CUBA: Government, UN Seek to Boost Impact of Aid

Cuba and the United Nations have agreed to concentrate their cooperation on five areas in the next few years, in order to avoid spreading resources too thinly, and to increase synergy between projects. U.N. aid to the island will amount to more than 100 million dollars during that period.

ENVIRONMENT: Warming May Trigger Agricultural Collapse

India could lose up to 40 percent of its agricultural output because of global warming even as it becomes the world's most populous country, warns a new study.

AFRICA: EPAs Clashing With Everything-But-Arms Trade Scheme?

The proposed economic partnership agreements (EPAs), which are due to come into force beginning next year, may undermine the benefits of another European Union trade initiative, called Everything-But-Arms, for the sugar industry.

EL SALVADOR: Closing of Dumps Necessary But Not Sufficient

After several years’ delay, authorities in El Salvador are about to permanently close down the unofficial open-air rubbish dumps that have polluted the country for decades.

ENVIRONMENT-COTE D’IVOIRE: Soya By Way of War

When the failed coup of September 2002 led to a prolonged period of isolation for northern Côte d'Ivoire, farmers in this rebel-held region counted the cost.

HEALTH: Medical Research Hits Cultural Roadblocks

Many new medical technologies to improve the lives of people in the global South fail to be adopted not because of the costs but because of ethical, social and cultural issues, a new study reveals.

ARGENTINA: Camping in the Treetops to Save Forests

Greenpeace activists are camped out in the treetops in the Yungas forest in northwestern Argentina to press the Senate to pass a new law that would curb the heavy logging of native forests, and to draw attention to the destruction.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Legalise Therapeutic Abortion, Say NGOs

A proposal by a coalition of civil society groups to make therapeutic abortion legal in the Dominican Republic has prompted heavy pressure on Congress from the Catholic Church.

ENVIRONMENT: Critics Weigh In as IFC Tightens Mining Rules

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) faces pointed criticism in coming days as an effort to lessen the damage wrought by large mining projects enters a new phase.

TRADE-UGANDA: Coffee Producers Are the Biggest Losers

Coffee producers in Uganda suffer from an unfair trade relationship with Europe, even though their beans produce some of the best quality coffee in the world, says the Ugandan coffee industry's governing body.

ENVIRONMENT-AFRICA: Game Parks Offering Protection in Name Only?

The sharp decline of Africa's abundant wildlife is now happening inside the continent's protected areas, a new analysis indicates. Africa's world renowned parks are destined to become isolated pockets of wilderness with few large animals left, as is the case in Europe, conclude the authors of an article in the current edition of the 'African Journal of Ecology'.

CLIMATE CHANGE: APEC Leaders Get Off With ‘Aspirational Goals’

An agreement by 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders on Saturday to adopt ‘’aspirational goals’’ to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been criticised by voluntary agencies as grossly inadequate for saving the world from the effects of climate change.

ENVIRONMENT: NGOs Unite on Earth&#39s Greatest Crisis

A three-day meeting of over 2,500 delegates from more than 500 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and representing 80 countries affirmed that climate change "is potentially the most serious threat humanity and our environment have ever faced."

GUATEMALA: Elections Hold Out Little Hope for Women Victims of Violence

Although they have taken a tough stance on crime, the leading candidates for Sunday’s presidential elections in Guatemala have not specifically addressed the serious problem of violence against women, which has cost at least 322 lives so far this year, nor have they proposed concrete measures to combat it.

LATIN AMERICA: Scientists Second-Guessing the Path of the Whirlwind

Hurricanes Dean, Felix and Henriette caused dozens of deaths and millions of dollars worth of damage in the tropical zone of the Americas in just over two weeks. But worse may lie ahead, as five large cyclones are expected to materialise before the storm season is over.

ENERGY: World Bank in Bid to Light Off-Grid Africa

The World Bank hopes to bring modern lighting to one-fourth of Africa's people by developing markets for products not hostage to fossil fuels or the continent's lamentable electricity grid.

POVERTY: 40-Day Global Fast for Debt Cancellation

A group of celebrities from several countries have joined a rolling 40-day fast beginning this Thursday to call for cancellation of the foreign debt of the world’s poorest countries.

ASIA PACIFIC: War Games Muddy APEC Summit

China’s display of economic clout and diplomatic assertiveness at the Asia Pacific leaders’ forum in Sydney this week has been overshadowed by a concurrent show of power in the Bay of Bengal where the United States is leading four Asia-Pacific countries in the largest war games ever held in the region.

POLITICS-MOROCCO: Quotas Overpowered by Machismo

When Morocco held legislative polls a decade ago, just two women were elected to the lower house of parliament in this North African country. Legal reforms enacted since have ensured that women will fare better when the latest parliamentary ballot gets underway Friday. But for activists, there is still a long way to go in bringing gender parity to the Chamber of Representatives.

ARGENTINA: Finally, a Marine Preserve

Argentina's first marine and coastal park, which is to protect rich biological diversity in the southern province of Chubut, is awaiting legislative approval.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Leaders to Debate Warming at U.N.

Amid growing concern over the slow pace of international negotiations, the United Nations has called an extraordinary meeting of world leaders to discuss climate change.