ECONOMY-PORTUGAL: Side Effects of IMF Medicine

A European Union economic forecast for 2012 indicates Portugal is the EU country that will grow the least.

SRI LANKA: Alive or Beheaded this Maid is a Heroine

Will Rizana Fathima Nafeek return to this poverty-ridden coastal village in Sri Lanka alive and in one piece? Or will the beheading sentence passed on her by a Saudi Arabian court in 2007 be finally carried out?

CUBA: Co-operatives Set to Expand

The creation of co-operatives forms part of the current "updating" of the Cuban economy, even though no official information has been provided about the expansion of this form of business management, which has already been tested, with mixed results, in agriculture.

TUNISIA: Women Fearful of Islamists’ Rise

Tunisian women poured into the streets armed with the vote, their latest weapon, when the country voted in its first democratic election since a popular uprising unseated former president Zine Abidine Ben Ali, ending his 27-year- long stronghold on the country.

ZIMBABWE: Rural Women Banking By Mobile Phone

Collecting the monthly subscriptions for her co-operative has always been a headache for Thelma Nare, 41. This is because Nare lives in Tshitshi, Plumtree in rural Zimbabwe, about 60 kilometres away from the humdrum of the nearest town centre where banks are located.

Cuba Advancing Towards a Dengue Vaccine

In Cuba it has been demonstrated that as a dengue epidemic advances, the number of serious cases increases and changes take place in the virus genome, reports the head of a Cuban team of researchers working on a vaccine.

A Rio+20 Activist Manifesto and Action Plan

If civil society activists create their own action plan to save the planet, there would be no need for governments to negotiate common standards for nations and communities widely unequal in wealth and technical capacity.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Sustainable Production Program Targets Two Thousand Poor Families

Some 2,000 families in poor rural areas of Honduras will take part in pilot initiatives in ecotourism, sustainable agriculture and local marketing of their products thanks to 6.8 million dollars in financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Land Donation Conditioned on Creation of National Park

) The Conservation Land Trust (CLT) has conditioned the donation of 150,000 hectares from the Iberá Natural Reserve, in the northeastern Argentine province of Corrientes, on the government’s creation of a national park.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: New Marine Biology Image Bank Launched

Two researchers at the University of São Paulo have set up a public digital image bank comprising 260 videos and 11,000 super high-resolution photographs cataloguing Brazil’s marine biodiversity.

U.S.: Divide Emerges over Bounds of Occupy Protests

On Nov. 2, the day of Occupy Oakland's General Strike, the streets were filled with chants and music and the sounds of people speaking in the many tongues of Oakland residents.

China Will Need Many More Singles Parties

In a country of 180 million single people and a growing gender imbalance, tens of thousands of people across China went looking for love on Singles’ Day Nov. 11. But events on the day may only have helped point to the continuing and growing difficulty of being single.

Q&A: “Grabbing of Drylands is a Serious Concern”

Designated Drylands Ambassador, United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification (UNCCD), at its 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) in South Korea in October, Dennis Garrity is mandated to raise awareness of land degradation.

Can BRICS Make a Difference at Busan? – Part 2

While experts are hopeful that blocs of emerging market economies like BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – will play a major role in the upcoming aid effectiveness conference in Busan, South Korea, others fear that the new players do not yet have the fiscal power to make a serious intervention in fora generally dominated by rich donor states.

DR CONGO: Election Promises of Peace and Security

The 11 candidates contesting presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo all pledge to improve peace and security in the country - promises received with varying degrees of scepticism by Congolese voters.

China Steps in to Patrol the Lawless Mekong

China plans to send armed patrol boats down the Mekong River and assert its authority over a corner of Southeast Asia infested by warlords and drug traffickers.

Brazil Commits to Quality Food for All

Representatives of the Brazilian federal and municipal governments and of indigenous, black and riverbank communities and other groups that make the population of this country so diverse assumed a commitment to fight for "the human right to an adequate diet."

RELIGION-CUBA: Good Climate for Pope’s Visit

A visit by the Pope to Cuba would strengthen the climate of dialogue between the government and the Catholic Church, analysts agreed after the announcement that Benedict XVI is considering visiting this country in the spring of 2012.

AFRICA: Failure to Adopt Technology in Libraries Results in Fewer Users

Simret Mebrahtu has been an infrequent visitor to the National Library of Uganda in the centre of Kampala for nearly two years. A student, she stops by every couple of weeks to use the cheap internet connection if one of the few computers is available.

CUBA: Same-Sex Couples Want to Be Counted

Communist Party militant, gay rights activist, journalist and blogger Francisco Rodríguez has triggered an online debate in Cuba by calling for sexual diversity to be identified in the next census, due in September 2012.

SYRIA: Rights Group Details Brutal Ongoing Crackdown in Homs

At least 587 civilians in Homs were killed by Syrian government forces between mid-April and August, the highest number of casualties for any single governorate, reveals a report released by Human Rights Watch Friday.