TOBACCO CONVENTION: Zambia’s Dilemma

Tobacco violates one of the fundamental rights of consumers: the right to safety, argues Muyunda Ililonga, executive secretary of the Zambia Consumers Association (ZACA), who pointed out that tobacco is the only consumer product that kills when used as directed.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Davos and New Orleans, Neoliberal Twins

The Swiss Alpine ski resort of Davos has never suffered a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, which left 1,326 people dead and 6,644 missing after passing through the southeastern U.S. city of New Orleans last August.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Alternative Approaches to Water Management

Neither private nor public, the grassroots water management schemes currently being implemented in some parts of Bolivia are based on the concept of water as a public good, to which everyone has a right, as taught by the country's indigenous people, said activist Tania Quiroz.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Workers Find Own Solution to Jobs Crisis

While corporate executives and world leaders rack their brains this week to come up with solutions for the global employment crisis, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in this Swiss ski resort, a small Mexican trade union resolved the problem through an age-old formula: labour activism.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Disgraceful Distinctions

While the corporate world élite hold their traditional annual meeting in this Swiss alpine resort, civil society organisations again did their best to spoil the party, pointing a symbolic finger at corporate environmental and social irresponsibility. The targets this time were Chevron, Walt Disney and Citigroup.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: “Police Occupation” of Davos Forces Protesters to Act Nationwide

Swiss civil society activists are staging demonstrations throughout the country to voice their opposition to the World Economic Forum and its upcoming annual meeting of the world's business, economic and political elite in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: All Eyes Turn to the East

The World Economic Forum, which hosts an annual gathering of the world's business and political elite in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, will place particular emphasis this year on the rise of China and India as global economic powers.

DEVELOPMENT: An “Award” Corporations Don’t Want to Win

The annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) usually brings juicy benefits for transnational corporations, except for a handful that are singled out for a dubious distinction by civil society groups: the Public Eye Awards for irresponsible corporate behaviour.

CHALLENGES 2005-2006: Back to Work in the WTO, With Empty Hands

Without breaking stride to mull over the disappointment of Hong Kong, the developing countries will be back at work in early January striving to recover the ground lost at the 6th World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference held mid-December in that Asian city.

RIGHTS: No Declaration for Indigenous Peoples This Year – Maybe Next

The long-awaited international declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples may see the light of day in 2006, after more than 10 years of complex efforts by a United Nations working group, experts announced.

HUMAN RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: The Reign of Injustice

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) called for reforms of the Guatemalan justice system, pointing to corrupt practices like the "buying" of verdicts and meddling by political and economic interest groups.

TRADE: Will Agriculture Reform Work for the Poor?

There is little hope that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference set to start next Tuesday in Hong Kong will make significant progress towards the elimination of trade barriers in agriculture, say observers.

TRADE: Activists Take Issue with WTO Decision on Cheap Drugs

A decision by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to make a provisional 2003 agreement allowing poor countries to import affordable generic drugs permanent has drawn criticism from activists.

TRADE: Hong Kong Hangs on a (Cotton) Thread

Cotton could be the main catalyst for failure at the Dec. 13-18 sixth World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference in Hong Kong if the demands of African countries are not addressed.

IRAQ: Int’l Probe into Torture in Iraqi Prison Urgently Needed, Says UN

The United Nations has called for an urgent international investigation into the conditions of detainees in Iraq, after the discovery last weekend of a Baghdad prison where detainees were tortured.

TRADE: Voices of Dissent from the South

The WTO negotiations on the touchy question of agriculture have hit a new snag as groupings of developing countries have come forward to demand that the issues of central importance to them be addressed in any agreements reached.

TRADE: Voices of Dissent from the South

The WTO negotiations on the touchy question of agriculture have hit a new snag as groupings of developing countries have come forward to demand that the issues of central importance to them be addressed in any agreements reached.

US: Human Rights End Where Military Prisons Begin

The United States has locked horns once again with international jurists by continuing to insist that detainees being held for alleged terrorist links at its naval base in Guantánamo, Cuba and dozens of other prisons around the world are not subject to the jurisdiction of international human rights treaties.

HUMAN RIGHTS-US: Dozens of Abu Ghraibs

U.S. human rights groups have denounced before the U.N. Human Rights Committee that there are perhaps dozens of secret detention centres around the world where Washington is holding an unknown number of prisoners as part of its "war on terror".

HUMAN RIGHTS-US: Dozens of Abu Ghraibs

U.S. human rights groups have denounced before the U.N. Human Rights Committee that there are perhaps dozens of secret detention centres around the world where Washington is holding an unknown number of prisoners as part of its "war on terror".

TRADE: All Eyes on the EU

The Doha Round of multilateral trade talks in the WTO have found themselves once again in a deadlock, which has been nearly unanimously blamed this time around on the European Union's disinclination to eliminate the barriers blocking access to its markets by farm products from other countries.