Global Issues
News headlines
Rebuffing Israel, U.N. Chief Heads to Iran for Summit Meeting
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 22 (IPS) - Brushing aside a warning by the Israeli government and rebuffing a campaign by pro-Israeli lobbying groups in the United States, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has decided to visit Iran next week to participate in the summit meeting of the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), described as the world's largest single political coalition.
UZBEKISTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN: Smugglers Own the Night
- Inter Press Service
, Aug 22 (IPS) - During the day, when Uzbek border guards patrol its streets, Mingdon is a sleepy Ferghana Valley town. But after night falls, Mingdon, a hamlet of 10,000 on Uzbekistan’s frontier with Kyrgyzstan, turns into a smugglers’ paradise.
Death of Ethiopian Leader Meles Brings 'Opportunity for Peace'
- Inter Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (IPS) - Following Monday’s announcement of the death of long-time Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi, Ethiopian civil society leaders and Western rights groups are characterising the turn of events as an opportunity to heal decades of increasingly stark sectarianism.
U.S. Passes New Rules Regulating Conflict Minerals
- Inter Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (IPS) - After a 16-month delay, a U.S. government regulator charged with investment oversight has voted on rules that will now govern U.S.-listed companies operating in the extractive industry as well as those that use minerals whose sale may fuel violence in other countries, particularly in central Africa.
Macro Privatisations Bring Micro Benefits to Guatemalans
- Inter Press Service
GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 22 (IPS) - The suspension of the privatisation of a port company unleashed debate in Guatemala about the countless concessions granted to foreign companies in areas like oil, mining, railways and energy, where corporate interests are seen as prevailing over the common good.
Cameroonian Athletes Braving the Odds
- Inter Press Service
YAOUNDÉ, Aug 22 (IPS) - Victorine Fomum is Cameroon’s 2005 African table tennis champion. She often used to “train without rackets, without balls, without appropriate clothing and without good tables.” But despite this, she won gold at the 2005 African Nations Championship. And as a reward for her achievement the government handed her a cheque – for 25 dollars.
Pregnant Nicaraguan Girls Forced to Become Mothers
- Inter Press Service
MANAGUA, Aug 22 (IPS) - Carla lost everything when she got pregnant at the age of 13: her first year of secondary school, her family, her boyfriend, and her happiness. She spent a year panhandling on the streets of the Nicaraguan capital before she was taken in by a shelter for young mothers.
Argentine Locals Want Power Transformers Out of Neighborhoods
- Inter Press Service
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 22 (IPS) - Scientific uncertainty about the health impacts of electromagnetic fields is fueling worries among people in the Argentine capital who are demanding that energy power transformers be located far from their neighborhoods.
Going Far, and Fast, on Electrofuels
- Inter Press Service
REYKJAVIK, Aug 22 (IPS) - A speeding ticket for driving an electric vehicle may seem at first a far-fetched possibility, but no. The director of Northern Lights Energy – a company specialising in promoting electric cars – was recently fined for driving 124 km per hour in a 90 km zone in Iceland in a Tesla Roadster vehicle.
Argentine Locals Want Power Transformers Out of Neighborhoods
- Inter Press Service
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 21 (IPS) - Scientific uncertainty about the health impacts of electromagnetic fields is fueling worries among people in the Argentine capital who are demanding that energy power transformers be located far from their neighborhoods.
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