HEALTH-ASIA: Bird Flu Awareness – No Preventive

The upsurge in bird flu outbreaks in South-east Asia has raised a paradoxical question: does high community awareness of the disease, that at the start of the new year killed thousands of ducks and chickens in the region and five Indonesians, lead to behaviour change that could prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus globally?

SCIENCE: Group Seeks Ban on “Living Machines”

Anyone with a laptop and a mailbox could create their own bacteria or virus, for good or ill, thanks to a rapidly evolving new technology called synthetic biology, activists warn.

THAILAND: Junta Tightens Media Censorship

At a leading television station, the censor's scissors stands ready to snip out any reference to Thailand's ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra or members of his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thai) party.

HEALTH-IRAQ: What They Asked For, They Did Not Get

The convoy of flatbed trucks picked up its cargo at Baghdad International Airport last spring and sped northwest, stacked high with crates of expensive medical equipment. From bilirubin metres and hematology analysers to infant incubators and dental appliances, the equipment had been ordered to help Iraq shore up a disintegrating health care system.

IRAQ: The War Becomes More Unholy

A stepped up military offensive that targets mosques, religious leaders and Islamic customs is leading many Iraqis to believe that the U.S.-led invasion really was a 'holy war'.

SLOVAKIA: Govt Meddling with Public Media

The Slovak government headed by social democrat Robert Fico is said to be pressuring the country's public media to take more pro-governmental stances.

MEXICO: Lest We Forget – Tlatelolco 1968

At 6:10 p.m. on Oct. 2, 1968, red and green flares signalled troops and police in civilian clothes that it was time to fire on the students gathered in Tlatelolco square in the Mexican capital. This massacre changed the country's history.

/CORRECTION*/POLITICS: Israel Looking for an Extreme Makeover

It hasn't been the easiest year for Israel.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Still a Stranger to the Public Eye

Defending human rights, democracy and diversity are its strongest point, but its "main defect" is lack of public visibility. That is how most participants viewed last year's World Social Forum (WSF), held in Caracas and Bamako, according to a survey.

POLITICS-VENEZUELA: Re-Nationalising Its Way to Socialism

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez began a new six-year term Wednesday, after announcing that the re-nationalisation of public enterprises would be the first "line of attack" to promote socialism in this country.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Bloggers Rebel at New Censorship

In a bid to clamp down even harder on information disseminated through the Internet, Iran's hardliner government has demanded the registration of all websites and weblogs sourced in the country by Mar. 1, drawing objections from many Iranian bloggers who say the move clearly violates free speech.

IRAQ: Media Under Growing Siege

The U.S. administration continues to tout Iraq as a shining example of democracy in the Middle East, but press freedom in Iraq has plummeted since the beginning of the occupation.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Fewer Political Prisoners, But Little Progress

The number of people in prison for political reasons in Cuba fell last year, but only by an insignificant margin, and there is no sign of a change in official policy since the "temporary" withdrawal from public life of President Fidel Castro due to illness last July, dissident sources said.

BRAZIL: Cell Phones – Democratising Communications

Rapid expansion in the poorer sectors of society, especially among the large number of informal workers, has taken the number of mobile phones in Brazil to over 100 million, equivalent to more than 53 percent of the population.

BURMA: Defiant Public Blitzes Junta with Letters

A handwritten letter to a military dictator may sound like an ineffective and risky way of conveying defiance especially in this Internet age, where e-mails, blogs and websites have combined to threaten political authority in a number of countries.

COMMUNICATIONS: Developing Countries Set the Standards

Developing countries led by India, China, Brazil are now taking the lead in setting global standards in the rapidly transforming telecommunications sector due to convergence of hitherto separate communications and entertainment services, says Hamadoun Toure, the new secretary general of the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Brazil to Join Digital TV World

In a country as addicted to television as Brazil, disputes over digital TV, which is being installed this year, are naturally acerbic. The business is worth an estimated 50 billion dollars, and could bring profound social and cultural changes.

MEDIA-US: Networks’ Foreign News Coverage Focused on Iraq

For the fourth straight year, Iraq dominated foreign affairs coverage by the three major U.S. commercial television network evening news broadcasts during 2006, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: Bloody Years for Journalists in Iraq

After an estimated 10 percent of active journalists in Iraq died in 2006, the rest are asking themselves what lies ahead for them in the New Year.

/CORRECTION*/MEDIA-COLOMBIA: Journalist in Jail for New Year

"Jorge Eliécer" is the alias attributed by Colombian authorities to Fredy Muñoz, correspondent in Colombia for the Caracas-based Telesur Latin America TV news network, who was arrested on Nov. 19.

POLITICS-US: If Bush Wants Bipartisan Policy, It’s Out There

If U.S. President George W. Bush is serious about pursuing a foreign policy that can command bipartisan support, the basic elements of one already exists, according to a new analysis of seven comprehensive polls on foreign policy attitudes taken over the past nine months.