Detainees in Iraq Go from Frying Pan to Fire

The U.S. transfer of Iraqi detainees to national authorities with a long record of human rights abuses could prove illegal under international law, Amnesty International cautioned in a new report Tuesday.

DEVELOPMENT: Fewer Hungry, but More Hunger Waits

Figures the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) presented here Tuesday revealing a reduction in the world's number of hungry people in 2010 for the first time in 15 years should be a cause for celebration. In reality it is a hollow success.

World Bank Boosts Ag Lending Ahead of MDG Meet

With the Millennium Development Goals review summit just one week away, the World Bank is the latest international player to announce its strategy to help achieve those goals by their 2015 deadline.

Kidnapping Spurs Fresh Call to End Impunity in DR Congo

Civil society is calling for an end to impunity for the harassment of human rights activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The renewed call comes as an activist kidnapped at the end of August have described their detention and torture by uniformed captors.

CARIBBEAN: EPA Not so Momentous After All, Study Says

Almost two years after the controversial and sweeping trade pact known as an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was signed between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) countries, a new study says the impact of the EPA has proved to be, as its proponents claimed, relatively mild.

Women, Children Top U.N.’s Anti-Poverty Agenda

All eight of the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are critical to development, but numbers four and five on child and maternal health are the real priority areas for this year. That was the main takeaway from a series of briefings with U.N., NGO and country officials in which IPS participated this week.

Living on the Edge of Caravans

Broken bicycles and old suitcases mark the entrance to the makeshift camp. Ankle-deep in mud that is newly wet from a rain-shower, the visitor is taken by the hand by lively children to meet their parents.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Toxic Cloud Over Ciudad Guayana

A cloud of waste particulates is soaring this month over Ciudad Guayana, a city located 600 kilometers southeast of Caracas.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Sugarcane Provides 18 Percent of Energy

Nearly half the energy consumed in Brazil comes from renewable sources, thanks in large part to sugarcane, according to the Sustainable Development Indicators of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Ecobreves – CUBA: Testing Plant-Based Cancer Med

Three hospitals in Santiago, Cuba, began to administer a medication made from the anamú (Petiveria alliacea) plant, also known as guinea henweed, to fight cellular immunodeficiency among patients with cancer and other illnesses.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Renewable Energy Contracts Questioned

Communities in the northwestern Honduras and Catholic groups have challenged the decision by Congress to grant 40 renewable energy contracts to companies they say are polluters.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Farmers Fight Brazil-Financed Thermoelectric Plant

A delegation from the Totoral Agricultural Community of the northern region of Copiapó delivered a letter Sep. 8 to Brazil's ambassador in Chile, Mario Vilalva, requesting the Brazilian government withdraw support for the Castilla thermoelectric plant, being built by Brazilian entrepreneur Eike Batista.

“Orange” Maize Could Save Eyesight of Millions of African Children

'Orange' maize, a variety of the common cereal crop, could improve the lives of millions of malnourished people by providing increased vitamin A in their diet, according to a new study released here this week.

CHINA: Journalists Risk Their Lives to Expose Corruption

Despite what are often overwhelming obstacles, a gutsy minority of investigative reporters in China continues to expose official corruption and criminal behaviour. But they do so at their own peril.

BP Report on Oil Spill Disaster Met with Scepticism

The report released Wednesday by energy giant BP of its internal investigation into the catastrophic explosion in April of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the subsequent spill from the Macondo oil well has been met with criticism by watchdog groups who question the company's motives.

Technology helps South African children learn to read, reports Davison Mudzingwa.

Technology helps South African children learn to read, reports Davison Mudzingwa.

AFRICA: Governments Failing to Take the Threat of HIV Seriously

Experts worry that African governments are failing to take the threat of HIV seriously enough by not dedicating enough of their resources to prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) efforts.

NEPAL: Adoption Suspension Leaves Children in Limbo

A big question marks looms over the future of many Nepali children in various child homes in the country in the wake of the suspension by 11 countries of their child adoption programmes for this Himalayan nation.

U.N. Chief Returns from “Damage Control” Trip to Rwanda

U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon returned Thursday from what has been described as a damage control trip to Rwanda, in an attempt to reassure President Paul Kagame that his concerns over the recently leaked Mapping Exercise report are being heard.

Kenyan Women Sceptical Over Constitution’s Promise

Charity Karemi operates a pay-phone booth and sells mobile phone scratch cards in a Nairobi suburb east of the capital. She has mixed expectations of the benefits she will gain from Kenya’s new constitution.

Rendition Suit Heads for U.S. High Court

In a move legal experts are calling unusual, the one-vote court majority that tossed out the lawsuit brought by five men who claim they were tortured under the "extraordinary rendition" programme of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency departed from customary practice in suggesting several other ways the victims might obtain justice.