Trade : Complicated Doha situation as some push for "June or bust" deadline    (PRIV)
(Martin Khor, Geneva)
As WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, EC Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and a few others push hard to hold a mini-Ministerial to conclude modalities in agriculture and non-agriculture market access (NAMA) within the next few weeks at the WTO, there is a lot of uncertainty over when or whether this will happen.

United Nations : Human Rights Council to discuss world food crisis    (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The UN Human Rights Council will be holding a special session on 23 May to discuss "the negative impact on the realization of the right to food of the worsening of the world food crisis, caused inter alia by the soaring food prices".

Latin America : Food summit declares regional emergency    (PRIV)
(IPS, Managua)
The presidential summit on "Food for Life", held in Nicaragua, has ended with 16 Latin American countries agreeing to produce more food and sell it at low prices through strategic alliances, amid criticisms of free markets and capitalism.

United States : Lawmakers seek probe of "Media Generals"    (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
As US television networks continue their silence about their use of retired military officers to "sell" progress in Iraq, members of the US House of Representatives are calling on the Defence Department Inspector General to investigate the Pentagon-sponsored public relations effort.

United States : Hundreds arrested protesting police abuses    (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
She was as happy and excited about getting married that day as any young person in love. But fate had something else waiting. Just a few hours ahead of her wedding, on November 25, 2006, New York City police officers killed her fiancee Sean Bell in a hail of 50 bullets.

Africa : From kerosene to the LED, O-HUB and O-BOX    (PRIV)
(IPS, Accra)
In many of Africa's towns and villages, smoky kerosene lamps are all that keeps the darkness at bay after sunset. However, kerosene is a dangerous and increasingly expensive source of light for Africans who do not have access to electricity - about three-quarters of those living on the continent, according to the World Bank.

Australia : Women in top posts but discrimination prevails    (PRIV)
(IPS, Melbourne)
While some have hailed the recent announcement that a woman is to be Australia's next governor-general as a breakthrough for women - the first time that the English monarch's representative in this country will not be male - advocacy groups argue that discrimination against women remains prevalent.