Development : Prescription drug abuse a major concern, warns INCB (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The abuse of prescription drugs has become a major concern, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has said.

Development : Women still battling gender bigotry worldwide (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Nearly 62 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaimed "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," a few of the world's discriminatory laws against women are being progressively repealed in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Middle East : Unravelling the knottiest issues in stalled peace talks (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
The United States needs to take on a more aggressive presence in peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, according to a major report published earlier this month by the James Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

France : Policy ignores deeper questions of migration (PRIV)
(IPS, Paris)
European Union immigration ministers will hold a special meeting on 25 February to adopt a new policy to protect the region's external borders against undocumented migration, French immigration minister Eric Besson has announced.

Peru : El Nino throws a tantrum (PRIV)
(IPS, Lima)
Peru's lack of disaster prevention policies and measures, combined with climate imbalances in South America, have led to the loss of dozens of lives and thousands of homes in this Andean country in the last few months.

Haiti : Secure shelters scarce as rainy season looms (PRIV)
(IPS, Port-au-Prince)
A cacophony of murmurs and cries echoed through the neighbourhoods of Haiti's capital city 22 February night as a violent aftershock shook people awake. Ten minutes later, another tremor rocked the ground, this time more smoothly back and forth.