ECONOMY-US: Private Jets Targeted as Symbols of Inequality

Crusaders against inequality are accusing the private jet set of flying high at the expense of the environment, the national air traffic system, and lower-class taxpayers.

DEVELOPMENT: 'Aid From New EU Members Disregards Women'

Foreign aid budgets administered by the European Union's most recent entrants do not pay sufficient heed to the needs of women in poor countries, a series of new studies has found.

MIDEAST: Israel Training to Attack Iran

Israeli defence experts were not surprised by a New York Times report over the weekend that the Israeli air force had recently conducted what appeared to be a rehearsal for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

DEVELOPMENT-CHINA: Temblor Throws Shadow on Big Dam Ambitions

China’s deadly earthquake last month appears to have shifted more than just tectonic plates in the country’s picturesque Sichuan province. The May 12 temblor has given a boost to China’s green lobby that has been calling for a review of Beijing’s zealous dam-building programme and may tilt the balance of public opinion in favour of such appeals.

RIGHTS: Torture Widely Viewed as “Immoral”

A new poll on the official use of torture shows that people worldwide oppose it, but more than one-third also say an exception should be made if it can extract information from "terrorists" to "save innocent lives".

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: Media Blackout for Female Candidates

For activists campaigning to put more women into Africa's parliaments, the media has become a key battleground. All too often, female candidates are sidelined in election coverage, or reported on in a way that entrenches stereotypes of women rather than analysing the strength of their political and economic policies.

POLITICS: U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Zimbabwe

U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee issued a veiled warning Tuesday that if the Mugabe government goes forward with its planned Friday electoral run-off - in the absence of an opposition candidate - the U.S. will view the resulting government as illegitimate and take the "expected" steps.

ECONOMY: World Bank Sees Progress Against Corruption

Developing and former Soviet countries are making rapid progress in controlling corruption and promoting political stability and government accountability, the World Bank said in a new report Tuesday.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: Knockout or Standing Eight for Democracy?

The decision this week by Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party to pull out of Friday's presidential run off election will not have surprised many people in Zimbabwe. A growing chorus of doubt regarding the legitimacy of the poll has been raised, which came amid mounting political violence in the country.

SWITZERLAND: No Takers for Ex-Dictator’s Money

A Swiss court has ordered eight million Swiss francs to be unblocked in favour of the heirs of Mobutu Sese Seko, the former dictator of Zaire. The Swiss are trying to convince the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to send an envoy to collect the money in the name of the Congolese people, but Kinshasa doesn't seem to care.

Q&A: State Main Opponent of Abolition in Morocco

Ambiguous statements and contradictory policies make it impossible to predict when Morocco will abolish the death penalty. But the "great confusion" on the issue is not deterring human rights activists pressing forward with their public campaigning - especially among the youth.

NEPAL: A Small Victory for Nepali Women

Representatives from the Madhesis, Janajatis, Dalits and other indigenous groups were present when Nepal’s newly elected constituent assembly sat for its very first meeting late last month, and 191 of the 601-member assembly were women.

RIGHTS-CHAD: "Africa's Pinochet" Still Eluding Justice

Two years after the African Union mandated Senegal to conduct the trial of Chadian dictator Hissenè Habré, who is accused of thousands of political murders during his eight-year reign, the prosecution remains in limbo, six human rights groups complained in a joint statement Monday.

MIDEAST: Ceasefire Makes Israelis Uneasy

The rockets being fired into Israel from Gaza have stopped for now. So have the Israeli raids into the coastal strip. But the majority of Israelis are deeply sceptical that the truce with Hamas, which went into effect last Thursday, will endure. Many also believe that it represents a major achievement for the Islamic movement, not for Israel.

MIDEAST: Answering Attacks With Smiles and Smileys

East of Beit Sahour in Ush Ghrab, the tree line stops and the bronze, rocky desert begins. In a flat clearing on this hilltop, a small, abandoned military post is being slowly transformed from an assorted collection of cement-grey barracks into a virtual oasis for the region's children, families and tourists.

ENVIRONMENT: New Fund Launched for Congo Basin

The prime ministers of Norway and Britain have launched a 200 million dollar fund to tackle deforestation in the Congo Basin, the world's second largest tropical forest.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Human Rights Charges Against Gas Company

Environmental organizations of the Caribbean region of Omoa, in an effort to oust a polluting Mexican gas company, have knocked on the doors of the Honduran Human Rights Commissioner.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Low-Energy Lightbulb Plan Advances

From March to June, the Chilean government handed out 351,132 low-consumption electric lightbulbs to 175,566 families in six regions of the country as part of a national energy-saving program with a budget of 5.6 million dollars.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Eye on Desertification

The Venezuelan government has launched a plan to fight desertification, which begins with a diagnosis and description of each of its 24 regions.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: New Rules for Oil Spill Cleanup

Brazil's National Environment Council has adopted new rules to prevent and deal with oil spills in national waters, updating legislation from 2001.

POLITICS-CAMBODIA: Facing One-Sided Polls

While Cambodia’s national election is more than a month away the results are in little doubt. The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) appears certain to return as the dominant party and, for the first time, win enough seats in the National Assembly to rule on its own.