North Korean commuters ride on a trolley car in Pyongyang, North Korea on Friday, April 12, 2013. Reflected in the window is a roadside propaganda banner that reads: “Let’s follow the example of the space conquerors,” referring to the country’s rocket launch program.North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un might talk tough, but he presides over one of the weakest, most dilapidated economies in the world.
Author: WHES
Poorest countries lead the fight against malnutrition
According to new research published by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), low income countries like Malawi and Madagascar and lower middle income Guatemala, are leading the charge against hunger and undernutrition, whilst economic powerhouses such as India and Nigeria are failing some of their most vulnerable citizens.
Obama proposes end to monetized food aid
The President’s budget, tabled on Wednesday 10 April, ends years of US reliance for food aid on its agriculture surpluses. However, NGOs have been asking for removing the requirement to buy most of the emergency food aid in the US and transporting it on US vehicles to reduce costs and save time.
We must change global tax system to insure that poor countries get a fair share—OECD. OECD official says rich countries should demand transparency from multinationals and stop cash passing through tax havens.
The global tax structure must change as it is unacceptable that a large part of the world economy is passing through tax havens, a senior official from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Friday.
administration seeks to overhaul international food aid
WASHINGTON — An Obama administration plan to change the way the United States distributes its international food aid has touched off an intense lobbying campaign by a coalition of shipping companies, agribusiness and charitable groups who say the change will harm the nation’s economy and hamper efforts to fight global hunger.
India states fight over river usage
MAGIZHI, India —Valan, a rice farmer in a starched white shirt and sarong, walked along the bone-dry canal bed next to his village in the state of Tamil Nadu as though it were a road. The canal should have been full from last June until the end of the year, he said, but it stood dry, except for one month in which unexpected storms flooded the canal and destroyed his crops.
The positive economics of ‘leaning in’—economists estimate that that between 1960 and 2008, about 15% to 20% of the growth in productivity, or output per hour of work, came from removing the barriers that blocked many white women and blacks of both genders from realizing their potential
In case you missed the 43-year-old Facebook executive speaking with Oprah or on the cover of Time, the thesis of her “Lean In” book is this: We have educated a generation of women well, but too few make it to the top rungs. That’s partly because of societal barriers and subtle biases remain, partly because of women’s behavior.
Why business and labor can’t agree on an immigrant labor program
Leaders from business and labor are closer to making a deal on a new visa that would create a legal pathway to the U.S. for some lesser-skilled immigrant workers. An agreement would shape how an immigration reform bill being drafted in the Senate deals with the so-called “future flow” of workers.
President is said to flee as rebels seize capital of the the Central African Republic
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Rebels entered Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on Sunday morning, seizing control of the city in the culmination of a lengthy uprising in one of the world’s weakest and most impoverished states. The country’s president was reported to have fled.
Madagascar’s Millennium Village goes it alone
A Millennium Village in Madagascar is learning to stand on its own as five years of support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) come to an end this month.
