SENEGAL: Dispute Over Fishing Permits for Foreign Fleets Hots Up

Senegal's small-scale fishers are challenging the government over licences granting foreign trawlers permission to fish in Senegalese waters. The artisanal fishers condemn the "selling off" of the country's fishery resources at a time when stocks off Senegal's coast are severely depleted.

EL SALVADOR: Drivers Risk Extortion, Murder by Gangs

Zigzagging along the streets of the Salvadoran capital in his bus, José Nuila is much more worried about avoiding an attack by youth gang members than about making his way through the complicated tangle of traffic.

South Africa Key to Swazi Protest Outcome

Uneasy calm has returned to the streets of Manzini, Swazi commercial capital, after two days of heavy-handed police action against unions protesting government's handling of the financial crisis gripping the mountain kingdom.

Cuba’s Communist Party to Adopt Reforms

Cuba's governing Communist Party (PCC) will meet over the weekend to decide on the direction and scope of far-reaching reforms aimed at modernising the country's socialist economy over the next few years.

Young Cubans Unsure Where to Turn for Decent Jobs

In the throes of Cuba's economic "reorganisation," young people are walking a tightrope towards an uncertain employment future. They are finding it increasingly difficult to find jobs that meet both their professional aspirations and their salary expectations.

PHILIPPINES: Pulling Children Out of the Tunnel of Hard Labour

At the tender age of 10, Rodel Morozco was working in a goldmine and crawling inside tunnels, until one day he fell 200 feet underground because his father had blasted the tunnel with dynamite.

Libyan Exodus Shrinks Remittances

The exodus of migrants streaming out of Libya due to ongoing unrest has highlighted the heavy dependence of some countries on remittances from their citizens working abroad. In several countries this flow has now become choked.

Migrant Workers Caught in Whirlwind of ‘Arab Spring’

Migrant workers caught in the crossfire of the ongoing upheavals in Bahrain and Libya highlight the need to develop international migration policies based on migrants' rights rather than the economic interest of labour sending and receiving countries, knowledgeable sources say.

U.S.-Colombia Deal on Labour Rights Met with Scepticism

On the eve of a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos here on Thursday, the White House announced that a deal has been reached on key labour issues upholding the countries' stalled bilateral trade pact.

Broken Promises Loom Large in 2012 Election Run-Up

Just days after United States President Barack Obama announced his reelection campaign for the 2012 run-off via a Youtube video, the White House is poised on the brink of its first shutdown in 15 years, with budget wars, an immigration maelstrom and determined opposition to the administration's seeming tolerance for union-busting barricading the path to a second term for the Democrat incumbent.

GUATEMALA: Unions Seek Labour Justice Under Free Trade Deal

"My brother was murdered, and we're still the victims of threats and harassment, which is why we filed the petition" under the free trade agreement signed with the United States by Central America and the Dominican Republic, (DR-CAFTA), said Guatemalan trade unionist Noé Ramírez.

EGYPT: Cracks Appear In Mubarak-Era Labour Body

The state-controlled trade union federation that for over half a century was employed by Egyptian rulers to suppress workers' protests and mobilise voters for sham elections appears to be crumbling with the recent ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

PHILIPPINES: Migrant Workers Put Jobs Before Safety in Libya

Amidst political turmoil in Libya, thousands of migrant workers from the Philippines face a dilemma - either they risk their lives working in the conflict- ridden country, or they return home and face job insecurity.

ECONOMY-ARGENTINA: Unemployment and Shortage of Skilled Workers Coexist

Despite the fast growth of the Argentine economy, unemployment remains a tough nut to crack. While many areas face a dearth of skilled workers, a large number of unskilled workers find it impossible to land a job.

BAHRAIN: Slashing Levies to Help Businesses Cope With Unrest

Bahrain is considering slashing or putting on hold levies on businesses to help them cope with the deteriorating economy, with losses topping an estimated 500 million dollars since the beginning of unrest here in February.

A Creative Boost for South-South Cooperation

In a rare and timely collaboration, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) teamed up with the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to produce a report on the urgent need for developing nations to pour effort and resources into their so-called creative economies.

Swaziland’s Middle-Income Status Reflects Only King’s Lifestyle

While Swaziland struggles to alleviate its fiscal crisis with foreign aid because of its World Bank classification as a lower middle-income country, the government has increased the budget for King Mswati III, Africa’s last remaining absolute monarch and one of the richest royals in the world.

ZIMBABWE: Farmers Sceptical About “Complicated” Exchange Market

Kindness Paradza has a mission. After he lost his job as a journalist when the ZANU-PF government closed his newspaper in 2004, he ploughed his life savings into a 2,000 ha farm he received as part of Zimbabwe’s controversial "land reform programme".

CENTRAL AMERICA: Big Fish Eat the Small Fish

Thousands of small-scale fishers in Central America are fighting for survival in the face of free trade deals, transnational corporations, mega tourism projects and pollution that is harming marine life.

GUATEMALA: Evictions of Native Families Add Fuel to Fire Over Land Access

"We have nowhere to plant our corn, we have nothing," Jorge Chocoj told IPS while waiting with his wife and three children for the police to evict them from the land they farmed in northwestern Guatemala.

AGRICULTURE: Malawian Cotton Farmers Ecstatic Over High Prices

An ardent listener to the radio, small-scale cotton farmer Mercy Kaduya from Chikhwawa in Nsanje in southern Malawi has just heard on the international news segment that cotton prices have hit a record high on the international market.