Globalisation

ECONOMY: Remittances Could Produce ‘Financial Democracy’

By IPS Correspondents
Encouraged by the increasing flow of remittances from workers overseas to their relatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, the region's development bank is urging commercial banks to offer more services to people once considered too poor to even command a small loan.

FINANCE: Lenders Urge World Bank to Reject Oil, Mining Pullout

By Emad Mekay
International investment banks are lobbying the World Bank to rebuff the recommendations of an independent study that urged the global lender to bail out of gas, oil and mining projects.

ECONOMY-NIGERIA: Putting the Oil Industry in Local Hands a Slippery Business

By Sam Olukoya
Oil is the undisputed kingpin of Nigeria's economy, contributing over 90 percent of its export earnings. But more than four decades after the start of oil extraction in Nigeria, the industry remains in foreign hands - much to the frustration of local entrepreneurs.

TRADE: Activists Assess Post-NAFTA Progress

By Marty Logan
A decade ago, activists from both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border joined hands - many for the first time - to fight a proposed free trade deal that, to little surprise, was adopted by governments in the two countries, plus Canada.

RIGHTS: Zimbabwe and the World Bank Under Scrutiny at CIVICUS

By IPS Correspondents
Human rights activists from Zimbabwe have called on African leaders to condemn what they describe as ongoing human rights violations in their country. This came during the biennial meeting of the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), which ended Thursday (Mar. 25).

IRAQ PROTESTS: From Spain, Eyes Turn to Italy

By IPS Correspondents
Spain and Italy saw some of the biggest demonstrations Saturday to mark a year since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

U.S.: Hub of 1960s Protests Turns Quiet

By Amantha Perera
Walking through the famous Sproul Plaza at the University of California in Berkeley, it is hard to imagine it as the place where thousands gathered in the late 1960s to protest against the Vietnam War.

ECONOMY: Global Supermarkets Elbow Aside Small Farmers

By Emad Mekay
Large supermarket chains from rich nations that are mushrooming fast in Africa, Asia and Latin America are locking small farmers out of their supply chains, a situation that threatens to put millions of already impoverished small-scale producers out of business, says a think tank here.

POLITICS-U.S.: Religious, Science Groups Urge End to Nukes

By Jim Lobe
An international group of religious and scientific leaders Monday appealed to the United States and all other nuclear states to pledge never to use nuclear weapons and to re-affirm their commitments to achieving total nuclear disarmament.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Unions Launch New Campaign

By IPS Correspondents
A leading trade union network is launching a new initiative to defend the rights of women workers.

ECONOMY-U.S.: Job Numbers Hide Insecurity

By Marty Logan
Jobs are everywhere in U.S. discourse these days, but not where they are most needed - attached to workers.

POLITICS: India, Brazil, South Africa Ready to Lead Global South

By Ranjit Devraj
India, Brazil and South Africa, representing three major democracies in three different corners of the globe, emerged confident in leading South-South cooperation at a two-day meeting of their foreign ministers that ended here Friday.

FINANCE: IMF Chief Resigns, Democracy Deficit Lingers

By Emad Mekay
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Horst Koehler resigned Thursday following his nomination for the German presidency, and groups monitoring the institution say his exit is a chance to highlight the lack of democracy at one of the world's most influential financial bodies.

LATIN AMERICA: UNEP Regional Office Urges Caution on Transgenics

By IPS Correspondents
The United Nations Environment Programme warned Wednesday in Mexico that transgenic crops could pose a threat to biodiversity and human health, and recommended that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean act with caution in using genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

CANADA-US: Customs Union Could Have Big Political Price – Experts

By Paul Weinberg
A possible customs union between this country and the United States, dismissed as the speculation of technical feasibility studies by Canadian government bureaucrats, could have enormous economic and political implications, warn some observers.

ENVIRONMENT: Eyeing Markets, India Pulls Punches on Biosafety – Activists

By Ranjit Devraj
India has agreed to soften international protections against plant contamination, in a bid to enhance commercial prospects for genetically modified (GM) crops that nevertheless could jeopardise consumer safety and food security, leading activists here said.

LATIN AMERICA: Children, Women Victimised by Drug Trafficking – Report

By IPS Correspondents
Children and women are the main victims of the crime and violence that go hand in hand with drug trafficking in Latin America, says doctor Alfredo Pemjean, member of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

DRUGS: Fight Against Narco-Trafficking Goes Local

By Gustavo Capdevila
Experts on the illegal narcotics trade used to focus on the drug kingpins, but now they are shifting their gaze towards the small-time dealers who are active in local communities.

U.S.: "Free" Trade Bites Back at its Biggest Booster

By Emad Mekay
Business and its political allies here are scrambling after Monday's news that the European Union (EU) is imposing four billion dollars worth of trade sanctions to retaliate for the U.S. failure to conform with a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

THAILAND: Labour Flexes Muscle with Anti-Privatisation Protests

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
A move to privatise Thailand's state-run power utility has, within the space of a week, prompted the country's labour movement to mobilise tens of thousands of protestors into street demonstrations, unprecedented during Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra three years in power.

ECONOMY-BENIN: U.S. Market So Near – And Yet So Far

By IPS Correspondents
The start of 2004 has presented a set of challenges to the business community in Benin.
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