100-Dollar Dream Teases Bangladesh Workers

On the industrial outskirts of Dhaka, which is dotted with big and small clothes factories, thousands of workers took to the streets demanding a minimum wage rise.

Netanyahu Stakes Out Maximalist Position on Iran

Like the proverbial skunk at the garden party, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his turn at the podium at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday to pour scorn on Iran’s new president, 96 hours after a smiling Hassan Rouhani departed New York after a momentous four-day stay that raised unprecedented hopes for détente with the United States and the West.

Hunger Decreases, but Unevenly, U.N. Reports

Some 842 million people still suffer from chronic hunger, according to the State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI 2013), published Tuesday by the three Rome-based U.N. food agencies.

U.S. Government Shutdown Could Hit Foreign Aid

A deadlocked U.S. Congress proved unable to settle budgetary differences late Monday evening, leading to a federal government shutdown that could soon be felt by foreign aid programmes and their recipients.

U.S.-Africa Trade Mostly Benefits Oil, Textiles

With a key U.S.-Africa trade agreement up for renewal in 2015, advocates on all sides of the issue say current policies are rife with shortcomings that leave many African businesses out in the cold.

From Africa to Brazil in the Hold of a Ship

Ornela Mbenga Sebo, a young Congolese woman, escaped in 2011 from a rebel camp in an unidentified location in Africa where she was being held as a slave and stowed away in the garbage bay of a merchant ship, with no idea where it was headed.

Q&A: “This Is Not Huntington’s World”

While a fine wine might get better with age, the same is not true for flawed political theories.

WTO: Stingy with the Poor, Generous with the Rich

A fight taking place in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations towards the Bali Ministerial Conference shows how the rules on agriculture allow developed countries to continue to shell out huge subsidies while penalising farmers in developing countries.

Disabled Make Do with Scraps from the Aid Table

Amidst the incomprehensible suffering that followed the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, international aid agencies rushed to provide services to the displaced and injured.

Hunger Decreases, but Unevenly, U.N. Reports

Some 842 million people still suffer from chronic hunger, according to the State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI 2013), published Tuesday by the three Rome-based U.N. food agencies. As high as this number seems, it should still be considered progress, since it is is down from 868 million last year.

U.S.-Africa Trade Mostly Benefits Oil, Textiles

With a key U.S.-Africa trade agreement up for renewal in 2015, advocates on all sides of the issue say current policies are rife with shortcomings that leave many African businesses out in the cold. Since its enactment in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has sought to create trade opportunities for small- and medium-sized African businesses by helping them export their products to the U.S. market.

From Toilet to Tap for Water Scarce City

In a few years, residents of the eThekwini municipality in the port city of Durban in South Africa could be drinking water that was once flushed down their toilets, as authorities are planning to recycle some of the municipality’s sewage and purify it to drinking quality standards.

People Pressure Piles up to Cleanse the Philippines

Under the reformist leadership of President Benigno Aquino III who has placed “good governance” initiatives at the heart of his administration’s agenda, the Philippines has enjoyed an unprecedented period of economic revival and political stability. 

Egypt Paying a Price for ‘Cheap’ Labour

Egyptian workers who mobilised during the 2011 uprising that toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak have used the past two and a half years to organise into unions, press for labour reforms, and strike for better wages and working conditions.

Ninja Citizen Journalists Don’t Claim to Be Impartial

The citizen journalists of Midia Ninja, who have covered the protests that broke out across Brazil in June right in the thick of things, are part of a new kind of reporting: one that is proud to be biased.

Ninja Citizen Journalists Don’t Claim to Be Impartial

 The citizen journalists of Midia Ninja, who have covered the protests that broke out across Brazil in June right in the thick of things, are part of a new kind of reporting: one that is proud to be biased.

G-15 Calls for Heightened South-South Cooperation

The G-15 foreign ministers, meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly last week, renewed their commitment for enhanced engagement and cooperation among themselves, as well as with the relevant Geneva-based institutions. Their primary focus was on newly emerging areas of cooperation in step with the evolving post-2015 development agenda.

Push for Transparency in U.S.-Mexico Drilling Agreement

As lawmakers here prepare to take up legislation that would green-light a U.S.-Mexico agreement on oil-and-gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, development and rights groups are urging them to reject a proposal that would exempt involved companies from new disclosure requirements.

BOOKS: Americana, a Filipino Story

One of the fastest-growing Asian immigrant groups in the United States, Filipinos are perceived as the most likely to assimilate with ease.  That is, of course, if you’re looking from the outside in.

/CORRECTED REPEAT/Healthcare Loses Support in Somalia

Maryan Yusuf, 39, is weak and barely able to speak because of her excruciating pain. A few hours earlier she delivered a baby at Somalia’s Afgooye Hospital, where essential drugs are dwindling at an alarming rate.

‘Interrogating’ an Assad Militiaman

The prisoner is led, handcuffed and dirty, into what until last year served as a school. “A shabiha,” said one of the anti-regime rebels in the room. “We found him two days ago at a checkpoint.”