To date, 138 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States. That figure represents 11 percent of the 1,277 executions carried out since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the country in 1976.

'Using high quality seed, I harvested 20 quintals (one quintal = 100 pounds), while with ordinary seed I only get 10 quintals,' Vilma Rodríguez, a beneficiary of a seed production programme in the northwestern Nicaraguan province of Estelí, told IPS.

Poor countries have depended on rich nations to supplement their sector budget without which millions of people would have continued to live in abject poverty. Have the years of funding made these countries any less dependent?

Organisations working with indigenous peoples living in forests say the United Nations programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) is just another way for big corporates to reap huge profits.

Coffee aficionados say that one of the finest cafes in the world is Rome's Sant'Eustacchio, located in the city's historic centre. Since 1938 it has been the site of coffee pilgrimages and a must for the most ardent espresso devotees, writes Manuel Manonelles, director of the Foundation for the Culture of Peace, Barcelona.

The Maoist revolutionary generation that I met in the World Conference of Students in 1957 was of an impressive austerity. The generation after that was the protagonist of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. During the revolution, it was the students that were the most fanatical destroyers of the old monuments and everything related with the culture of the past. Only with political reform after Mao’s death in 1976 was the celebration of the market and wealth consecrated, writes Roberto Savio, founder and President Emeritus of the news agency Inter Press Service (IPS).

Science tells us that we are heading for a climate crisis, yet it is within our means to change course. However, some very worrying false solutions are on the table in the United Nations Climate talks (UNFCCC), for instance promoting the biofuels currently on the market, such as ethanol, writes Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International and executive director and founding member of Environmental Rights Action.

High-speed trading and cloud computing have far outrun government oversight and control; can we learn to master our tools? The jury is still out, writes Hazel Henderson, author of award-winning "Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy" and other books, and founder and president of Ethical Markets Media.

Three countries in South America's Andean region, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, have a great deal to teach and share with those meeting in Busan, South Korean this week to discuss, among other things, how to make sure that development aid incorporates a gender focus in order to be effective.

Although there has been considerable progress towards reducing maternal and infant mortality, millions of women and children in Africa are still in need of better health services, food and sanitation.