EAST TIMOR: For Fragile States, MDG Summit Outcome Off-target

Calls by fragile states for greater focus on addressing conflict and fragility have been largely ignored in the outcome document of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit in New York, but critical donors are at least listening to the growing rumble of voices from developing nations.

Surfing the Web without Being Swept Away

City life and access to information technologies can open up a whole new arena of possibilities for young girls: better education, access to healthcare, new skills and a plethora of new ideas.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Averting the Grimmest Scenarios

The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have added urgency to a high-level United Nations summit this week, with delegates from mostly South Asian nations convening Tuesday to call for increased technology transfer from richer countries and to compare strategies to avert the worst effects of climate change.

EUROPE: Undocumented Pakistanis Face Expulsion

Less than two months after Pakistan was devastated by one of the worst disasters in recent history, the European Union's lawmakers have decided that Pakistanis living in the 27-country bloc without permission should be returned home.

Price Spikes Raise Spectre of Another Food Crisis

While global food prices declined for the first half of this year, they have spiked in recent months, according to a new World Bank publication, and this volatility could in turn push up the local food prices of the world's poorest and most malnourished countries.

U.S.: FBI Chastised for Spying on Activists

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) improperly spied on U.S. activists involved in First Amendment-protected activities and mischaracterised nonviolent civil disobedience as terrorism, which placed innocent activists on terror watch lists, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) charged Tuesday in response to a new report by the Justice Department's Inspector General.

U.S.: Prisoners of Abuse

Sharon White remembers the breaking point vividly. She was 21 years old and had been married to Andre for a little over a year. Looking back, she describes their life together as "a nightmare. Every day was a fight."

No Glass Ceiling in Dreams of Women Workers

"There are no ceilings in our dreams; we want to transform young women, tell them there is a way for them to be happy," says Elza Santiago, a resident of a "favela" or shantytown in Brazil who defines her mission as "mixing feminism with work."

Haitian Women Struggle to Keep Hope Alive

"I'm going to do everything possible to raise my daughter. My daughter is my future. And I can see my future in her," says Mirlene Saint Juste, a rice merchant in the Opoto market of Gonaives in northern Haiti.

POLITICS-AFGHANISTAN: For Refugees, Polls are Far and Near

Afghan voters just went to national parliamentary elections, but refugees from that country here in neighbouring Pakistan could only rue the fact that they have been left out of this vote.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Infrastructure Plan Ignores Town

Residents of a town of 400 people in the northeastern Argentine province of Chaco faced repression and legal charges for their opposition to an electrical transmission line through their community.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: China to Finance Ambitious Hydroelectric Project

The government of Honduras announced the construction of the Patuca I, II and III hydroelectric dam, over the course of three years beginning January 2011 at a cost of one billion dollars financed by a Chinese firm.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Environmental Budget Cuts Face Criticism

The 2011 budget for Mexico's Secretariat (ministry) of Environment and Natural Resources is insufficient to tend to existing and urgent needs, according to the watchdog group Greenpeace Mexico.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: New Weapon Against Mercury Contamination

Removing mercury from water, petroleum and natural gas, without leaving additional toxic waste, is now possible with a technique developed at the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Engineering Research, at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Expectations Scaled Back for Cancun Climate Summit

When, following months of hype, ministers and negotiating teams arrived in Copenhagen last December for a summit on climate change, the expectations for what could be accomplished were unrealistic and made the successes that did occur seem less important than they were, says the climate chief of Mexico, which will host this year’s successor to the Copenhagen summit.

Hershey Chocolate Linked to Child Labour

Hershey, one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the U.S., is lagging behind other companies in taking steps to ensure decent working conditions in its supply chain, charges a new report.

One in Seven U.S. Citizens Sinks into Poverty

Poverty rates in the United States have climbed to their highest level since 1994, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

U.S.: Rights Groups Leery of Surge in Wartime Contractors

Three years after security guards from Blackwater, a private security contractor working for the U.S. Department of State, killed 17 unarmed civilians in Baghdad, a leading human rights advocacy group is charging that not nearly enough has been done to improve oversight and accountability of private contractors abroad.

CARIBBEAN: Still Fighting HIV Stigma After 30 Years

An inescapable fact of living in societies that are as small and highly personalised as those in the Caribbean is that information travels very quickly and not always very accurately.

SINGAPORE: Films Show Other Side Of Migrant Workers

Migrant workers may be what one filmmaker calls a "socio- political hot potato" in Singapore, but that is precisely why a film festival opted to showcase the plight of workers who often remain faceless although they are vital to the city- state’s everyday life and economy.

EUROPE: New Permits to Pollute Sought

Extra permits to pollute the atmosphere would be given to corporations that invest in areas surrounding tropical rainforests under plans drawn up by one of Europe's most influential pressure groups.