DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: A Place for Eco-Coffee

Communities in 10 southern provinces of the Dominican Republic are feeling the benefits from the collective activities of small growers of organic coffee. Women participate in the production and sale of the coffee, and their sons and daughters are pursuing studies in order to improve the sector's productivity.

DEATH PENALTY: Arab Cyber Project to have New Year Launch

The Rights and People project - an Arabic-language anti-death penalty venture - will start work in early 2009 with the launch of an online magazine, the first of its kind run by human rights activists in the 24-country region.

HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Shady Dealings With Antiretrovirals

The current political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe is dealing a blow to the provision of free treatment and care to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs).

NORTH KOREA: Defying Inspection of Nuclear Assets

China has failed to coax its old communist ally North Korea into signing an agreement to verify the state’s secretive nuclear activities.

PAKISTAN: NATO Convoys Under Taliban Attack

The past two months have seen an upsurge in violence unleashed by Pakistani Taliban in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the adjacent tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

CLIMATE CHANGE: And Now a New Green Deal?

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a new green deal that would work for all nations, rich as well as poor, in the face of both climate change and the global economy.

RIGHTS: U.S. Arms Deployed in Wars Around the Globe

Pundits these days warn of a Middle East arms race if Iran brings its alleged nuclear weapons programme to fruition, while others fear that missile defence in Eastern Europe could spark escalation involving Russia.

RIGHTS: Europe Goes Slow on Gay Laws

European Union governments are in no hurry to widen the scope of the bloc's anti-discrimination rules so that gays and lesbians can enjoy greater rights.

FILM-LIBERIA: The Women Who Ended a War

One night, in a country swept up in a long and harrowing armed conflict, Liberian social worker Leymah Gbowee dreamt that she gathered women together to pray for peace.

DEVELOPMENT-URUGUAY: Slowly but Surely

While Uruguay’s human development levels are improving, the country has lagged behind the faster progress made by some of its neighbours due to fluctuations in its economic performance, according to a local study sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

EUROPE: Colombia Given a Trade Lease

Less than a week after the European Commission promised to study whether trade preferences granted to Colombia should be revoked because of the country's human rights record, Brussels officials have decided to extend the preferences for a further two years.

NORTH KOREA: Japan Off-Key at Six-Party Talks

While the six-party talks currently underway in Beijing to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme seem to be making slow progress, Japan, one of the parties, is not unduly worried.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Inching Away From Confrontation

Even though their armed forces remain on high alert, India and Pakistan appear to be inching away from confrontation over the Mumbai terrorist attacks, which have precipitated a major crisis in their bilateral relations.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Latin America Could Show the Way

The World Bank has urged the international community to look to Latin America, the world's most bio-diverse region, for innovative solutions to avert a climate crisis.

BELIZE-GUATEMALA: Decades-Old Land Dispute Heads to Court

It has formed part of the communiqué issued at the end of the annual summits of Caribbean Community leaders for more than a decade.

MEXICO: Supreme Court Debates Transsexual’s Right to Privacy

When transsexuals or transgender persons in the Mexican capital have their birth certificates altered to reflect their change in identity, is it legal to include a notation on the new document indicating that Ms Y used to be Mr X?

RIGHTS: Universal HIV Testing Raises Hopes and Fears

While prospects remain dim for a successful HIV vaccine in the near future, public health experts and AIDS advocacy groups are pinning their hopes on a new strategy released by the Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO) that could end the disease's endemic phase within a decade.

MEDIA-DR CONGO: Journalists Murdered Near Police Stations

Since the November 2004 murder of Frank Kangundu, journalist with the Congolese daily ‘La Référence Plus’, and his wife, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has entered a sad cycle of killings of media professionals.

RIGHTS: U.N. Declaration Is “Alive and Well”, in Theory at Least

Despite a motley record of government respect for the 60-year-old U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, a new poll of citizens in 25 countries around the world shows strong support for the broad principles of freedom and equality it champions.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Trade Unionists Face Deadly Dangers

Central America has become the world's most dangerous region for trade unionists, due to the increase in threats, torture, disappearances and murders, says a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

BOOKS: An Outside Insider Probes the Iranian Psyche

While in New York this fall for the U.N. General Assembly, conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admitted to National Public Radio that he watches Western television: "Of course, I'm like the rest of the people. People like movies and shows."