BELFAST, Oct 13 (IPS) - How can we explain that in the 2lst century we are still training millions of men and women in our armed forces and sending them to war? 

PYEONGCHANG, Republic of Korea, Oct 13 (IPS) - For over five years, 33-year-old Maheshwar Basumatary, a member of the indigenous Bodo community, made a living by killing wild animals in the protected forests of the Manas National Park, a tiger reserve, elephant sanctuary and UNESCO World Heritage Site that lies on the India-Bhutan border.

HONG KONG, Oct 13 (IPS) - The Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti was recently sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of separatism.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 12 (IPS) - A deliberate Israeli policy to Judaise East Jerusalem has forced thousands of Palestinians out of their homes and created a chronic housing shortage in the occupied part of the city.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 12 (IPS) - For girls living in northern Pakistan's sprawling tribal regions, the struggle for education began long before that fateful day when members of the Taliban shot a 15-year-old schoolgirl in the head, and will undoubtedly continue for many years to come.

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Oct 11 (IPS) - The kids of Kodikaman, a dusty village straddling the newly laid railway line in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna District, enjoy a special treat these days.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 10 (IPS) - Agricultural losses are no longer the most visible effect of the drought plaguing Brazil's most developed region. Now the energy crisis and the threat of water shortages in the city of São Paulo are painful reminders of just how dependent Brazilians are on regular rainfall.

MATLOCK, United Kingdom, Oct 10 (IPS) - Since the end of the Cold War, the Mediterranean has become the most lethal of Europe's barriers against irregular migration, having claimed nearly 20,000 migrant lives in the last two decades.  

ATHENS, Oct 10 (IPS) - Imagine a black-footed albatross feeding its chick plastic pellets, a baby seal in the North Pole helplessly struggling with an open-ended plastic bag wrapped tight around its neck, or a fishing vessel stranded mid-sea, a length of discarded nylon net entangled in its propeller. Multiply these scenarios a thousand-fold, and you get a glimpse of the state of the world's oceans.