MEDIA-NEPAL: Self-Censorship Creeping Up After Killings

March 8th, 2010

The climate of fear that has been growing in this Himalayan country since the murder of two media entrepreneurs and other attacks on journalists may well push them to turn to more self-censorship.

MIDEAST: Israeli Left Emerges From Coma Amid Atrocities

March 8th, 2010

Amid the wave of violence that swept through the occupied Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over the last few days, there are signs that the Israeli left may be emerging from its collective coma.

DEVELOPMENT-SRI LANKA: Water Woes Fall on Women’s Shoulders

March 8th, 2010

As a wife of a rice farmer and mother of two children aged nine and two,
Sanjeevani Bandara’s days are packed with chores. Yet while she used to be able
to keep up with all she has to do in a day, this Sri Lankan mother now finds
herself struggling to accomplish even the most basic tasks.

IRAQ: Elections Bring Joy and Uncertainty

March 8th, 2010

The holding of Iraq’s third parliamentary elections on Sunday has generated a sense of satisfaction in Washington, but there is a feeling of anxiety about how the post-election negotiation process to form a new government might proceed.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Hunger Striker Refuses to Go into Exile

March 8th, 2010

The state news media in Cuba reported Monday on the case of dissident Guillermo Fariñas, who has been on a hunger strike for 13 days and refuses to go into exile in Spain.

HAITI: U.S. Acts Quickly on Debt Relief Ahead of Preval Visit

March 8th, 2010

With U.S. President Barack Obama preparing to host Haitian President Rene Preval at the White House Wednesday, Congress is moving quickly to show support for far-reaching debt relief and additional aid for the earthquake-stricken Caribbean nation.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: ‘We Will Demonstrate, As They Celebrate’

March 8th, 2010

‘Equal rights; equal opportunities’ may be the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, but while women around the world celebrate, a group of Ugandan women are protesting against the suppression of their rights.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: More Funds Needed for HIV Prevention and Treatment

March 8th, 2010

Decreasing or levelling HIV funding will destabilise developing countries’ health systems, a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) warned. They demand that governments worldwide own up to their promise of achieving universal access to HIV treatment.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Five Years to Children Born Free of HIV

March 8th, 2010

A world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus.

RIGHTS: This Eerie Economic Calm

March 8th, 2010

The problem now, almost, is to find a way to relive the peak of that economic
crisis of September 2008. The current move back to business of old – on the
face of it anyhow – could well turn out to be a longer-running difficulty than the
crisis it supposedly left behind. A difficulty far greater for women than for men.

IRAQ: Secular Candidates Have Their Best Chance

March 8th, 2010

As Iraqis go to the polls on Sunday, a key question in the minds of many in Iraq and Washington is whether secular candidates can continue their recent rise and possibly come out as winners.

MALAWI: Climate Change Is Changing Farming Methods

March 8th, 2010

As they slept soundly on the night of Feb. 28, a family of four was killed when their house collapsed over their heads in Malawi’s southern district of Chikhwawa.

BIODIVERSITY: CITES Faces Political Storm over Tuna Ban

March 8th, 2010

The vast majority of the species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, live on land, but as marine species come under increasing pressure from unsustainable fishing and a range of climate change-related threats that focus is beginning to shift.

Q&A: 11.8 Seconds That Broke Taboos for Women

March 7th, 2010

Dressed in an abaya (long, loose gown worn by women to cover their dress) and
a headscarf, Naseem Hameed cannot be recognised as she alights from a
crowded, rickety public bus to reach her destination – the sports stadium.

MEXICO: Scientists Reinvent the Corn Tortilla

March 7th, 2010

The process of making corn tortillas – the filling, age-old traditional food throughout much of Mexico and Central America – pollutes huge volumes of water and consumes a great deal of energy.