News headlines for “Free Trade and Globalization”, page 255
Agro-tech Offers Answers for African Farmers at Iowa Meet
- Inter Press Service

DES MOINES, United States, Oct 21 (IPS) - Experts vaunted new strains of seeds, drone aircraft and other technological breakthroughs as solutions-in-the-making for farmers in Africa, where hunger, drought and food price hikes are continent-wide problems.
Africa’s Investment Drive Gathers Pace
- Inter Press Service

ROME, Oct 18 (IPS) - Headwinds are blowing amid IMF warnings of a "synchronised slowdown" in global economic growth, yet Africa's investment drive is still gathering pace, supported by intense international competition in development finance.
Beaten and Tortured for a Ransom, Lured by the Promise of a Livelihood
- Inter Press Service

DHAKA, Oct 17 (IPS) - After his father passed away two years ago, the burden of caring for a six-member family rested on the shoulders of the now 19-year-old Farhad Hossain. He had no clue how he would support his family and pay for the education of his four younger siblings.
Global Challenges for the ‘NextGen’
- Inter Press Service

MELBOURNE, Oct 15 (IPS) - Success has many parents – so the saying goes. In the case of the massive successes of international agricultural research, no one person can claim parentage.
There are heroes along the way such as Norman Borlaug and his early cereal breeding, and the team that eliminated the cattle disease Rinderpest from the world – smallpox is the only other disease that has been totally eradicated. Another is the founder of The Crawford Fund, Derek Tribe, who was also instrumental in the creation of what is now the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which I chair.
However, it would be more correct to highlight the thousands of scientists who have contributed to the world's greatest feat of feeding an extra three billion people when pundits said it was impossible.
OECD Tax Reform Proposal Could Be Better
- Inter Press Service

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (IPS) - The OECD Secretariat published its proposed ‘unified approach' to reform international tax rules to address tax challenges posed by digitalization on 9 October 2019.
Under current rules, there is little chance of a company being taxed without its physical presence in the country concerned. But digitalization enables many businesses to remotely conduct economic activities affecting a national economy without a direct physical presence.
Free Trade is Dead
- Inter Press Service

HANOVER/ BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (IPS) - In recent years, global trade and trade policy have become central socio-political issues. The planned EU-US trade agreement TTIP triggered an unprecedented storm of indignation and resistance.
Rural Poverty Is Still a Scar on the Soul of Colombia, but a New Program Supporting Agri-Entrepreneurship Can Help Heal the Wounds
- Inter Press Service

LIMA, Peru, Oct 14 (IPS) - Rural poverty and inequality continue inflicting large swaths of population in Colombia, especially in rural areas. This situation, endemic since at least the beginning of the twentieth century, was at the root of the 50-year long conflict that shattered the country, leaving 220,000 deaths and 5.7 million displaced persons, and devastating a significant part of the rural areas, where government services and infrastructure vanished.
Austerity, the “New Normal”
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON DC, Oct 11 (IPS) - While this week Ministers of Finance and economists meet in Washington to confront global economic challenges at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, the majority of the world population lives with austerity cuts and see their living standards deteriorating. World leaders must reverse this trend.
Global Climate Change Investment Heavily Tilted Towards Mitigation and Low on Adaptation
- Inter Press Service

INCHEON, South Korea, Oct 08 (IPS) - Good news: the graph depicting climate investments has been steadily increasing. Climbing from the 2012 figure of $360 billion in climate investments across the world to close to $600 billion currently.
Hollywood and Business Luminaries Spotlight World’s ‘Stateless’ Woes
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 08 (IPS) - Movie star Cate Blanchett and businessman Richard Branson spoke up this week for the millions of people around the world who cannot get passports and other papers because they lack an official nationality.
Global Issues