ENVIRONMENT: Malaysia to Enforce Labelling of GM Foods

A long-awaited law to make the labelling of genetically modified (GM) products mandatory is expected to be finally passed in Malaysian parliament this month and come into force by the end of the year.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Presses On With Subsidies

This year the European Union will spend more than 35 percent of its 115 billion euro (156 billion dollars) budget on supporting farmers, even though agriculture accounts for less than 5 percent of the EU workforce.

SOUTH ASIA: Regional Cooperation Finally in Sight

South Asia, home to more than one-sixth of humanity, and situated at the junction of three important sub-regions of the Asian continent, has made cautious moves towards mutual cooperation and greater integration.

ECONOMY-INDIA: After Violence SEZs Downsized

Faced with growing opposition from its political opponents as well as civil society, the Indian government has drastically limited the size and use of special economic zones (SEZs) that are meant to attract foreign direct investments and promote exports.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Makes Tricky Offer More Tempting

The European Union has this week sought to increase the likelihood that it will sign controversial free trade agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries by offering to open its markets to virtually all of their agricultural goods.

DEVELOPMENT: Ethiopian Coffee Brings Its Own Aroma

Ethiopia is looking to trademark coffees in the EU to benefit its poor farmers, in the face of opposition from Starbucks in the U.S.

ECONOMY-UAE: Indians, Pakistanis Fuel Fresh Real Estate Boom

Indians and Pakistanis are leading several other Asian nationalities in spending millions of dollars gobbling up real estate investment opportunities in the northern emirates of this tiny Gulf state, industry sources here say.

INDONESIA: Shifting Sands to Prod ‘Safe Haven’ Singapore

Sand has become the latest weapon in Indonesia's diplomatic row with neighbouring Singapore, over the latter's refusal to sign an extradition treaty that seeks to have corrupt Indonesian businessmen returned from their safe haven in the tiny island republic.

TRADE-KENYA: East Africans May Be Stripped of the Kikoi

Kenyan activists are fighting to retain cultural designs that have been developed in East Africa but are being patented by companies in rich countries. After losing the kiondo basket trademark to Japan, the popular kikoi fabric design is currently at risk of being patented by a British company.

TRADE-KENYA: Shopping With a Clean Conscience

It is early morning and the Undugu Fair Trade Shop, tucked away in a suburban shopping centre in Nairobi, is bustling. Apart from the few locals, there are the usual tourists, recognizable from their safari outfits: khaki shirts and trousers and the obligatory hat worn even when indoors.

ASIA: Facing the Threat of GE Rice

With an eye to the future of rice farming in Thailand, a local grassroots organisation is bringing together youth in a north-eastern rice-growing province in a celebration of the diverse varieties of this staple grown in the traditional way.

RUSSIA: A Step Closer to China

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Moscow Monday to sign a series of agreements aimed at boosting economic and political relations between the two giants.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Trade Must Cut Poverty’

European Union officials devising a new strategy on helping poor countries boost their share of world trade have warned that it must contain concrete measures for reducing poverty.

IRAN/SOUTH ASIA: US Frown Turns Gas Pipeline Into Pipe Dream

A grandiose project to construct a pipeline to transport natural gas from Iran to India through Pakistan at a cost of seven billion US dollars is in jeopardy on account of stiff opposition from Washington and wrangling among the three regional partners.

HEALTH-THAILAND: US Pharma Giant Faces Public Boycott

A broad coalition of Thai non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is threatening to tap the spirit of nationalism, which runs deep and wide here, in a showdown with a Chicago-based pharmaceutical giant. The need for access to cheaper life-saving drugs has sparked this row.

DEVELOPMENT: Free Trade Enslaving Poor Countries

The new free trade agreements being signed up between rich and poor countries are proving far more damaging to the poor than anything envisaged within WTO talks, Oxfam said in a report Tuesday.

TRADE-JAPAN: No More Big Brother Approach in Asia

Japan's new free trade agreements (FTAs) with South-east Asian countries symbolise a new era in regional economic ties - a move from the old big brother relationship to a series of partnerships that could be the first step towards a single market in the future, say analysts here.

POLITICS-INDIA: ‘Neo-Liberal’ Left Behind Peasants’ Massacre

By ordering police to open fire on peasants trying to protect their land from being acquired for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the communist government of West Bengal state has indicated the crumbling away of the last bulwark in India against neo-liberal and free market policies.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Massacre of Peasants May Slow SEZ Plans

It took the gruesome massacre of 15 peasants in police firing for the provincial government of West Bengal to suspend the forcible acquisition of farming land it wants to hand over to an Indonesian conglomerate for development into a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

TRADE: Meeting Fails to Close Gap on Regional Deals

As president of the European Union Council for the first half of this year, Germany sought to play a prominent role at a meeting of EU development ministers in Bonn Mar. 13.

TRADE: India-EU Deal Hits Political Rocks

A planned free trade deal between the EU and India has run into serious difficulties over whether or not it should include clauses relating to human rights and weapons of mass destruction. But anti-poverty campaigners have also argued that an agreement is undesirable as it could potentially reduce India's control over its own economy.