News headlines in December 2018, page 4

SIDE BOUZID, Tunisia, Dec 17 (IPS) - Eight years have passed since the Arab Spring. In many countries, the uprising was crushed, but in Tunisia democracy gained a foothold. Arbetet Global travelled to the small country town Side Bouzid to find out why.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (IPS) - Kingsley Ighobor, Africa Renewal* In August 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May visited countries in Africa, sparking hope of increased foreign direct investments (FDI) in the continent.

DAKAR, Dec 17 (IPS) - Masters of Laws student Khoudia Ndiaye will graduate from Senegal's University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) next year. The 24-year-old, who specialised in notarial law and dreams of becoming a notary, wants to bring justice closer to local communities like those in her local district of Hann Bel-Air, in Senegal's capital Dakar, where she rarely sees female lawyers.

Stockholm/Rome, Dec 17 (IPS) - According to the Mexican Interior Ministry more than 7,000 Central American migrants have during the last month arrived at the US-Mexico border. Despite warnings by officials that they will face arrests, prosecution and deportation if they enter US territory, migrants state they intend to do so anyway, since they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence. This is not new, in 1995 I visited Ixil and Ixcan, two Guatemalan areas mainly inhabited by Ixiles. My task was to analyse the impact of a regional development programme aimed at supporting post-conflict indigenous communities. United Nations has estimated that between 1960 and 1996 more than 245,000 people (mostly civilians) had been killed, or "disappeared" during Guatemalan internal conflicts, the vast majority of the killings were attributed to the army, or paramilitary groups.

ROME, Dec 17 (IPS) - Robert W. Fogel, the 1993 Nobel Prize Laureate for Economics, through his work on "efficiency wages", pointed out that hungry and undernourished workers are not as productive as well fed and healthy workers.   At the level of an individual firm, it would thus make sense for an employer to pay wages that are high enough to allow workers access to food and other necessities – even if such wages are higher than the going market rate.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 14 (IPS) - The government that will take office on Jan. 1 in Brazil, presided over by Jair Bolsonaro, will put to the test the extreme right in power, with beliefs that sound anachronistic and a management based on a direct connection with the public.

KATOWICE, Poland, Dec 14 (IPS) - As negotiations at the United Nations conference on climate change come to a close, the highest expectation is that finally, there will be a rulebook to guide countries on what should be done to slow down greenhouse gas emissions that make the earth warmer than necessary, and how countries can adapt to the impacts of climate change.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 14 (IPS) - Wildlife is being wiped out in an unprecedented rate, and it's our fault. But a new deal could provide a new pathway forward.

KATOWICE, Poland, Dec 14 (IPS) - As the United Nations climate conference nears an end, all eyes are on the negotiators  who have been working day and night for the past two weeks to come up with a Rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Dec 14 (IPS) - It is close to curtain call for the United Nations' Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland, with ministers from around the world negotiating the text for a "rulebook" to implement the historic 2015 Paris Agreement for climate action. Amidst the various issues being debated, one of the most technical and complicated is Article 6 of the agreement, which focuses on the country plans for climate action.