Trade : Has China been manipulating its currency? (PRIV)
(IPS, Kuala Lumpur)
Many argue that China's impressive growth for last four decades has been due to deliberate exchange rate undervaluation, promoting exports and discouraging imports.

Australia : Bushfires hasten death knell of many native animals and plants (PRIV)
(IPS, Sydney)
The chatter of cockatoos and lorikeets has given way to an eerie silence in smoke enveloped charred landscapes across south-eastern Australia.

Australia : Bushfires bring mounting pressure to reduce greenhouse gases (PRIV)
(IPS, Sydney)
As nature's fury wreaked havoc across Australia, reducing to ashes all that came in its way - people, flora, fauna, picturesque historic towns and villages once popular with local and overseas tourists - it was unlike anything the country had witnessed before.

Zambia : A tale of weather extremes with mixed fortunes (PRIV)
(IPS, Pemba)
It is early Saturday morning and Planeta Hatuleke, a small scale farmer of Pemba District in Southern Zambia, awakens to the comforting sound of rainfall.

Development : Does Africa's food future really lie with young farmers? (PRIV)
(IPS, Ibadan)
Africa will starve or survive on expensive food imports because it is not growing new farmers, research shows.