News headlines in February 2011, page 6

A growing number of endangered olive ridley sea turtles have been getting killed in Eastern India’s coastal state Orissa by mechanized vessels defying a fishing ban on one of the world’s largest turtle sanctuaries, Gahirmatha.

Outdated laws that treat same-sex relations as a crime in a third of Asia-Pacific countries fuel fresh HIV infections, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM), a most vulnerable community.

Peru's Glass of Milk Programme (PVL) is failing in its aim of providing nutritional supplements to all poor children in Peru. But it has been a big business opportunity for the handful of companies that supply the programme, according to a special audit report seen by IPS.

Abu Mustafa Al Matriah and Abu Ahmed Abu Amrah, both Bedouins in Northern Sinai are thankful to the army that they can complete their daily deliveries without having 'to pay so much baksheesh' (gratuity).

After years of planning, fundraising and consultations, U.N. Women was officially launched Thursday evening to much celebration.

In terms of economics, the European Union (EU) includes one country - Germany - that is both friend and foe to the 27-member community, and their relationship has turned markedly bittersweet on the road to recovery after the global economic crisis.

Demonstrations are continuing across the Middle East, interrupted only by the call for prayer when protesters fall to their knees on cheap carpets and straw mats and the riot police take a tea break. Meanwhile, in 'darkest Africa', far away from the cameras of international mainstream media, reports have surfaced of political unrest in a host of sub- Saharan nations.

Beer manufacturers sell nearly 548 million litres of brew each day, but with every bottle, they are using many times that amount of water on a planet facing mounting resource challenges.

The first anniversary of the death of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata, after an 85-day hunger strike, was marked by the usual tensions between internal dissident sectors, supporters of the government of President Raúl Castro, and Cuban authorities.

While 'fundamentalism' has become something of a buzzword in the past few years, particularly in the West in connection with Islam, it in fact exists in every region and religion, and has a set of common characteristics, say activists who have studied the question for years.