IPS News

Ripple effects of the Egyptian uprising are now spreading to Gaza, where some groups are planning a new rally next week.

As the number of people living in poverty swell to over two billion, Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan makes a strong argument for human rights to be made central to development and eradication of poverty.

It has been a bad week for the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month. During the week the last meeting in the formal round of pre- Copenhagen talks collapsed in Barcelona.

Countries emerging from conflict need more international assistance to rebuild their food production, since hunger and scarcity may prompt a return to fighting, United Nations and development officials warned this week.

Warming seawater, melting sea ice and glaciers, sea level rise, storm intensification, changes in ocean currents, growing "dead zones", and ocean acidification are just some of the signs that the oceans that cover 71 percent of our watery planet are changing.