EUROPE: ‘No’ to GM Could Conceal a ‘Yes’

Genetically modified (GM) foods will be introduced more quickly in Europe as a result of a new proposal, some Brussels officials fear.

MALAWI: Women Candidates Desperate to Finance Freebies for Voters

Mable Malinda wants to contest the local government elections but the independent candidate who is using her life savings to fund her campaign only has 500 dollars left in her bank account. She has already spent three times as much buying handouts for voters – an unofficial requirement when contesting elections in Malawi.

THAILAND: For Transgenders, Identity Papers Are No Simple Matter

In New Zealand, where Sujinrat Prachathai enjoys resident status, she is a woman able to append ‘Mrs’ to her name to signify that she is married. Here in Thailand, however, she has to be addressed as ‘Mr’ since she is still considered male even though she underwent a sex-change operation years ago.

HAITI: Six Months On, Shelter Still a Main Priority

Six months ago Monday, an earthquake rocked the western hemisphere's poorest country, driving it deeper into poverty and burying it under its nascent infrastructure.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Uruguay Fends Off Health Threats – So Far

The incidence of cardiovascular, respiratory and water-borne diseases is rising in Uruguay in tandem with climate change, while dengue fever and malaria lurk at the country's borders. Higher temperatures are encouraging the presence of insect vectors carrying diseases that were eradicated decades ago, experts say.

ZAMBIA: Women Welcome Equality Commission

The Zambian National Constitution Conference (NCC) concluded its business recently with the adoption of a clause for the creation of a Gender Equality Commission.

Guyana Has No Regrets over Holding Out on EPA

Two years after 14 Caribbean countries signed a wide-ranging and controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe, Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo still maintains that his country was right in holding out until the last minute to get a "better deal" for the Caribbean.

Liberian Woman in the Centre Circle

Vivian Howard is a single mother who cooks and cleans like just about any other woman in Liberia - but in her work life she’s in charge of 22 strong, athletic men. The first and only centre female referee in Liberia with a FIFA badge, Howard is standing shoulder to shoulder with the men of Liberia.

MALAWI: Concerns over Cost of New HIV/AIDS Treatment Regime

As government implements a new HIV/AIDS treatment regimen according to latest world standards, a major grouping of non-governmental organisations are concerned that the high cost of the new medication will mean government will no longer be able provide free treatment to as many people as before.

Midwives vs. Doctors in U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis

"I was baking a cake when my contractions were two minutes apart," Kristine says, her voice warm with memory, "not in a hospital, holding onto a bedside somewhere screaming."

ZAMBIA: “Privatisation Like Grabbing Goods Fallen from a Truck”

Zambia has sold more than 262 state-owned enterprises in the past 18 years, with the latest being the beleaguered telecommunications company Zamtel.

MIDEAST: Out of Step With the Peace Beat

What led the Middle East hit parade this week was less the chords struck harmoniously at the White House Tuesday by two deft diplomatic dancers than the slick dance routine performed by a squad of Israeli soldiers patrolling the streets of the occupied Palestinian city of Hebron.

Caribbean Leaders Inch Forward on Regional Integration

For 37 years, Caribbean leaders have fended off charges from critics that the 15-member regional grouping Caricom is nothing more than a talk shop.

HIV Vaccine Advances Made Ahead of Global Conference

In 1984, then-U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler famously declared, "We hope to have such a vaccine ready for testing in approximately two years." The vaccine in question would prevent AIDS and the goal Heckler set has been missed by over 26 years.

THAILAND: Sexuality 101 Exhibit Says It Straight

Teenage boys gape at a coloured photograph of a vagina, while girls give embarrassed smiles as they watch a cartoon that showed penises 'talking' about masturbation. Young girls crowd around a display panel about love and relationships, as a boy embraces a female mannequin with all his might in order to measure the strength of his hug.

Afro-Brazilian Communities in the Shadow of Space Facility

A space launch centre built in their territory has altered the way of life that members of "quilombos" - village communities originally founded by runaway slaves - have maintained for a century and a half in this municipality in the Brazilian state of Maranhao.

Flooded with NGOs, Haiti Looks to Fall Presidential Polls

They descended in droves after the Jan. 12 earthquake devastated the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country, killing an estimated 300,000 people and leaving more than one million homeless.

Justice Dept Draws a Line in Arizona’s Sand

While civil rights and Hispanic advocates are applauding the Justice Department's decision to sue the state of Arizona over its new "may I see your papers please?" anti-immigrant law, solid majorities of Arizona citizens are telling a variety of polling organisations that they approve of the legislation.

EU: This Big Brother Is in the U.S.

Private information on innocent citizens will be handed over to U.S. law enforcement authorities under an agreement slated for approval by the European Parliament this week.

DEVELOPMENT-LAOS: Water Flows from Villagers’ Own Toil

With just 13.4 percent of the country’s 6.3 million people having access to piped water at present, Lao authorities would have to work more than double time if the rest of the population are to have clean and safe water within a decade.

‘Save Us From These Bankers, Fast’

Besieged by bankers opposed to regulation of their sector, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have taken an unusual step. A cross-party alliance has called for an international campaigning organisation to concentrate on remedying the flaws of the financial services industry with the same tenacity that Amnesty International focuses on victims of torture and Greenpeace on toxic chemicals and whales.