News headlines in December 2016, page 4

DHAKA, Dec 20 (IPS) - Though highly hopeful about achieving the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) well ahead of the 2030 deadline, Bangladesh is upset over the procedures to access the Green Climate Fund, calling them ‘ridiculously complex' and warning that they may slow down its drive to achieve the SDGs.

CARAÚBAS, Brazil, Dec 20 (IPS) - "The vegetable garden changed my life," said Rita Alexandre da Silva, in the village of Primeiro do Maio where 65 families have obtained land to grow crops since 1999, in this municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in Northeast Brazil.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (IPS) - The UN Security Council - which has long struggled to find common ground on Syria - has unanimously approved a resolution allowing the UN to monitor the evacuation of civilians from Aleppo.

DHAKA, Dec 19 (IPS) - Bangladesh is weighing a World Bank proposal to introduce a carbon tax, the first of its kind in the South Asian nation, amid fears of a backlash from consumers.

NEW YORK, Dec 16 (IPS) - The Bring Back Our Girls Campaign has experienced some successes but must now overcome the challenge of hope fatigue, Bring Back Our Girls campaign co-founder Saudatu Mahdi told IPS in a recent interview.

MINAWAO CAMP, Cameroon, Dec 16 (IPS) - Tears spring to Aichatou Njoya's eyes as she recalls the day Islamic militants from Boko Haram arrived on her doorstep in Nigeria.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 (IPS) - Come 2017, the United Nations will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the world's longstanding unresolved political problems firmly entrenched on the UN agenda: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dating back to the Six Day War in June 1967.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (IPS) - The World Bank's Doing Business Report 2017, subtitled ‘Equal Opportunity for All', continues to mislead despite the many criticisms, including from within, levelled against the Bank's most widely read publication, and Bank management promises of reform for many years.

CANCUN, Mexico, Dec 14 (IPS) - Synthetic biology, geoengineering and the recognition of ancestral knowledge are the issues that have generated the most heated debate in the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, which ends in this Mexican resort city on Friday Dec. 17.

COLOMBO, Dec 14 (IPS) - Sri Lanka's upcoming 69th Independence Commemorations will be of special value to the island's media - that is, if everything works as planned.