POLITICS: Common Interests Bring India, US Closer

One of the enduring mysteries in international relations has been the hitherto cool relations between the United States and India. Both are proud democracies, suspicious of Islamic fundamentalism and deeply concerned with the rise of China. And yet, the two nations ended up in opposite camps during much of the Cold War.

JAPAN: U.S-India Nuclear Deal Shakes Pacifist Position

A controversial agreement on nuclear energy between Washington and Delhi is proving to be a diplomatic headache for Japan, say analysts here.

ENVIRONMENT DAY-CARIBBEAN: Sea, Sunshine…and Sahara Sand

A beautiful, bright-red sunset seen from Caribbean beaches could be a cause for alarm rather than for delighted contemplation, because it signals the annual arrival of dust from the Sahara desert, which could be harmful.

TECHNOLOGY: Podcasting Politics

After Apple Computer announced its new video-capable iPod, the San Francisco Chronicle's Mark Morford, a controversial and ever-iconoclastic columnist, enthused that the new "sexy" and "delicious" device would usher in a future where pornography would be available at the flick of a finger.

SCIENCE-SOUTH AFRICA: From "Publish or Perish" to "Publish and Vanish"

"Publish or perish" is the warning given many academics at the start of their careers. But it's publication of a very particular kind that scholarly researchers crave.

SCIENCE-CHILE: Radio Telescope Could Reveal Origin of Universe

The ALMA radio astronomy project, the largest of its kind in the world, is being built in Chile's Atacama Desert and is expected to help uncover no less than the keys to the origin of the universe.

ENVIRONMENT: What Are Zooplankton? (And Why You Should Care)

Scientists probing the depths of the Sargasso Sea have discovered new species and learned more about the vital role of its smallest animals, zooplankton.

HEALTH-EUROPE: Chernobyl’s Elusive Bottom Line

Twenty years after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst in atomic energy history, governments, international institutions, scientists and environmentalists continue to debate the true extent of the disaster's impacts on human health.

ENVIRONMENT: When Science Inconveniences Bush

The unprecedented efforts of the administration of President George W. Bush to gag and suppress research findings it doesn't like are putting science in the United States at risk, say experts.

HEALTH: New Wave of HIV May Lurk Around the Corner

A quarter century into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, researchers fear that a lack of preparedness for large-scale social changes, driven by factors like armed conflict and climate change, could lead to explosive new outbreaks affecting millions of people.

PAKISTAN: Courts, Clerics Resist DNA Tests for Paternity

Although Pakistan has fine DNA testing laboratories, these facilities remain closed to the public and results obtained from them are not recognised by the Islamic clergy and the judiciary.

JAPAN: Women Juggle Careers and Caregiving With Cell Phones

Mobile phone technology is helping many Japanese career women cope with a traditional role they are unable to shake off - that of providing care for the elderly.

HEALTH: ‘Yes, Aspartame Is a Carcinogen’

The Italian scientist Morando Soffritti has revived the debate about the safety of aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in many popular products, including diet softdrinks made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co. After studying 1,800 rats over eight years, his research team concluded that aspartame could have carcinogenic effects.

ENVIRONMENT: Climate Change Shattering Marine Food Chain

Vast swaths of coral reefs in the Caribbean sea and South Pacific Ocean are dying, while the recently-discovered cold-water corals in northern waters will not survive the century - all due to climate change.

SCIENCE: A Satellite for Solving the Polar Ice Mysteries

The European satellite Cryosat 2, slated for launch in March 2009, will determine for the first time the rate of polar ice melt, which is a vital piece for understanding the changes the planet's climate is undergoing, mission director Volker Liebig told Tierramérica.

POLITICS-US: Pentagon Eyes the Ultimate High Ground

After 50 years of international cooperation and peace in space, the U.S. military insists that it has no plans to usher in an age of space-based warfare.

BIODIVERSITY: Indigenous Groups Denounce Exclusion from Talks

Indigenous leaders are speaking out about their exclusion from talks about a binding regime for regulating access to genetic resources, during the international biodiversity conference that ended on the weekend in this southern Brazilian city.

BIODIVERSITY: Billions Needed to Win Race Against Species Loss

A two-week international conference on biodiversity here came to an end Friday on a mixed note of hope and despair, with some delegates describing the outcome as a moment to celebrate, but others expressing disappointment with the slow pace of progress in talks on how to implement decisions made some 14 years ago.

BIODIVERSITY: A Name as Means of Protection

While no government is disputing the idea that in order to protect biodiversity a universal index of all known species is needed, many wonder if such a task is possible without sufficient financial support from rich countries.

BIODIVERSITY: Putting the Gene Back in the Bottle

When 150 of the world's leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the historic Earth Summit 14 years ago, they agreed to embrace the principle of fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of genetic resources as part of global efforts to protect biodiversity.

BIODIVERSITY: Creating a Network Against Biopiracy

Two patents granted in the United States between 2000 and 2002 and another for which an application has been filed have put "maca", a high altitude Andean plant that is used by indigenous people in Peru, at the centre of a new battle against biopiracy, which involves the construction of an international network against the misappropriation of traditional knowledge.