SUDAN: Bombing the Homeless

Hawa Jundi sat on the ground outside a makeshift shelter where she and her family now live. A violent storm was moving in and lightning streaked toward the earth as the wind began blowing hard against the tarpaulin tied to a frame of sticks.

Future of Microfinance Is Bigger Than Just Loans

Microfinance initiatives to fund development could benefit from reinvigorating their aims and taking on new, integrated approaches, according to experts at the 2011 International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy in Montreal.

THE END OF RECOVERY AND THE START OF A NEW GLOBAL DOWNTURN

It is growing increasingly likely that the world will face renewed risks of instability and slowdown before fully recovering from the so-called Great Recession. This is largely because the fragility and imbalances that have built up over recent years as a result of misguided policies in the US and Europe cannot be easily undone, regardless of the policy pursued today.

GHANA: Former Convicts Find New Hope

At the age of 56, Frazer Ayee has a lot to look back on. He has been an armed robber and a kidnapper. He was involved in uprisings in Togo and Liberia. In 1988 he was sentenced to death by Ghana’s defunct tribunal system, a brainchild of then dictator Jerry John Rawlings.

Occupy Times Square by Christian Papesch

Oct. 15 marked a "Global Day of Action" called by the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. Organisers say protests took place in 15,000 cities worldwide. From Tel Aviv to Berlin, from Rome to Hong Kong, thousands of demonstrators demanded social justice and criticized banks and capitalism. In New York City, where OWS has occupied Zucotti Park for a month now, tens of thousands participated in diverse marches that converged for a final rally at Times Square. IPS correspondent Christian Papesch caught the ambience as the occupation took over one of New York City's most famous tourist attractions: Times Square.

EL SALVADOR: The Uphill Fight for a Disability Pension

Eric Saúl Majano stares blankly up at the ceiling in the government office in the Salvadoran capital that he is visiting to seek a disability pension, since he has been unable to work since 2002 due to schizophrenia. But achieving his goal will not be easy.

Syrian National Council Seeks Legitimacy At Home and Abroad

As the death toll from more than six months of popular unrest climbs past the 3,000 mark, the opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad is intensifying efforts to present a unified face to both the outside world and the Syrian people.

CANADA: Anti-Smuggling Law Punishes Victims, Critics Charge

A former immigration officer and a refugee lawyer both agree on one issue regarding a controversial Canadian bill: The government's plan to expedite anti-human smuggling legislation is unlikely to deter the flood of undocumented migrants to the country and instead bolsters Ottawa's stature as tough on protecting national borders.

MIDEAST: Freedom Is a Move to a Larger Prison

Rawda Odeh had mixed feelings when she heard the news that her son, 33- year-old Loai Mohammad Ahmed Odeh, was going to be released from prison as a result of the recently brokered prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Occupy Wall Street Protests March on Midtown, and the World

Activists from the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City flooded Times Square on Saturday as part of a global day of action, with protesters packing the sidewalks and some streets as far as the eye could see in every direction, centered on the plaza where the famous ball drops on New Year's Eve.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Studying the Effects of Climate Change on Coffee

An experimental study by the state-run Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) will attempt to determine the impacts of climate change on coffee crops.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Temporary Ban on Shrimp Fishing

The Argentine Subsecretariat of Fisheries has placed a temporary ban on fishing in two areas rich in shrimp, the country’s main fisheries export, due to the appearance of undersized specimens.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Cattle Farmers Aid in Reforestation

The Cattle Farmers Association of Apacilagua, in the southern department of Choluteca, will join in the efforts for the reforestation and recovery of river basins to mitigate the soil degradation caused by livestock raising in this region of Honduras.

MIDEAST: Prisoners Deal Changes Rules of Conflict

Israel's prison authority has begun processing the first batch of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to be swapped on Tuesday for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who's been held in captivity by Hamas-affiliated groups for more than five years.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Women Call the Shots on Mega Copper Mine

Whether the world’s largest open-cut mine on this island territory of Papua New Guinea (PNG) will resume copper and gold production, after being mothballed for 22 years, will depend on how satisfied matrilineal landowners are with the proposals.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Refugees Consider a Model for Return

In a new project that has tackled one of the most divisive issues plaguing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a diverse group of academics, architects, urban planners and Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups are examining how the right of return of Palestinian refugees can be implemented on the ground.

Wall Street stays occupied by Christian Papesch

NEW YORK CITY, October 14, 2011 (IPS) – The scheduled evacuation of Zucotti Park, where the Occupy Wall Street Movement (OWS) has been camped for almost one month now, was cancelled Friday, due to massive resistance by the protesters. According to OWS, about 3,000 people gathered this morning in and around the park to prevent the police from closing down the occupation. In a letter sent to the movement this morning, New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg cancelled the evacuation that had been requested by the private company that owns the park because “(a)fter weeks of occupation, the conditions at the Park have deteriorated to unsanitary and unsafe levels.” Occupy Wall Street had published the plans of the City Council and the police on their website and received major expressions of support from around the country, including a petition with more than 300,000 signatures. On Saturday, the protesters, who denounce corporate political influence and social injustice, announced an "international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%." Demonstrations are supposed to take place in over 951 cities in 82 countries.

Protesters “Occupy Wall Street”

 

TUNISIA: Islamists Rise Uncertainly After Repression

Aggressively repressed and forced underground by the recently deposed dictator Zine Abadine Ben Ali, the Tunisian Islamist party Ennahda is poised to become the dominant force in Tunisian politics.

TRADE: Developing Countries Out in the Cold at WTO

Developing countries, particularly from Africa, are concerned about attempts by industrialised nations to change the negotiating dynamic of the World Trade Organization.

PAKISTAN: Gun City Profits From Killings

'Gun city' lies just a 40-minute drive from Peshawar, capital of the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city, Darra Adamkhel, lives off a thriving trade in making and selling guns.