LIBYA: Satellite Technology to Help the Displaced

Analysis based on satellite images and maps is helping to identify the flows of people fleeing the political violence in Libya to neighbouring countries.

Japan Atomic Woes Trigger Policy Review in Germany

The unfolding nuclear catastrophe in Japan, triggered by last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami, followed by a chain of explosions in atomic power plants, has forced the German government to rethink its own nuclear energy policy.

Japan Bracing For Nuclear Meltdown

Desperate efforts by the government to avoid the looming nightmare of a nuclear meltdown in tsunami damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants, 240 kilometres north of Tokyo, have brought no relief to the public who face the possibility of another explosion that could spew deadly radiation across the country.

INDIA: Japan Quake Focuses Anti-Nuclear Message

Anti-nuclear campaigners in India see the earthquake that hit Japan last week, which threatens the meltdown of the Fukushima atomic power facility there, as a wakeup call for this country’s ambitious nuclear power programme.

Save Climate and Double Food Production With Eco-Farming

Eco-farming could double food production in entire regions within 10 years while mitigating climate change, according to a new U.N. report released Tuesday in Geneva.

Enthusiasm For 2012 Earth Summit Lagging

Timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, the Rio 2012 Summit hopes to recapture the optimism of that earlier era.

AFRICA: World Bank Identifies Five Poor States as “Growth Poles”

Africa faces an unprecedented opportunity to transform itself, says the World Bank. Its new strategy for the continent aims to leverage growing South-South investment to ensure more inclusive development, while identifying five poor states as "Growth Poles".

Biodiversity Panel Learns from IPCC Experience

After five years of preparation the international community is expected to launch the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services this year. For some of its proponents, even the decisions of the World Trade Organisation should be subject to its analysis.

WOMEN’S DAY: Female Scientists Abound in Brazil – But Not at Senior Levels

There are nearly as many female as male scientists in Brazil. But in academia or in private laboratories, women face subtle barriers to career advancement and equal salaries.

Q&A: “The Sky Is My Laboratory”

When it comes to breaking through the glass ceiling, astronomers are among the most determined of female professionals. And they have high aspirations. "The sky is my laboratory," Argentine astrophysicist Gloria Dubner told IPS.

Q&A: Fossil Fuel Lobby Following the Playbook of Big Tobacco

Powerful fossil energy interests are preventing the United States from making the necessary transition to 21st century energy sources, one of the country's leading environmental economists documents in a just-published book.

Q&A: “Education Must Reach the Marginalised”

Although more girls are enrolling in school - notably in countries with the greatest gender gaps like Chad, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen - two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are still women.

Permafrost Melt Soon Irreversible Without Major Fossil Fuel Cuts

Thawing permafrost is threatening to overwhelm attempts to keep the planet from getting too hot for human survival.

Link Confirmed Between Warming and Heavy Storms

Human-induced heating of the planet has already made rainfall more intense, leading to more severe floods, researchers announced Wednesday.

INDIA: Stemming Experiments in Stem Cells

Hundreds of patients are now streaming into stem cell therapy clinics all over India, despite the controversy surrounding stem cell research and even though, doctors say, no one has yet been cured by this technology.

VENEZUELA: Biopiracy Leaves Native Groups Out in the Cold

Millions of cancer patients around the world benefit from a medication called Paclitaxel (Taxol), which may begin to be produced from a new source: fungi found at the summit of Venezuela's flat-topped mountains. But the indigenous communities who have lived in that area since time immemorial will receive no benefits, and were not even consulted on the matter.

Amazon Drought Accelerating Climate Change

Last year's severe drought in the Amazon will pump billions of tonnes of additional carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, a new report has found.

Latin Americans ‘Guinea Pigs’ for Foreign Clinical Trials

Leonor, a Mexican citizen, took part in a 2006 clinical trial of a drug to treat kidney disease, designed by a transnational pharmaceutical company.

Arctic Defrost Dumping Snow on U.S. and Europe

The world's northern freezer is on rapid defrost as large volumes of warm water are pouring into the Arctic Ocean, speeding the melt of sea ice, according to a new study.

VIETNAM: Communist Party Steps on Already Stifled Newspapers

A week after Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party ended its pivotal congress of the country’s political elite, there is little evidence in the state-controlled media of a possible return to the openness that once saw high-profile corruption scandals exposed in print here.

PHILIPPINES: Designing Defence Against Climate Change

As the impact of climate change worsens around the globe, a disaster-resilient village is poised to be a solution for urban poor battling the constant floods and typhoons that hit the Philippines.