UNITED NATIONS, Jul 04 (IPS) - Tackling the relentless conflict in Yemen has never been more urgent as it has pushed the Middle Eastern nation "deep into the abyss." However, much can be learned from recent and ongoing initiatives.

While a recent humanitarian conference on Yemen attempted to address the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis, Norwegian Refugee Council Europe's Director Edouard Rodier told IPS that it was a "failed opportunity."

WASHINGTON DC, Jul 03 (IPS) - DAVID E. BLOOM is the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, DANIEL CADARETTE is a research assistant, and JP SEVILLA is a research associate, all at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Infectious diseases and associated mortality have abated, but they remain a significant threat throughout the world.

We continue to fight both old pathogens, such as the plague, that have troubled humanity for millennia and new pathogens, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), that have mutated or spilled over from animal reservoirs.

JUBA, Jul 03 (IPS) - Throughout fifty years of struggles, South Sudan's different churches have remained one of the country's few stable institutions, and in their workings toward peace, have displayed a level of inter-religious cooperation rarely seen in the world. 

SAN SALVADOR, Jul 02 (IPS) - After three hours of paperwork, Katy Rodriguez from El Salvador, who was deported from the United States, finally exited the government's immigration facilities together with her young son and embraced family members who were waiting outside.

WASHINGTON DC, Jul 02 (IPS) - Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the nuclear deal with Iran is at a "crossroads" and expressed his deep regret over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose sanctions.

NEW DELHI, Jul 02 (IPS) - Countries do not have to be economically prosperous to move from a situation of high birth and death rates to low fertility and mortality rates.

Education, social security, environments conducive to economic development and good value systems are what promote this, as evidenced by the recorded experiences of Asian countries as far apart as Japan and India.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 02 (IPS) - On World Refugee Day June 20, the Hungarian Parliament passed the ‘Stop Soros' bill which is aimed at criminalizing groups who support refugees and other types of undocumented immigrants.

CUSIPATA, Peru, Jun 30 (IPS) - At more than 3,300 m above sea level, in the department of Cuzco, women are beating infertile soil and frost to grow organic food and revive community work practices that date back to the days of the Inca empire in Peru such as the "ayni" and "minka".

BUENOS AIRES, Jun 29 (IPS) - Pablo Alabarces holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Brighton, England. He is Professor of Popular Culture at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires and has published several books on football and popular culture.Football tells us a great deal about identity. Even a budding sports journalist knows that. And it has come to be a meeting point and even an advertising theme. But what we never discuss is the varying forms of this identity that are possible, let alone the consequences, which are sometimes ill-fated.

VIENNA, Jun 29 (IPS) - A landmark conference bringing more than 1,200 people from across the world together to promote and explain the importance of bamboo and rattan to global sustainable development and tackling climate change has ended with a raft of agreements and project launches.