News stories by Lori Silberman Brauner

TEANECK, New Jersey, Apr 26 (IPS) - It was a long, harrowing road for Freshta and Shabaneh, two mothers (their names are pseudonyms) who fled Kabul, Afghanistan, late last summer before eventually settling in the southern New Jersey township of Hamilton.

UNITED NATIONS, May 18 (IPS) - In just a few weeks, the United Nations is convening a world gathering to discuss the health of the world's oceans and seas, with member states, government and nongovernmental organizations, corporations and members of the scientific community and academia signed up to take part.