JEJU, South Korea, Sep 18 (IPS) - At the close of the ten-day World Conservation Congress that ran from Sept. 6-15 on the South Korean island of Jeju, members of the convening International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) agreed on an ambitious four-year action plan for protecting global natural resources.

RAYAGADA, India, Sep 18 (IPS) - The deafening din of the lunch gong is sweet music to the 200-odd tribal girls rushing down the stairway, clutching stainless steel plates and tumblers.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Sep 18 (IPS) - Limiting climate change to two degrees C won't save most coral reefs, according to new, state-of-the-art research.

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 17 (IPS) - The Argentine government has opened legal aid centres in slum neighbourhoods, to provide a range of services, from assistance for immigrants and victims of domestic violence to dental care services.

JEJU, South Korea, Sep 17 (IPS) - As ravenous consumers of natural resources, companies are beginning to recognise that they owe a monetary debt to the planet, and are sharpening their pencils to calculate it.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 17 (IPS) - Amidst growing political tensions in the Islamic world over a video caricature of the Prophet Muhammad originating in the United States, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is making an “urgent “plea for political harmony worldwide.

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 17 (IPS) - A bill that would lower the voting age from 18 to 16 is headed for approval in the Argentine Congress, in line with a reform that has already been adopted in Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador and Nicaragua, and that has begun to be debated in Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay.

WASHINGTON, Sep 17 (IPS) - While Tuesday's killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other U.S. officials in Benghazi dominated the headlines here last week, the larger concern for most foreign policy experts here was focused on neighbouring Egypt and specifically how the government of President Mohamed Morsi was dealing with anti-U.S. protests.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 17 (IPS) - Myanmar, also known as Burma, has taken important steps towards democracy and greater respect for human rights during the last months with one exception, activists say – the situation for the Rohingya minority, which has faced an outburst of violent attacks this summer.

TORONTO, Sep 17 (IPS) - Scepticism continues in Canada about why the national government abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Iran earlier this month, although ties between the two states have been rocky since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.