North America - Publishing Production

World Bank Supports Harmful Water Corporations, Report Finds

Water privatisation has been proven not to help the poor, yet a quarter of all World Bank funding goes directly to corporations and the private sector, bypassing both governments and its own standards and transparency requirements in order to do so, says a new report released Monday.

In Antigua, Climate Change Amplifies Human Destruction

Evi Johnson points to the spot where, as a young boy, he and his friends would go swimming at Crabb Hill Beach.

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).

OP-ED: Get Your Boot Off My Neck

Last weekend, my 14-year-old daughter, Michaela, and I were en route to Easter Sunday mass in Acapulco. We were stopped, harassed, threatened, and detained by eight soldiers in battle fatigues brandishing automatic weapons.

Brazil, U.S. Deepen Ties Ahead of Obama’s Latin America Week

Kicking off what some here have called President Barack Obama's "Latin America Week", the president and his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, touted a deepening of bilateral ties in her first visit to the White House as president of South America's superpower.

Rocks and deposits from the watersheds above the Negro River in St. Thomas, where improper farming techniques triggered a rockslide in 2010. Credit: Zadie Neufville/ IPS

Working to Cope with Climate Change, Jamaica Calculates Costs

Jamaican authorities are aiming to transform an island that experts say faces one of the worst climate risks in the world into a nation "equipped to prepare for and respond to the negative impacts of climate change".

Hunger advocates call on President Obama to pledge a commitment to global hunger at the G8 summit. Credit: ActionAid USA

Put Food Crisis on G8’s Plate, Group Urges

Days before the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, anti- poverty advocates staged their own egg hunt in Lafayette Park to urge President Obama to "find political will to end global hunger" during the upcoming G8 Summit at Camp David.

New Leaders in Yemen, Same Old System

A new report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) Friday contends that the dearth of meaningful reform in the protection of human rights and the rule of law in Yemen threatens political stability as the fledgling transitional government copes with a deteriorating economy and continued violence.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who began her career as an agricultural economist, would be the first woman to head the World Bank. Credit: IMF Photographic archives/public domain

World Bank Race Heats Up

While the U.S. candidate for World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, still has the inside track, the two non-U.S. candidates, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, have been raking in high-profile endorsements.

Clinton Announces “Targeted Easing” of Sanctions on Myanmar

Two days after hailing Sunday's parliamentary by-elections in Myanmar, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Washington would begin a process of "targeted easing" of longstanding economic sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation.

For decades, the Kingdom of Bhutan has used the concept of "gross national happiness" to guide its development. Credit: Jean-Marie Hullot/ CC by 2.0

Measure Progress in Happiness, Not Money, Bhutan Urges

Which is more important in human life: money or happiness? Can money buy happiness? According to the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan, the time has come for the world to pay closer attention to this age-old question.

Thousands fleeing fighting last year in Kadugli, the capital of Southern Kordofan State, seek refuge in area secured by UNMIS. Credit: UN Photo/Paul Banks

U.S. Boosts Sudan Aid as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

In a memorandum released Tuesday, President Barack Obama ordered the State Department to allocate additional humanitarian assistance funds for Sudan as famine looms for thousands of civilians caught between intensified levels of armed conflict along the borders of Sudan and South Sudan.

Strong Majority of U.S. Jews Likely to Stick With Obama

Despite his repeated differences with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a strong majority of U.S. Jews are likely to vote to re-elect President Barack Obama in November, according to major new survey of Jewish opinion released here Tuesday.

U.S. Praises Myanmar Poll

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama Monday hailed Sunday's parliamentary by-election in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won in a landslide.

Tea Party protestors at the Minnesota Capitol in 2010. They called for smaller government and the repeal of Obama's healthcare law. Credit: Fibonacci Blue/ CC by 2.0

U.S.: Forming Coalitions, Tea Party Continues to Brew

In the three years since its inception, the Tea Party has cemented its place in U.S. politics, routinely making waves in political races of national interest. At the same time, some local Tea Party groups are beginning to build post-partisan coalitions that are both surprising and counterintuitive.

Israel Shields Public from Risks of War with Iran

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling Israelis that Israel can attack Iran with minimal civilian Israeli casualties as a result of retaliation, and that reassuring message appears to have headed off any widespread Israeli fear of war with Iran and other adversaries.

Ahead of Revived Talks, US Wavers: Diplomacy or Sanctions for Iran?

A former top state department official singled out diplomatic engagement as the best available option for ending decades of "mistrust and misunderstanding" between Washington and Tehran.

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diane lemieux