TRANSPORT-KENYA: Safety Regulations Still on the Right Track?

In 2004, the Kenyan government introduced new traffic regulations to improve safety in the transport sector. Two years down the line, however, a commuters' association claims that violation of traffic rules is still disturbingly widespread.

TRANSPORT-MALAYSIA: Public Refuses to Be Taken for a Ride

Fed up with failure by authorities to ensure an efficient public transport system on this bustling island, civil society groups are planning to take recourse to legal action.

PAKISTAN: Old Railway in the Running for Rapid Transit Plan

Transport authorities in this port city, that will host the Asian chapter of this year's polycentric World Social Forum (WSF) in March, are looking at reviving a disused railway system, rather than building more concrete flyovers and underpasses, to ease congestion on the roads that has reduced traffic to a permanent crawl.

ECONOMY-INDIA: Airport Privatisation May Get Grounded

Plans to partly privatise India's two largest international airports - one serving the national capital and the other the commercial hub of Mumbai - may get grounded as a result of persistent charges of rigged bidding.

ARGENTINA: Toppling the Wall Blocking the Poor from Justice

Access to justice is a human right guaranteed by Argentine law. But lack of money or time often prevents the poor and most vulnerable from taking their complaints to the courts.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: A Long and Winding Road to Better Transport Links

On paper, regional integration in Southern Africa has made advances - with countries being knit together by protocols and agreements of every stripe.

RIGHTS-INDIA: ‘Human Horses’ Fade Into History

Hand-pulled rickshaws, one of the more abiding symbols of colonialism in Asia, are finally on their way out of this city where a feudal past struggles with communist rule and modern values.

COLOMBIA: Airline Involved in Tragic Crash Was Facing Problems

West Caribbean Airways, whose airliner crashed Tuesday in the extreme western region of Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board, is a Colombian firm that is facing financial troubles.

COLOMBIA: Airline Involved in Tragic Crash Was Facing Problems

West Caribbean Airways, whose airliner crashed Tuesday in the extreme western region of Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board, is a Colombian firm that is facing financial troubles.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Truck Drivers More Sinned Against Than Sinning

It took a photo exhibition on the lives and work of India's truck drivers for many to realise that they are more than just another high-risk group for HIV/AIDS in a list drawn by voluntary agencies working against the disease.

DEVELOPMENT-PAKISTAN: Rail Disaster Revives Privatisation Calls

Pakistan's worst-ever railway disaster has resulted in an enquiry, whose preliminary report is being viewed with suspicion, as well as renewed calls for privatisation of the ageing, fund-starved, state-run system.

ECONOMY-ZIMBABWE: Running on Empty

The sight of cars caked with dust, lined up outside filling stations, has become a common one in Zimbabwe. Some of the vehicles have been there for days, even weeks, as motorists grapple with what many view as the worst episode yet in the country's recurrent fuel crisis.

ENVIRONMENT-EU: Car Tax Will Not Solve Emissions Problem, Groups Warn

New European proposals to reform car taxation will not result in reduced car emissions, warn environment and transport activists, but could instead have the undesired outcome of more pollution, road accidents and congestion.

TRANSPORT: Asian Highway Opens Path to Regional Cooperation

ûAsian governments will soon have a new symbol to illustrate their increasing spirit of regional cooperation: a network of highways that links 32 countries spanning Japan at one end and Turkey on the other.

/UPDATE*/ENVIRONMENT DAY: Channel Project Evokes Concerns in India, Sri Lanka

Protests by environmental activists are building up on either side of the Palk Straits against a shipping channel that India will begin dredging this month along its international maritime border with Sri Lanka.

ARGENTINA: Whistleblower’s Film Delves into Tragic Plane Crash

A film by a pilot-turned-filmmaker that seeks to shed light on a tragic plane crash has won eight national and international prizes as well as strong reviews by critics, while having a major impact on the public.

CLIMATE CHANGE-U.S.: Car Industry Challenges California Law

A battle between car manufacturers and the government of the U.S. state of California, which is trying to sharply cut so-called greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, could have national and even international repercussions, activists say.

ENVIRONMENT-CARIBBEAN: Ships Dump Tonnes of Waste in Turquoise Waters

The multi-million dollar Caribbean shipping industry, necessary to the economic prosperity of the region's small island states, also has its negative side: the generation of tonnes of waste, which these countries are often ill-prepared to cope with.

ENVIRONMENT-EUROPE: The True Cost of Flying

Hundreds of flights by subsidised airlines in Europe are endangering the global climate and the ozone layer. For now, they fly free of environmental regulations.

RIGHTS: Ship Crews Sail Into Stormy Political Weather

They are 1.2 million people, about the population of Estonia. These sailors handle 80 percent of world trade - the fuel we burn, the food we eat. And increasingly, they are treated like criminals.

ENVIRONMENT: New Take-Off Proposed for Kyoto

The European Parliament has made a strong demand ahead of a conference on global warming next week to include aviation and shipping within the Kyoto Protocol.