TRADE: Mexico Exhorts US and EU to Avert WTO Fiasco in Cancun

Mexico is placing the onus on the United States and the European Union to prevent the failure of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference to take place in September in the Mexican resort city of Cancún, says the host country's trade negotiator Sergio Pérez Motta.

DEVELOPMENT: UNDP Says Urgent Action Needed to Meet Poverty Reduction Goals

The low level of development aid from the industrialised North and the obstacles that rich countries maintain against farm products from the South, as well as continuing discrimination against women in many parts of the world, are key factors undermining progress towards the aim of halving global poverty by 2015, according to the UNDP’s annual human development report.

AGRICULTURE-EU: The Controversy Has Just Begun

The agreed reform of European Union (EU) farm policy and its possible influence on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks was received with caution by government officials while drawing harsh words of criticism from civil society groups.

RIGHTS: Manual Against Torture Cites Successful Case Studies

A new manual aimed at preventing torture offers simple techniques and presents case studies showing successful actions that have been taken in several countries to combat the problem, which is found across the globe.

RIGHTS: Manual Against Torture Cites Successful Case Studies

A new manual aimed at preventing torture offers simple techniques and presents case studies showing successful actions that have been taken in several countries to combat the problem, which is found across the globe.

ECONOMY: Stronger Growth Needed to Cut Extreme Poverty, Says UN

Only 16 developing countries posted per capita growth higher than three percent in 2002, according to the United Nations annual World Economic and Social Survey.

TRADE: US, Antigua and Barbuda in Dispute over On-Line Gambling

Antigua and Barbuda, a twin-island nation with a total territory of less than 300 sq kms and a population under 70,000, challenged the United States in the WTO Tuesday over the big bucks Internet gambling business.

TRADE: EU Farm Disputes Put Brakes on Doha Round

The repeated breakdowns in the European Union's efforts to reform its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are keeping the entire multilateral trade system on edge and could stymie the Doha Round of international trade negotiations.

LABOUR: Social Security a Rarity for Workers in Poor Countries

Just 20 percent of people in the world coverage for health services and are ensured a basic income in old age or in case of job layoffs, sickness, disability or maternity, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

HEALTH: SARS Epidemic Wanes in China, Few New Cases Worldwide

International and local health officials are breathing a cautious sigh of relief because the SARS situation has improved so dramatically in China, where the epidemic began some seven months ago before expanding to other parts of the world.

TRADE: ‘Geographical Indications’ a New Snag in Agricultural Talks

A new pressure group has appeared on the international trade scenario, with strong backing from the European Union, inserting the "geographical indications" debate into the already troubled but crucial negotiations intended to liberalise trade in agricultural products.

TRADE: Developing Nations Give WTO Negotiations a Push

A group of 26 developing countries has launched an action plan for reactivating the stalled World Trade Organisation negotiations, with sights on the ministerial conference to take place in Mexico in three months.

LABOUR-COLOMBIA: Unionists in the Crossfire

The labour union movement in Colombia is caught between the bullets of guerrillas and paramilitaries and the violations of their freedom of association, say worker leaders taking part in the International Labour Conference this week in Geneva.

DEVELOPMENT: People Are Not Poor by Choice, Says ILO

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is striking a blow to stereotyped notions about the origins of poverty, stressing that the poor are not to blame for this phenomenon that affects nearly half the world population, and that "work is the solution."

DEVELOPMENT: Brazil, Argentina Unify Their International Stance

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva unveiled a new diplomatic approach when he outlined the common positions of his country and Argentina this week before the Group of Eight (G8) most powerful countries and a dozen developing countries.

DEVELOPMENT: Lula, Vajpayee Make Demands of Wealthy G8

One should never squander an opportunity, especially when one can make the truth be heard, said Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defending his participation and that of other developing nation leaders in this year's summit of the Group of Eight (G8) most powerful nations.

DEVELOPMENT: Counter-Summit Issues Desperate Call for Debt Relief

Civil society organisations issued another call to the Group of Eight (G8) most powerful countries to cancel the foreign debt owed by the world's 52 poorest nations - although they do not harbour hopes for a favourable response.

DEVELOPMENT: Counter-Summit Issues Desperate Call for Debt Relief

Civil society organisations issued another call to the Group of Eight (G8) most powerful countries to cancel the foreign debt owed by the world's 52 poorest nations - although they do not harbour hopes for a favourable response.

DEVELOPMENT: Mobilisations against G-8 Summit Get Underway

The reception planned by civil society activists for the annual summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) began Thursday with street protests and cultural events in towns surrounding the French Alpine city of Evian, where the eight heads of state and government will gather Jun. 1-3.

HEALTH: Violence Is a Matter of Public Health – WHO

The 192 member states of the World Health Organisation will begin implementing the agency's recommendations to prevent violence, recognising the broader impacts of a phenomenon that claims the lives of more than 1.6 million people worldwide each year.

HEALTH: Hundreds of Thousands Don’t Make It Past Measles

Measles is often seen as a relatively harmless disease, but there are more than 14 million cases reported each year, which claim the lives of at least 700,000 children, 400,000 of them in Sub-Saharan Africa.