BERLIN, PARIS AND BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (IPS) - The day, 12 December 2015 was historic. Following decades of negotiations, countries agreed to sign the first global, legally binding climate agreement.

"Every government seems to recognize now that the fossil fuel era must end and soon", said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. Two months after the deal was reached at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21), it is time to see to which extent these words have translated into concrete action.

NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (IPS) - China's strength in South-South Cooperation (SSC) lies in its carrying out big-ticket infrastructure projects in diverse developing countries. It is remarkable in terms of project scale, speed and cost-effectiveness and has been playing a positive role in promoting partner's nation-building, economic development and social progress. However, the swift completion of China's infrastructure projects also has its sets of problems like little or no paper-work leading to lack of transparency, oversight and post-project monitoring. The backlash against Chinese labourers employed by Chinese companies in developing countries has been routinely highlighted by the international media with allegations of skirmishes with the local population, corruption coupled with resource theft.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18 (IPS) - Ban Ki-moon maybe fighting a losing battle to resolve one of the biggest humanitarian problems facing the world body – even as he completes his last 10 months as UN Secretary-General.

KAMPALA, Uganda, Feb 18 (IPS) - Mayimuna Monica* has been living with HIV for over 10 years and wants to have a baby. But she can't because her uterus was removed against her will at a government hospital where she had gone to deliver her last child now aged eight. "My uterus was removed in 2007. When I got pregnant and went for medical check-up, the doctor asked me why I was pregnant. I told him I want to have a third child. The doctor said, you people living with HIV at times annoy us because you understand your situation but you come to disturb us." Mayimuna narrates.

ROME, Feb 17 (IPS) - It is not coincidental that Boutros Boutros-Ghali (BBG) was the only Secretary General, in the history of the United Nations, that was able to serve only one period, instead of the two that have always been allowed. United States did veto his re-election, in spite of the favourable vote of the other members of the Security Council.

SAN SALVADOR, Feb 17 (IPS) - El Salvador is debating reforms of the country's privatised pension system, which could introduce changes so that it will no longer discriminate against women.

OXFORD, Feb 17 (IPS) - Although the implementation of Iranian nuclear deal has been welcomed by all those who had been involved in the negotiations as part of the P5+1, the deal has had many vociferous opponents.

COTONOU, Benin, Feb 17 (IPS) - Africa is eating more rice than other food staples, though it produces less than it needs. This is good news for the cereal's potential to help Sub Saharan Africa out of poverty according to researchers. Rice is the second most important source of calories in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), a research organisation working to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 16 (IPS) - Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 93, was the only UN Secretary-General (1992-1996) to be denied a second term in office because of a US veto in the 15-member Security Council.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 16 (IPS) - Owuor P.'s 16-year-old sister Nekesa tried and tried to get an abortion after she was gang-raped and found herself pregnant during Kenya's post-election violence in 2007-8. "We are not sure how many raped her," Owuor told me. "She told us that she saw three men rape her and then she lost consciousness. She was quiet most of the time after the rape." In desperation after the birth of the child, she killed herself. The baby survived, and today Owuor is raising the child, who has a serious mental health condition, and is still grieving for his sister.