News headlines in 2014, page 63

GENEVA/ROME, Aug 03 (IPS) - India's decisive stand last week not to adopt the protocol of amendment of the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) unless credible rules were in place for the development issues of the South was met with  "astonishment" and "dismay" by trade diplomats from the North, who described New Delhi's as "hostage-taking" and "suicidal". 

DHARMAPURAM, Aug 03 (IPS) - Back in the day when the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran a de-facto state in Sri Lanka's Northern Province, alcohol consumption was closely monitored, and sternly frowned upon.

WASHINGTON, Aug 03 (IPS) - Despite worsening crises in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere in the Middle East, the administration of President Barack Obama hopes next week to focus at least some more positive attention on Africa.

DAKAR, Aug 02 (IPS) - Children living with HIV in Senegal suffer because of the taboo associated with this disease in a country which is, however, praised for its fight against the pandemic.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 01 (IPS) - Muhammad Tufail, a 22-year-old resident of Mardan, one of 26 districts that comprise Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, has recently become a volunteer aid worker.

GENEVA, Aug 01 (IPS) - The failure of the two major players in global trade negotiations to bridge their differences has put paid to the adoption of the protocol of amendment for implementation of the contested Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) for the time being. 

MANAGUA, Aug 01 (IPS) - Víctor Sánchez doesn't want gold or the comfortable future income he was promised.

He just wants to live the life he has always lived on his farm along the Banks of the Las Lajas river – but the river is slated to become part of the route followed by the Nicaragua Interoceanic Grand Canal.

SALIAKRO/ABDIJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, Aug 01 (IPS) - François Kouamé, prisoner Number 67, proudly shows off a sow and her four piglets. Dressed in his rubber boots, he passes by two new tractors as he happily makes his way to a field where pretty soon cassava and corn plants will start growing. "Look at those sprouts. It is a lot of work!"

BEIRUT, Aug 01 (IPS) - The Shatila Palestinian camp has no library, nor does adjacent Sabra or Ain El-Hilweh in the south. And, after recent statements by Lebanon's foreign minister, some fear that the thousands of Syrian refugee children within them will soon have even slimmer chances of learning to read and write.

LUCCA, Italy, Aug 01 (IPS) - His journey started four years ago in Conakry, Guinea. Now that Mamoudou* has finally reached Italy, he hopes this will be his final stop.