ECONOMY-THAILAND: Court Ruling Hits Privatisation Plans

Fresh from a landmark court victory that stopped the privatisation of the country's state-owned power utility, Saree Ongsamwong is setting her sights on stalling privatisation of other state enterprises that the government wants traded on the Thai stock exchange.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Different Continents, Similar Problems

There is much that separates Africa and Asia, not least ethnicity, culture and language. But, as the third and final leg of this year’s World Social Forum (WSF) gathers momentum in the Pakistani financial centre of Karachi, the hope is that civic groups will build on common aspirations for the two continents.

DEVELOPMENT: Pipe Dreams Over Private Water Supply

As the only country to have totally privatised water supply, Britain can lay some claim to the triumph of privatisation of water supply. But this is still not the unqualified success privatisation lobbyists can uphold, experts say.

WATER: Services in Public Hands Gaining Popularity

Publicly supplied water costs consumers 50 percent less than water controlled by private firms, and management could be more efficient, say activists and local authorities. With that argument, they are doing everything they can to stop the expansion of foreign companies in the water sector.

WATER: Activists, Global Forum Do Not See Eye to Eye

Mutual distrust and even suspicions of a "conspiracy" separate the organisers of the Fourth World Water Forum, taking place in the Mexican capital, and the activists holding their own simultaneous alternative gathering.

WATER: Foreign Corporations Backing Off

Water rights groups say transnational corporations are increasingly sinking their teeth into Latin America's water services, but studies by the United Nations and other experts point to the contrary: these companies are backing off, and may not come back any time soon.

DEVELOPMENT: NGOs to Challenge Water Meet

Civil society groups will challenge water privatisation policies at the World Water Forum later this week.

VIETNAM: Nuclear Power Among Non-fossil Options

With oil prices rising, Vietnam has begun searching for alternate energy sources to feed its growing economy, and hydroelectric and atomic power are emerging as favourites.

CULTURE: Film Festival to Drive Home Significance of Water at Global Forum

The fourth World Water Forum will be the first to have its own global film festival, with 80 films from 48 countries, as well as five photo exhibits.

CHINA: Back to the Land

The Chinese Communist Party is preparing to unveil a new five-year development blueprint which, under the slogan of building a ‘new socialist countryside', will mark a shift away from urban to rural spending for the first time in 15 years.

INDIA: Social Security Millstone Slows Booming Economy

The Indian economy is growing at an impressive eight percent clip and stock markets are booming like never before. But there are fears that the country could get bogged down in an ambitious employment guarantee programme.

ECONOMY: Arcelor Takeover Bid Tests EU Protectionism

Unusually fierce resistance to the bid of India-born steel tycoon, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, to buy out Europe's largest steel company, Arcelor, has brought on charges of protectionism of the type heard every time somebody from the third world runs into difficulties in acquiring Western interests.

MALAYSIA: Fighting the Flow of River Privatisation

Plans to privatise three major rivers in densely populated Selangor state, in May, have sparked an outcry among concerned groups, alarmed at common natural resources falling into private hands.

CHILE: ‘Yes’ to Gold Mine, but Don’t Touch the Glaciers

Environmental authorities in Chile gave the go-ahead Wednesday to the Pascua Lama gold mining project on the Argentine border, but told Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold that it would not be allowed to carry out its plans to "relocate" three glaciers.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Water Valued Only When Priced’

Apichart Anukularmphai would rather conceded the title of ‘world's champion rice exporter' to Vietnam than to his own country Thailand. This, he says, is because Thailand is actually giving away its water for free every time it sells its rice.

LABOUR: UN Staff Riled Over Proposed Job Privatisations

Employees at the United Nations headquarters in New York are up in arms over proposals to hand over certain jobs and services to private businesses.

AFGHANISTAN: Political Errors Could Undermine Aid

The ten billion dollars pledged in aid for Afghanistan sounds like good news for the country, but some experts fear it could be undermined by political misdirection.

ECONOMY: Germany,South Africa Fly Past Mexico in India Airport Bids

Despite intense lobbying, Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA), operator of the largest international airport in Latin America at Mexico City, has lost contracts to privatise India's two largest airports to German and South African competition.

DEVELOPMENT: New Scuffles Over Water

There are many who predict that future wars will be over water supplies, but the wait won't be long for witnessing some intense skirmishes, expected in March at the 4th World Water Forum between those who favour and those who oppose privatisation of this essential resource.

THAILAND: Free Trade With US Will Hurt Health Care

Will the hands that save the lives of Thailand's sick be tied once a free trade deal between this country and the United States is signed, later this year?

MALAYSIA: Privatisation by Other Names

Civil society groups worry that private sector interests will soon dominate the country's water and health care sectors and burden the public - despite government assurances that these areas will be spared privatisation.