News headlines in 2013, page 98

WASHINGTON, Jul 15 (IPS) - The Jun. 14 election of Hassan Rouhani, nicknamed the "diplomatic sheik" during his service as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator from 2003-2005, to Iran's presidency was met with hopeful celebrations within the country but much cooler reactions from key world leaders.

NAIROBI, Jul 15 (IPS) - With the country's food security and farmers' livelihoods at risk from climate change, Kenya has divergent policy options. One is reliant on deploying new technologies as well as improving and expanding use of fertilisers and pesticides; while the other would turn to indigenous knowledge and the country's natural biodiversity.

ROME, Jul 14 (IPS) - FAO is currently supporting two seemingly contradictory projects in Caribbean countries: while one seeks to promote organic production, the other involves the use of chemical fungicides to fight black sigatoka, the worst enemy of this key food crop.

HAVANA, Jul 14 (IPS) - More and more young men in Cuba are moving away from the traditional masculine aesthetic and are spending hours in front of the mirror or at the gym. But they are not any less "machista" in behaviour, according to specialists meeting in the capital.

NAIROBI, Jul 14 (IPS) - REDD – reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation – would seem to be a mitigation strategy that perfectly matches Africa's needs.

BRUSSELS, Jul 14 (IPS) - The European Investment Bank, the largest institutional bank in the world, is facing criticism for its funding of fossil fuel projects and for weaker standards for lending to coal plants than currently proposed in both the U.S. and Canada.

KINSHASA, Jul 13 (IPS) - In some Democratic Republic of Congo schools, teachers and senior authorities are using their status to abuse girls who do not know their rights, according to the African Association for the Defence of Human Rights.

GENEVA, Jul 13 (IPS) - The decisions of the United States and the European Union to demand implementation of controversial labour standards in Bangladesh following the Sawa industrial tragedy pose a serious threat to the rule-based global trading system, says Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General for United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

ISTANBUL, Jul 13 (IPS) - Among the many issues bringing protestors together at Gezi Park, the now-iconic site of struggle in Istanbul's Taksim Square, is the demand for women's liberation.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul 13 (IPS) - The young people who have been protesting in Brazil over the last few weeks, who say they are apolitical and who have organised over the social networking sites, were not entirely pleased with Thursday's demonstrations by the country's trade unions and social and popular movements.