News headlines
New Technology Alone Won’t Halt Aflatoxin Menace, Experts Warn
- Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 22 (IPS) - In the absence of concerted efforts to raise awareness on the dangers of aflatoxin to humans and domestic animals, advances in technology for early detection of aflatoxin in cereals and seeds such as maize will come to naught, experts warn.
Migration Should Not be Politicized, Warns General Assembly President
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21 (IPS) - Miroslav Lajčák, is President of the UN General AssemblyThis week, we began intergovernmental negotiations on the Global Compact on Migration. Therefore, it has never been more important to have a fact-based discussion on this issue.
To start us off, I want to make main three points. First, I want to stress that migration is a fact. It is not an idea. It is not a theory. It is not a trend. It is a fact.
Crowd-sourced Data and a Mobile Phone Application Are Making Cities Safer for Women
- Inter Press Service
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 21 (IPS) - When Shiba Kurian alighted from Chennai's city train, the evening office-returning crowd was thick and jostling. Having booked a ride-hail cab she walked out to the entrance. Instead of the cab for which she had to wait an hour, ribald comments and derisive laughter came her way from a group of roadside Romeos.
A Step Towards the Light: Ending Human Trafficking
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21 (IPS) - A new initiative aims to use data to shed light on a pervasive multi-billion dollar criminal industry: human trafficking.
Created by the International Organization for Migration and Polaris, the Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC) is the world's first human trafficking data portal.
African Brain Drain: Is There an Alternative?
- Inter Press Service
DOUALA, Cameroon, Feb 20 (IPS) - Luc Ngwé, a Cameroonian researcher and freelance consultant, is the author of a series of studies on higher education and has taught at the University of Douala (Cameroon), and at universities in Nanterre and Avignon (France)."Brain drain is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa," says the World Economic Outlook (October 2016), a report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "The migration of young and educated workers takes a large toll on a region whose human capital is already scarce. The concentration of migrants among those who are educated is higher than in other developing economies.
Vision 2030 & the Political Costs of Saudi Reforms - Part 2
- Inter Press Service
DOHA, Qatar, Feb 20 (IPS) - Adel Abdek Ghafar is a Fellow - Foreign Policy at Brookings Doha Center*A pillar of the Saudi social contract has been the allocation of oil rents to the population in exchange for loyalty and fidelity to the Saud clan. A key weakness of Vision 2030 is its lack of focus on the potential political consequences of economic reforms. The plan seems to assume that its ramifications will be easily borne by the Saudi population.
The United States: Innovation and Immobility
- Inter Press Service
MIAMI, Feb 20 (IPS) - Joaquín Roy is Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the European Union Center at the University of Miami.It is the country of paradox, based on the double column of creativity and tradition. Americans are unable to escape the twin submission to the adamnism of being the first and the last to accept that the rest of the planet can be more original and may outrank them in any field.
Paradise on Tenterhooks
- Inter Press Service
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Feb 20 (IPS) - It was a shutdown that was emblematic of the instability plaguing the Maldives in recent months.
On Feb. 8, Raajje TV, an opposition aligned TV channel in the atolls, suspended broadcasting due to lack of security.
Vision 2030 to Usher the New Kingdom of Saud? - Part 1
- Inter Press Service
DOHA, Qatar, Feb 19 (IPS) - Adel Abdel Ghafar is a Fellow - Foreign Policy at Brookings Doha Center*The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is undergoing a process of change in its social, economic, and political structures unseen since its founding in 1932. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and a group of close advisors, aided by an army of multinational consultants and investment bankers, have been driving this transformation.
Robots, Unemployment ... and Immigrants
- Inter Press Service
ROME, Feb 19 (IPS) - Roberto Savio is founder of IPS Inter Press Service and President EmeritusAmazon has recently introduced Amazon Go, a shop where the customer enters, chooses a product from the shelves, charges the price on a magnetic card and swipes it on the way out, transferring the charge to the customer's bank account . No queues, no cashiers, fast and easy, and the first shop in Seattle has been a roaring success.
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