ENVIRONMENT-PORTUGAL: Red Alert in Lisbon

According to official figures, 600,000 people live in the Portuguese capital. That is true, however, only at night and on the weekends. During the workday, the population actually increases threefold.

ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: Sleeping Beauties on the Rails

Chile's state-run railroad company, EFE, is considering replacing 200,000 wooden sleeper cars with concrete-based cars - an initiative praised by environmentalists and criticised by the lumber industry, which says it will hurt owners of small plots of native forests who hope to turn a profit from their land.

ECONOMY-SWAZILAND: A White Elephant for Those Jumbo Jets?

National airports are the primary gateways to countries today. From the design of a terminal building to the swiftness of baggage retrieval, airports give visitors an all-important first impression of a state’s modernity and capacity to provide services.

TRANSPORT-KENYA: Has Commuter Safety Succeeded in Taking the High Road?

They inconvenienced commuters, and drew the wrath of taxi drivers...But, have Kenya’s new transport regulations also managed to make traffic conditions in the country less hazardous?

TRANSPORT-COSTA RICA: Controversy Over Strike and Air Safety

Costa Rica's airports are operating normally, according to government officials, even though more than 100 air traffic controllers have been on strike since Jun. 26.

ENVIRONMENT-EUROPE: All-Terrain Pollution

Vehicles known as ''4x4s'', originally developed for use in the rough terrain of rural areas, have turned into a status symbol in many of Europe's big cities, but are also at the centre of a controversy because of the high emissions of pollutants generated by their engines.

BRAZIL: Warning – Violating Air Space Could Be Fatal

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is getting ready to sign into law a bill that would allow the air force to shoot down planes that enter the country's air space without permission. But critics say the law would be unconstitutional, because it would introduce the death penalty.

TRANSPORT: Motor Vehicles a ‘Global Problem’

Global cooperation is needed to limit the impact of motor vehicles, according to a new report released Monday.

ARGENTINA: Privatisation of Trains Derailed

The privatisation of Argentina's railways was a slick business deal in the 1990s for the companies that began to run the train service with subsidies from the state.

ENVIRONMENT-MERCOSUR: United Against Mussel Plague

A lesson learned is worth more than a thousand warnings. After the invasion of the region's rivers and waterways, Brazil and its trade partners in the Mercosur bloc have agreed to a joint plan for controlling bilge water, used in ships for stability when sailing without cargo.

BRAZIL: High Cost of Public Transport Aggravates Inequalities

Wilson Minas, a 47-year-old Brazilian father of four, gets up at 4:00 AM for a nearly two-hour commute in three different buses to make it to his job in a middle-class neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro.

WORLD HEALTH DAY-BRAZIL: Peace in Traffic to Save Lives

The automotive industry and governments must also share responsibility for traffic mortalities, because they manufacture and authorise the circulation of vehicles that can travel at speeds above the maximum limit - turning them into lethal weapons, say activists and officials.

WORLD HEALTH DAY: Night Travel in Nigeria Saves Time – But Takes Lives

Okpara Williams says travelling at night along Nigeria's roads is a dangerous affair: "You can never tell whether or not you will get to your destination alive."

WORLD HEALTH DAY-URUGUAY: When Loved Ones Become Accident Statistics

While experts around the world are discussing how to prevent traffic accidents, which claim an estimated 1.2 million lives worldwide every year, families in every nation quietly try to survive the pain of losing their loved ones.

WORLD HEALTH DAY: Death on the Road Is No Accident

Experts in road safety prefer to speak in terms of "crashes" instead of "accidents", because the latter gives the impression of a random event when traffic-related fatalities and injuries can be prevented.

HEALTH: Taxi Drivers Becoming Agents of Change in AIDS-Ridden Rwanda

Transporters and taxi drivers from Rwanda are learning how to fight HIV/AIDS from their counterparts in neighbouring Uganda.

CUBA: Commuters Wait Endlessly for Crammed Bus – or Hitchhike

Tired of waiting for a packed bus that takes forever to arrive, María Luisa Bustamante now hitchhikes to work from her home in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Havana.

TRANSPORT-KENYA: Taxi Drivers Say Road Safety Laws Cost Them Dearly

Kenya's transport crisis, which began earlier this month, is continuing to bite.

TRANSPORT-KENYA: Gov’t Stands Firm on Minibus Strike

Kenya has been reduced to a walking nation, with hundreds of thousands of people covering long distances on foot to work and home everyday. Some walk over 20 kilometres a day.

DEVELOPMENT-UGANDA: Taxis Put Women in the Driver’s Seat

Hail a taxi in New York City, and the odds are that your driver will be a wise-cracking male cabbie who's unafraid to share his philosophy about life with you.

TRANSPORT-NIGERIA: Bad Drivers Find Themselves on the Couch

For those who navigate the chaotic streets of Nigeria's commercial centre, Lagos, it can seem that the city was designed to test the patience of commuters.