HAVANA, Sep 06 (IPS) - In nearly all of Latin America, illegal abortion is a serious public health problem. But in Cuba, where abortion is legal, it is being overused by teenagers.

MOGADISHU, Sep 06 (IPS) - The system of government remains the biggest political obstacle in Somalia as key political players boycotted the government's current national conference to discuss this country's political future, according to Jaylani Mukhtar, a local academic based in capital Mogadishu.

OSLO, Sep 06 (IPS) - On a sunny day at the end of August, the popular Karl Johans pedestrian street in Oslo pulsed with folk music as three young women and a man played stringed instruments and belted out English and Norwegian lyrics.

WASHINGTON, Sep 05 (IPS) - Even with potential U.S. strikes against Iranian ally Syria looming, Washington and Tehran appear to be preparing for the resumption of nuclear talks.

WASHINGTON, Sep 05 (IPS) - U.S. officials on Wednesday issued strict new guidelines on the use of solitary confinement for detainees being held on immigration charges, the first federal policy decision following a strengthened public debate on the country's unprecedented dependence on "segregated housing".

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 05 (IPS) - A group of about 20 "eminent persons" is to be tasked with an unenviable job: convince eight recalcitrant countries to join the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

SÃO PAULO, Sep 05 (IPS) - Everything indicates that the decisive battle between harnessing hydropower and preserving the Amazon will play out in the Tapajós river basin in Brazil. At stake there are a potential of nearly 30,000 MW and a vital part of the Amazon rainforest.

YAOUNDE, Sep 05 (IPS) - When Francois Biloa fell ill with malaria, his family did what they had always done in the past – they gave him anti-malaria drugs and antibiotics bought from the local market. Only when his condition worsened and he became bedridden and fell unconscious, did his family take him to a local clinic in Cameroon's capital Yaoundé.

CHANGTHANG, India, Sep 05 (IPS) - The famed pashmina shawl that keeps the cold away – in style and at a price – could itself have become the victim of winter. Thousands of goats whose fine wool is weaved into pashmina have perished in extreme cold being associated with climate change.

WASHINGTON, Sep 05 (IPS) - With Congress still deliberating over Barack Obama's request for authorisation to take military action against Syria, the powerful Israel lobby here has taken the lead in pressing the president's case.