COMMUNICATIONS: North-South Gap in Mobile Phone Use Persists

The global telecommunications panorama reveals that the age-old disparity between North and South continues, despite the increasing use of mobile telephones in developing countries, says the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

EDUCATION-TECHNOLOGY: Developing Nations Move Forward

Developing nations are joining the largest library in the world today - the network of 56 million computer hosts linked to nearly 200 million people worldwide known as the Internet.

ENVIRONMENT: A Close-up Look at Ozone Layer Depletion

A Russian aircraft designed for espionage missions has become the centrepiece of a programme uniting 80 scientists from around the world for an "in situ" study of atmospheric ozone depletion over the South Pole.

TECHNOLOGY-JAMAICA: New Telecommunications Deal Raises Many Questions

A previously rocky relationship here between Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell and monopoly telecommunications provider Cable and Wireless Jamaica now seems forgotten as the parties bask in the rosy glow of a new agreement but which already has some critics crying foul.

DEVELOPMENT: North-South Debate on Bio-Technology’s Rewards

Wealthy nations use their bio-technology to genetically alter resources provided by developing nations, creating new, modified species, and leading to a North-South polarisation of already difficult negotiations.

TECHNOLOGY-US: Woman Space Commander Ready to Try Again

Engineers of the National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA) completed checks of the Columbia shuttle Wednesday for a second launch attempt of the first woman to command a US space flight.

TECHNOLOGY-CARIBBEAN: Nabbing the Y2K Bug

Come Jan 1, 2000, Lyndon Arnold fully expects to be in high spirits, ringing in the New Year at his usual New Years Eve Party with family and friends.

ENERGY-HONDURAS: Let There be Light

For the first time in a Mejia

ENERGY-HONDURAS: Let There be Light

For the first time in their lives the 843 residents of this remote southern village are enjoying the benefits of electricity, brought to them through a solar power project operated by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

SCIENCE-AMERICAS: World Group Proposes 13-Month Calendar

An international organisation plans to request Vatican and United Nations support in promoting international use of the Mayan calendar, replacing the 12-month Gregorian calendar.

TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: Lagging Behind In Telecommunication

Making a phone call or surfing the Internet has become a central feature of everyday life the world over except in Africa.

DEVELOPMENT: Experts See Minimal Disruption from Y2K Bug

Experts gathered here for a conference on the Year 2000 (or 'Y2K') computer bug agree on two things: the bug could cause some glitches when the new year dawns, but they aren't likely to be major ones.

TECHNOLOGY-GUYANA: Texas Rocket Firm Comes A-Calling

The Guyana government, battling industrial unrest, problems between the East Indian and Afro-Guyanese communities and other forms of civil disturbances, has, in recent years struggled to find ways of attracting foreign investmen tto this former British colony on South America's Caribbean coast, rich in natural resources.

SCIENCE: Ethics and Accountability of Scientists

Recent developments in the life sciences, including cloning and genetically-modified organisms, made it imperative that ethical concerns be at the core of research in the 21st century, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

SCIENCE: Ancestor of Humans Found in Ethiopia

Fossil remains of what some scientists believe were meat-eating ancestors of modern humans have been discovered by researchers in northeastern Ethiopia, yielding new insights into hominid evolution on Earth.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY-JAMAICA: Movement of Genes Under Critical Gaze

With heightened interest internationally on the labelling of genetically modified foods, scientists here are beginning to take a much closer look at the issue of genetically modified organisms.

TECHNOLOGY-PUERTO RICO: Looking For Economic Growth in High Tech Places

Faced by a slowdown in manufacturing which has been the foundation of its relatively robust economy, Puerto Rico plans to transform itself into a global centre for scientific research and development.

TECHNOLOGY-GUYANA: Fighting For a Hold on Cyberspace

When the government of Guyana privatised the local telephone company back in 1991, it granted a 20-year monopoly to the new American owners for land line and data transmission, effectively blocking all competition.

ENVIRONMENT: Y2K Bug Causes Fears on Nuclear Security

The horrors of an inadvertent launch of nuclear weapons and the possible meltdown of nuclear power plants could be some of the possible - although unlikely - consequences of the year 2000 computer glitch, say US lawmakers and nuclear watchdogs.

TECHNOLOGY-JAMAICA: Software Industry Poised for Take-Off

Twenty-nine-year-old computer programmer Howard Jackson is one of many highly trained professionals who left Jamaica for a high paying job in the United States nearly three years ago.

INDIA: Pay Hike For Defence Scientists, Ignores Doctors And Food Scientists

As senior doctors and crop scientists vainly struck work this month demanding better pay, the Indian government raised salaries for defence scientists involved in atomic, space and missile research.