JOHANNESBURG, Dic 19 (IPS) - The five leading developing nations grouped in the BRICS alliance – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are planning to intensify efforts to collect accurate trade data, so they can get a better picture of trade flows.

WASHINGTON, Dic 19 (IPS) - Neo-conservatives and leaders of the powerful Israel lobby are mobilising their forces in what looks like an all-out campaign to pre-empt the nomination by President Barack Obama of an outspoken former Republican senator and decorated Vietnam War hero to replace Leon Panetta as secretary of defence.

WASHINGTON, Dic 18 (IPS) - Even as U.S. and French officials suggest that a United Nations resolution on military intervention in Mali could come by the end of the week, concerns are rising that such action could do far more harm than good.

UNITED NATIONS, Dic 18 (IPS) - Robin J. Hayes has always been one to break boundaries. Most recently, she is doing so with her latest documentary film, "Black and Cuba", which explores how African-Americans and Afro-Cubans can learn from each other about community-building and public debates on racism in their countries.

NORTHAMPTON, U.S., Dic 18 (IPS) - Soon after President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, hundreds of leaders of the global medical community wrote an open letter to him, and to newly elected Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, urging them to make the abolition of nuclear weapons their highest priority:

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, Dic 18 (IPS) - No one knows exactly when they will show up, but when they do, it's impossible not to notice them. In one of the busiest street markets in this bustling city in eastern Bolivia, a handful of members of the Ayoreo indigenous community periodically take over a portion of the sidewalk.

WARSAW, Dic 18 (IPS) - Twenty-two years ago today, on Dec. 18, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

TOKYO, Dic 18 (IPS) - The return to power of Japan's conservative and hard-line Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Sunday indicates that voters traded urgently needed social and environmental reforms for traditional male-led leadership, according to analysts here.

SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS, Dic 18 (IPS) - The victory of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the recent Japanese elections, with Shinzo Abe coming back as prime minister after five years, will probably mean an escalation of tensions with China. Both countries are embarking on a fresh burst of nationalism, but for different reasons.

BULAWAYO, Dic 18 (IPS) - Farmers cannot wait much longer for negotiators to reach an agreement on including a work programme on agriculture in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. And until one is approved, "it will continue to be difficult for farmers to produce the food needed, and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions."