News headlines for “Natural Disasters”

  1. Drug Use is a Health Issue - We Need to Decriminalize

    APIA, Samoa, Feb 25 (IPS) - Vulnerable people need support, not stricter lawsEarlier this month, and in December 2020 the Government of Samoa conducted operations that resulted in the confiscation of a total of 1,400 grams of methamphetamine at the border, smuggled from the US.

    The law enforcement officials (from the Ministry of Customs and Revenue and the Ministry of Police and Prisons) that intercepted these drugs deserve congratulations for their professionalism and skill. Meth is destructive and harmful - and it is good to see this potential threat removed from the community.

  2. Mexico to Ban Glyphosate, GM Corn Presidential Decree Comes Despite Intense Pressure from Industry, U.S. Authorities

    CAMBRIDGE MA, Feb 24 (IPS) - Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador quietly rocked the agribusiness world with his New Year’s Eve decree to phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate and the cultivation of genetically modified corn. His administration sent an even stronger aftershock two weeks later, clarifying that the government would also phase out GM corn imports in three years and the ban would include not just corn for human consumption but yellow corn destined primarily for livestock. Under NAFTA, the United States has seen a 400% increase in corn exports to Mexico, the vast majority genetically modified yellow dent corn.

  3. Developing Countries Struggling To Cope With COVID-19

    SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (IPS) - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is adversely impacting most developing countries disproportionately, especially the United Nations’ least developed countries (LDCs) and the World Bank’s low-income countries (LICs).

    Years of implementing neoliberal policy conditionalities and advice have made most developing countries much more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic by undermining their health systems and fiscal capacities to respond adequately.

  4. Sustainable Energy Key to COVID-19 Recovery in Asia and the Pacific

    BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 22 (IPS) - The past year is one that few of us will forget. While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have played out unevenly across Asia and the Pacific, the region has been spared many of the worst effects seen in other parts of the world. The pandemic has reminded us that a reliable and uninterrupted energy supply is critical to managing this crisis.

  5. Yemen - Worst Famine World has Seen in Decades Predicted

    UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19 (IPS) - Yemen is heading towards the worst famine the world has seen in decades, the United Nations Security Council was warned in a briefing yesterday.

  6. Q&A: Tigray - the Fighting will Continue & Exacerbate Civilian Suffering

    BONN, Germany, Feb 19 (IPS) - While Ethiopia’s federal government may have administrative control of the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, and other main cities in the region, including Shire, Adwa, and Aksum, after removing the regional government from power in late November — armed resistance in Tigray is not over and could continue for months.

  7. Switzerland Buys itself Good Sustainability Scores at the Expense of Other Countries

    GENEVA, Feb 19 (IPS) - According to the Sustainable Development Report 2020Switzerland ranks at a shameful 163 of 165 in terms of so-called spillover effects. This means that Switzerland buys better sustainability scores in a number of areas, placing considerable burdens on other countries and the global environment.

  8. Overcoming the Learning Divide: Assessing What Students Missed During School Closings for COVID-19

    DHAKA, Bangladesh, Feb 19 (IPS) - School closings and the varied impacts of remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic are a global challenge. Educators worldwide have been struggling to meet contemporary educational standards in this environment.

    But this challenge is followed by yet another: how to assess the readiness of students to resume in-school education when schools open. At BRAC, the international nongovernmental organization that operates 25,000 schools in Bangladesh, serving 750,000 students, we have developed an approach that could be helpful.

  9. Pacific Islanders Turn to Local Economies to Drive Post-pandemic Recovery

    CANBERRA, Australia, Feb 18 (IPS) - While Pacific Island countries have, so far, been spared a catastrophic spread of COVID-19, their economies have been devastated by the effects of border closures, internal lockdowns and the demise of international tourism and trade. With the global pandemic far from over, Pacific Islanders are looking to their local and regional economies to drive resilience and recovery.

  10. Why Was I Ever Born-- Righting the Wrong

    NEW YORK, Feb 17 (IPS) - The bombing continues unabated. The explosions are heard in the distance. A family with seven children is cowering in fear in a corner of their shack, not daring to step out, dreading instant death from shrapnel or a sniper’s bullet.

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