ENVIRONMENT-US: Toxins Threaten to Uproot Entire Town

The quiet village of Tallevast in Florida's Manatee County traces its roots back to the 1890s, when a community of shacks was built there for African-American labourers who worked tapping sap from the local pine forests to make turpentine and grew sugarcane, celery and strawberries in the fields.

TRADE-AFRICA: The EPAs – About Development or Exploitation?

Europe’s paternal trading relationship with African states threatens to end in an almighty family fall-out if they fail to sign the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) by the end-of-year deadline.

NICARAGUA: At-Risk Pregnancy Means Death or Prison

Nearly 90 women have died in Nicaragua as a direct or indirect result of the repeal, one year ago, of the legislation permitting abortion in cases of risk to the mother’s health, according to women’s and human rights groups.

TRADE-AFRICA: Russia Opens Market to Poorest Countries

Africans looking to do business in Russia's burgeoning market can now export goods under new preferential trade agreements.

Q&A: "Wetlands Have Had a Pretty Raw Deal, Historically"

Environmental organisations can work with developers to manage wetlands in urban areas, says John Dini: programme manager at Working for Wetlands, a state organisation that tries to ensure the long term viability of wetlands in South Africa.

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Toilets Integral to Tribal Development

When Gram Vikas, one of India’s largest non-government organisations (NGOs), began work to uplift rural Adivasi (tribal) communities across this eastern Indian state, it started by building toilets.

ENERGY: Project May Boost Biofuels in East Africa

A new project to develop an integrated sugarcane facility in Kenya could be a boost for biofuels production in east Africa.

RIGHTS-ASIA: &#39Fundamentalism Plays Out on Women&#39s Bodies&#39

They twisted it, turned it and tore it apart, but the term ‘religious fundamentalism’ defied definition. But they were certain that it worked against women’s rights.

RIGHTS-EL SALVADOR: Twenty Years of Deja Vu

Rosa Anaya was leaving her home early on her way to school that morning of Oct. 26, 1987 in El Salvador, when she saw her father, a few steps ahead of her, crumple beside his car, hit by six bullets.

TRADE: Governments (Still) Pondering How to Make Drugs Accessible

The struggle to make medicines affordable to the world’s poor, especially in Africa, is raging on at the highest levels. Last week the European Commission took a landmark decision on generic drugs and next week a high-level intergovernmental meeting will look at ways to prevent patents from blocking access to drugs.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Landless Farmers Demand a Piece of the Action

As India revelled over the emergence of homegrown businessman Mukesh Ambani as the world’s richest person, following a stock market spike this week, landless labourers and socially marginalised groups marched into the capital by the thousand demanding a piece of the country’s newfound prosperity.

DEVELOPMENT-NAMIBIA: Interest in Uranium Powers Desalination Plans

Efforts to build Namibia's first large-scale desalination plant are gaining momentum. The project is a joint undertaking of the Namibian Water Corporation (NamWater), a government owned utility, and mining company UraMin Inc.

POPULATION-ASIA: Gendercide at Apocalyptic Levels – Experts

Experts at the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights are painting an apocalyptical vision of the Asian region where 163 million women are ‘missing’ and the sex ratio continues to decline as a result of easy access to modern gender selection techniques.

TRADE-EUROPE: EPAs Will Destroy African Economies – German NGOs

The economic partnership agreements (EPAs), proposed by the European Union (EU) to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, constitute a "neo-colonial instrument" which will destroy the economic and social basis in African states, according to some German non-governmental organisations.

TRADE: EU May Have To Cut Ambitions

Just two months before a deadline set by the European Union for signing all-embracing free trade accords with some of the world's poorest countries, the EU has admitted that it will have to reduce its ambition.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: Power Cuts Lead to Sewage Spills

Sewage plants in South Africa’s northern Gauteng Province poured millions of litres of untreated waste into three rivers between the capital, Pretoria, and the commercial centre of Johannesburg earlier this month. National power utility Eskom cut electricity to the treatment plants, which were then unable to process the waste water before it was released into the rivers.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Green Housing Not Just for the Rich

Mary Jane Jagodzinzki nervously anticipated the arrival of a busload of building professionals. As it turned out, she needn't have been too concerned.

SOUTH AFRICA: Flush Still Considered Flash When it Comes to Toilets

Waterless or composting toilets are being touted as a promising solution to many of South Africa's sanitation woes.

Q&A: "If You Are Poor, You Are Out"

Miloon Kothari, the U.N. special rapporteur for housing, recently visited Canada on a fact-finding mission to look at homelessness, aboriginal and women's housing issues, and the impact of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

ELECTIONS-ARGENTINA: President Kirchner’s Legacy, Pending Challenges

When Néstor Kirchner took over the presidency in 2003, Argentina was in a state of collapse. He managed to establish a model of economic growth that brought down the soaring unemployment and poverty rates. But whoever succeeds him in December will still have challenges to face.

DEVELOPMENT: Oil Prices May Impact MDGs – UN Report

A new mechanism to measure the impact of rising oil prices on Asia’s poor offers a sobering forecast. There is a clear threat to the region’s gains in reducing the numbers living poverty.