DEVELOPMENT-ANGOLA: Stressing the Importance of Clean Water

A survey of Angolan households has revealed less than half of caregivers always treat water with a reliable method before giving it to children. And one third of those interviewed by Population Services International (PSI) believes water is blessed by God and does not need to be sterilised before use.

RIGHTS-US: California Says, "We Do"

On Monday evening, with all the Bay Area local television stations and some of the national news networks on hand, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, two longtime gay rights activists, (re)married at City Hall in San Francisco, California.

EAST TIMOR: Outsourcing Sugar Cane

The East Timor government’s recent decision to grant vast lands to an Indonesian company to plant sugar cane has been heavily criticised by Timorese society, who are demanding that the government immediately revoke the contract with the foreign company.

MIGRATION: More and More Cubans Entering US through Mexico

The number of Cuban migrants intercepted in Mexico climbed from 254 in 2002 to 1,359 in 2007. And nearly 1,000 were detained in the first four months of this year alone - the visible face of a people smuggling business that apparently operates in collusion with the police and other corrupt authorities.

CANADA: Apology Must Be Backed By Action, Native Leaders Say

In a long-sought acknowledgement of the federal government's role in creating Canada's racist residential school system as part of its cultural assimilation policies, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a formal apology to Canadian First Nations in the House of Commons in Ottawa last week.

RIGHTS: Scant Compassion for Migrants with HIV

Even as people who migrate from their homelands run a higher risk of contracting the HIV virus, they also are far less likely to receive adequate healthcare, and often face deportation or other harsh treatment in destination countries, activists say.

US/MIDEAST: Let's Not Make a Deal

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was more explicit than usual last Sunday, asserting that Israel's settlement activity in the occupied West Bank was illegal and hurting efforts for a Mideast peace deal.

PAKISTAN: Call to Demilitarise Aid

U.S. aid to Pakistan needs to put far greater emphasis on education and far less on the military than it has to date, a Brussels conference has been told.

ECONOMY: Political Uncertainty Dogs U.S., China Dialogue

Top U.S. and Chinese policy makers hold two days of economic talks this week amid uncertainty about the future of U.S. policy on trade, investment, and China.

EL SALVADOR: Lawmakers Against Therapeutic Abortion

The Salvadoran parliament has given its support to a "Libro de la vida" (Book of Life), which calls abortion "an abominable crime," precipitating a storm of criticism from women’s organisations that consider this blanket endorsement an evasion of serious debate on the issue.

POLITICS-US: Christian Zionist Gathering Mired In Controversy

The battle lines over Pastor John Hagee have been drawn, redrawn, and are no doubt being drawn again as this is being written. The San Antonio, Texas-based mega-preacher with the multi-million-dollar empire has always been controversial, but these days, the pastor is a lightning rod for critics.

DEVELOPMENT-ANGOLA: Absorbing Lessons on Clean Water

Playing happily in the sand with her twin sister, it's hard to believe Vivia Paulino was only months ago on the brink of death.

MIDEAST: Net Tightens Around the Fishermen

When the broiling sun sinks behind the rolling Mediterranean sea in Gaza, hundreds of fishing boats turn on their motors and assemble ragged nets to round up the evening catch. Flickering blue lights scatter across the shallow seas as the boats gather offshore in close quarters. Mackerel, sardine and grey mullet are caught in nets and dumped into plastic crates to be sold in the street markets. But under severe military occupation dominating the Gaza strip, it has become increasingly difficult to make a living as a Gaza fisherman.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Eye on Waste Management Bill

The Honduran Congress is to debate a law to regulate and recycle waste, especially in urban zones, parliament president Roberto Micheletti told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Tepid Project on Climate Change

Brazil has a project in place to create a National Climate Change Policy, defined by interministerial commissions and sent to Congress as part of the government's celebrations of World Environment Day, Jun. 5.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Last Gasp of Rare Porpoise

Efforts are failing to prevent the extinction of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a rare species of porpoise that is native to Mexico. From 1999 to 2008, its population has plummeted from 600 to 150 animals.

SOUTH ASIA: India-Pakistan Peace Survives

As Pakistan stumbles towards democratisation amidst domestic political uncertainty, armed unrest led by Islamists along the Afghanistan border, and strained military relations with the U.S., a broad consensus in favour of the peace process with India survives - almost miraculously.

CHINA: Will the People Choose the Death Penalty?

When China’s newly appointed top judge suggested recently that death penalties meted out in the country should adhere to popular will, many were outraged.

FINANCE: World Bank Watchdog Thrashes ‘Doing Business’ Index

The World Bank's flagship effort to promote business-led economic growth is ideologically stilted and of little practical use, says the lending agency's in-house watchdog.

IRAQ: The Love Stories Are Gone

As statistics go, at least 655,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the occupation, now in its fifth year. Every one of them has left behind once loved ones to mourn the loss and to think of what might have been.

MIGRATION: Int’l Community Failing Iraqi Refugees

The international community, especially the United States, has depicted a "false picture of the security situation" in Iraq in order to encourage refugees to return to a country where the situation is still "too dire", said Amnesty International, a prestigious London-based rights group, in a statement Friday.