CENTRAL AMERICA: Little Enthusiasm Over Anti-Poverty Campaign

The enthusiasm among social groups in Mexico and Central America for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is not reflected by the general public, which has displayed scant interest in this week's event.

SOUTH AMERICA: Call Against Poverty Takes Aim at Inequality

More than two years after the launch of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), social movements in South America are putting the accent on the fight against social inequality and criticism of the neoliberal economic model, which they see as hindering development.

HEALTH: Maternal Mortality Shames Superpower U.S.

Despite its enormous wealth and highly advanced technology, the United States lags far behind other industrialised countries - and even some developing ones - in providing adequate health care to women during pregnancy and childbirth.

ENVIRONMENT-COLOMBIA: The Unusual Wealth of the Choco

"Let's go to the sea, let's go to the sea," one hears a nervous voice say every so often in the fishing village of Bahía Solano, on the Colombian Pacific coast. A package has been seen floating and boats are going after a not-so-traditional catch: cocaine thrown out by fleeing drug traffickers.

DEVELOPMENT: World Losing Fight Against Hunger

At the midpoint between the Millennium Development Declaration in 2000 and the deadline of 2015, the majority of developing countries are failing to meet two key Millennium Development Goals, according to a report released here Friday by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

ENVIRONMENT-CHINA: Three Gorges Dam May Displace Millions More

As a trickle of environmental problems emerging from the Three Gorges dam area steadily grows into a deluge, Chinese authorities have begun weighing plans to relocate several million people to avert an ecological catastrophe.

CUBA: Social Beefs, Proposals Voiced in Widespread Debates

Like Pandora’s box, the popular debates promoted by acting Cuban President Raúl Castro have brought to light countless problems that affect the daily lives of Cubans, who are now hoping to see their proposals for solutions on the official agenda in the short or medium term.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank Chief Vows "Inclusive" Globalisation

Robert Zoellick, the World Bank president, pledged on Wednesday his agency would ensure that the world's poorest people share in the benefits of economic globalisation.

GREECE: Justice Sought for Abducted Pakistanis

On Sep. 16, when the latest election was being held, Tzaved Aslam's younger brother was arrested in Pakistan for the second time in a year. Formally he is again accused of trafficking but the real reason, Aslam told IPS, "is another attempt to force me to pull out from the case of the Pakistanis kidnap that took place in Athens in July 2005."

CUBA: Ecomaterials for Low-Cost, Hurricane-Proof Housing

Low-income Cuban families now have a greater chance of having a home of their own thanks to a prize-winning construction method that uses strong, locally-produced alternative materials.

LATIN AMERICA: Revving Up for Bicentennial Celebrations

Several Latin American countries have set in motion plans for celebrating the bicentennial of their independence from Spain, many of which will fall between 2008 and 2010. But the festivities will not take place without controversy.

ENVIRONMENT-PERU: Joining Forces to Save the Mantaro River

Social organisations in Peru have joined forces to save the Mantaro river, which is being killed by pesticides, untreated sewage, and the waste products dumped by the mining industry.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Bias Seen in Cuts on African Refugee Intake

Comments by Kevin Andrews, Australia’s minister for immigration and citizenship, singling out Sudanese nationals as a group having problems integrating into Australian society, have set off a storm of protests.

PERU: New Census to Make Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Count

The Peruvian state will repay a longstanding debt to indigenous people in the country’s Amazon region by including them in a national census in a way that pays attention to their particular social, economic and cultural characteristics. But experts say this is only a first step.

MEXICO: Billion Dollar Boost for Failing Anti-Drug Strategy

U.S. anti-drug aid to Mexico is to be increased from 40 million to over 500 million dollars a year, an unprecedented boost in funding that will expand a controversial strategy in which the military is heavily involved in the war on drugs.

LATIN AMERICA: The Rights of Native People Living in Nature Reserves

Far from being uninhabited places where nature holds sway, the vast majority of Latin America’s protected areas are places where people live, so a balance has to be found between conservation goals and the need to reduce poverty.

LEBANON: "Not Going to School Is Like Being Put Back in Time"

High costs for private education following displacement has caused major gaps in provision of assistance to Iraqi refugees living in Lebanon, especially in the area of education.

RIGHTS-MEXICO: Armed Forces Accused in Civilian Courts

The armed forces in Mexico are playing a central role in the security strategy ordered by President Felipe Calderón, but they are also being pilloried because of complaints that soldiers have raped women in two states.

GUATEMALA: Concern Over Bill that Would Restrict Definition of ‘Family’

Human rights groups and activists for the rights of sexual minorities have expressed alarm at a draft law that the Guatemalan Congress is preparing to pass, which would eliminate single parents as well as same-sex couples from the official definition of "family."

CUBA: Providing the Tools for an Active, Fruitful Old Age

Becoming a senior citizen in Cuba has ceased to be seen as a tragedy, the end of useful life and a resigned waiting for death. Embracing old age without fear, with its pain and its wisdom, appears to be the purpose of thousands of women and men who attend classes at the University for Older Adults.

ECONOMY: Chronic Disease Saps U.S.

Life high off the hog is costing the U.S. economy more than 1 trillion dollars a year in lost productivity and medical treatment costs, according to a private foundation that says the toll can be avoided.