News headlines in July 2012, page 25

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul 07 (IPS) - Far from the plush surroundings which hosted Rio+20the most ambitious global conference on the environment of the past two decades, events in a fishing village in the state of Rio de Janeiro show the cost of fighting environmental crime can be as high as life itself.

SANTO DOMINGO, Jul 07 (IPS) - The protection and conservation of biodiversity figure among the most daunting challenges posed by climate change in the Caribbean islands, home to a wealth of endemic species of flora and fauna.

WARSAW, Jul 07 (IPS) - Romanian President Traian Basescu is close to being impeached after the Parliament suspended him Friday. The political crisis, however, distracts from citizens’ calls for a more responsive political class and a halt to declining standards of living.

WASHINGTON, Jul 07 (IPS) - The defection this week of a key general with longstanding ties to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was hailed Friday by officials in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama as an important step towards ending the regime.

WASHINGTON, Jul 07 (IPS) - A key United Nations official on Friday urged the international community to match security funding for Afghanistan with economic and development funding after 2014, when most international – particularly U.S. – forces will leave the country.

LIMA, Jul 06 (IPS) - In under two days, five demonstrators were gunned down by security forces in the northern Peruvian highlands region of Cajamarca, where a state of emergency has been declared.

WASHINGTON, Jul 06 (IPS) - A resolution at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from three corporations which provide equipment used to maintain Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands failed by a mere two votes on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, Jul 06 (IPS) - As NATO supply convoys began crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan for the first time in more than seven months Thursday, analysts here warned that the reopening of the key route does not necessarily signal a new dawn in the fraught relations between Washington and Islamabad.

Jul 06 (IPS) - Two weeks after the United Nations conference on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro has left many lukewarm, activists, government representatives and U.N. officials are looking forward to setting new goals for the future.