CENTRAL AMERICA: Fair Trade Taking Root

"We started out with 10 organisations and now we have 22 cooperatives with more than 19,000 members who grow and export crops with an environmental, social and economic focus," says an enthusiastic Marvin López, with the Guatemalan network of small-scale fair trade farmers (CGCJ).

Washington Urged to Recognise Brazil as Global Power

The United States should recognise Brazil as a global power and treat it accordingly, concluded a major new report issued by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) here this week.

Arms Trade Treaty Stumbles Towards a Grand Finale

After six years of protracted negotiations, a largely sceptical international community is moving towards readying a long outstanding global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) for signature by July next year.

Q&A: The Full Impact of Wikileaks Will Be Felt a Few Years Down the Road

Even before he was hired as spokesman for the Wikileaks whistleblower web site in July 2010, 49-year-old investigative journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson realised that the new initiative would have the power to bring about transformations simply by informing society, starting in his own country, Iceland.

What Is Sadr’s Game on Future U.S. Troop Presence?

The big question looming over U.S.-Iraqi negotiations on a U.S. military presence after 2011 is what game Shi'a leader Moqtada al-Sadr is playing on the issue.

U.S.: Homeless Fall Through Health Care Cracks

While Americans are taking sides in the ongoing battle about the future of American healthcare, one underrepresented group is especially vulnerable to the change - or lack of change - that may be afoot: the homeless community.

Outrage as Terror Revisits India’s Financial Capital

Hastimal Sen mistook the deafening sounds of explosions that shook his office in Mumbai’s crowded Zaveri Bazaar Wednesday evening as cars backfiring.

ECUADOR: Fate of Untapped Oil Hangs in the Balance – of Trust Fund

"Ecuador will not wait ad infinitum" for a decision by the international community, and "at the end of the year" President Rafael Correa will decide whether to extract oil that was to have been left underground at the Yasuní nature reserve, non-renewable natural resources minister Wilson Pástor has announced.

PAKISTAN: Soldiers Pay a Price in War on Terrorism

Army soldier Zaheer Abbas and his squad were hunting down militants in the outskirts of Darra Adamkhel, a town in northwest Pakistan famous for its weapons workshops, when they suddenly found themselves under a surprise volley of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

U.S. Standing Plunges Across Arab World

The United States' popularity in the Arab world has plummeted to levels lower than the last year of the George W. Bush administration, according to a new survey of public opinion in six Arab countries released here Wednesday.

VENEZUELA: Inmates Surrender after 27-Day Prison Standoff

Worn down by hunger, thirst and a military cordon, more than 1,000 prisoners involved in a 27-day standoff with the authorities in the El Rodeo 2 prison, 30 km east of the Venezuelan capital, finally surrendered and handed over their weapons Wednesday.

Deadly Blasts Rock Mumbai

At least 17 people have been killed and scores wounded after three blasts struck India's financial capital of Mumbai, police have said.

RIGHTS-PERU: Following the Clues in Exhumation of Massacre Victims

The daylight is fading, but Francisca Huanca's hopes are growing brighter. "Yes, they're his sneakers, he liked to play football," she says with tears in her eyes. She has just caught a glimpse of the remains of her husband, nearly three decades after he was murdered in the biggest massacre committed by the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas in Peru's highlands.

ASIA: Activists Press for Gender Equality in Forest Tenure Reforms

A 1993 forest act gave back Nepal its green hills, many believe. Activists say the law was also a catalyst for positive change in an area not readily linked with it – women’s rights in rural Nepal.

OP-ED: Foreign Policy Goes Gaga

Lady Gaga and Alice Walker don't have much in common. One dresses in red meat; the other doesn't even eat the stuff. One writes lyrics like "I want your ugly, I want your disease, I want your everything as long as it's free." The other writes "The Color Purple".

Chinese Buying, China Losing

Prime property in the Georgian architectural gem town of Bath? Check. Luxury brand shopping on London’s Bond Street? Check. A seat on the fine art auctions? Check. The wish list of Chinese visitors to the UK is endless, and their aspirations and wealth are reshaping the property, retail and art treasures market here in ways unforeseen a few years ago.

SOUTH SUDAN: Born into Crisis – Violence Against Women Continues

Violence against women is rampant, devastating and tolerated in South Sudan and the new country needs to address these gross human rights violations and train people, especially soldiers, to respect women’s rights.

U.S. Hardens Tone Against Assad

Escalating its rhetoric against Bashar Al-Assad, the White House declared Tuesday that the Syrian president had "lost his legitimacy" but declined to call explicitly for his resignation or removal.

French Ship Carries Freedom Flotilla’s “Dignity” to Gaza

The French vessel Dignité-Al Karama is the only boat from the Freedom Flotilla II actually sailing for Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed in 2006. At the same time, six Spanish members of the humanitarian aid mission went on hunger strike in the Greek capital.

U.S.: Execution of Mexican Citizen Draws Wide Condemnation

"I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road," Humberto Leal Garcia told a prison warden minutes before his execution in Texas on the night of Jul. 7.

INDONESIA: Expanding Land Rights to Boost Growth, Cut Emissions

Indonesia has assumed a target to cut greenhouse gas emission rates by half and achieve an economic growth rate of seven percent by changing the way it manages its vast forest land, and giving greater control over land to local communities.