MIDEAST: Palestinians Strike to Seek Historic Agreement

Nestled between rolling hills just outside of Jerusalem, a dozen Palestinian workers have escaped the scorching summer heat in the shade of a makeshift tent, where they anxiously wait to sign what would be the first collective bargaining agreement between Palestinian workers and an Israeli employer.

NEPAL: Adapting to Climate Change Can be Simple

Saraswoti Bhetwal’s terraced fields stand out in the sub-Himalayan Lamdihi village as a mosaic of shapes and colours formed by beans, bitter gourd, chilly, tomato, lady’s fingers and other crops.

EGYPT: Labour Unions Shake Off Old Masters

The trade union federation that ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak used to repress labour movements and mobilise regime support for sham elections during his 30-year rule has been disbanded, striking a powerful blow to the old order.

JAPAN: Divorced Men Lose Children Along With Visas

Shahdul Huq, a Bangladeshi national living in Japan for more than 20 years, last saw his daughter almost three years ago when he lost his ‘spouse visa’ following divorce from his Japanese wife.

U.S.: Major Telecom Firm in Struggle With Striking Workers

As unemployed young rioters rage across London and frustrated homeless people in Holon burn tires on the streets of Israel, the great capitalist democracy across the Atlantic is also feeling repercussions from its own floundering economy.

ENVIRONMENT-LATAM: Shrimp Industry Bites Hand That Feeds It

Mangrove forests in silt-laden intertidal coastal ecosystems provide a natural habitat for countless marine species, as well as livelihoods for thousands of families in Latin America and the Caribbean. But mangrove swamps are shrinking year by year, besieged by aquaculture, especially shrimp farming, environmentalists warn.

NEPAL: Peace Fails to Stop Female Workers’ Exodus

Six years ago Shantimaya Dong Tamang went to Kuwait to work as an illegal domestic worker, falling for brokers’ tales of how she could earn good money and stand on her own feet.

NEPAL: Improved Wood Stoves Save Health, Environment

When Binita Lamichhane got married she was troubled by her husband's bloodshot eyes. "What happened to your eyes?" the 18-year-old bride asked. "Smoke," came the answer.

ARGENTINA: One Poor Woman Who Feeds Thousands

The endeavour gave a deeper meaning to her life and turned her into an internationally recognised community organiser. Nevertheless, the real wish of Margarita Barrientos is that there would be more need for soup kitchens for the hungry, like the one she founded in the capital of Argentina.

ARGENTINA: Worker Cooperatives Reduce “Hard-Core” Unemployment

During the social and economic collapse of 2002-2003, the Argentine state encouraged the formation of workers' cooperatives, which helped mitigate the worst effects of the crisis, reduced hard-core unemployment, and now as independent, democratic, worker-controlled organisations are providing services to the public and private sectors.

Q&A: “The Threat of Default Was a Crisis for Wall Street, Not Workers”

After weeks of political wrangling over a budget proposal to settle the country's 14-trillion-dollar debt, U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday signed into law a bill that would slash 2.1 trillion dollars from the deficit over the next decade.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Help For Small Businesses Key to Relaunching Economy

The Ivorian government has begun compensating small and medium-sized businesses for damages suffered during the post-election crisis, in order to relaunch the economy.

U.N. Puts Spotlight on Youth in Tough Global Climate

Government leaders, U.N. officials and representatives from over 400 hundred youth organisations concluded two days of talks Tuesday on such issues as the importance of youth in eradicating poverty and how to stabilise the global economic system in the face of myriad challenges.

SENEGAL: Fish Farming Breathes New Life Into Rural Economy

July signals the start of three months of intense activity for residents of the seven villages around the small dam at Sébi Ponty. The dam was stocked with tilapia in 2006, and aquaculture is proving to be a vital economic activity for youth in the area.

Trekking Trails Lead Nepal Women to Empowerment

Dawa Gyalmo Sherpa’s three sons went to look for blue-collar jobs in Malaysia, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, saying Mulkharka, their tiny village in Kathmandu valley, had no livelihood prospects.

Bangladesh Offers Lessons in Microcredit Management

Phulo Rani Pal checks for loose dust around her open backyard kitchen. It’s time to prepare the sweets she supplies to vendors and it will not do for her products to be contaminated.

SRI LANKA: Saudi Death Sentence for Maid Shakes Govt

The Sri Lanka government is considering a further tightening of age restrictions on women leaving the country to become domestic workers. But some analysts say this is a quick-fix solution to the problem of women running afoul of the law abroad.

CUBA: Women Face Challenges in Growing Self-Employment Sector

"Coffee! Get your plastic bags here! Cream cheese, the very best...!" The voices blend in with the cries of other vendors and the noise typical of Cuban markets. Elisa, 64, was one of the hawkers until she was fined for selling her products without a permit. "I paid dearly for it," she says.

MIDEAST: Never a Good Day for This Population

In dire need of money to assist her family back home, 27-year-old Makeda from Ethiopia was forced to return to the Middle East as a domestic worker.

Women Keen to Ease Greenhouse Effect on Their Ability to Provide

A successful entrepreneurial programme in the north of Namibia that infuses farming practices with gender-responsive environmentalism may serve as a model for other countries on the African continent.

ZAMBIA: “Every Year Flooding Makes This Place a Little Hell”

During the rainy season, and many weeks afterwards, home is never the best place to be for Miriam Banda. Until the end of 2008, she enjoyed living at her house in Kanyama, a high-density settlement bordering the central business district in Lusaka, Zambia's capital.