News stories by Stephanie Parker

, Jul 25 (IPS) - At a time when big grocery stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are attracting scores of hungry customers, many local family-run farms are fighting to keep afloat.

, Jul 25 (IPS) - At a time when big grocery stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are attracting scores of hungry customers, many local family-run farms are fighting to keep afloat.

NEW YORK, Jul 21 (IPS) - As the 2012 London Olympics gears up to open on Jul. 27, criticism of the longstanding partnership between the Games and sponsor McDonald’s has stolen a small portion of the limelight.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 13 (IPS) - U.N. correspondent Stephanie Parker sits down with filmmaker Lieven Corthouts as he opens up about the children in "Little Heaven" orphanage, located in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

As the United States struggles to level the racial disparities in its education system, the birth rate of minorities has been rising steadily. Experts say this confluence of statistics should compel Americans to seriously address the flaws and failures of the country's public education system.

'They made me drink my own urine,' said one former detainee, Addam Ayedh al-Shayef, describing his experiences in detainment in Yemen. 'When I refused to drink it, they electrocuted me. After I came home, I would dream I was still being tortured and I'd wake up screaming.'