Global Trade

As the World Health Organisation's top man in Thailand, William Aldis knew Thai officials were hosting their US counterparts in the northern city of Chiang Mai to negotiate what to many outsiders might seem an entirely worthy objective: a bi­lateral free-trade deal. But he saw dangers - and decided to make his views public. Read More

Welcome to the Coke side of life. Africa's planned legal action is just the latest in a litany of alleged human rights and environmental abuses in developing markets that has made Coca-Cola a cause celebre. Read More

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), now being negotiated in the World Trade Organization (WTO), is likely to reduce migrant workers to the status of commodities. Read More

Feeling brainy? Than this article about the "financialization" of almost every aspect of modern life will help explain how we got to a place where obscene executive pay packages, Ken Lay, exploding consumer debt and the widening gap between rich and poor, and why it won't last. Or something. Read More

British companies with global operations face a growing threat of being sued in the US over their dealings with foreign governments accused of human rights violations, a leading lawyer has warned. Read More

This great, largely untapped treasure is pitting a leftist government aiming to use oil revenue for social programs against multinational corporations like Chevron, which were invited here a decade ago to develop the Orinoco Belt, a 54-square-mile area some 120 miles south of here. Read More

So great is the official level of concern about AllofMP3 that American trade negotiators darkly warned that the Web site could jeopardize Russia's long-sought entry into the World Trade Organization. Read More

The Bush administration sought agreement from U.S. farm groups for a 70 percent cut in their most trade-distorting subsidies as a way to save world trade talks but was rejected, industry sources said on Tuesday. Read More

Tobacco consumption in the developed world is flat or declining, but it is booming worldwide, boosted by the removal of tariffs and other restrictions on trade that have been an integral part of globalization. But, tobacco, as its critics like to point out, is not like most other products - it's "the only legal consumer product that kills half of its regular users." So, naturally, governments are wont to regulate it. Read More

Western Shoshone and Colville tribal members protested in early May at Newmont Mining Corp.'s annual shareholders meeting, uniting with indigenous from Peru, Indonesia and Ghana to create a protest over the pollution and scarred land resulting from gold mining. Read More