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Thursday, May 17, 2012   00:59 GMT    
Latest News
U.S.: Tea Party Loses in Fight with Big Business
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON, May 16 (IPS) - For leaders of the right-wing populist "Tea Party" who have bragged about their growing influence – if not domination – of the Republican Party, the past week's battle over the future of the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) has been a humbling experience.
MORE >>

Murder of Prominent Honduran Journalist "Sends a Terrible Message"
By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA, May 16 (IPS) - A few short hours after Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said he had seen evidence that Alfredo Villatoro, a radio reporter kidnapped May 9, was alive, the journalist’s body was found in a residential neighbourhood on the south side of the capital.
MORE >>

Ratko Mladic Goes on Trial for Genocide
By Correspondents*
DOHA, Qatar, May 16 (IPS/Al Jazeera) - The trial of General Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army chief accused of orchestrating war crimes and a campaign of genocide, has begun at a special U.N. court at The Hague in the Netherlands.
MORE >>

Rio+20: European Parliament Absent in Sustainability Summit
By Julio Godoy
BERLIN, May 16 (IPS) - The decision by the European Parliament (EP) to renounce its participation in the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development next month on the grounds that hotel costs are exorbitant has provoked sharp criticism from civil society organisations.
MORE >>

Q&A: The Future of Agriculture May Well Be in Cities
By Shari Nijman interviews DICKSON DESPOMMIER, director of the Vertical Farm Project
NEW YORK, May 16 (IPS) - In the coming decades, the world's population is expected to grow by at least another two billion people, 80 percent of whom will live in cities by the year 2050.
MORE >>

Maternal Deaths Drop By Nearly Half
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (IPS) - The statistics have remained staggering: every two minutes, a woman dies of pregnancy and child birth-related complications caused primarily by severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure and unsafe abortions.
MORE >>

COLOMBIA-U.S.: Trade Deal "Throws Country into Jaws of Multinationals," Critics Say
By Helda Martínez*
BOGOTÁ, May 16 (IPS) - The entry into force of Colombia’s free trade agreement with the United States was met by student protests and opposition from a segment of the business community, small farmers, and trade unionists.
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OP-ED: Arab Autocrats Aiding Resurgence of Terrorism
By Dr. Emile Nakhleh*
WASHINGTON, May 16 (IPS) - The rising spectre of terrorism in Syria shows that by clinging to power and refusing to implement meaningful reforms, Arab autocrats in Syria, Bahrain, and elsewhere are indirectly contributing to the resurgence of terrorism in their societies.
MORE >>

Colombian River Basin Passes the Test of El Niño and La Niña
By Constanza Vieira *
NEIVA, Colombia, May 16 (Tierramérica) - Patricia Gómez, an engineer, is leading a training workshop for a group of 11 men at the fire station in Neiva, the capital of the department of Huila in southwest Colombia.
MORE >>

Manila and Moscow Inch Closer to Labour Agreement
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW, May 16 (IPS) - As the number of migrant Filipino workers in Russia inches closer to 5000, Moscow and Manila are busy negotiating a bilateral labour agreement that could allow thousands more overseas workers into various sectors of the Russian economy.
MORE >>

Global Affairs
Q&A
The Future of Agriculture May Well Be in Cities
By Shari Nijman interviews DICKSON DESPOMMIER, director of the Vertical Farm Project
NEW YORK - In the coming decades, the world's population is expected to grow by at least another two billion people, 80 percent of whom will live in cities by the year 2050.
MORE >>
 		 
Maternal Deaths Drop By Nearly Half
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The statistics have remained staggering: every two minutes, a woman dies of pregnancy and child birth-related complications caused primarily by severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure and unsafe abortions.
MORE >>
 		 
Manila and Moscow Inch Closer to Labour Agreement
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW - As the number of migrant Filipino workers in Russia inches closer to 5000, Moscow and Manila are busy negotiating a bilateral labour agreement that could allow thousands more overseas workers into various sectors of the Russian economy.
MORE >>
 		 
