The artist, Fritzner Alphonse, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and was a leather worker until he started to paint in 1972. His friend, the famous painter Calixte Henri, encouraged him in his art. Alphonse’s work has been exhibited throughout the Caribbean, Europe, and the U.S.
Continue reading →By Jeremy Kryt, In These Times. The U.N. is endorsing two biogas plants at African-palm plantations in Honduras’ fertile Aguan Valley and ignoring its own report that biofuel production is a leading cause of food shortages worldwide. As farmers try to resist the theft of their lands, the Honduran homicide rate rises. It is currently 82 per 100,000: the highest in the world.
Continue reading →By Humberto Márquez, IPS. Traditional Yanomami Indian medicine discovered that some fungi at the top of Venezuela’s mountains can cure many serious illnesses. These fungi will soon be a new source of the anti-cancer drug Taxol that makes $1.6 billion a year for Bristol Myers Squibb. (English | Spanish)
Continue reading →By Cam McGrath, IPS. Egypt recently approved its first ever minimum wage for the private sector, bringing it in line with the minimum wage for public sector employees set at 700 Egyptian pounds (US $117) per month. “In Cairo, you’d be lucky to find a small apartment for that price. But then you have to eat, and that’s expensive too.” – A gas meter inspector. (English | Spanish)
Continue reading →By Staff, Haiti Grassroots Watch. Part 1 of 7. In Haiti, the minimum wage went from $3.00 per day in 1982, to 200 gourdes today, which is about $1.61 PER DAY in 1982 dollars. This represents a 46 percent drop in real salary compared to 1982 wages. (English | French)
Continue reading →By Staff, BBC News | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. In China, Beijing offers the best hourly rate of 13 yuan ($2), and Shenzhen guarantees the highest monthly minimum wage of 1,320 yuan ($207). As surplus capacity from the U.S.-Europe recession causes China to turn to its domestic market, the cost of Chinese-made goods will increase abroad.
Continue reading →By Andy Coghlan and Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist. An analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy.
Continue reading →By Staff, EarthTalk via Scientific American. How much area in the U.S. is still covered with old-growth forests and is it all protected from logging?
Continue reading →By Staff, Cuba Debate | CCS | Translated to English by Haiti Chery. CELAC is made up of 13 member nations from the Caribbean, 13 from South America, 6 from Central America, and 1 from the southern part of North America, whose leaders have agreed to promote an organization that will form a block in addressing the world’s challenges. (English | Spanish)
Continue reading →By William Lee Adams, Global Spin. An estimated 1,000 demonstrations by public sector workers are taking place throughout the U.K. Union leaders say the Prime Minister was asking for it.
Continue reading →By Kristin Palitza, IPS. DURBAN, South Africa – The UN program to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) has been touted as a global scheme to conserve forests but is just a way to pour a lot of money into forests so international investors make big profits.
Continue reading →By Staff, Ahram Online | Staff, TV New Zealand. Suez Port workers blocked the delivery of an initial 7-ton shipment of tear gas into Egypt. A three-stage shipment totaling 21 tons is on course for the port from the American port of Wilmington, with tear-gas canisters made by the American company Combined Systems.
Continue reading →By Marwaan Macan-Markar, IPS. Bangkok is paying the price of ignoring warnings over many years concerning its climate vulnerability and the incapacity of its soggy foundations to handle flooding.
Continue reading →By Anthony Phelps. “I ask myself, oh my country, what hand has drawn on the register of nations a little star by your name.” – Anthony Phelps. One of Haiti’s most important writers, with poetry and novels translated in tens of languages. (French)
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