Caribbean : US, EU food standards major hurdle for exporters (PRIV)
(IPS, Port of Spain)
As CARICOM countries struggle to move away from their traditional reliance on a single industry or major crop in the face of growing economic uncertainty worldwide, they are finding it increasingly difficult to enter markets in the EU and North America with new types of food products.

Rights : Syrian prison, a "human slaughterhouse", says Amnesty (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
At Saydnaya Military Prison, "the Syrian authorities have quietly and methodically organised the killing of thousands of people in their custody," according to a new Amnesty International (AI) report.

Opinion : We need a new social movement against inequality (PRIV)
(IPS, Johannesburg)
Oxfam's latest estimate that just eight super-rich people - down from 62 last year and 388 just six years ago - own more wealth than the poorest half of the world population is a clarion call to change the way we think about and try to tackle inequality.

United Nations : 'World must implement pledges on women's human rights' (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
"Women's economic empowerment in the changing world of work" will provide concrete, practical and action-oriented recommendations that will cover significant new ground, on overcoming structural barriers to gender equality, gender-based discrimination and violence against women at work, a senior United Nations official stressed.

Cuba : Seeds are key to improving bean production (PRIV)
(IPS, Havana)
"You have to have good and varied seeds to test which one adapts best to each kind of soil," says 71-year-old farmer Ruben Torres, who on his farm in central Cuba harvests 1.6 tons of organic beans every year, among other crops.

Philippines : Joins the space race (PRIV)
(IPS, Manila)
The Philippines, a tiny developing country, has joined the colossal world of space technology, building its second micro-satellite that it plans to launch late this year or in early 2018 - not to study other planets, but to monitor weather patterns and climate change to protect the country's natural resources and improve disaster risk management.