UNITED NATIONS, Jul 03 (IPS) - "Drugs and crime threaten one of our most important goals - to ensure sustainable development around the world," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated on Jun. 26, during a General Assembly debate on drugs and crime  as a threat to development.

TAPACHULA, Jul 03 (IPS) - "It's like the parties are competing with each other to see who spends the most money. In a state as poor as ours, that's indecent," Alex, a 30-year-old taxi driver in this city of the southern state of Chiapas, just 30 minutes from the Guatemalan border, told IPS.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 03 (IPS) - Since March 2011, Syrian authorities have subjected tens of thousands of people to torture, rape, sexual abuse and unlawful detention, with some cases of ill treatment leading to death, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Tuesday.

DAKAR, Jul 03 (IPS) - Eighty-odd kilometres outside Dakar, the Senegalese capital, solar power and an irrigation scheme are transforming a traditional village into what the government hopes will be a model for the future of the countryside.

, Jul 03 (IPS) - by Waruna Dhanapala & Ambassador Dr Palitha Kohona Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations

UNITED NATIONS, July 3 -- After months of arduous negotiations, sometimes mired in hopeless and acrimonious debate mainly between the North and the South, the Outcome Document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development/Rio+20 was adopted by acclamation by over 130 states represented at the highest levels on the evening of 22nd June 2012.

, Jul 03 (IPS) - Stockholm, 2 July 2012 – The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has been named the 2012 'Prince Albert II of Monaco Water Award' laureate in recognition of its “high contributions on water issues”.

, Jul 03 (IPS) - DOHA, Qatar, Jul 3 2012 (Al Jazeera) - Kosovo will finally gain full soverignty in September, almost four years after breaking away from Serbia, the International Steering Group (ISG) overseeing its independence has announced.

UTRECHT, The Netherlands, Jul 03 (IPS) - Growing numbers of asylum seekers are being denied refugee status by the Dutch authorities, but cannot go back to their own country either. Forced removals are doing little to better the situation.

DHAKA, Jul 03 (IPS) - At first glance the smart young women in white overcoats, black rubber boots and protective face masks seem out of place in impoverished Bangladesh’s dirtiest industry – brick making. 

Eighty-odd kilometres outside Dakar, the Senegalese capital, solar power and an irrigation scheme are transforming a traditional village into what the government hopes will be a model for the future of the countryside.