Ecobreves – MEXICO: Studying Fungus as Insecticide

Mexican scientists are researching different types of fungus that kill harmful insects without hurting the environment.

Fighting Climate Change Demands Cooperation Now and Beyond 2012

Nobody is negotiating or making concessions ahead of deadline, says Raúl Estrada Oyuela, one of the authors of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, in this exclusive column for Tierramérica.

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: Women Bear Brunt of Violence

"We are too familiar with the violence that was meted upon numerous of us from 1890 when the colonialists came into our country right up to the most recent elections. Chief among these forms of violence is sexual violence, and it concomitant implication, HIV infection. Zimbabwean women now have the lowest life expectancy world wide because of HIV & AIDS - 34 years."

Q&A: 'Monitor Aid Delivery Against Pledges'

The European Union commitment to stepping up development aid is expected to be put to the test at the G8 summit in Hokkaido in Japan next month.

G8: Climate Change High On Summit Agenda

The leaders of the world's most industrialised nations are now arriving in Japan for the Group of Eight (G8) Summit, Jul. 7-9. In the northern mountain resort of Lake Toyako they will confront challenges of climate change, the food shortage, and development, especially in Africa. Other agenda items are likely to include Japan’s recent bilateral summit with Hu Jinatao of China, as well as measures to control rising global fuel prices and nuclear proliferation.

NICARAGUA: “The Women’s Movement Is in Opposition”

The action taken on abortion by the governing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in Nicaragua is "a betrayal" of women, who were "key allies" of the 1979 revolution. Therefore there has been a "radicalisation of the women’s movement," which is declaring itself in opposition, activist Sofía Montenegro told IPS.

CHINA: Quake Highlights Urban Privilege

1970 - The height of the Cultural Revolution. A severe quake ripples through rural China’s Yunnan province in the south. The response from the communist leadership in far away Beijing arrives swiftly - tens of thousands of little Red Books with quotations from chairman Mao Zedong and as many badges with his image. The rescue efforts are complete with thousands of letters of sympathy from the capital.

MIDEAST: Olmert Survives Again, For Now

Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert won yet another reprieve this week, just hours before the parliament was set to vote to dissolve itself in a move that would almost certainly have led to new elections and Olmert's ouster from office.

POLITICS: U.S. and China Go Bump in the Middle East

For China these days it seems that nothing - not rising energy prices; not sanctions aimed at its more unsavoury business partners, Burma and Sudan; not even the prospect of a nuclear Iran - can curb its thirst for oil.

FINANCE: Investment Curbs Seen Stifling World Economy

The United States and other beneficiaries of foreign investment are seeking to restrict it, a leading U.S. think tank says in a report warning that this "protectionist drift" could roil capital markets and stifle global economic growth for years to come.

POLITICS-BANGLADESH: Govt Plans Local Polls Amid Strong Opposition

Bangladesh is lurching into crisis again as its military-backed interim government insists on holding local government polls amid the strong opposition of all major political parties.

POLITICS: Illicit Drug Crops Still Soaring

Recent major increases in supply from Afghanistan and Colombia threaten a recent stabilisation in the world's illicit drug market, according to the U.N.'s World Drug Report 2008 launched Thursday.

REFUGEES-CHAD: Water and Wood Shortages Worsen

Every morning soon after sunrise, Fatne Abdaraman walks a short distance across the Iridimi refugee camp in eastern Chad hauling a twenty-litre plastic jug. She lines it up along with other women's containers at the water distribution point, then awaits her turn to draw her daily allotment of one of Central Africa's scarcest resources, one that underpins ongoing conflict in the region.

Q&A: Is Democracy Dangerous in Multi-ethnic Societies?

The Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE) would seem to have its work cut out for it in a world racked by brutal and enduring conflict. The centre's goal is to explore the links between ethnicity, inequality and conflict in order to identify policies that could lead to more inclusive multi-ethnic societies.

BOOKS-US: All Doughnuts Lead to the Pentagon

U.S. defence spending in recent years has either matched or exceeded the military budgets of the rest of the world combined. Presented with that fact, the next logical question is, where is all the money going? The answer is simple: Everywhere.

HEALTH-PARAGUAY: Hospitals on the Critical List

Paraguay’s public hospitals are on the verge of collapse, due to a lack of resources for responding to the wave of southern hemisphere winter illnesses. The first measure to be adopted by the new government that will take over in August will be to declare a "social emergency" in healthcare, the future health minister told IPS.

The Global Food Crisis and the Latin American Paradox

As world leaders left the Rome Summit with plans to aid the world’s poor struggling with record food prices, it is important to consider some unique characteristics of Latin American and Caribbean countries. High commodity prices present an opportunity for the region to increase food supply while confronting the urgent challenge to help those most in need during this crisis.

ECUADOR: Constituent Assembly Shakeup Highlights Divisions

The resignation of the head of the constituent assembly that is rewriting Ecuador’s constitution, a popular figure who up to now has been close to President Rafael Correa, highlighted discrepancies within the government.

US/IRAQ: A Blueprint for Withdrawal

Proponents of a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq routinely brush off criticisms that their ideas are "irresponsible". But until today, the charge that withdrawal cannot be accomplished responsibly - and just how that would be done - has never been coherently answered.

ENERGY: U.S. Sees World Use Soaring Despite Rising Costs

World energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions will grow by about 50 percent over the next two decades despite soaring oil prices as developing countries outpace rich ones in consumption, the U.S. government predicts.

CORRUPTION: Graft Sapping Precious Water Resources

The world's growing water crisis - with nearly 1.2 billion people lacking a steady water supply and more than 2.6 billion without adequate sanitation - is fundamentally a crisis of governance, with corruption as one root cause, says a new report by Transparency International.