News headlines
DRC Warlord Sentence a Joke, Say NGOs
- Inter Press Service

KINSHASA, Jul 12 (IPS) - Non-governmental organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo province where Thomas Lubanga Dyilo used children as fighters in his militia in 2002 to 2003 have slammed his 14-year sentence as inadequate – and potentially dangerous.
Voting for Peace in the Distant Desert
- Inter Press Service

SABHA, Libya, Jul 12 (IPS) - On election day long lines of people from Sabha’s impoverished community of Tayuri waited to vote under the harsh Saharan sun. Four hundred miles from the Mediterranean coast, Sabha is tucked into the volatile southwest bordering Algeria, Niger and Chad.
Making it Compulsory to Have Women in Ghana’s Parliament
- Inter Press Service

Beatrice Boateng, a member of parliament with the New Patriotic Party, Ghana’s official opposition to the ruling New Democratic Congress, has earned her place among the country’s lawmakers.
U.S.: Latinos Could Shift Outcome of 2012 Elections, Experts Say
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jul 12 (IPS) - As the Latino population in the United States rises, the demographic shift will affect future as well as current voting habits, and therefore election outcomes, in the United States, according to several experts.
DRC Warlord Sentence a Joke, Say NGOs
- Inter Press Service

Non-governmental organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo province where Thomas Lubanga Dyilo used children as fighters in his militia in 2002 to 2003 have slammed his 14-year sentence as inadequate — and potentially dangerous.
Colombian Informant Exposes Destabilisation Plot
- Inter Press Service

BOGOTA, Jul 12 (IPS) - The same week that a bomb attack targeted Colombia's former interior and justice minister, Fernando Londoño, a Colombian national came forward and confessed that similar attacks were being planned against former senator Piedad Córdoba and current Bogota mayor Gustavo Petro.
Obama Piles New Sanctions Against Iran
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jul 12 (IPS) - In the latest ratcheting up of pressure on Iran, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday imposed new financial sanctions against Iranian and other companies whose operations allegedly support the country's nuclear and ballistic-missile programmes.
U.N. Increasingly Reliant on Private Security Contractors
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 12 (IPS) - The United Nations is increasingly hiring Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) for its missions across the world, raising concerns over the use of firms known for participation in human rights abuses, as well as an overall lack of accountability structures governing these contractors within the U.N. system.
U.S. Commits 10 Million for Mali Refugees as Intervention Talk Builds
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jul 12 (IPS) - President Barack Obama on Thursday authorised the release of 10 million dollars in emergency funding to help with the refugee crisis stemming from continued violence in northern Mali, in response to warnings that international aid efforts were in danger of drying up in coming months.
U.S. Opens Investment in Myanmar Oil and Gas, Over Suu Kyi’s Advice
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jul 12 (IPS) - Following on a May announcement, the U.S. government on Wednesday moved to implement its most significant rollback in longstanding sanctions on Burma, also known as Myanmar.

