News headlines in August 2012, page 2

SRINAGAR, India, Aug 31 (IPS) - Jowhar Ahmed, an air-conditioner dealer in Srinagar, is pleased at a spurt in business this summer caused by temperatures soaring over 35 degrees Celsius - unusual in this alpine valley ringed by snow-capped mountains.

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (IPS) - After decreasing somewhat in recent months, international food prices have again risen dramatically, according to figures published on Thursday by the World Bank. Statistics for July indicate a 10 percent rise over just the previous month, and a six percent increase over already high prices from the same time frame a year ago.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (IPS) - Australia's recent decision to move asylum seekers to offshore detention facilities has alarmed human rights organisations.

LIMA, Aug 30 (IPS) - Of the 69,000 people killed during the 1980-2000 armed conflict in Peru, at least 16,000 were buried in secret unmarked graves. So far, only 2,064 of these bodies have been recovered, and just 50 percent have been identified, according to a new report.

YAOUNDÉ, Aug 30 (IPS) - Cameroonian urban famer Juliana Numfor has six plots of land where she grows maize, cassava, sweet potatoes and leafy vegetables, including cabbages, wild okra and greens.

KALOM, Sénégal, Aug 30 (IPS) - A new power plant in the eastern Senegalese village of Kalom is generating more than just electricity. Powered by agricultural waste, the station has lit up homes, lightened women's domestic burdens and even put a little money in some residents' pockets.

STOCKHOLM, Aug 30 (IPS) - Last May the European Commission reported that scores of infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip, financed mostly by the European Union, have been damaged or destroyed, wittingly or unwittingly, by Israeli military forces in the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

SRINAGAR, India, Aug 30 (IPS) - The violence that killed thousands in Kashmir during the turbulent 1990s has eased; now killer roads are taking their toll.

RAFAH, Gaza, Aug 30 (IPS) - “I waited from 10 am till 5 pm for my wife to cross from Egypt. She was among many hundreds who were coming into Gaza. Some waited since 6 am, some since the day before.”

SRINAGAR, India, Aug 30 (IPS) - The violence that killed thousands in Kashmir during the turbulent 1990s has eased; now killer roads are taking their toll.