Public Funds Could Help Provide Water and Electricity, Researchers Say
By Johanna Treblin
UNITED NATIONS - For several decades, governments around the globe have turned to privatisation as the best option to help relieve the world's destitute by providing them with health care services, water and electricity. By and large, however, this effort has failed.
MORE >>
 		 
Adding Rice Farmers to the Rio+20 Agenda
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - The year 2011 was one of extremes for the small Sri Lankan village of Verugal.
MORE >>
 		 
MDGs
Rio+20
European Parliament Absent in Sustainability Summit
By Julio Godoy
BERLIN - The decision by the European Parliament (EP) to renounce its participation in the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development next month on the grounds that hotel costs are exorbitant has provoked sharp criticism from civil society organisations.
MORE >>
 		 
Q&A
The Future of Agriculture May Well Be in Cities
By Shari Nijman interviews DICKSON DESPOMMIER, director of the Vertical Farm Project
NEW YORK - In the coming decades, the world's population is expected to grow by at least another two billion people, 80 percent of whom will live in cities by the year 2050.
MORE >>
 		 
Maternal Deaths Drop By Nearly Half
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The statistics have remained staggering: every two minutes, a woman dies of pregnancy and child birth-related complications caused primarily by severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure and unsafe abortions.
MORE >>
 		 
Brazilian Government Sets Guidelines for Success at Rio+20
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - As the host of Rio+20, the Brazilian government has defined guidelines for achieving success at the upcoming world summit, whose aim is to assess and strengthen what has been done since the 1992 Earth Summit, the first global meeting on sustainable development.
MORE >>
 		 
Despite Economic Growth, Food Insecurity Lingers in Africa
By Brian Ngugi
NAIROBI - Everlyne Wanjiku, a single mother of five, has earned a living selling vegetables in the sprawling Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, for over three decades. And even though her earnings were meagre, she was able to provide all her children with a tertiary education.
MORE >>
 		 
Environment
Rio+20
European Parliament Absent in Sustainability Summit
By Julio Godoy
BERLIN - The decision by the European Parliament (EP) to renounce its participation in the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development next month on the grounds that hotel costs are exorbitant has provoked sharp criticism from civil society organisations.
MORE >>
 		 
Colombian River Basin Passes the Test of El Niño and La Niña
By Constanza Vieira *
NEIVA, Colombia - Patricia Gómez, an engineer, is leading a training workshop for a group of 11 men at the fire station in Neiva, the capital of the department of Huila in southwest Colombia.
MORE >>
 		 
Adding Rice Farmers to the Rio+20 Agenda
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - The year 2011 was one of extremes for the small Sri Lankan village of Verugal.
MORE >>
 		 
Brazilian Government Sets Guidelines for Success at Rio+20
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - As the host of Rio+20, the Brazilian government has defined guidelines for achieving success at the upcoming world summit, whose aim is to assess and strengthen what has been done since the 1992 Earth Summit, the first global meeting on sustainable development.
MORE >>
 		 
Argentina Faces the Dilemma of Unconventional Oil and Gas
By Marcela Valente *
BUENOS AIRES - Vast reserves of natural gas and oil trapped underground, whose exploitation would signify major environmental impacts, will be the greatest challenge facing YPF, the Argentine oil company that recently returned to state control.
MORE >>
 		 
Human Rights
Murder of Prominent Honduran Journalist "Sends a Terrible Message"
By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA - A few short hours after Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said he had seen evidence that Alfredo Villatoro, a radio reporter kidnapped May 9, was alive, the journalist’s body was found in a residential neighbourhood on the south side of the capital.
MORE >>
 		 
Ratko Mladic Goes on Trial for Genocide
By Correspondents*
DOHA, Qatar - The trial of General Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army chief accused of orchestrating war crimes and a campaign of genocide, has begun at a special U.N. court at The Hague in the Netherlands.
MORE >>
 		 
