Gulf of Mexico Seafood Deformities Alarm Scientists

"The fishermen have never seen anything like this," Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. "And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 fish, I've never seen anything like this either."

U.S.: Only Four-Fifths of Men’s Pay for Women

Forty-seven years after the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, women in the United States are still struggling against wage discrimination in the workplace.

Multilaterals Warned Not to Go Too Far, Too Fast in Myanmar

As multilateral lending agencies prepare to seriously re- engage with Myanmar for the first time in decades, observers at the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are warning that a poor understanding of ground conditions in the country could jeopardise many of the early opportunities created by government-initiated reforms.

Report on Iran’s Nuclear Fatwa Distorts Its History

The Barack Obama administration's new interest in the 2004 religious verdict, or "fatwa", by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banning the possession of nuclear weapons, long dismissed by national security officials, has prompted the New York Times to review the significance of the fatwa for the first time in several years.

OP-ED: Tweeting Democracy Across the Arab World

Over the past few years, the political landscape of the Middle East was wholly transformed by the diffusion of social media across the region. Accounting for 50-65 percent of the region's population, young Muslims quickly embraced these new platforms of mass communication and soon thereafter, they became leaders of revolutions.

Taliban Attacks Weaken U.S., NATO Position

Sunday's well-orchestrated - if unsuccessful - attacks by Taliban forces on Kabul and three provincial capitals in eastern Afghanistan could further shake ebbing public confidence in the U.S. and its allies that their strategy for securing Afghanistan is working.

Renewed Talks with Iran Fuel Both Optimism and Caution

U.S. and Iranian officials were optimistic about renewed talks over the weekend between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, but analysts here urge the United States to keep its expectations in check and establish clear goals for future negotiations.

Green Nobel Highlights Water Crises

A Catholic priest from the Philippines, a mother of three from Argentina, and the founder of the NGO Friends of Lake Turkana in Kenya all have one thing in common: they have helped to motivate their respective local communities to protect the natural environment around them and to stand up for their rights.

U.S.’s Kim Prevails in First World Bank President Contest

Capping an unprecedented multinational contest for the post, the World Bank's executive board upheld a nearly 70-year tradition Monday by selecting the U.S. candidate, global health expert Jim Yong Kim, to be the Washington-based agency's next president.

North Korea’s Failed Fireworks

In early February, Iran launched its third successful commercial satellite in three years. The Barack Obama administration, the United Nations, and the news media barely acknowledged the accomplishment. North Korea, on the other hand, has created a furor each of the three times its satellites failed to reach orbit.

Last Summit of the Americas Without Cuba

"What matters at this summit is not what is on the official agenda," said Uruguayan analyst Laura Gil, echoing the conventional wisdom in this Colombian port city, where the Sixth Summit of the Americas ended Sunday without a final declaration.

Abya Yala Speaks

During the closing session of the Social Forum of the Sixth Summit of the Americas, the broadcast signal was cut off, triggering protests from participating indigenous leaders. But that did not stop the voice of Abya Yala - the ancestral name of the continent - from being heard.

Latin American Countries Call for Alternatives to War on Drugs

The countries of Latin America will raise their voices at the Sixth Summit of the Americas to condemn the "failed" war on drugs and propose alternatives, such as the controversial depenalisation, in order to curb drug-related violence, especially in Mexico and Central America.

U.S. Allies Call for Drug Legalisation

The Summit of the Americas, normally a subdued tri-annual gathering of regional leaders, could be more interesting than usual this year, as right-wing governments are set to clash with their U.S. allies over the war on drugs.

At Summit of Americas, Governments “Are Listening” to the People

In preparation for the Sixth Summit of the Americas, the gathering’s Social Forum has held 25 meetings since September, as well as dozens of online working sessions, with the participation of some 7,000 people.

U.S.-Israel Deal to Demand Qom Closure Threatens Nuclear Talks

The Barack Obama administration has adopted a demand in the negotiations with Iran beginning Saturday that its Fordow enrichment facility must be shut down and eventually dismantled based on an understanding with Israel that risks the collapse of the negotiations.

Canadian Budget Cuts Ripple Overseas

The Canadian development community is concerned that the government's international assistance commitment to poor nations is waning in the interest of fiscal responsibility and that Ottawa instead prefers to forge ties with middle-income nations for commercial purposes.

White House Expresses Growing Concern Over Bahrain

The White House Wednesday said it was "deeply concerned" about growing polarisation between the ruling monarchy and the majority Shi'a community in Bahrain and the welfare of a jailed human rights activist who has been on a hunger strike since early February.

U.S., Latin America Growing More Distant, Warns Think Tank

Relations between the United States and Latin America have "grown more distant" in importance part due to the latter's persistent disagreement with U.S. policies on immigration, drugs, and Cuba, according to a new report released here Wednesday on the eve of this year's Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

U.S. Still Importing Illegal Timber

Since 2008, over 20 U.S. companies have imported illegally logged timber worth millions from the Peruvian Amazon, charged a multi-year investigative report released Tuesday by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

Stop Threatening, Start Talking

We are currently witnessing the worst features of the state system: trading insults and threats, sanctions, readiness to use extreme violence, forward deployment of U.S. troops in Israel as hostages to guarantee U.S. involvement in a possible war, disregard for common people and the effects of warfare in the Middle East and the world.