UNITED NATIONS: Southeast Asia Seeks to Curb Abuse of Internet

Some of the newly industrialised countries of Southeast Asia are urging the United Nations to set up a code of conduct to prevent the reckless misuse and abuse of the global information superhighway, the Internet.

AFRICA-TECHNOLOGY: Space Holds One Key To Development

Some of the answers to Africa's development efforts in food security, improved communications and the management of natural resources are in space research and technology.

AFRICA-TECHNOLOGY: Space Holds One Key To Development

Some of the answers to Africa's development efforts in food security, improved communications and the management of natural resources are in space research and technology.

SCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT: Drive South In A Car Running On Corn Syrup

Hydrogen has long been considered as a near perfect answer to the problem of matching global fuel needs with environmental demands. When it burns it produces only water vapour.

BIODIVERSITY: Countries of South Negotiate at a Disadvantage

In the push for access to genetic resources, the nations of the South -- especially those in the Amazon and Andean countries of South America - are at a disadvantage. While rich in biodiversity they are poor in research and technology.

U.S.-SCIENCE: ‘Super Crop’ Harvest Spurs Efforts to Block Sales

The world's first major harvest of genetically engineered "super crops" is underway in the United States, spurring activists to step up their efforts to prevent these crops from reaching consumers.

TECHNOLOGY: Military Seeks Commercial Satellite Window

With an eye on cutting costs and improving efficiency, military planners are tapping into the services provided by commercial communications firms, according to experts.

COMMUNICATIONS: The Race For Global Phone Links – And Global Profit

Half the world, U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali once said, "has never made a phone call".

RUSSIA: Scientists on Strike for Funds

Russian science is facing extinction, says Vladimir Khlebodarov, chairman of the Russian Academy of Sciences' trade union, currently holding protests across the country and which intends to stage a general strike on Nov. 5.

HEALTH: Chemical Exposure May Account for Gulf War Syndrome

Exposure to high levels of organophosphates (OP) may be at the root of the mysterious Gulf War Syndrome that afflicts many veterans of the 1991 conflict.

CAMEROON-HEALTH: NGO Coalition Brings Hope To The Blind

A 71-year old man in Bayong, western Cameroon, is led up the stairs of the makeshift stand to tell his story.

HEALTH: WHO Details Progress on 10 New Vaccines

Considerable progress in being made in the development of vaccines against 10 major killer diseases, says the World Health Organisation (WHO), citing the powerful effect of the drive for profit in the developed world's drug industries.

DISARMAMENT: Mine Clearance Hampered by Expense

Despite the 110 million unexploded anti- personnel mines in almost 70 countries, no new technologies are being developed to clear them.

GUYANA: Telephone Sex System Comes Under a Microscope

A simmering row between the government and a U.S. owned telephone company over the latter's participation in an international telephone sex system could end with the phone company being given the marching orders.

UKRAINE: ‘Chain Reaction’ in Chernobyl Sarcophagus Causes Concern

Ukrainian environment chief Yuri Kostenko is pressing for a new sarcophagus around Chernobyl's crippled Reactor IV after monitors traced sub-atomic activity inside the present shell that could indicate the start of a nuclear chain reaction.

HAITI-TECHNOLOGY: Poor Immune as Internet Fever Rages/REPEAT/

Three months ago "Internet" was just a strange new word in Haiti, with access to cyperspace open to a small circle of computer buffs making costly international modem-phone calls to a U.S service provider.

BRAZIL-SCIENCE: Recognition Sought for Redoubtable Researcher

A woman whose efforts expanded the horizons of Brazilian science through landmark discoveries and diligent research, is being proposed for the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

SCIENCE-INDIGENOUS: Indigenous Groups Warn Against Human Gene Project

Indigenous groups from South America and the Pacific hope testimony they presented here this week will persuade scientists to suspend a project which collects samples of their blood for genetic research.

CARIBBEAN-INFORMATION: Postal Reform High on Governments Agenda

The inefficiency of the region's postal service is coming into sharp focus as governments embark on a programme of reform amid concerns of the relevance of this service in the face of technological advances.

SCIENCE: Indigenous Groups Target ‘Vampire Project’

The patenting of human genetic material for commercial purposes is heating up as a major issue among indigenous groups.

GUYANA: Government and Utility Company at Odds

When the privately-run Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company applied for higher service rates almost five years ago, a government-appointed utilities commission rejected the bid, saying the company's coffers were overflowing with cash, mainly from an international telephone sex facility routed through the country.