Global Issues
News headlines
UN Hails Myanmar’s Historic New Parliament
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 02 (IPS) - When U.Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) was elected UN Secretary-General back in November 1962, he was the first Asian to hold that post after Trygve Lie of Norway and Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden.
Rabbit Farming Now a Big Hit in Zimbabwe
- Inter Press Service
CHIVHU, Zimbabwe, Feb 02 (IPS) - Tichaona Muzariri, 44, a villager based at Range in Chivhu, a town 143 kilometers south of Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, quit his job as a teacher in 2009 to start a rabbit farm on a small scale with three does (female rabbits) and one buck (male). With around US$30 as capital, Muzariri waded into rabbit farming back then. Today, his rabbit farm breeds nearly 3,000 rabbits every year and slaughters up to 120 every week for sale to grocery stores, restaurants and hotels.
TPP: Lessons from New Zealand
- Inter Press Service
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 02 (IPS) - A new paper* on the implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement for New Zealand examines key economic issues likely to be impacted by this trade agreement. It is remarkable how little TPP brings to the table. NZ's gross domestic product will grow by 47 per cent by 2030 without the TPP, or by 47.9 per cent with the TPP. Even that small benefit is an exaggeration, as the modelling makes dubious assumptions, and the real benefits will be even smaller. If the full costs are included, net economic benefits to the NZ economy are doubtful. The gains from tariff reductions are less than a quarter of the projected benefits according to official NZ government modelling. Although most of the projected benefits result from reducing non-tariff barriers (NTBs), the projections rely on inadequate and dubious information that does not even identify the NTBs that would be reduced by the TPP!
Tackling Climate Change in the Caribbean: Natural Solutions to a Human Induced Problem
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 02 (IPS) - The world is still celebrating the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the main outcome of the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Its ambitions are unprecedented: not only has the world committed to limit the increase of temperature to "well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels," it has also agreed to pursue efforts to "limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C."
Ebola Recovery Funds Impossible to Track, Says New Study
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 01 (IPS) - When the Ebola epidemic devastated three West African countries – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea two years ago – the international community responded with pledges of over $5.8 billion in funds to fight the disease which has killed over 11,300 people.
United Arab Emirates Strengthens Ties with Argentina’s New Government
- Inter Press Service
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 01 (IPS) - The new government of Argentina and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are strengthening the relationship established by the previous administration, at a time when this South American country is seeking to bring in foreign exchange, build up its international reserves and draw investment, in what the authorities describe as a new era of openness to the world.
Women's Rights First African Summit
- Inter Press Service
CAIRO, Feb 01 (IPS) - Despite the enormous challenges facing Africa now, the leaders of its 1.2 billion plus inhabitants have decided to spotlight the issue of Human Rights With a Particular Focus on the Rights of Women in their 26th summit held in Addis Ababa on 21-31 January this year. Why?
Combating HIV among Teens
- Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Kenya / HARARE, Zimbabwe, Feb 01 (IPS) - Keziah Juma is coming to terms with her shattered life at the shanty she shares with her family in Kenya's sprawling Kibera slum where friends and relatives are gathered for her son's funeral arrangements. While attending an antenatal clinic, Juma who is only 16 years discovered that she had been infected with HIV. "I went into shock and stopped going to the clinic, that is why they could not save my baby and I have been bed-ridden since giving birth two months ago," she told IPS.
Core Principals of Climate Finance to Realize the Paris Agreement
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (IPS) - The Paris climate change conference brought together 197 countries and over 150 Heads of State – the largest convening of world leaders in history – to agree on measures and work together to limit the global average temperature rise.
Response to Ethiopia’s Drought: A Story of Success or Anguish?
- Inter Press Service
IDAGA HAMUS, Ethiopia, Jan 29 (IPS) - Inside a health clinic run by the Catholic Daughters of Saint Anne, a nurse wraps a special tape measure around the upper arm of 2-year-old Rodas cradled in her mother's arms. The tape reads yellow, meaning "moderately" malnourished, according to the attending nurse.
Powered by
