Global Issues
News headlines for “G8: Too Much Power?”, page 259
Africa Launches Largest Trading Block with 620 Million Consumers
- Inter Press Service
MADRID/CAIRO, Feb 22 (IPS) - In Egypt more than 1,500 public and private business delegates and state leaders agreed on 20-21 February to mobilise massive investments for the implementation of Africa's largest trading bloc whichwas created last year by 26 African countries with a total of 620 million consumers and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) nearing 1,2 trillion dollars.The agreement crowned the "Africa 2016" investment forum held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm El Sheikh with the participation of business leaders together with government officials and heads of international organisations to discuss trade and investment as engines of progress. African heads of state and government from Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria and the, Sudan took part in the forum.
Uneducated Women Entrepreneurs Defeat Poverty
- Inter Press Service
SRINAGAR, India, Feb 22 (IPS) - Maryam Yousuf, 50, gently washes her hands under a common tap outside her house in Saida Kadal, a grassy middle-class locale encircled by the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir's capital. She puts on a Pheran, the traditional long loose gown, and holding a large steel bucket walks towards a dimly-lit cowshed, made up of wooden shingles, in a corner of her home backyard. Nearby, children are playing cricket, flaunting wooden sticks as bats, and a flock of chicken cluck and nibble at left-over vegetables.
Evolving Nature of China’s South-South Cooperation
- Inter Press Service
NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (IPS) - China's strength in South-South Cooperation (SSC) lies in its carrying out big-ticket infrastructure projects in diverse developing countries. It is remarkable in terms of project scale, speed and cost-effectiveness and has been playing a positive role in promoting partner's nation-building, economic development and social progress. However, the swift completion of China's infrastructure projects also has its sets of problems like little or no paper-work leading to lack of transparency, oversight and post-project monitoring. The backlash against Chinese labourers employed by Chinese companies in developing countries has been routinely highlighted by the international media with allegations of skirmishes with the local population, corruption coupled with resource theft.
Sterilisation of HIV-positive Women
- Inter Press Service
KAMPALA, Uganda, Feb 18 (IPS) - Mayimuna Monica* has been living with HIV for over 10 years and wants to have a baby. But she can't because her uterus was removed against her will at a government hospital where she had gone to deliver her last child now aged eight. "My uterus was removed in 2007. When I got pregnant and went for medical check-up, the doctor asked me why I was pregnant. I told him I want to have a third child. The doctor said, you people living with HIV at times annoy us because you understand your situation but you come to disturb us." Mayimuna narrates.
Rice: Africa's Ticket Out of Poverty
- Inter Press Service
COTONOU, Benin, Feb 17 (IPS) - Africa is eating more rice than other food staples, though it produces less than it needs. This is good news for the cereal's potential to help Sub Saharan Africa out of poverty according to researchers. Rice is the second most important source of calories in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), a research organisation working to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security.
Gang-Raped and Nowhere to Turn
- Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 16 (IPS) - Owuor P.'s 16-year-old sister Nekesa tried and tried to get an abortion after she was gang-raped and found herself pregnant during Kenya's post-election violence in 2007-8. "We are not sure how many raped her," Owuor told me. "She told us that she saw three men rape her and then she lost consciousness. She was quiet most of the time after the rape." In desperation after the birth of the child, she killed herself. The baby survived, and today Owuor is raising the child, who has a serious mental health condition, and is still grieving for his sister.
TPP’s Threat To Multilateralism
- Inter Press Service
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 16 (IPS) - 2015 proved challenging for multilateralism, especially in relation to development concerns. July's Addis Ababa third Financing for Development (FfD) conference delivered little real progress. Nevertheless, the September Sustainable Development Goals summit redeemed hopes with an ambitious and universal Agenda 2030.
The tragedy of Darfuri asylum-seekers in Uganda
- Inter Press Service
KAMPALA, Uganda, Feb 16 (IPS) - After escaping the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region during which his father and two brothers were killed and his mother and sister displaced, Adam (named changed), began a new chapter. But it was a life "in limbo". Over a decade later, he remains trapped in a strange country where he struggles to prove his identity; cannot find work or receive financial support.
Costa Rica, UAE Cement Relations with Energy and Tourism
- Inter Press Service
SAN JOSE, Feb 13 (IPS) - A visit by United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Costa Rica paved the way for closer trade ties between the two countries, especially in the areas of tourism and sustainable energy.
Novel Joint Committee Enhances Relations between the UAE and Panama
- Inter Press Service
PANAMA CITY, Feb 12 (IPS) - The visit by the United Arab Emirates foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to Panama ended Thursday Feb. 11 with the creation of a novel Joint Cooperation Committee on trade and investment.
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