HELSINKI PROCESS: Globalisation in the Dock

The latest conference to be held under the Helsinki Process opened in Tanzania's commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, Tuesday, with calls for the gains of globalisation to be shared fairly amongst nations.

HELSINKI PROCESS: More Development and Security in Exchange For Small Arms

Increasing international co-operation in exchange for guns and improving the sense of domestic security are promising strategies for reducing the number of small weapons in the hands of civilians in developing countries, a leading expert on the matter says.

COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Possibly the Bitterest Conflict in a Century

The neighbouring countries of Colombia and Venezuela, whose governments have the most diametrically opposed ideologies in South America, have come within a whisker of breaking off relations after a harsh exchange of accusations between Presidents Álvaro Uribe and Hugo Chávez.

ENVIRONMENT: &#39Flush Out the Toilet From the Water-Cycle&#39

The one message that came across at the just concluded general assembly of the World Toilet Association (WTA) was that conventional flush toilets are not only environment unfriendly but are also a serious public health hazard.

ENVIRONMENT-ANTARCTICA: Accidents Will Happen – So Be Prepared

The second accident this year involving a cruiseliner in the Antarctic is alarming the countries that protect and conserve the frozen continent, which are persisting in their demands for penalties in cases of disasters that cause pollution.

MOZAMBIQUE: Committees for Water – But Sometimes in Name Only

Impoverished residents in the suburb of Carrupeia in Nampula, Mozambique's third largest city, do not have access to potable water because their water committee has effectively ceased to function.

BRAZIL: Sanitation a Reality on Paper Only

The main sanitation plan for the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul is 12 years old, has survived four state governments and carries a price tag of 220 million dollars - but has yet to be implemented.

ENVIRONMENT-PERU: A (Toxic) River Runs Through It

The Mantaro river basin, one of the main water sources in Peru’s central Andes mountains, is a dump for toxic substances, according to an independent scientific study. Lead levels, for instance, are 180 times higher than those accepted by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

MIDEAST: Demolition Decimating Palestinian Village

Al Walajeh village was once a quiet but busy place. Just four kilometers from Bethlehem and 8.5 km from Jerusalem, its rolling hills filled with fruit trees, natural forests, and blooming vegetation made it a prime farming location. Easy access to large and consistent markets led its inhabitants to relative economic prosperity. Life was good.

HEALTH: U.N. Highlights Global Sanitation Disaster

The world's sanitation crisis, caused primarily by the lack of toilet facilities for over 2.6 billion people, is "an insult to humanity", says the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.

ECUADOR: No Dial Tone, No Contract

The possible cancellation of the mobile telephone operating licence granted by Ecuador to Porta Celular, a company indirectly owned by Mexican multi-millionaire Carlos Slim, could set a precedent in Latin America.

HAITI-DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: One Market, Two Separate Worlds

At 11 a.m., five hours after the start of the market day on the southern border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the driver of the bright red Haitian truck named "God of Justice" swung down the back gate and started unloading the full load of 60-kg burlap bags of coffee.

Q&A: "The Presence of Women in Local Councils Is in Itself a Revolution"

As local elections in Benin draw closer, activists are pushing ahead with efforts to have more women voted into local government. Just 45 of the 1,189 councilors currently in office are women.

CUBA: Popular Education Transforms Women’s Lives

"I have the spirit of a 15-year-old girl, and the wisdom of a 66-year-old woman," says Felicia Pérez, who recovered her joie de vivre after attending a handicrafts course, and became a promoter of urban values and the creator of a crafts workshop in her own neighbourhood.

IRAQ: Corruption Adds to Baquba&#39s Problems

Facing violence, unemployment and poverty, the capital city of Iraq's volatile Diyala province now finds itself confronting also corruption.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Clean-up Efforts, a Drop in the Ocean

The contrasts are striking, and are plain to visitors from the moment they arrive in Rio. From the plane they can see the sparkling jewel of Guanabara bay, as they land on its largest island, but then they have to drive past the fetid waters of a sluggish channel and a number of "favelas" or shanty towns to get to the city centre and tourist areas.

SOUTH KOREA: &#39Toilet Training&#39 for Adults Underway

Move over toddlers, adults need to be potty-trained too.

Q&A: “The U.S. Has Its Own Toilet Problem”

Come Nov. 21, the United Nations will formally launch the "Ínternational Year of Sanitation, 2008", with the primary goal of finding ways to provide toilet facilities to some 2.6 billion people worldwide who lack proper sanitation.

IRAQ: A Tale of One City, Now Two

The separation of religious groups in the face of sectarian violence has brought some semblance of relative calm to Baghdad. But many Iraqis see this as the uncertain consequence of a divide and rule policy.

CANADA: Native Group Questions Custodial Deaths

Canadian policing authorities are drawing criticism on the issue of in-custody deaths, especially among aboriginal people, including some cases that are now decades old.

MEXICO: Politicians Make Hay With Flood Aid

In the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco, hundreds of thousands of people made homeless by unprecedented flooding are queuing for up to six hours to collect food and water, a large part of which has been donated by ordinary Mexicans, but which is being used by some authorities and politicians to their own advantage.