News headlines in 2017, page 81

DHAKA, Mar 30 (IPS) - Within the last 5 years, thanks to political support and national education, autism awareness in Bangladesh has grown immensely. Due to a lack of funds and resources, providing full comprehensive evidence based services for those in need is not yet possible, but with a continuation of our current progression, it is certainly an attainable goal. Credit for our tremendous success in providing public awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by families with autism is ultimately, thanks to the dedication and resilience of those very families.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Mar 30 (IPS) - In the 1980s, an institution for troubled Danish youth and a vocational school for Vincentians was built in Richmond Vale, an agricultural district on the northwestern tip of St. Vincent.

BLANTYRE, Malawi, Mar 29 (IPS) - When building a house, it's critical to lay a strong foundation. The same applies to education, with studies showing that children who attend early learning centers perform better in school than those who do not.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 29 (IPS) - Investment in the least developed countries (LDCs) will need to rise by at least 11 per cent annually through 2030, a little more than the 8.9 per cent between 2010 and 2015, in order for them to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The United Nations' World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2017 focuses on the difficulties in securing sufficient financing for the SDGs given the global financial system and current economic environment.

PARIS, Mar 29 (IPS) - It's one of those movie-like spring days in Paris, where blue skies and brilliant sunshine lift spirits after a long, wet, grey winter. Many people are outdoors trying to catch the rays, but Jamaican artist Danny Coxson is not among them.  He's inside a museum in a northeastern neighbourhood of the French capital, with a brush in his hand and tubs of vivid paint beside him, focusing on finishing a portrait of a deejay named Big Youth.

IBADAN, Nigeria, Mar 29 (IPS) - The role of genetic engineering in agriculture and food has generated enormous interest and controversies, with large-scale embrace by some nations and wholesale bans by others.

OTTAWA, Mar 29 (IPS) - I have two children. A daughter who just turned six and a son who just turned three. My daughter was late to walk. My husband and I were pretty worried about why it was taking so long for her to stop ‘bum scooching' — her preferred method of movement. I consulted Google on more than one occasion to see if other parents had children doing the same. I felt anxious when I read that 18 months was considered very late. She didn't start until she was 22 months after a few months of physiotherapy.

US / MEXICO BORDER, Mar 29 (IPS) - The sight of one of the most infamous borders on earth – roughly 1,000 kilometers of porous metal fence dividing lives, hopes and dreams between the USA and Mexico, is undoubtedly overwhelming, but not in the way we expected it to be.

RATNAPURA, Sri Lanka, Mar 28 (IPS) - As the mercury rises higher, Kamakandalagi Leelavathi delves deeper into the lush green mass of the tea bushes. The past few afternoons there have been thunderstorms. So the 55-year-old tea picker in Uda Houpe tea garden of Sri Lanka's Hatton region is rushing to complete her day's task before the rain comes: harvesting 22 kgs of tea leaves.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28 (IPS) - As the devastating civil war in Syria entered its seventh year last week, President Bashar al-Assad has continued to survive--- despite faltering efforts by the United States and the UN Security Council (UNSC) to rein him in, or impose sanctions on his beleaguered regime.