OP-ED
Arab Autocrats Aiding Resurgence of Terrorism
By Dr. Emile Nakhleh*
WASHINGTON - The rising spectre of terrorism in Syria shows that by clinging to power and refusing to implement meaningful reforms, Arab autocrats in Syria, Bahrain, and elsewhere are indirectly contributing to the resurgence of terrorism in their societies.
MORE >>
 		 
Manila and Moscow Inch Closer to Labour Agreement
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW - As the number of migrant Filipino workers in Russia inches closer to 5000, Moscow and Manila are busy negotiating a bilateral labour agreement that could allow thousands more overseas workers into various sectors of the Russian economy.
MORE >>
 		 
EU Feels Force of Israeli Demolitions
By Daan Bauwens
BRUSSELS - All 27 foreign ministers of the European Union have strongly spoken out against Israeli demolitions in Area C of the West Bank. Since the beginning of 2011 not less than 60 EU-funded projects have been demolished while 110 others are currently at risk. Several analysts claim the Israeli authorities are specifically targeting EU-funded projects.
MORE >>
 		 
Health
Maternal Deaths Drop By Nearly Half
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The statistics have remained staggering: every two minutes, a woman dies of pregnancy and child birth-related complications caused primarily by severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure and unsafe abortions.
MORE >>
 		 
Public Funds Could Help Provide Water and Electricity, Researchers Say
By Johanna Treblin
UNITED NATIONS - For several decades, governments around the globe have turned to privatisation as the best option to help relieve the world's destitute by providing them with health care services, water and electricity. By and large, however, this effort has failed.
MORE >>
 		 
Recovering From the Spring, at a Price
By Mona Alami
AMMAN - The Arab Spring sent scores of sick and injured Libyans, fleeing their war- torn country, straight to Jordan, where the influx of patients is putting a lot of pressure on Jordanian hospitals and disrupting the lives of Libyan and Jordanian patients alike.
MORE >>
 		 
Hunger Feeds Growing Protests in Prison
By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
JERUSALEM - With more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners weeks into an open-ended hunger strike in protest against worsening conditions in Israeli jails, including two that have gone without food for 72 days, human rights groups say many lives are in danger and are calling for urgent intervention.
MORE >>
 		 
War Widows Turn to Sex Work in Sri Lanka
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - On May 18, some 800 women in Sri Lanka’s northern region will hold Hindu religious ceremonies for the welfare of thier husbands who disappeared or surrendered to the military as it moved in to mop up nearly three decades of armed Tamil separatism.
MORE >>
 		 
Climate South: Developing Countries Coping With Climate Change
High Oil Costs Drive Jamaica's Clean Energy Agenda
By Zadie Neufville*
KINGSTON - A growing appetite for oil and some of the Caribbean region's highest electricity rates and petroleum prices are driving Jamaica's thrust toward clean energy alternatives.
MORE >>
 		 
Tribal Farming Beats Climate Change
By Manipadma Jena*
RAYAGADA, India - Tribal farmer Harish Saraka has rediscovered the key to sustainable farming in this rain-dependent hinterland of eastern Odisha state – mixed cropping.
MORE >>
 		 
Buenos Aires Unprepared for More Intense Storms**
By Marcela Valente *
BUENOS AIRES - The 18 deaths caused by a storm that hit Buenos Aires earlier this month tragically demonstrate the lack of preparedness for the ever more frequent and powerful weather events faced by the Argentine capital and its suburbs.
MORE >>
 		 
Jamaica to Galvanise Public on Climate Adaptation
By Zadie Neufville*
KINGSTON - A public awareness project that aims to foster wider understanding among locals about the linkages between the global climate and their social and economic wellbeing is Jamaica's newest adaptation strategy.
MORE >>
 		 
Dominica Seeks Millions for Climate Change Strategy
By Peter Richards*
ROSEAU, Dominica - Dominica presented its "2012-2020 Low Carbon Climate Resilient Development Strategy" to donors including the World Bank on Wednesday in a bid to gain wider access to funding and position itself as a regional leader in renewable energy.
MORE >>
 		 
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