COLOMBO, Nov 02 (IPS) - When early warning systems fail, death comes quickly to unsuspecting victims of natural disasters. It is a reality that millions of Sri Lankans have experienced repeatedly in the last decade, and yet those responsible for preventing human fatalities continue to make the same mistakes.

OXFORD, Nov 02 (IPS) - When  the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) suddenly emerged in Iraq, it declared as one of its first targets the Shiites and what it called the Safavids. The Safavid dynasty (1501-1736) was one of the most powerful Iranian dynasties after the Islamic conquest. 

Fredericksburg, VIRGINIA, Nov 01 (IPS) - The Pentagon recently released a new report sounding the alarm on the national security threats posed by climate change. Like previous reports on the subject, this one makes clear that Department of Defence (DoD) planners believe that global warming will seriously challenge our nation's military forces.

SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, Mexico, Nov 01 (IPS) - Mexico can charm, irritate, wound, inspire and confuse the casual visitor as well as the informed researcher. But no one is ever left indifferent by it. Mexico leaves an indelible mark.

MÁLAGA, Spain, Nov 01 (IPS) - "I would like to have a big house, and I wish my family didn't have to go out and ask for food or clothes," Encarni, who just turned 12, tells IPS in the small apartment she shares with five other family members in a poor neighbourhood in the southern Spanish city of Málaga.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 31 (IPS) - Can violence against women be prevented or eliminated with a new international treaty signed and ratified by the 193 member states of the United Nations?

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (IPS) - According to an article published Oct. 21 on Al-Monitor, the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) has issued new regulations for the school systems under its control in Iraq and Syria. The announced purpose of the so-called guidelines, which carried the imprimatur of the group's "Amir al-Mu'minin," presumably leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is to "eradicate ignorance and disseminate Sharia sciences."

AMMAN, Oct 31 (IPS) - Watching videos and pictures on social media of the advance of the Islamic State (IS) inside Syria made it all seem far from reality to Iraqi Marvin Nafee.

MAPUTO, Oct 31 (IPS) - The woman on bed 27 in Maputo Central Hospital's oncology ward has no idea how lucky she is. In January, when abdominal pains wracked her, a pharmacist suggested pain killers. For months, "the pain would go and return," she told IPS. 

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (IPS) - The Canadian government is failing either to investigate or to hold the country's massive extractives sector accountable for rights abuses committed in Latin American countries, according to petitioners who testified here Tuesday before an international tribunal.