News headlines in 2017, page 53

OXFORD, Jul 03 (IPS) - Although US policies during the past few months have been quite puzzling and unpredictable, the events of the past few days have been truly bewildering and alarming. On Monday 26th June, the White House released a statement saying that the United States had "identified potential preparations for another chemical attack by the Assad regime…" It went on to say: "If, however, Mr. Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price."

ROME, Jul 03 (IPS) - In 2014 alone, about 11 million young Africans entered the labour market. But many see few opportunities in the agriculture sector and are constrained by a lack of skills, low wages, and limited access to land and financial services. Combined, this makes them more prone to migrate from rural areas.

SAN SALVADOR, Jul 03 (IPS) - Trying to make it into the United States as an undocumented migrant is not such an attractive option anymore for Moris Peña, a Salvadoran who was deported from that country in 2014.

ROME, Jul 03 (IPS) - The top 300 cooperatives alone generate 2.5 trillion dollars in annual turnover, more than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of France, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

KATHMANDU, Jul 03 (IPS) - "Reconstruction and reconciliation require finances and physical structure, but the families of the victims of the conflict first and foremost need their integrity protected. Physical and financial compensation mean little without justice," wrote Suman Adhikari nearly 11 years ago, during a ceasefire in Nepal's Maoist insurgency.

HAVANA, Jul 01 (IPS) - Almost no Caribbean beach escapes erosion, a problem that scientific sources describe as extensive and irreversible in these ecosystems of high economic interest, that work as protective barriers for life inland.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jun 30 (IPS) - The tourism industry is the key economic driver and largest provider of jobs in the Caribbean after the public sector. Caribbean tourism broke new ground in 2016, surpassing 29 million arrivals for the first time and once again growing faster than the global average.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 30 (IPS) - The benefits of ending child marriage are many—boosting a young girl's morale and increasing her chances of education and work, and by that virtue, curbing high population rates in developing economies and boosting growth.

ROME/TOKYO, Jun 29 (IPS) - Why and how should the media report on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an engaging way? Can the SDGs deliver global development? And what are the role and challenges of business leadership in advancing these goals?

KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 29 (IPS) - The World Bank and other influential international financial institutions and development agencies have been touting Southeast Asian (SEA) newly industrializing countries as models for emulation, especially by African developing countries seeking to accelerate their development transformations. But these recommendations are usually based on misleading analysis of their rapid growth and structural transformation.