SOUTH AFRICA: Water Supply Proposal Sparks Controversy and Suspicion

A plan to increase the supply of potable water to two coastal towns in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province is provoking heated debate.

KENYA: Relocation of Traders in Nairobi Still Beset With Problems

Jackson Gitonga’s business has suffered during the recent post-election violence. He could not leave his house to sell his wares - second-hand shoes which, he says, are of high quality. He recorded a loss for the first time since he had started working as an informal trader three years ago.

INDIA: Blames West For High Food, Energy Prices

While moving firmly to curb inflationary trends, India’s coalition government, which faces a general election next year, continues to blame a poorly managed international financial system for spiralling food and energy prices at home.

MEXICO: New Recipe Against Poverty

The government of conservative President Felipe Calderón presented a new anti-poverty strategy in Mexico Monday, which will initially focus on delivering food aid to the poor.

US/MIDEAST: Palestinian Negotiators Go Home Frustrated

Five months after the U.S. hosted the Annapolis conference to push for a decisive Israeli-Palestinian peace, negotiations between the two sides have shown no visible progress.

MIDEAST: Olmert Closer to Deal with Syria, Israel Is Not

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he is "very interested" in peace with Syria. He has sent a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad expressing a willingness to give back the Golan Heights in exchange for a comprehensive peace treaty.

Q&A: Singing to a Political Beat

If a European rock music fan has just one album by an African artist in his or her collection, there is a higher than average chance it was recorded by Youssou N'Dour. The Senegalese man's status as his continent's most lucrative cultural export was underscored in 2005, when he was the only African to appear at the main Live8 concert in London's Hyde Park, an event that attracted several billion TV viewers, according to its organisers.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Displacements Set To Increase

Climate change is likely to lead to an increase in conflicts and forced migrations of poor people in the south, a new report warns. Developing countries can reduce this impact by adopting preventative measures now, while international law and human rights principles need to be updated.

AFGHANISTAN: Bid to Slay Karzai Exposes Security Mess

Violence levels have increased in Afghanistan in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the first part of 2007, a series of newly-released studies indicate.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Ainu People to Press Demands at G8 Summit

Japan's hosting of the G8 summit in Hokkaido in July will afford a rare opportunity for the Ainu people who live on the island to press their long-standing demand to be recognised as an indigenous people.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Local Governments Protect Environment

In Honduras, 102 of the country's 298 municipalities have joined an initiative for watershed preservation, reforestation and environmental education, say official sources.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Dragnets Threaten Manatees

Experts in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara hope that the discovery of three dead manatees (Trichechus manatus) will speed up the regulation of dragnet fishing in this area, where these large marine mammals are abundant.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Glaciers Disappear

The glaciers of Venezuela's Sierra Nevada mountains, more than 4,800 meters above sea level, lost 94 of their total 137 hectares in 30 years and will disappear by 2020, says Angel Viloria, of the governmental Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Nuts for Biodiesel

Sometime between May 15 and 30, the first plantations of physic nut (Jatropha curcas) will be ready in Chile as part of a project for distilling biodiesel in the northern part of the country.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Lumber Auction to Finance Illegal Logging

The Environment Secretariat of Pará, the largest state of Brazil's eastern Amazon, announced an unprecedented auction for May 15 of 5,500 cubic meters of illegally extracted timber. The revenues from the sale will be used to fight environmental crimes.

AFRICA: Agricultural Extension Work Both Important and Under-valued

At a time of international concern about the future of the world's food supply, it's a comment that gives pause for thought: "I teach university students agriculture and extension but many of them opt for other professions, especially in ICTs, because agriculture is 'for those who haven't gone to school'."

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Equitable Distribution of Wealth – The Challenge

With Malaysia's opposition pact in the ascendancy after stunning gains in a general election last month, some are wondering how different their economic policies are likely to be if they do wrest power, as many expect them to do, eventually.

JAPAN: Zenkoji Temple Leads Pro-Tibet Protests

As Olympic torchbearer Senichi Hoshino started the Japanese leg of the relay in Nagano - home of the 1998 Winter Games - a prayer vigil began at the landmark Zenkoji Buddhist shrine in the city for those who have died in Tibet following the Mar.10 crackdown.

RIGHTS-US: Groups Wrangle with CIA over “Ghost Prisoners”

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has refused to release more than 7,000 documents related to its programmes of secret detentions, renditions, and torture, and is asking a federal judge to dismiss a Freedom of Information lawsuit demanding disclosure.

Q&A: Russia Vacillating over Abolition

How close is Russia to abolishing the death penalty? Possibly just two or three years away, suggests Penal Reform International's director for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, Victoria Sergeyeva. In an interview with IPS correspondent Kester Kenn Klomegah, she explains that leading Russian politicians have already made up their minds on the issue, though their follow MPs still need prodding out of their indecision. Across the country, young, educated city dwellers would welcome the move.

POLITICS-US: Right Puts Obama in Media Crosshairs

The unveiling this week of a new campaign advertisement by the North Carolina Republican Party - using video of controversial remarks made by Senator Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and attacking two North Carolina Democratic candidates for governor - is a reminder that the race for the presidency will likely only get uglier as the summer goes on.