AFRICA: Liberalised Services Still Require Proper Regulations

With African countries' trade remaining inordinately dependent on natural resources exports, their economies could benefit from liberalisation of trade in services but only as long as proper domestic regulatory frameworks are put in place, some trade experts argue.

CHINA: Second Richest Plays Poor

As China basks in international praise for its spectacular economic transformation over the last 30 years, some shadow sides of this story of triumph have begun to emerge.

ECONOMY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Threat of States Collapsing Looms Large

The mooted restructuring of the revenue-sharing agreement of the world’s oldest customs union could lead to at least two of its Southern African members collapsing into "failed states" status as well as macroeconomic crises in two of their neighbours in the sub-region.

EUROPE: New Permits to Pollute Sought

Extra permits to pollute the atmosphere would be given to corporations that invest in areas surrounding tropical rainforests under plans drawn up by one of Europe's most influential pressure groups.

DEVELOPMENT: Fewer Hungry, but More Hunger Waits

Figures the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) presented here Tuesday revealing a reduction in the world's number of hungry people in 2010 for the first time in 15 years should be a cause for celebration. In reality it is a hollow success.

CARIBBEAN: EPA Not so Momentous After All, Study Says

Almost two years after the controversial and sweeping trade pact known as an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was signed between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) countries, a new study says the impact of the EPA has proved to be, as its proponents claimed, relatively mild.

E.U. Pushes for Bigger Voice at U.N.

U.N. member states are expected to pass a resolution Monday that will grant the European Union unprecedented speaking rights during formal meetings of the General Assembly, of which the next session – it's 65th – begins Tuesday.

Living on the Edge of Caravans

Broken bicycles and old suitcases mark the entrance to the makeshift camp. Ankle-deep in mud that is newly wet from a rain-shower, the visitor is taken by the hand by lively children to meet their parents.

Church Urged to Fight Death Penalty

The Church is being urged to abandon its apolitical stance to help end the death penalty in Belarus as campaigners for its abolition warn that two men could be executed within weeks in the former Soviet state.

EUROPE: Getting Into a Stew over Mackerel

The British have a fascination for the rich, fatty meat of the mackerel, that summertime extravagance often served as pates and salads at fashionable pubs and restaurants. A far cry from the humble cod that is a staple of the more downmarket chip shops on the nation's high streets.

EUROPE: Roma Conference Decries Government-Led Discrimination

Over the centuries, racism in the Americas has targeted indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, while in Europe, secular racism has long centred on its once-enslaved gypsies, as their recent persecution in France and Italy confirms.

U.N. Nudges Serbia into Talks over Breakaway Kosovo

In a much-anticipated vote Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously passed a compromise draft resolution aimed at reopening talks, facilitated by the European Union, between Belgrade and Pristina.

Mixed Civil Society Response to New EU Aid Funds

Civil society organisations welcomed the announcement of an additional 1.27 billion dollars in development aid funding by European Commission president José Manuel Durâo Barroso, but said it was insufficient to reduce extreme poverty by 2015, as stipulated by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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.

Time Running Out Faster Than Water, Experts Warn

A major weeklong international water conference opened in the Swedish capital Monday with an ominous warning: time is running out faster than fresh water.

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.

RUSSIA: New START May End With a Whimper

Efforts by the U.S. and Russian governments to move speedily towards the abolition of strategic nuclear weapons have hit stumbling blocks and continue to generate debates among experts about the practicality of achieving a nuclear- free world in the near future.

East Europe Takes to Too Many Cars

Quality of life in Eastern European cities will continue to fall unless outdated systems of city life dominated by cars are abandoned, NGOs in the region say.

Portugal’s Forests Losing Ability to Capture Carbon

Environmentalists are alarmed: fires have destroyed close to 100,000 hectares of forest in Portugal this summer, releasing one million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Worst of all, the forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon.

SPAIN: Puppet Marathon for Building School in Bolivia

The 17th Titirilandia (Puppetland) Festival will conclude with a marathon puppet show, to be held Sunday Aug. 29 in Spain's capital city in aid of a school in the remote Bolivian mining province of Potosí.

EUROPE-ENVIRONMENT: Hot Air Rises at Talks and in Towns

The European Union (EU) is failing to fulfil its environmental commitments in practically all areas, from protecting biodiversity to improving air quality in the cities, according to official studies released this month.