News headlines in March 2011, page 13

A day after U.S. assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs Robert Blake appealed to the Bangladeshi government to reconsider its dismissal of 70-year-old microfinance guru Muhammad Yunus from the Grameen Bank, IPS spoke with the president and CEO of Women's World Banking (WWB), currently the most comprehensive network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the world.

Some Australians are convinced their government is sharing intelligence information with foreign powers about citizens implicated by documents released by Wikileaks.

As Japan struggles to confront a nuclear disaster that could be the worst in history, it seems clear that any discussion about the safety of nuclear energy should address the independence of regulatory agencies.

Venezuela has been a major arms purchaser from Russia, China and other suppliers in the last five years, but has failed to acquire the necessary competence to deal with hypothetical conflicts, says a non-governmental organisation specialised in security and defence.

The warnings from the people who suffered nuclear genocide in Hiroshima and Nagasaki fell on deaf ears. Many of its 55 nuclear power plants were built close to beaches to use the nearby sea water for cooling -in the country that gave the giant flood-wave its name, tsunami. The scientists knew the risk of tsunamis yet did not shout DON'T DO IT!! to the nuclear enthusiasts committed criminal neglect, writes Johan Galtung, director of the TRANSCEND Peace University and author of "A Theory of Conflict" and "A Theory of Development".

Libya's pro-democracy fighters have formed an 'interim government' even as forces backing the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, press ahead with attacks against them.

Stephen R. Carpenter, Professor of Zoology and Limnology at the University of Wisconsin,- will receive the 2011 Stockholm Water Prize. Professor Carpenter's groundbreaking research has shown how lake ecosystems are affected by the surrounding landscape and by human activities. His findings have formed the basis for concrete solutions on how to manage lakes, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

On Saturday, the U.S., France and the UK launched attacks on Libya’s air defences and other targets following U.N. Resolution 1973. The three African members of the Security Council voted for the resolution, but a chorus of criticism has greeted the airstrikes.

There is no way one can have a conversation with Linette Olofsson without being dragged into her collection of images about her community agricultural project in central Mozambican Province of Zambezia.

The woman described by former South African President Nelson Mandela as his 'favorite opposition politician', Patricia de Lille, has thrown her hat in for the position of mayor of Cape Town.