News headlines in 2013, page 161

WASHINGTON, Apr 29 (IPS) - Environment groups are applauding a new United Nations decision to officially characterise international wildlife and timber trafficking as a serious organised crime, in a move that advocates say will finally give international law enforcement officials the tools necessary to counter spiking rates of poaching.

WASHINGTON, Apr 29 (IPS) - The surviving Boston Marathon bomber reportedly told authorities the U.S. "war on Islam" drove him and his brother to commit their terrorist act. Their linking the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a perceived global war on Islam is at the heart of the Jihadist message Bin Ladin and Al-Qaeda issued to the Muslim world almost two decades ago.

JIQUILISCO, El Salvador, Apr 29 (IPS) - Community leaders in El Salvador are opposed to the government's plans to use U.S. aid funds to develop the country's Pacific coastline, on the grounds that it would threaten the environment in a vast area.

ABIDJAN, Apr 29 (IPS) - Last week's local elections in Côte d'Ivoire were supposed to be a contest between members of the current governing coalition. But in municipal races, independent candidates claimed more seats than either of the coalition's two main parties, suggesting possible dissatisfaction with President Alasanne Ouattara at the local level.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands, Apr 29 (IPS) - After ten years of working towards peace and reconciliation in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, following a five-year civil conflict known as the ‘Tensions' (1998-2003) which left 30,000 people displaced and hundreds unaccounted for, people now go about their daily lives in improved freedom and personal security. But below the surface, untreated post-conflict trauma continues to impact many individuals and communities.

KHAN AL-AHMAR, Occupied West Bank, Apr 29 (IPS) - Dozens of metal and wooden tents cling to the rocky hillside, just outside of Jerusalem along the road leading to the Dead Sea, while the unmistakable red roofs of Israeli settlements peak out from behind opposite hilltops.

MOGADISHU, Apr 29 (IPS) - When journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh was shot by unknown assailants outside his home in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Apr. 22, his name was added to a list of four journalists who have been killed in this Horn of Africa nation since January.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Apr 28 (IPS) - Nearly 70 percent of known reserves of oil, gas and coal must remain in the ground to avoid dangerous climate change. So why did the energy industry spend 674 billion dollars in 2012 looking for more?

ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 28 (IPS) - Food safety advocates are outraged over revelations that U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama approved an act that includes a provision purporting to strip federal courts of the ability to prevent the spread of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

LAHORE, Apr 28 (IPS) - Younas Gill, a self-employed tax accountant, sits on the pavement in Joseph Colony, Lahore, staring at the place where, until about a month ago, his home had stood.