ECONOMY: Spain Fights Exclusion from Crisis Summit

The Spanish government is taking strong diplomatic actions, calling on its fellow members of the European Union, Latin American leaders, Asian nations and even the United States presidential candidates, with the aim of not being left out of the financial anti-crisis summit scheduled for Nov. 15 in Washington.

DEVELOPMENT: Democracy Comes to World Institutions, Slowly

Power and democracy don't go together well in global governance. The most powerful global institutions are the least democratic, but things are changing. Slowly.

WEST AFRICA: Primary Health Care Key to MDGs

None of the 16 nations of West Africa will achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of reducing child mortality or improving maternal health without serious efforts to improve their health care systems, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

POLITICS-US: Plumbing the Depths of Spin

In the waning days of an interminable United States presidential campaign, a plumber and would-be small businessman bestrides the narrow race like a colossus with a tool belt.

RIGHTS-US: New Davis Reprieve Raises Hopes of Retrial

A federal appeals court in Atlanta has stayed the execution of Georgia death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis scheduled for Monday - the third time he has been pulled back from the death chamber in just over a year.

DEVELOPMENT: Poor Hit by Recession and Tax Havens

With signs of a recession preoccupying policy-makers in industrialised countries, prospects for the success of an international conference on providing finance to the world's poor do not appear high.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Like a Big Garbage Dump

Venezuela produces some 27,000 tons of garbage each day, and most of it ends up in one of the 800 open-air dumps, which contaminate water, land, flora and fauna and contribute to the spread of disease among the population.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Eco-Education in Preschool

The National Environment Commission (CONAMA) of Santiago is premiering on Oct. 29 the first manual for environmental education for kindergarteners and first and second graders.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Biogas Plant Begins Operating

A new biogas plant located at the capital's largest dump and with the capacity to process 20 tons of urban waste per day will generate enough electricity to supply 120 fully equipped households.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Climate Plan Up for Public Debate

Citizens and activists have until Oct. 31 to suggest modifications to the National Climate Change Plan proposed by a committee made up of seven government ministries.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Award for Indigenous Ecotourism Project

The Moskitia Route, an ecotourism project involving four indigenous communities in Honduras, has received the global prize "Tourism for the People".

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: UN Day Dedicated to Climate Change

Possible actions to confront climate change were the focus of United Nations Day, celebrated Oct. 24 with a seminar at the UN University headquarters in Japan.

Why Colombia's Indigenous Peoples Are Protesting

For the Colombian government, caught up in polls that put it at the peak of popularity, indigenous protests could not be anything but the work of conspirators, writes indigenous expert Héctor Mondragón in this column for Tierramérica.

ECONOMY: Asia, EU Leaders Moot Deep Global Reforms

A two-day meeting of European and Asian leaders in Beijing has produced a joint statement pledging a coordinated response to the global financial crisis, but concrete action is seen dependant on the entry of Asia’s emerging economies into global policy-setting institutions.

CAMBODIA: Maoist Bastion Gets Lessons in Market Economics

For ex-Maoist guerrillas in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin, close to the Thai border, the last decade has been a crash course in market economics.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Condemned Pin Hopes on Amnesty

Zulfiqar Ali, 38, has been snatched from the gallows once again after Pakistan's president agreed to give his relatives more time to negotiate clemency from the families of two persons shot dead during a violent dispute.

HEALTH: The Global Killer You Never Heard Of

Although a safe and effective vaccine has been available for eight years now, 1.6 million people still die from pneumococcal diseases every year, making it the number one vaccine-preventable cause of death worldwide. More than half of the victims are children.

NETHERLANDS: When the Electricity Is in Your Feet

As everyone knows, the wind and the sun produce energy. But now there is also a way to generate electricity by dancing.

KENYA: Biofuels Boom and Bust

The Kenyan government has hailed bio-diesel as an innovation that combines green politics with poverty reduction. But recent drops in biofuel prices have caused concern about the sustainability of alternative fuel production.

Q&A: "We Are not Subversives, and We Demand Respect"

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe admitted that the security forces opened fire on indigenous protesters in the southwestern province of Cauca, but denies that they were responsible for the deaths of three demonstrators, said Daniel Piñacué, a leader of the Nasa community.

ARTS-US: Spotlight on 40 Years of Black Theatre

For decades, playwrights writing realistically about the black experience in the United States could not get their works produced, black directors didn't get jobs, and even the most successful performers were confined to roles as servants in plays about whites.