Finance : IIAs have made debt restructuring more difficult and costly (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
International investment and trade agreements are legally binding international treaties which give investors an additional layer of legal protection on top of the host country law and contract law, but little efforts have been made in ironing out the interface between these different laws and treaties, according to a new paper from the South Centre.

Latin America : Focuses on attacking pockets of rural poverty (PRIV)
(IPS, Santiago)
Identifying territories where rural poverty is most entrenched in Latin America and the Caribbean to apply new tools and innovative policies to combat hunger is the new strategy that will be discussed at a ministerial meeting to be held in early May.

Opinion : The United States - innovation and immobility (PRIV)
(IPS, Miami)
It is the country of paradox, based on the double column of creativity and tradition.