CARIBBEAN: Agriculture Literally Losing Ground

Natasha Neus of Suriname says it is crystal clear what Caribbean governments need to do to bring the region's food crisis under control.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Regime Change May Hit Reforms

It took exactly seven months after a severe general electoral setback for Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to announce that he would not be defending the presidency of the dominant party in the ruling coalition in party polls next year.

LATIN AMERICA: Once Again, Govts Promise to Tackle Violent Crime

Violent crime in Latin America claims more than 100,000 lives a year - more than any single disease - and the average homicide rate is 27 per 100,000 population, making this one of the most violent regions in the world.

Zimbabwe’s Elections

 

POLITICS-US: Right-Wing Magnate Takes Up Anti-Abortion Banner

As the U.S. presidential race winds down and attack ads against Sen. Barack Obama intensify, Raymond Ruddy, a multi-millionaire conservative Catholic who over the years has been more comfortable operating in the backrooms of conservative philanthropy, appears to be coming out of the closet.

ENVIRONMENT: Stepping Beyond Carbon Footprints

Do those 8,000 tonnes of carbon footprints arising from participation in the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona show the way beyond Kyoto? Will the marathon congregation significantly reduce biodiversity loss and halt creeping desertification?

CLIMATE CHANGE: EU Could be Greener

The outcome of a crucial European Parliament vote on tackling climate change this week was not as negative as many green activists had feared. Yet it also suggested that the rhetoric of European politicians on how they must exercise leadership to ward off the threat posed by rising temperatures is not being matched with decisive action.

MEXICO: Legalisation Fight Gains Ground as Illegal Abortions Increase

Legal access to abortion, available since April 2007 in the Mexican capital, should be extended to the rest of the country, where the rate of illegal abortions exceeds the average for developing countries and the total number reached 880,000 in 2006, up 64 percent from 1990.

ECONOMY-CHINA: Opportunity in Wall Street Distress

The Wall Street fire-sale has prompted China economic pundits to call on Beijing to avail of the opportunity to acquire stakes in United States financial institutions and further its influence on global financial power.

POLITICS-THAILAND: Tired of Instability – But More Ahead

In the wake of Tuesday’s violent clashes with anti-government protesters that saw the Thai prime minister clambering over Parliament’s walls to safety, Noi, a Thai employee, says: "This is like a horror movie with no ending."

ENERGY: Governments Must Lead on Renewables, says Shell CEO

Royal Dutch Shell, with an annual turnover of more than 350 billion dollars from extracting oil and gas, mainly in third world countries, says it is up to governments rather than companies like Shell to take the lead in finding solutions for a sustainable energy future.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Renewed Fight Against Old Killer

The key to a new multi-billion dollar strategy to eliminate malaria deaths worldwide by 2015 is to widen availability of existing diagnostic and preventative treatments.

RIGHTS: Torture 'Routine' in Jordanian Prisons

A new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses the Jordanian authorities of routine and widespread torture of prisoners throughout the country, and calls for an end to the abuses.

HEALTH: WHO Warns Against ‘Bird Flu Fatigue’

So where is the pandemic? This is a question most often asked of health experts years after they warned about a pandemic influenza that could infect up to 35 percent of the world's population.

INDIA: Old Road New Role

Built during World War II as a strategic link between India and Burma, the Stilwell Road is now being resurrected as part of India’s ‘Look East’ policy of engaging its neighbours in South-east Asia.

ECONOMY-US: This Sucker Could Go Down

Crises seem to awaken the inner poet of the commentariat, and the Crash of 2008 is no exception.

RIGHTS-US: Judge Orders Release of Uighurs at Guantanamo

U.S. human rights and civil rights groups lauded a federal court decision Tuesday that orders the release of 17 Muslim minority Chinese men who have been held without charges for seven years at the infamous U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

MEXICO: Police Arrested for Killing Indigenous Protesters

The recent killings of six indigenous people and the injuries suffered by 17 others in a clash with police in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas were the result of a strategy of "criminalising social protest" adopted by the state’s "supposedly leftist government," according to a prominent local human rights group.

BIODIVERSITY: Mammals Face Extinction Crisis

One in four mammals on Earth is at risk of disappearing forever, according to the new "Red List of Threatened Species" released by the Geneva-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Monday.

ENVIRONMENT: Climate Action Could Escape Financial Crisis

Enter the global financial crisis - exit action on climate change? That lingering apprehension is not shared by Pamela Cox, the World Bank's vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: Jury Still Out On Power Sharing

One would have thought the signing of the power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe would mean it was safe for 25 Movement Democratic Change supporters to gather in celebration at a shopping centre in Buhera.