News headlines in 2013, page 135

MEXICO CITY, May 31 (IPS) - The last time Enrique Rangel heard his brother Héctor's voice was on the night of Nov. 10, 2009, when he called and said "they're coming, they already stopped me and asked for money, and I already paid, but they're coming."

BONN, May 31 (IPS) - More civil unrest in Africa, another coup d'état, more reports of child soldiers in the front line, involvement of foreign troops, the poorest of the poor losing what little they have – and all the while the proceeds of a country's wealth are diverted from much-needed social and economic development to financing death and destruction. 

MOGADISHU, May 31 (IPS) - Attempts by clan elders and militia commanders in southern Somalia to form an autonomous state, without the consent of the central government but with the apparent backing of foreign countries, remains a dangerous, destabilising element in the region, say analysts.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (IPS) - Liberian journalist Mae Azango says she spent a year living "like a bat, going from tree to tree" with her daughter in order to escape religious fanatics who were threatening to kill her for exposing the practice of female genital mutilation in her home country last year.

UNITED NATIONS, May 31 (IPS) - A U.N.-commissioned high-level panel of eminent persons, led by three world leaders, has moved the goal posts for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger: from the current 2015 deadline to a new targeted date of 2030.

KABUL, May 31 (IPS) - As Afghanistan prepares for the 2014 withdrawal of foreign forces that have occupied this country for over a decade, investors are already beginning to bid a hasty retreat amid rumours that "chaos" and civil war will replace NATO's boots on the ground late next year.

WASHINGTON, May 30 (IPS) - Consumer advocates and environmentalists this week are taking advantage of an industry conference to highlight concerns over the U.S. government's pending approval of a genetically modified eucalyptus tree.

DARWIN, Australia, May 30 (IPS) - Some good-byes can actually mean the start of a long road working together. That was how it felt at the end of the World Indigenous Network (WIN) conference in this northern Australian city.

UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (IPS) - For thousands of years the Bedouin people have made their home in the desert of what is now Israel. But for almost six decades, the Bedouin have been on the move, repeatedly relocated to make room for Israeli settlements.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, May 30 (IPS) - First it was U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who travelled to Trinidad and Tobago Tuesday to speak with "our friends" in the Caribbean.