ENVIRONMENT-VIETNAM: Paying the Price of Rapid Development

Vietnamʼs environmental issues have been pushed to the forefront after it was reported in mid-September that a Taiwanese MSG producer had been dumping untreated waste water into the Thi Vai River.

EUROPE: And the Lobbying Award Goes To…The Worst

An unconventional awards ceremony was held in Brussels Dec. 9. The 'Worst EU Lobbying Awards' gave recognition to those corporate interest groups that have resorted to deceptive tactics while seeking to shape legislation in their favour.

CLIMATE CHANGE: 'Don't Leave it to the World Bank'

Leading environment groups have opposed plans to hand over financing to check climate change to the World Bank.

ECONOMY-CHINA: Yuan’s Slide No Power Game

Recent downward movements of the Chinese yuan have been interpreted here as political statements aimed at the incoming administration of United States president-elect Barack Obama to respect China’s sovereignty rights on the currency issue.

DEVELOPMENT-NEPAL: Returning Power to Local Bodies is Critical

As members of Nepal’s newly-formed Constituent Assembly (CA) begin the process of a writing a new constitution for this former monarchy they will consider reviving devolution of power to local administrative bodies as the fastest way to ensure development.

CARIBBEAN: Despite Successes, Too Many Dying of AIDS

Every day, 55 people in the Caribbean are infected with the HIV virus and 38 of them die of the disease. That's 20,000 new infections and 14,000 deaths annually.

RIGHTS-LIBERIA: ‘We Will Use Our Children as Shields’

"We are not just going to let a bulldozer come in and demolish our land. If possible we will use our children as shields. We will have to do that," exclaims Eric Lavella, a middle-aged Firestone factory worker living in the heart of Liberia’s largest rubber plantation, 60 kilometres south of the capital Monrovia.

RIGHTS-NEPAL: ‘Maoists Slow to Return Seized Property’

Tej Bahadur Roila, a member of the Nepal army, is unable to return to his home in the Khotang district of Eastern Nepal because his property, seized by Maoist rebels in the middle of the decade-long civil war they waged against the monarchy, has not been returned.

MEDIA-INDIA/PAKISTAN: Post-Mumbai Journos Struggle Against Hostilities

Pakistani and Indian journalists and columnists, who forged personal relationships over the past two decades during countless joint media consultations and seminars, are struggling to overcome hostilities between their countries since the Mumbai carnage.

EL SALVADOR: Gold Mining ‘Is a Huge Rip-Off’ – Environmentalists

A black coffin was consigned to the flames amid music and fireworks as dozens of people from Salvadoran communities that fear the impacts of gold and silver mining celebrated a "symbolic burial" of the Pacific Rim Mining Corporation, a Canadian-based company.

POLITICS-US: Neocons Campaign to Preempt Iran Talks

Anticipating the ascendance of President-elect Barack Obama to the Oval Office, groups of hawks, among them neoconservatives, have begun to offer public advice on just exactly what the new administration should do to deal with Iran.

CHINA: Relations With EU May Suffer Over Dalai Lama Visit

China has attacked the Dalai Lama over his latest diplomatic forays in Europe, calling the exiled Tibetan leader a separatist and a "political hooligan" and has warned that China-EU relations may suffer.

DEVELOPMENT-INDONESIA: Farming On The Edge

She wore a scruffy, batik turban for protection against the midday sun. Aas Juasih, 42, looked satisfied with the paddy growing on the ‘illegal’ sawah (paddy field) that she has been cultivating for more than 15 years.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Energy Collaboration in the Caribbean

Eleven countries of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) are benefitting from a program promoted by Cuba for saving energy, the island nation's deputy foreign minister, Alejandro González, said ahead of the regional summit Monday.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Affordable Eco-Housing

A low-cost home that can be built in five days from recycled material only and equipped to use solar energy and rainwater is a social and environmental solution that is gaining ground in Brazil.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Anti-Pesticide Groups Take On the Government

The Alliance for a Better Quality of Life and the Latin American Anti-Pesticide Action Network (RAP-AL) of Chile staged a protest outside the government's Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) headquarters about the continuation of aerial fumigation.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Mangroves Cut Down to Protect Lagoon

Venezuela's Environment Ministry began cutting down hundreds of meters of mangroves in Las Peonías lagoon, the core of a 2,100-hectare park near Maracaibo (600 km west of Caracas), despite regulations that protect mangrove ecosystems.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: Climate Debate Cool in Poland

The United Nations conference on climate change, Dec. 1-12 in Poznan, Poland, faces the task of agreeing a plan of action for negotiations in 2009 for an obligatory pact for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate Change and Tomorrow's Losers

Global warming creates an opportunity to induce the necessary changes for a better world order, and for the poor, who -- with or without climate change -- are otherwise tomorrow's losers, says Chilean economist Marcel Claude in this column for Tierramérica.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Hoax Call Hyped by Media – Get Hostilities to Brink

A hoax phone call from India to Pakistan’s President threatening military reprisals in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Mumbai city, hyped up by media, brought the nuclear-armed neighbours close to conflict.

SOUTH ASIA: Concern for Zardari's Civilian Gov't Stays India

After United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to New Delhi and Islamabad, in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, India has added a new rationale for stepping up pressure on Pakistan for taking decisive action against jehadi extremists operating from its soil.