POLITICS-US: Obama Surges in Race for Union Support

With at least 10 national unions giving their formal endorsements to Democratic Senator Barack Obama in his quest for the presidency, Republican rival John McCain finds himself lagging badly in the battle for labour's support in the November election.

ASIA: Rice Prices Add to Inflation Woes

In Singapore, where almost 100 percent of foodstuff is imported, the government has allowed private importers to increase buffer stocks. The Philippines, the world’s largest importer of rice, has been busy shopping for the grain from producers such as China and Pakistan.

CANADA: Influx of Migrant Workers Opens Door to Abuses

Western Canada's construction boom, spurred on by the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and oil sands development in Alberta, has led to a massive increase in foreign temporary workers coming to the region.

BOOKS-US: Blogging Brobdingnagian Blowback

It was neoconservative pundit Charles Krauthammer who, in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, inaugurated Washington's unipolar moment.

Q&A: Denying Antiretrovirals To Migrants Hurts Us All

South Africa has become a destination for people from across the continent and beyond. But in spite of migrants having a legal right to free antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV, they are being turned away from government clinics.

RIGHTS: Ten Years On, Some Step Towards Justice

Human rights organisations all over the world will celebrate the tenth anniversary Jul. 17 of the adoption of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is the first and only permanent international criminal tribunal to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

MIDEAST: Israel Targets Hamas Orphanages

Shopping malls. Schools. Medical centres. Charities, orphanages. Soup kitchens. These are the latest targets in the campaign the Israeli military is waging against Hamas in the West Bank.

DEVELOPMENT: Live With EU's Contradictions

The European Union has "to live with" how its agricultural policies can cause hardship in poor countries, the man in charge of the bloc's development aid efforts has stated.

RIGHTS: Uygurs Jailed From Guantanamo to Beijing

As a federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. military improperly labeled a Chinese Muslim held at Guantanamo Bay an "enemy combatant" and ordered that he be released, transferred or granted a new hearing, an influential Congressional committee delivered a scathing criticism of China's closed trial of 15 men on terrorism charges - resulting in the immediate execution of two defendants, three suspended death sentences, and 10 sentences of life imprisonment.

BOOKS: Muqtada – One Man’s Meat, Another Man’s Poison

"He is an American spy," the militiamen shouted at Patrick Cockburn four years ago in Kufa, south of Baghdad. He could have hardly imagined that he would live to write a book on the very people who kidnapped him.

DEATH PENALTY-US: ‘Volunteers’ Skipping Long March to Death

In the first four months since the U.S. Supreme Court signaled executions may continue on the country's 3,200-strong death row, at least two inmates will have jumped the queue after convincing judges that they were competent to drop their appeals and seek speedy executions.

RIGHTS: Cluster Bomb Treaty’s Moral Force May Deter U.S.

After refusing to join 111 nations in a treaty banning cluster munitions this past May, the George W. Bush administration recently made public its new policy on the controversial weapon.

CHINA: Olympics Party Disrupts Life for Beijingers

With less than a month to go before fireworks herald the beginning of China’s Olympics party on Aug. 8, the security overdrive and image concerns of Beijing authorities have resulted in so many restrictions that local residents are beginning to wish that the games were already over.

FINANCE: Lobbyists Enlist Public in Commodities Speculation Fight

Energy traders and oil-consuming businesses are enlisting the public in a tug-of-war over proposals to tame fuel and other commodity prices.

TRADE: EU Still Targeting Poorest States for Inclusion in EPAs

The European Commission is still targeting those least developed countries that have resisted economic partnership agreements (EPAs) by opting for the Everything But Arms trade preference scheme.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Climate Threatens Food Production

Excessive rainfall in some areas and prolonged drought in other areas of Honduras threaten agricultural production and food supplies, warn farmers and the International Monetary Fund.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Kids Sign Charter Against Global Warming

In the schools of the state of Mexico, neighboring Mexico City, there is a charter circulating in which the students commit themselves to 24 actions aimed at halting global climate change.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Free Refrigerator Replacement

Brazilian electricity companies are donating more than 30,000 new refrigerators each year to poor families as part of the national plan to eliminate chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which damage the Earth's ozone layer.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Detox Bacteria Discovered

Research conducted in Argentina has proved that some bacteria are capable of breaking down and detoxifying otherwise polluting liquid waste from tanneries and paper, textile and chemical industries.

G8: Add Another Five – In a Way

Last week's G8 summit meetings in Toyako on the Japanese island of Hokkaido were critical not only for North-South but also South-South relations and their impact on a globalised world.

G8: Old Targets Set in New Language

After months of ministerial meetings that culminated in the summit of the world's seven major industrial democracies and Russia (G8) last week, the focus shifts back to United Nations negotiations on a new post-2012 climate treaty regime.