Finance : Sovereign credit risks rattle markets - BIS (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
After ten months of substantial increases, equity prices in both advanced and emerging economies started falling from mid-January while credit spreads widened, as a result of several factors that include the unevenness of the global economic recovery, and concerns about sovereign credit risk in light of large fiscal deficits, particularly in Greece which spilled over to several other countries in the euro area, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has said.

Greece : Austerity measures unsettle public (PRIV)
(IPS, Athens)
Xristos Kiriakou, 30, joined the February 24 strike against the austerity measures announced by the Panhellenic Socialist Party (Pasok), although he has never been involved in public protests before.

Development : Rise and fall of gender empowerment (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The 45-member Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), presiding over one of the largest gatherings of women at the United Nations, listened Monday to dozens of speakers spelling out the successes and failures of gender empowerment worldwide.

Mexico : Escalating drug violence rooted in Northern demand (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
As the war over health care continues in Washington and a war of a bloodier nature heats up in Ciudad Juarez and elsewhere in Mexico, top US and Mexican officials are hoping to reduce both pressures on the health system and the ongoing bloodshed.