yielding few resolutions to the political deadlock, some observers are calling for outside-the-box thinking beyond the parametres laid out in negotiations.

SOMALIA: Piracy Threatens Aid Effort

Pirate attacks in East African waters this year have disrupted the delivery of much-needed food aid to Somalia. With millions of lives at stake, U.N. World Food Program officials said the commencement last week of a European Union naval escort mission should help guarantee regular food shipments in the early months of 2009.

CLIMATE CHANGE: ‘From EU, 4 Percent Less Reduction Till 2020’

Greenhouse gas emissions from the European Union may fall by as little as four percent between now and 2020 as a result of a new decision by the bloc's law-makers.