News headlines in February 2012, page 19

As 'positive' news flows out of Burma - release of political prisoners, ceasefire talks in ethnic areas, increased freedom, formation of labour unions — people inside the country and exiles have been in heated discussion. What does 'reform' entail and are the changes going to be fully implemented?

The state of Rio de Janeiro in southeast Brazil will introduce a pioneering policy in March to reduce the under-registration of crimes against transvestites and transsexual people, who will be able to identify themselves with their preferred names when they report crimes to the police.

Despite much government fanfare, the drop in Chile's unemployment rate is not enough to satisfy experts or workers, who point to the deeper problems of sporadic work, underemployment and low wages that are aggravating the country's endemic inequality.

Vaccines against drug addiction appear to be a better strategy than the repressive worldwide 'war on drugs', but first they must overcome resistance from pharmaceutical laboratories and secure financial backing, scientists say.

Caribbean islands are doubly exposed by the convergence of weak economies heavily dependent on foreign imports and greater vulnerability to climate change, according to ECLAC Executive Director Alicia Bárcena.

State and local Commissions on the Status of Women (CSW) are facing shrinking budgets and even total elimination at a time when women are some of the hardest hit by the financial crisis, says Susan Rose, vice chair of Human Rights Watch's Santa Barbara Committee.

Mariem Mint Ahmedou sits cross-legged on a worn-out carpet in a basic tent built with mud bricks and layers of sewn-together fabric. Her eight-month-old twins, Hussein and Hassan, lie weakly against her body. Both of them have been malnourished since birth, because Beydar, undernourished herself, cannot produce enough breast milk to feed them.

Mali's political parties have jointly called on the government to hold a forum for peace and reconciliation as a way to end a Tuareg rebellion launched several weeks ago. The uprising has forced around 55,000 people out of their homes, the majority fleeing the fighting in the north of the country, but others are seeking shelter from ethnic tension and violent demonstrations in cities in the south.

Amid increasing reports of physical abuses resulting in deaths in youth detention and correctional centres across the country, an Indonesian state commission has embarked on a national campaign to scrap detention and imprisonment of children altogether.

Deadly clashes between police and youth in the Northeastern town of Taza last week suggest that, far from bringing change and stability, Morocco’s new government is simply repeating mistakes of the past, stoking tensions and fuelling a spate of protests against the regime.