News headlines in March 2012, page 17

Dozens of Immokalee Florida farm workers left tomato fields behind last week and set up camp on the lush, corporate grounds of Publix supermarket to fast and protest the company's refusal to pay a penny more per pound for tomatoes.

A small group of dissidents who identify themselves as members of the Republican Party of Cuba (PRC) continued to occupy a Havana church Thursday, demanding a response to their grievances, despite the fact that the Catholic Church rejected the use of its churches for political ends.

According to a new publication released here Thursday by an influential national security think tank, engaging Iran on shared interests in Afghanistan can help improve U.S.-Iran relations and maximise the chances for stability in the country following the withdrawal of U.S.-led combat forces by 2014.

Chapita Ramovha remembers the days when the Limpopo River lapped at the foot of his village in south Zimbabwe. He says that back then residents of Makakavhule village had to build high walls to protect their homes from flooding. 'The Limpopo River was a marvel to watch, a beauty of nature, a source of food and income for us who lived along it,' the subsistence farmer recalls.

Almost half of the emergency shelters distributed by the British organisation Tearfund in the mountains above Léogâne remain uninhabited six months after they were built.

Since late 2011, scientists in Argentina have been carrying out an inventory of the country’s glaciers, with the aim of monitoring and preserving them. But they have failed to reach the most critical areas, where large-scale mining projects are encroaching on the ice fields.

The region of former Yugoslavia has developed a new phenomenon in response to economic hardships that continue to linger in Europe years after the climax of the global financial crash in 2008.

The armed forces of Peru have launched a campaign to rescue at least 50 children who are in the hands of the last surviving remnant of the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas.

Ideally, Malaysia’s affluent households could meet their need for domestic help by tapping on Indonesia, a large country with linguistic and cultural similarities - but Jakarta has placed a ban on its nationals working as domestics in the neighbouring country.

Development experts, government ministers from both North and South, business executives, and top UN officials will examine global policy changes required to ensure a sustainable future for people today and for generations to come. The discussions will be led by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan. The high level meeting will take place in Istanbul March 22.