Climate : BASIC countries reaffirm existing UN climate architecture (PRIV)
(Chee Yoke Ling, Beijing)
The environment ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India and China stressed in a joint statement on 27 February that the Cancun Agreements from last December's United Nations climate talks in Mexico "were not a substitute for the Bali Road Map" and thus, the latter "continues to be the template for future work" of governments.

Trade : Divergent views on sunset reviews at Rules talks (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The Chair of the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules, at an informal meeting on 28 February, reported to the membership on his recent small-group consultations last week on the Chair's texts relating to the Anti-dumping and Subsidies Agreements.

United Nations : Arab civil society calls for no-fly zone over Libya (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Besieged Libyan leader Muammar el-Gaddafi, who has incurred the wrath of his own people and drawn punitive strictures from the international community, is now under attack by a coalition of over 200 Arab non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including a group of intellectuals from across the Middle East.

Libya : West, UN turn up heat on Gaddafi (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
International efforts to strangle Muammar Gaddafi's regime are intensifying, as Western leaders, including US President Barack Obama, call for the autocrat's immediate departure, while the Pentagon and key allies consider contingency plans for a potential no-fly zone over the North African nation.

Canada : Security perimetre talks an "end run around democracy"? (PRIV)
(IPS, Toronto)
The just-announced Canada-US "security perimetre" (security perimeter) discussions are comprehensive and potentially wide-ranging and could impact Canadian sovereignty. However, the domestic opposition appears to have been caught off-guard.

Environment : Warming hits food chain at the bottom of the world (PRIV)
(IPS, San Diego)
Wildebeests have the Serengeti, and tiny krill the sea ice. But in the upside-down world of the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the biggest shows on earth would pass unheeded except for the work of a band of polar scientists seeking clues to what changes in temperatures and sea ice levels mean to wildlife.

United Nations : Educate the girl, empower the woman (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Picture a mother, hunching over a field with a Medieval-style hoe in hand, spending day after day tilling the soil under a beating hot sun - only to retire home to care for her family without electricity or running water.