U.S.: Budget Cuts Threaten Handful of Beds for Homeless Youth

When Malika, 21, fled her parents' house in the U.S. state of Virginia three years ago to escape a forced marriage in Iran, she did not expect to end up homeless and living in shelters.

Least Developed Countries Stagnate Under Ailing Strategies

A report released Tuesday by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for the Fourth Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) slated to take place in Istanbul, Turkey in early May expressed a strong critique of the snail's pace of development, but stopped just short of calling for radical new policies to be implemented.

New Yorkers Rage Against the Cuts

In the shadow of towering colonial-style office buildings of the world's most powerful financial district, a crowd over 5,000-strong amassed outside Manhattan's City Hall Thursday, chanting "The people united will never be defeated!"

Swazi Government Challenged

Swaziland's autocratic government is facing a growing challenge as a sharp decline in customs revenue forces budget cuts. Thousands of protesters brought the Swazi capital of Mbabane to a standstill Friday as they took to the streets to oppose imminent salary cuts to civil service wages - and demand changes to the country's government.

EUROPE: Greek Tragedy, Act II

Fears are growing that in the coming months Greece will face increasing difficulty in responding to its debt obligations, despite the ambitious structural adjustment package that was introduced last year.

AFRICA: World Bank Identifies Five Poor States as “Growth Poles”

Africa faces an unprecedented opportunity to transform itself, says the World Bank. Its new strategy for the continent aims to leverage growing South-South investment to ensure more inclusive development, while identifying five poor states as "Growth Poles".

EU: Family Ties with Rich Cousin Germany Turn Bittersweet

In terms of economics, the European Union (EU) includes one country - Germany - that is both friend and foe to the 27-member community, and their relationship has turned markedly bittersweet on the road to recovery after the global economic crisis.

BALKANS: Rising Anti-EU Sentiment

Anti-European Union (EU) sentiment is growing across the Balkan countries that have proclaimed membership in the European family of nations as their highest political goal during the past decade. It is caused by prolonged economic hardships that still bite hard, failure of authorities to fight widespread corruption and political deadlock in creating stable governments.

KENYA: Flower Industry Still Not Back in Full Bloom

Kenya’s flower exporters are cautiously optimistic that the prospects for their industry will improve during 2011 after disaster struck in the form of volcanic ash and adverse winter weather conditions in 2010. But prices will be lower as the global economic recession still weighs heavily on their primary market, the European Union.

Axe Descends on U.S. Overseas Aid

With U.S. President Barack Obama's release of his Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 foreign affairs budget Monday and a proposal currently in the U.S. House of Representatives for massive cuts in FY 2011 international spending, the fight to sustain U.S. aid abroad is intensifying.

US: Prisoners Have No Choice But to Drink Arsenic-Laced Water

When Kern Valley State Prison opened in 2005, the 379 million dollar facility in Central California was hailed as "state of the art". But within weeks of opening, a major problem was discovered: its water was poisoned - containing roughly twice the federally permitted level of arsenic, a known carcinogen.

TRADE: “Poor Countries Have Already Given Enough in Doha Round”

South Africa has expressed sharp concern over concerted attempts by leading industrialised countries, particularly the U.S. and the European Union (EU), to extract onerous commitments from developing countries as a condition to concluding the stalled Doha Round trade negotiations.

Q&A: Political Support Needs Financial Backing

"The agenda for women's rights and empowerment in each country must be supported by the political leadership," says Norah Matovu-Winyi, Executive Director, African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).

ECONOMY-LATIN AMERICA: The Downside of Strong Currencies

Latin America returned in 2010 to the strong economic growth it enjoyed over the past decade, after only a minimal slowdown during the global crisis that broke out in 2008. But the weakness of the dollar relative to local currencies is a cause for concern among governments and sectors that produce goods for export.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: ‘Signs of Change’ Says Bolivia’s Morales as World Social Forum Opens

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Dakar on Sunday to mark the start of the annual World Social Forum. Activists carried colorful banners denouncing land grabs, restrictive immigration laws, agricultural subsidies in Europe and the U.S. and many other issues.

Q&A: Looking to a World Without LDCs

Maximising time, energy and resources toward improving living conditions for millions of people in the poorest countries of the world - the so-called Least Developed Countries (LDCs) - means that the "business-as-usual" approach must yield to a holistic strategy, says Arjun Karki, a longtime expert on grassroots, democratic peace-building and development.

Global Crisis Strengthens WSF’s Legitimacy

European non-governmental organisations combating neo-liberal globalisation find their position vindicated by the ongoing socio-economic and environmental crisis upsetting the world.

ECONOMY: Same Old System Can Only Produce New Crisis

The world is in financial crisis thanks to the reckless behaviour of bankers, say campaigners, yet ordinary people are picking up the tab. Debt activists fear the recession will provide cover for a fresh round of toxic debt to countries in the South.

Rising Food Prices May Not Signal New Crisis

As food prices rose for the seventh month in a row in January, contributing to recent popular unrest in the Middle East and a spike in commodities purchases by developing countries last week, some analysts are quick to make comparisons to the dry years of 2007-2008.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Dakar to Dhaka

Is it more important to build links with African civil society groups or concentrate on existing networks in the South Asian region? That is the dilemma before Indian delegates heading for the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal, and some who have opted out.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: A Time of More Complex Global Crises

Neoliberalism and the attendant financial globalisation were a common enemy that unified and mobilised activists of the most diverse tendencies who founded, ten years ago in Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, the World Social Forum (WSF) as a space to meet, reflect and debate, under the slogan "Another World Is Possible".