News headlines in 2014, page 148

BULAWAYO, Feb 11 (IPS) - Matthew Jacobs* has been married for two years but his wife doesn't know that he is also in a relationship with someone else. If his secret were discovered, it could result in him ending up in jail. His crime? Being in a same-sex relationship.

WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (IPS) - Watchdog groups here are warning that a deal has been struck that would see Chinese investors fund a massive, contentious dam on the Congo River, the first phase of a project that could eventually be the largest hydroelectric project in the world.

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (IPS) - A group of international organisations fighting illicit wildlife trafficking has unveiled a new website aimed at assisting whistleblowers who want to aid in the fight against wildlife crimes.

NEW YORK, Feb 10 (IPS) - Despite evolving public awareness and alarm over climate change, subsidies for the production and consumption of fossil fuels remain a stubborn impediment to shifting the world's energy matrix towards renewable sources.

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico, Feb 10 (IPS) - A decade after the United States Navy's departure, the Puerto Rican island town of Vieques faces new challenges, and the rebirth of its agriculture sector is hampered by a legacy of toxic military trash that has uncertain consequences.

PIQUIÁ DE BAIXO, Brazil, Feb 10 (IPS) - "My nephew was eight years old when he stepped in the ‘munha' and burned his legs up to the knees," said Angelita Alves de Oliveira from a corner of Brazil's Amazonia that has become a deadly hazard for local people.

MANILA, Feb 10 (IPS) - After two years of intensive negotiations, the Philippine government and the country's largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have signed a final peace agreement, which paves the way for a lasting resolution of one of the world's longest-running intra-state conflicts.

NAIROBI, Feb 10 (IPS) - Jane Njeri from the semi-arid lower Mukurweini district in Kenya's Central Province has taken to boiling wild roots to feed her five children.

MISHOR ADUMIM INDUSTRIAL ZONE, Occupied West Bank, Feb 09 (IPS) - The longstanding Israeli practice of labelling settlement products ‘Made in Israel' is leading to mounting opposition to the occupation.

MEXICO CITY, Feb 08 (IPS) - Tita Radilla is waiting, somewhat sceptically, for Mexican military personnel accused of carrying out forced disappearances to be brought before civilian courts. It is a demand that has spanned the past five decades.