U.S.: Groups Hail Refugee Protection Act

Immigrants' rights activists are virtually unanimous in their endorsement of proposed legislation that would change decades of U.S. asylum practices. But proponents of the legislation fear it may never find its way out of the U.S. Senate to the president's desk.

URUGUAY: Fighting Climate Change from the Countryside

"We would get up and go to bed every day looking up at the sky, hoping for something to fall, but nothing happened, not even a drop fell," says María Inés Queiros, who makes artisanal cheese in the southern Uruguayan province of San José.

HAITI: Rebuilding Waits on Promised Aid

A week ago, 59 U.N. member states, international institutions and NGO coalitions pledged nearly 10 billion dollars towards rebuilding Haiti over the next decade.

US-IRAQ: Leaked Video of Shooting Spurs Calls for New Probe

Journalist advocacy groups called for the reopening of an investigation into the 2007 killing of a Reuters photographer and his driver after the WikiLeaks website released classified video footage on Monday of a 2007 helicopter attack in Baghdad which killed 12 people.

RIGHTS: EU Boosts Arms Manufacturers

Arms traders are to be given a central role in formulating a new European Union (EU) blueprint for stimulating weapons production, it has been confirmed.

ENVIRONMENT-INDONESIA: Solving Waste Woes Far from Easy

By running his illegal dumpsite, Nasrulloh believes he is doing the community good, helping the city government, doing his bit for the environment – while making money for himself as well.

SUDAN: U.S. Support of Elections Draws Criticism

Recent remarks by the U.S. envoy to Sudan predicting credible elections have led to criticism both here and in Sudan over Washington's policy toward the African nation.

MOZAMBIQUE: Earthquakes: Not a Matter of If, But When

Time is everything in responding to a natural disaster. Mozambique's disaster management specialists are worried that they are missing key data on the small tremors that take place almost daily in the quake-prone country.

RIGHTS-US: Suit Challenges Ultra-Restrictive Prison Units

Two U.S. federal prisons are being used overwhelmingly to hold Muslim prisoners and prisoners with unpopular political beliefs, and are practicing religious profiling, retaliation and arbitrary punishment, according to a lawsuit filed by the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

POLITICS-US: Judge Rebukes Bush-Era Spying Programme

The efforts of the Barack Obama administration to maintain the secrecy of the counterterrorism policies of its predecessor, the administration of former President George W. Bush, hit a major speed bump last week.

U.S.: Audit Finds Major Problems in Immigration Policing

A controversial government programme that enlists local police officers and sheriff's deputies to help enforce U.S. immigration laws is verging on being out of control and unable to assess whether it is meeting its stated goals.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Macaúba Palm for Biodiesel

The macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata), an abundant palm native to Brazil, will be important raw material for biodiesel, according to Entaban Ecoenergetics of Brazil, a partnership of Spanish and Brazilian capital.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Threats Against Eco-Activists

Environmental and neighborhood groups in the eastern Argentine province of Santa Fe have reported threats that they believe are related to their fight against the spraying of dangerous agrochemicals near urban zones.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Worm-Made Fertilizer Regenerates Soils

The use of organic fertilizer made by worms is on the rise in Mexico.

EGYPT: Battle For Women Judges Half Won

There are "no obstacles according to Islamic sharia, the constitution or the law" to women serving as judges, announced one of Egypt’s main courts, the State Council, last week. But "there are currently practical obstacles," it affirmed.

DEVELOPMENT: East Timor, Fragile States Compare Notes on Aid

When the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations hold meetings, the first thing many people think of is protests. But when the g7 - with a lowercase G - get together for their first meeting in East Timor next week, it could revolutionise how donor countries give assistance to fragile states.

TRADE: Something’s Rotten in European Supermarkets

The majority of European supermarkets failed to take adequate responsibility for labour conditions and fair-trade relationships in their food supply chains, a new report revealed.

RIGHTS-FIJI: Law Enforcement Approach to Sex Work Falls Short

Two months after a new anti-prostitution law took effect, taxi driver Shiu Kumar says he sees fewer sex workers along Victoria Parade, the centre of Suva’s nightlife. But while this has had a negative effect on his nighttime fares, he is nevertheless happy about the law.

U.S.: Controversy Erupts over Deportation Quotas

Immigrants' rights advocates are up in arms Thursday over an apparent gaffe by a senior government official suggesting that immigration authorities would use a "quota system" to determine the number of people it would deport - followed by a "clarification" from higher-ups that appeared to confirm the quota approach.

DEVELOPMENT: No Room for Complacency in Avian Flu – Experts

Government and international non-government organisations need to put as much effort in fighting the spread of complacency in the battle against the H5N1 virus as they do in curbing avian flu itself, experts say.

UGANDA: NGOs Judging Oil Palm on Hearsay, Says U.N.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are guilty of judging a palm oil project in Uganda on innuendo rather than its merits, the United Nations poverty agency supporting the controversial scheme said, as the project starts to bear fruit for smallholder farmers.