HAITI: Hunger Still Severe on Food Riots Anniversary

A year after riots over soaring food prices in Haiti made headlines around the world, conditions for many in this impoverished country have only worsened.

AMERICAS: An OAS with Cuba – Or None at All, Says ALBA

Cuba, the only country excluded from the Fifth Summit of the Americas that opened in Port of Spain on Friday, received strong backing for its demand for unconditional talks with the United States from eight governments of the region who met in the northeastern Venezuelan city of Cumaná.

MIGRATION: Financial Crisis Eroding Remittance Lifeline

The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has warned that the current financial crisis is threatening to claim another casualty: international migration.

ECONOMY: Coffee Weathering the Crisis

Former Costa Rican president Rodrigo Carazo (1978-1982) said that at times of global recession, economies like that of his country, dependent on what he called "dessert" exports - like bananas or coffee - would be hit the hardest because they are among the first products people stop buying when money gets tight.

LATIN AMERICA: “Crisis as Opportunity” – WEF Meeting

Economic and political leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean are trying to help come up with responses to a problem for which they do not feel responsible – the global economic crisis – although they do want to be part of the solution.

SRI LANKA: Economic Crisis Ramping Up, As War Winds Down

Government troops are closing in on the last remnants of Tamil Tiger resistance in northern Sri Lanka as an upsurge of more that two years of fighting winds down. But, the country’s economic woes aren’t over. More and more pressure it being put on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cash-strapped administration.

BALKANS: SOS Shops Tell the Economic Story

The new century brought new growth across the Balkans after the turbulent 1990s. But the advance is proving short-lived as the global recession hits the region hard.

BRAZIL: “Employment Crisis Is Over” – Labour Minister

The effects of the economic recession on employment in Brazil have already been overcome, Labour and Employment Minister Carlos Lupi said, citing statistics that show more hirings than firings since February.

ECONOMY-US: Foreclosing on God

The red brick St. Andrews Anglican Church in wealthy Easton, Maryland, was known for its open door. It hosted family movie nights, and weekend spaghetti dinners. Most people had no idea anything was amiss, until the bank took the key, and the church building was foreclosed and sold at auction.

ECONOMY-CUBA: Keeping the Wolf from the Door

The global recession poses new economic threats to Cuba, hitting its principal exports and reducing its chances of obtaining external financing, although officials seem confident that the situation will remain within manageable limits.

FIJI: ‘Returning’ Military Leader Gags Media

Fiji is maintaining an uneasy calm days after its president abrogated the constitution, promulgated emergency regulations, and reinstated the 2006 coup leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, as interim prime minister.

ECONOMY: U.N. Summit Seeks Collective Response to Crisis

The president of the 192-member U.N. General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, dismisses the G20 bloc of economically advanced countries as unrepresentative of the international community.

ECONOMY-VIETNAM: Global Crisis Hits Craft Villages

The hero of one of Vietnam’s most famous fairytales, Thanh Giong, chased invaders from the nation using a bamboo staff and brought peace and prosperity to the nation.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Triples Allotment for Population

The 1994 landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, fixed a target of 20.5 billion dollars for investments in population programmes worldwide for the year 2010.

ECONOMY-EL SALVADOR: Passing the Poisoned Chalice

Warnings about the dire state of the Salvadoran economy and its weak position for coping with the global recession were ignored by outgoing President Antonio Saca for political reasons in an election year, analysts say, as they point out the difficulties that lie ahead for the new government.

ROMANIA: Pushed by Crisis Into Dubious Borrowing

The Romanian government is borrowing close to 20 billion euros from international financial institutions in order to stem the effects of the global financial crisis. But few in the country seem to know precisely how the money will be used and whether it will have a more positive than constricting effect.

G20: Where Is the Money, and Who Is the Moneylender

It seemed like a lot of money at the time. The leaders of the group of eight richest countries, the G8, met in Gleneagles in Scotland and announced 50 billion dollars in new aid, half of that for Africa and half for the rest of the world.

AFRICA: Arbitration Mechanism Demanded to End Scourge of Debt

International debt campaigners are calling for the establishment of a debt arbitration mechanism to respond to the difficulties that many countries of the South are increasingly facing as they attempt to service debt arrears to international lenders.

G20: Give or Take a Trillion or Two

The ease with which leaders spoke of trillions of dollars at the G20 summit in London Thursday was no doubt intended to signal to the world just how serious leaders are about getting the economy right again. That these fabulous figures may never add up is another matter.

ECONOMY: Insurance to Even Provide Cover Against Global Crisis

The global economic crisis makes it even more imperative that investors ascertain the economic and legal conditions in foreign countries.

Q&A: "If I Were Chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council"

Appointed two months ago by the Director of National Intelligence Adm. Dennis Blair to chair the National Intelligence Council (NIC), the body charged with producing analyses on key issues on behalf of all 16 agencies of the U.S. intelligence community, ret. Amb. Charles "Chas" Freeman withdrew his name in mid-March after a sustained campaign against the appointment by right-wing leaders of the so-called "Israel Lobby" concerned about his past criticism of Israel’s relations with its Arab neighbours, and particularly its treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.