MADRID, Mar 14 (IPS) - When the leaders of 28 European states enjoy again this week their exclusive flights, luxurious suites and official limousines, to meet for a new summit in Brussels to adopt a final decision on their proposed plan of using refugees as bargaining chips, 20.000 Syrians will most probably be still starving in the Idomeni camp in Greece, in a situation that has been described as "worse than World War I."

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 14 (IPS) - About 2.1 billion people are regarded as overweight or obese today, or almost thirty per cent of the world's population. With over 800 million people estimated to be chronically hungry in the world, it appears that the number of overweight is more than 2.5 times the number of undernourished.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 (IPS) - The Paris agreement means countries and corporations will be compelled to act much more quickly on making agricultural commodity production more sustainable. Companies must look beyond their supply chains. Farmers need support to overcome barriers such as: struggle with ineffective farming practices, lack of investment and fluctuating commodity prices.

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Mar 14 (IPS) - On the evening of March 4, heavily armed police forced their way into the headquarters of the Turkish daily Zaman. The hundreds of protesters that had gathered in front of the building in an Istanbul suburb in solidarity with their newspaper were violently dispersed.

ROME, Mar 11 (IPS) - The last formal act of European disintegration was the last negotiation between 28 European leaders and the Prime Minister of Turkey. The deal, against all international treaties, is a total capitulation to European values. Europe will give Turkey 6 billion dollars, and in exchange Turkey will keep refugees from coming to Europe. Or better, will screen everybody, and send to Europe only the Syrians who are eligible for political asylum.

GAZA, Palestine, Mar 11 (IPS) - In the safety of his sister's bare flat in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, 42 year-old Iyad Yusef still shakes his head in disbelief when he recounts the journey that from war-torn Syria, brought him and his family to the relative safety of the blockaded strip.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 10 (IPS) - In Argentina, there are now 20 brand names that guarantee that their garments are produced by workers in decent working conditions, thanks to the Clean Clothes network, aimed at eradicating slave labour in the garment industry, which illegally employs some 30,000 people in sweatshops around the country.

CHAIPAINAWABGANJ, Bangladesh, Mar 10 (IPS) - About a year ago, seven year-old Afroza Khatun dropped out of school as her mother could not continue supervising her homework.

KAMPALA, Uganda, Mar 09 (IPS) - Nearly two weeks after controversially winning a fifth term, it has emerged that Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has signed another repressive law which restricts the operations of thousands of NGOs working in the country.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 08 (IPS) - In the 1960s, when gender discrimination was widespread at the United Nations, there was a story doing the rounds of a woman candidate who had applied for a mid-level professional job in the UN Secretariat.