BOLIVIA: Protesters Demand – and Get – Faster Nationalisation

Pressure from protesters in the Bolivian town of Camiri forced the government of Evo Morales to accelerate progress towards the effective re-nationalisation of the country's energy resources, but at a cost of 12 demonstrators injured in clashes with the security forces and half a million dollars caused by the cut-off of fuel supplies to several cities.

ECONOMY-IRAN: Shia-Sunni Split – Factor in Annual Budget

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has submitted to Iranian parliament a budget bill for the fiscal year starting Mar. 21 that factors in the possibility of falling oil prices to "neutralise the plots of the enemies" of Iran, already under United Nations sanctions.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Latin American Groundswell In Motion

The struggle against social exclusion and the defence of the environment and natural resources such as water have made progress in Latin America - so much so that they have become an influential groundswell of opinion which is giving shape to a new way of life, say Bolivian activists.

POLITICS-VENEZUELA: Re-Nationalising Its Way to Socialism

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez began a new six-year term Wednesday, after announcing that the re-nationalisation of public enterprises would be the first "line of attack" to promote socialism in this country.

RUSSIA: Privatisation to Preserve the Past

Russian authorities are considering a proposal for privatisation of monuments so they could be preserved better to attract tourists.

POLITICS: India’s Left Going the Lula Way?

India's mainstream Left parties, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), are getting into an ugly confrontation with civil society groups and classes that are part of their own core constituency in the state of West Bengal, which they have ruled for three long decades.

ECONOMY-ZAMBIA: Conflict Looms Over Revision of Mineral Tax

The Zambian government's recent move to increase the mineral royalty tax could meet with resistance from foreign mining companies in the copper-rich country. This may bring mining interests in direct conflict with ordinary citizens who feel they are benefiting neither from the higher international copper price nor from privatisation.

DEVELOPMENT: Turning the Tide on Human Suffering

If the world's growing water crisis remains unresolved - depriving clean water to more than one billion of the world's six billion people - it will jeopardise the U.N.'s longstanding battle to reduce global poverty, hunger and disease by its targeted date of 2015, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) warned Thursday.

ENVIRONMENT-COLOMBIA: The Rain Harvester

Colombian lawyer and activist Rodrigo Vivas won the 2006 Sasakawa Prize, awarded annually by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and The Nippon Foundation, for his "rainwater harvest" project, aimed at combating desertification.

BOLIVIA: Cochabamba’s ‘Water War’, Six Years On

Six years after the people of Cochabamba reversed the privatisation of the city water company, access to water has improved and rates have been raised only slightly. However, there is still a long way to go.

LABOUR-COLOMBIA: Unions Press for Local ILO Office

International labour associations have publicly expressed their support for the call by Colombian trade unions for faster progress towards the establishment of a local office of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in that civil war-torn South American country.

FINANCE: World Bank Careless About Development Goals – Report

Several developing countries are not reaching sustainable development targets fast enough despite numerous international agreements, says a report, launched here amidst criticism that World Bank energy and mining projects were not doing enough to protect the environment and improve the plight of the poor.

CHILE: Pension Reform to Combat Systemic Poverty

In 20 years, even the minimum pension benefits will be out of reach for close to half of Chile's retirees. This troublesome forecast has spurred government into action, and potentially spells sweeping changes for the country's once internationally lauded privatised pension system, set up by the former dictatorship in 1981.

COLOMBIA: ‘No’ to Storm Sewer Runoff, Says Fishing Village

The residents of a picturesque fishing village in northern Colombia are up in arms against a storm drain system being built by a majority Spanish-owned water and sewage company that will serve shantytowns in the nearby port city of Santa Marta, discharging the runoff into the cove where their village is nestled.

PAKISTAN: Corruption Charges Stymie Privatisation Plans

A failed attempt by the government to privatise the Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) may prove dear for Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's ambitious plans to disinvest a substantial part of the country's public sector.

ECONOMY-JAPAN: New Business Model, Koizumi’s Legacy

Japan's rapidly accelerating economy is regarded as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's major contribution as he prepares to step down next month from the high office he assumed in 2001.

ECONOMY-JAPAN: New Business Model, Koizumi’s Legacy

Japan's rapidly accelerating economy is regarded as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's major contribution as he prepares to step down next month from the high office he assumed in 2001.

TRADE-COSTA RICA: Companies Eye Pull-Outs if CAFTA Flounders

Weary of the snail's pace ratification process of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which continues to dominate Costa Rica's political and social agenda, some companies are weighing the idea of moving to other Central American countries should Congress reject the treaty.

POLITICS: “Water Wars” a Myth, Say Experts

The world's future wars will be fought not over oil but water: an ominous prediction made by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the British ministry of defence and even by some officials of the World Bank.

CHILE: Flood Deaths Inquiry Targets Hydropower Firm

The Chilean Congress is demanding that the government take measures to regulate the operations of hydroelectric dams, while it prepares to investigate whether or not the Spanish firm Endesa was to blame for the flooding seen several weeks ago in central and southern Chile, which left 25 dead.

SOUTH AMERICA: Who Controls the Water?

Social movements that have been working hard in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay to put water services that were privatised in the 1990s back in state hands met in this Argentine city to share their experiences and decide what the next steps are, now that several corporations are pulling out of South America.