Microsoft Research, TWAS and AAS reward three African computer scientists showing potential to accelerate economic development in Africa.

Big changes are taking place in science in the developing world. But not all countries are sharing in the growth of scientific knowledge, says Mohamed H.A. Hassan, executive director of TWAS. He spoke at a ministerial roundtable at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences held prior to the World Science Forum.

The world of science communications is changing at an unprecedented pace, says Nature’s editor-in-chief Philip Campbell, "making it hard to predict what the future will hold."

Despite small strides in advancing research and development, the Arab region still lags far behind other regions in investments in science, technology and innovation.

Assessments on ecological footprints are blurring the distinctions between developed and developing countries, says Mathis Wackernagel, president of the Global Footprint Network.

TWAS editor Daniel Schaffer is in Paris at 'Berlin7', an international open access conference held at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonnes, where he spoke to Zhang Xiaolin, executive director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Science Library.

IMPA's long-standing programme to improve the teaching of highschool mathematics in Brazil has turned to the internet to help advance its goals.

Science and diplomacy are closer than we think, argues David Miliband, UK foreign secretary, at the IAP General Assembly taking place at The Royal Society in London. TWAS editor Daniel Schaffer is reporting.

Economics professor Partha Dasgupta, speaking at the opening session of the IAP International Conference on Biodiversity in London, says we need new economic indicators that take into account the value of ecological systems.

Guo Huadong, director general of the Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discussed the valuable role that science and technology can play in disaster forecasting and management. Guo, who based his remarks on a recent IAP report, 'Natural Disaster Mitigation – A Scientific and Practical Approach', spoke at the IAP General Assembly in London.