News headlines in May 2010, page 31

In his first one hundred days in office, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo has lobbied hard for international recognition of his government, in order to pull the country out of the isolation it has faced since the Jun. 28, 2009 coup that overthrew Manuel Zelaya.

Portugal is caught in the crossfire between credit rating agencies and international financial speculators who see this country as offering an excellent opportunity to turn a quick profit.

The quest for nuclear disarmament is likely to fail if governments and corporations continue to promote nuclear technologies as a solution to the world's energy needs, say independent experts.

The anti-counterfeit draft policy and law that the East African Community (EAC) is currently considering will ensure access to 'proper' generic medicines and not fakes, EAC secretary general Juma Mwapachu says in defence of a policy which is criticised as blocking affordable and legitimate generic medicines.

If control of the media was not so heavily concentrated in Latin America, the situation of inequality in the region would be more actively challenged, says Martín Becerra, an Argentine media specialist who presented his latest research study here in the Chilean capital this week.

Juha Suoranta had until recently been a professor of sociology, pursuing a quiet academic career in the University of Tampere, unconcerned with issues surrounding asylum for foreigners in trouble.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s disastrous visit this week to Okinawa island, host to the largest U.S. military bases in Japan, has highlighted a rocky road ahead for the country’s much awaited change pledged by the postwar democratic and socialist government that came to power in August 2009.

Faced with rising sea levels, dying coral reefs and decreasing fish stocks, small island developing states (SIDS) are feeling the effects of ocean decline, and they want wealthier countries to do more to ensure the survival of the world’s seas and other waterways.

The longest-serving Philippine president in decades, Gloria Macapagal Arrroyo has seen consistent economic growth during her tenure, and boasts of statistics showing nearly three million jobs created and the country getting 15 percent of the world’s business process outsourcing industry.

Amid mounting evidence that Saturday's aborted car-bombing in New York's Times Square was linked to violent Islamist groups in Pakistan, observers here are expressing concern that recently enhanced cooperation between Washington and Islamabad could be negatively affected.