News headlines in November 2012, page 24

PUNTA DEL ESTE, Uruguay, Nov 01 (IPS) - The countries of the developing South should remove the barriers still faced by small-scale farmers, because smallholders play a key role in economic growth, says Carlos Seré, the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) chief development strategist.

GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 01 (IPS) - From satellites to inter-oceanic canals, the most innovative or ambitious investments in Central America are coming from China - even though six of the seven countries in this sub-region do not have diplomatic ties with the Asian giant.

LUSAKA, Nov 01 (IPS) - Increased agricultural development in Zambia will actually compromise the country’s food security as peasant farmers continue to be driven off their customary land to pave the way for large-scale local and foreign agribusiness, according to the University of Zambia’s dean of the school of agriculture, Dr. Mickey Mwala.

CAIRO, Nov 01 (IPS) - Egyptian bullies who sexually harass women in the streets, often taking advantage of mob situations and the anonymity these provide, are getting a taste of their own medicine - and they don’t like it.

WASHINGTON, Nov 01 (IPS) - >With less than a week left in the 2012 election campaign and much of the Northeast recovering from Hurricane Sandy, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, former governor Mitt Romney, are running neck and neck in the national popular vote, according to the most recent surveys.