WORLD HEALTH DAY-SOUTH AFRICA: An Outbreak Kept From Breaking Out

South Africa seems to have succeeded in preventing an outbreak of Extreme Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) from spiralling out of control and spreading beyond its borders, at least for now.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Surviving Informal Work – and Politics

While informal work is insecure and low-paying, it has become the primary way in which most Southern Africans earn a living. Without such work, the meagre livelihood options in the region dwindle even further, as shown by a number of recent studies.

WORLD HEALTH DAY-PAKISTAN: Anti-Polio Drive Hits Resistance

''After climbing up several flights of stairs, sometimes seven or even more, our teams may be told brusquely, that the child is asleep and they should come later," says Seemi Fatema, one many health workers in this city charged with administering polio vaccine drops to under-five children.

DEVELOPMENT-AUSTRALIA: ‘Overseas Aid Too Self-Serving’

Most Australians wants overseas aid to directly target poverty alleviation and sustainable development, but a majority of federal politicians favour pursuing the country's national and commercial interests through the aid programme.

POPULATION: U.S. Funding Cuts Undermine Terror War

A proposed 25-percent cut in U.S. international assistance for population in the upcoming 2008 budget threatens to undermine the war against terrorism, a Washington-based non-governmental organisation warned Wednesday.

WORLD HEALTH DAY: WHO Warns of Gathering Crises

As World Health Day approaches this Saturday, international experts are focusing on the formidable and mounting threats to the world's collective health security.

Q&A: Community Involvement in Conservation a “Big Step Forward”

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Benin's Programme to Manage Forests and Surrounding Areas (Programme de gestion des forêts et terroirs riverains, PGFTR), started to prevent wooded regions of the West African country from succumbing to soil degradation - and ultimately desertification.

DEVELOPMENT: Major Donors Cut Assistance

Official development assistance from the world's major donors fell 5.1 percent in 2006 compared to 2005, the OECD said Tuesday.

ARGENTINA: Software, a Growing Success Story

Software production and information technology services are a rapidly expanding industry in Argentina. This industry has a number of advantages: it is clean, requires little investment, provides employment for highly qualified personnel, and can operate in even the poorest regions.

NORTH AMERICA: Uphill Effort for Eco-Friendly Housing

The buildings in which we live and work account for a large part of the climate changing gases that are of great concern to citizens and scientists alike. What we do in our homes and offices translates into polluting emissions, wastewater and garbage.

ENVIRONMENT-SENEGAL: An Ongoing Battle Against Deforestation

Where does a four-fold increase in a country's population over half a century make itself felt most acutely? Concerning Senegal, the answer to this might well be: in the forests.

ENERGY-CHAD: A Solution to Deforestation That Some Also View as a Problem

It's affordable, and central to stopping deforestation in Chad. But, butane gas has a long way to go before it becomes a household staple in this Sahelian country: many Chadians have a fixed belief that gas is simply too dangerous to use.

BRAZIL-US: A Giant Shadow Over Ethanol Politics

The friendship between Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and George W. Bush of the United States was of little consequence while it was purely personal. But everything has changed, now that ethanol binds them together in an alliance with global effects on economics, geopolitics and the environment.

PERU: Gov’t Puts Renewed Emphasis on Forced Coca Eradication

The fight against coca crops in Peru increasingly involves the forced destruction of crops, and has shown little success in terms of alternative development plans, while resistance among coca producers is growing.

ENERGY-SOUTH AFRICA: Fuel in the Car at the Expense of Food on the Table?

South Africa has joined the race to find alternative sources of energy: government has already approved a 'Draft Biofuels Industry Strategy', and called on stakeholders to discuss it.

TRADE-MALAWI: Tobacco Industry Going Up in Smoke

Tobacco prices and production levels are dropping amid pressure from the anti-smoking lobby and the general downturn in agricultural produce markets. But Malawi has still not made adequate progress in promoting crops to replace its primary foreign exchange earner.

TRADE-KENYA: East Africans May Be Stripped of the Kikoi

Kenyan activists are fighting to retain cultural designs that have been developed in East Africa but are being patented by companies in rich countries. After losing the kiondo basket trademark to Japan, the popular kikoi fabric design is currently at risk of being patented by a British company.

BRAZIL: Youth Still in Trouble, Despite Plethora of Social Programmes

The Brazilian government has a total of 45 different programmes targeting young people, according to the National Secretariat of Youth. Nevertheless, young people face high unemployment and are sucked into a spiral of violence in which they are both victims and actors.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: A Regional – and National – Embrace for Mugabe

Hopes that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe would be taken to task this week over human rights abuses in his country have been dashed - this after regional leaders reaffirmed their solidarity with Zimbabwe, and the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) endorsed Mugabe as its presidential candidate for 2008 elections.

TRADE-KENYA: Shopping With a Clean Conscience

It is early morning and the Undugu Fair Trade Shop, tucked away in a suburban shopping centre in Nairobi, is bustling. Apart from the few locals, there are the usual tourists, recognizable from their safari outfits: khaki shirts and trousers and the obligatory hat worn even when indoors.

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: Explosions End But Trauma Continues

Six hours of terrifying explosions and projectiles flying everywhere, killing people indiscriminately, are over but the fear and the trauma live on.