U.S. Provides Cover for Use of Banned Weapons in Yemen

The United States is providing a thinly-veiled cover virtually legitimising the use of cluster bombs – banned by an international convention – by Saudi Arabia and its allies in their heavy fighting against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Future Tastes Like Chocolate for Rural Salvadoran Women

Idalia Ramón and 10 other rural Salvadoran women take portions of the freshly ground chocolate paste, weigh it, and make chocolates in the shapes of stars, rectangles or bells before packaging them for sale.

Opinion: Misinformation Hides Real Dimension of Greek “Bailout”

The long saga on Greece is apparently over – European institutions have given Athens a third bailout of 86 billion euros which, combined with the previous two, makes a grand total of 240 billion euros.

Opinion: The Writing on the Western Wall

The writing on the Western Wall is evident to most Israelis: “דמוגרפיה היא גורל” or “demography is destiny”. Those unwilling to acknowledge the prophetic message are either deceiving themselves or simply ignoring it in order to avoid facing the implications of demography for Israel’s future.

Native Protest Camp in Argentine Capital Fights for Land and Visibility

The indigenous camp installed six months ago in the Argentine capital is virtually invisible to passersby who drive or walk quickly around it. The protesters are demanding the return of their land in the northeastern province of Formosa, which has not been fully demarcated and is caught in a web of conflicting economic interests.

U.N. Marks Humanitarian Day Battling Its Worst Refugee Crisis

The United Nations is commemorating World Humanitarian Day with “inspiring” human interest stories of survival – even as the world body describes the current refugee crisis as the worst for almost a quarter of a century.

Time to Work Out a Plan C for Greece

Just over a month ago, Greek citizens were asked to go to the polls for a referendum that posed the country with an unprecedented existential dilemma and challenged the EU with the possibility of its collapse.

Presalt Oil Drives Technological Development in Brazil

The extraction of deepwater oil, the most abundant kind in Brazil, is costly but foments technological and industrial development, requiring increasingly complex production equipment and techniques.

Latin America Should Lead in Protecting the Planet’s Oceans

Latin America should assume a position of global leadership by adopting effective measures to protect the oceans, which are threatened by illegal fishing, the impacts of climate change, and pollution caused by acidification and plastic waste.

Kashmir: Where a Pilgrimage Threatens a Delicate Ecosystem

As he struggled to find a section of the stream clean enough to rinse off his muddy shoes, Mohan Kumar, a Hindu pilgrim on his way to the holy Amarnath shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir, gazed with despair over the filth that lay thick on the landscape.

Designed to Fail: Gaza’s Reconstruction Plan

The rubble of twisted concrete and metal bakes in the hot Mediterranean sun of a regional heat wave.

Clan Wars Increase Displacement, Hinder Development in Papua New Guinea

The charred foundations are all that is left of the homes that made up Kenemote village in the mountainous Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific Islands.

Zimbabwe’s Forest Carbon Programme Not All It Seems

The efficacy of attempts to sustainably manage forests and conserve and enhance forest carbon stocks in Zimbabwe is increasingly coming under scrutiny as new research warns that the politics of access and control over forests and their carbon is challenging conventional understanding.

Fresh Leadership at IPS: Turning a New Leaf

The newly-elected Board of IPS-Inter Press Service, chaired by former Austrian ambassador Dr Walther Lichem, has appointed a new Director-General by acclamation.

U.N. to Unleash “Power of Education” to Fight Intolerance, Racism

The United Nations is planning to launch a global campaign against the spread of intolerance, extremism, racism and xenophobia -- largely by harnessing the talents of the younger generation.

Widowhood in Papua New Guinea Brings an Uncertain Future

It has only been six months since Iveti, 37, lost her husband of 18 years, but already she is facing hardship and worry about the future.

Caribbean Artists Raise Their Voices for Climate Justice

Award-winning St. Lucian poet and playwright Kendel Hippolyte thinks that Caribbean nationals should view the Earth as their mother.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Mayors Plead for a Nuclear Weapons Free World

Seventy years after the brutal and militarily unwarranted atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, a nuclear weapons free world is far from within reach.

Money, Knowledge and Controversy in Brazil’s Development Bank

Brazil’s rush to build hydroelectric dams, refineries, railways, ports and other megaprojects since the last decade, not only at home but in other countries as well, has been fueled by the sheer volume of financing from its development bank.

Obama Takes Lead on Climate Change Ahead of U.N. Talks in Paris

This week, U.S. President Barack Obama formally unveiled the details of his Clean Power Plan (CPP), a comprehensive carbon-cutting strategy he described as “the biggest and most important step…ever taken to combat climate change” in a prior video address posted on Facebook.

Unique Alliance Between Gauchos and Environmentalists Protects Argentina’s Pampas

The traditions of Argentina’s gauchos or cowboys have joined together with modern agricultural technology in a unique alliance between stockbreeders and environmentalists aimed at preserving biodiversity in the pampas, boosting productivity, and enhancing the flavour of this South America’s country’s famous beef.