POLITICS-INDIA: Ruling Coalition Rift Over US Nuke Deal Continues

Confronted with stiff opposition to the United States-India nuclear cooperation deal from the supporting parties of the Left, Manmohan Singh’s minority government has initiated talks with communist leaders to create a 'mechanism' to resolve mutual differences.

HEALTH-INDIA: Activists Will Continue to Push Boycott of Novartis

Activist groups campaigning for affordable drugs will continue their boycott campaign against Swiss pharma major Novartis AG, whose controversial petition arguing that Indian patent laws violated World Trade Organisation (WTO) provisions was rejected by the Madras High Court in southern Chennai city.

AUSTRALIA: ‘Uranium Sales May Fuel Asian Arms Race’

Australia’s deal to export uranium to India - which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty - will strengthen India’s nuclear capabilities and could lead to a heightened arms race on the subcontinent, say activists.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Flying Blind Into Monster Storm Season

Category Five Hurricane Dean is just the first of several monster storms coming this hurricane season, meteorologists predict.

ENVIRONMENT- SOUTH PACIFIC: Sea Turtles – Iconic but Going Extinct

Reports of the extinction of China’s iconic Yangtze River dolphins have some conservationists in the South Pacific fearing that the same fate awaits certain migratory species of sea turtles, which are similarly imperilled.

ENVIRONMENT: Satellites Show Logging Decline in Peru’s Amazon Region

Rainforest conservation policies are reducing the rate of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon, but roads are unquestionably the drivers of change, new satellite data reveal.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Deniers Jump on NASA Gaff, While Greenland on Verge of Meltdown

Scientists warn that climate change tipping points are imminent, and will lead to potentially catastrophic events like a seven-metre sea level rise. Meanwhile, conservatives in the North American media are focusing on a NASA admission of a climate calculation error.

POLITICS-INDIA: Nuke Deal With US Draws Domestic Opposition

The "breakthrough" United States-India nuclear cooperation agreement finalised three weeks ago in Washington has run into serious all-round opposition in India and put Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a piquant situation

Q&A: Global Fight to Protect the Ozone Layer Celebrates 20 Years

The main achievement of the 20-year-old Montreal Protocol was to establish the process for recovering the ozone layer that protects life on Earth, although the enormous hole that opens every year over Antarctica will continue to happen for the next decade, says the head of the Ozone Secretariat, Marco González.

HEALTH-INDIA: Novartis Patents Case Far From Dead

Cancer patients in India have reason to be relieved at a high court ruling this week which dismissed a petition by Swiss pharmaceuticals multinational corporation (MNC) Novartis challenging an Indian law which denies patents for minor or trivial improvements to known drugs.

ENVIRONMENT-PAKISTAN: Drip Irrigation – Answer to Water Shortages

Faced with acute water shortages, the Pakistan government has launched a 1.3 billion US dollar subsidised drip irrigation programme that could help reduce wastage over the next five years.

HEALTH: India Verdict Welcomed by Advocates for Affordable Medicines

Non-governmental organisations that advocate poor countries’ access to affordable medicines applauded an Indian court’s dismissal of a challenge brought by Swiss-based drug-maker Novartis.

ARGENTINA: A Bid to Expand Maritime Frontier

Argentina is hoping to push its national boundary to the east and incorporate a vast territory with energy and other natural resources of strategic value under the Atlantic Ocean. To do this, it must demonstrate that its continental platform goes beyond 200 nautical miles.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Blind, Translucent, Vulnerable – And Important For Your Health

An unexpectedly rich variety of organisms can be found in groundwater, a source that more than 37 percent of people in Southern Africa are dependent on, according to the Southern African Development Community's Water Sector Co-ordinating Unit. And, an Australian scientist visiting South Africa believes these tiny animals should be studied more intensively to monitor the quality of groundwater.

US-INDIA: ‘123’ Nuclear Agreement Completed

India and the United States have announced a bilateral agreement permitting the export of U.S. civilian nuclear technology to India in exchange for a promise that the South Asian giant will allow International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) inspectors access to its nuclear facilities.

ENVIRONMENT: Tiny Tuvalu Fights for Its Literal Survival

The second smallest nation on Earth hopes to turn itself into an example of sustainable development that others can emulate.

BIODIVERSITY: “Wildways” Would Bridge a Fractured Continent

Before deforestation and sprawl fragmented North America's wilderness into isolated islands of bio-homogeneity, the largest of carnivores and smallest of rodents roamed the expansive continent at will.

HEALTH: ‘Protect Our Future’ – AIDS Drugs Needed for Children

The 4th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention concluded here Wednesday with a call for antiretroviral drugs developed specifically for HIV-infected children.

HEALTH: HIV/AIDS Experts Swear by Circumcision

Male circumcision could prevent millions of new HIV infections a year, delegates at the 4th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention were told here on Tuesday.

Q&A: Caribbean Alliance to Protect Humpback Whales

In December 2006, marine mammal sanctuaries in the Dominican Republic and the United States set up an alliance to protect some 900 humpback whales. Behind that initiative was the tenacity of Nathalie Ward, director of the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network (ECCN).

INDIA/US: Nuke Deal – Breakthrough or Bad Bargain?

After tortuous negotiations spread over four days in Washington, the United States and India have reported "substantial progress" on a bilateral agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation, but said they would now "refer the issue to our governments for final review."