News stories by Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN, Sep 09 (IPS) - Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's 20 major economies, accounting for 66 percent of world population, have pledged to "promote an enabling global economic environment for developing countries as they pursue their sustainable development agendas".

PARIS, Sep 01 (IPS) - The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), once a domain of the rich countries, is keen to extend its global membership and has set out a clear path for Costa Rica's membership, within months of launching accession discussions with Colombia and Latvia.

VIENNA, Aug 27 (IPS) - The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has agreed to give the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) a grant in support of a project aimed at improving the productivity and competitiveness of the shrimp value chain in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.

MILAN, Aug 21 (IPS) - She only turned nine last June. But Mahra Mustafa has become a celebrity at the Expo Milan. She stars as Sara in ‘The Family Tree', a short film on the UAE's heritage being screened at the United Arab Emirates pavilion. Sara is in fact the face of young, dynamic and innovative Emirates.

BERLIN, Aug 13 (IPS) - Governments around the world are obliged to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, according to the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights.  But reality is far removed from international covenants.

BRUSSELS, Aug 05 (IPS) - A Brussels-based think-tank has warned Venezuela of an impending humanitarian calamity in tandem with growing political instability.

PARIS, Jul 30 (IPS) - The digital economy permeates countless aspects of the world economy, impacting sectors as varied as banking, retail, energy, transportation, education, publishing, media or health. But the full potential of the digital economy has yet to be realised even in the world's most advanced and emerging countries, says a new report.

VIENNA, Apr 16 (IPS) - A modern ‘legal arsenal' comprising the rule of law is the best weapon to combat crime and terror and to end the vicious circle of poverty, according to experts gathered in Doha, Qatar, for the Apr. 12-19 United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, organised by the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).