U.N. Climate Body Urged to Take Lead in Gender Focus

Two weeks before the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) review summit at the United Nations, concerns are being raised that gender equality is still largely divorced from efforts to address climate change, even though women have a critical role to play in solving - and are often most affected by – the problem.

Slammed For Its Roma Expulsions, France Shifts Rhetoric

Faced with mounting criticism because of its expulsions of Roma, or Gypsies, the French government is trying to gain allies in what it calls the "battle" against undocumented immigration and people-trafficking networks.

UNICEF Shifts Gears to Target Poorest of Children

A focus on the children at the very bottom of the economic ladder is the most effective and efficient way to help children and communities in need, concludes a new report from the United Nations children's agency UNICEF released Tuesday.

PAKISTAN: Floods Leave Afghan Refugees Down and Out

When they are not looking forlornly over what used to be their homes or trying to find help for relatives who have fallen ill, many Afghan refugees chase after vehicles that pass through the Great Trunk Road connecting Peshawar to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.

COTE D’IVOIRE: More Births Attended By Skilled Attendants

As she leaves the community health centre in Abobo-Baule with her newborn baby, Abiba Tahoué is doubly satisfied.

EUROPE: New Expulsions Hit People Without a Place

Roma gypsies are routinely described as Europe's largest ethnic minority. Numbering between 10 and 16 million, their combined population exceeds that of many European Union countries. Yet their numerical strength offers no compensation for the poverty, persecution and scapegoating that the Roma have to endure -- or for how their welfare is accorded a low priority by the EU's institutions.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Hydroelectric Dam's Reservoir Reduced

The Honduran government decided to start controlled openings of the floodgates at the country's principal hydroelectric dam, "El Cajón," located in the northwestern department of Cortés, to prevent a worsening of floods in the wake of the intense rainfall of recent weeks.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Activists Demand Law to Protect Glaciers

Environmental organizations in Argentina are demanding the enactment of a law to protect the country's glaciers from large-scale mining.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Bio-Controls of Pests Without Extermination

A system for controlling pests without harming the environment or even killing off the attacking species is under development by the National Institute of Science and Technology, an association of Brazilian universities.

INDIA: Handicrafts Give Rural Women A Helping Hand

With her arms loaded with flowers and leaves, Mohini Indrawan negotiates the dusty village track leading up to her house in this northern Indian state, pausing now and then to exchange pleasantries with a passing acquaintance. Her spending a few hours away from home each day was once labelled "immoral", but Indrawan is now hailed as a role model for other women.

Brian Moonga reports on a new vitamin A-rich maize variety which could improve the health of Zambians

Brian Moonga reports on a new vitamin A-rich maize variety which could improve the health of Zambians

Food security in Bolivia

 

PHILIPPINES: Criminal Ban, Stigma Drive Unsafe Abortions

"I felt scared. When I looked around, all the mothers had finished giving birth, while I was still there. The blood that flowed from me had already dried and caked onto my body," Lisa, a 19-year-old married mother of three, says, recounting her experience in post-abortion care at a public hospital here in the Philippine capital.

Funding Begins Flowing for African Agriculture

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has received a major boost as several countries have begun drawing on funds from a $22 billion pledge made by the G8.

SOUTH AFRICA: “Xenophobia Simmering Just Below Boiling Point”

"Xenophobia is part of life. We do not live easy here. We only survive," says Somali shopkeeper, Abdinasir Shaikh Aden, looking tense.

Environmentalists Push For Coal-ash Regulation

In what promises to be a contentious, high-profile series of debates, the forces of environmental protection will be lining up against those of the electric power industry over the future status of coal-ash.

AFGHANISTAN: Not Much Good News for the Media

Good news has become harder to come by these days in Afghanistan, especially as the war-ravaged country gears up for the parliamentary election scheduled on Sep. 18.

AFRICA: ‘Welcome to My Taxi – Let’s Do Business with My Cellphone’

In cities across Africa, being an entrepreneur requires no office, business card or investors. All it takes is a cell phone, according to Adele Botha, a researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa.

Secret ‘Kill Lists’ Fly in the Face of US and Int’l Law

Two of the nation’s most influential human rights organisations have filed a lawsuit challenging the government’s authority to carry out "targeted killings" of U.S. citizens located far from any armed conflict zone.

MIDEAST: Netanyahu Ignores President, and Wife

Thousands of Israelis have protested in a central park here demanding that their government revoke its decision to deport 400 children of migrant workers.

SOUTH AFRICA: ‘Tea Bag’ Filter Provides Safe Drinking Water

Though it may look like a tea bag, straining water through this recently developed filter could provide a cheap, easily replenished source of water for those who need it most.