The Week With IPS 9/18

2015/9/18	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
	Activists Say Fracking Fails to 'Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful' Emilio Godoy U.S. activist Vera Scroggins has been sued five times by the oil industry, and since October 2013 she has faced a restraining order banning her from any properties owned or leased by one of the biggest players in Pennsylvania’s natural gas rush, Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation. “I feel like a ... MORE > >
	OPINION: UN Committee adopts principles for sovereign debt restructuring Adriano José Timossi and Manuel F. Montes As a growing number of countries face the possibility of debt crises, the United Nations General Assembly has approved a set of nine basic principles for sovereign debt restructuring processes in an effort to provide for debt restructuring that is fair and economically sustainable. The ... MORE > >
	Opinion: The Century of the Centenarians Joseph Chamie With improving life styles, advances in medical science and technologies and declining mortality rates at older ages, the 21st century is witnessing the remarkable rise of centenarians, people who are aged 100 years or older. The estimated number of centenarians worldwide – now close to a half ... MORE > >
Opinion: Protracted Stagnation Threatens International Solidarity, Development Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Rob Vos A new post-2015 international development agenda is to be officially launched next week at a U.N. summit in New York. The ambitious list of 17 development goals includes a call for a revitalization of the global partnership for sustainable development. The Conference on Financing for ... MORE > >
	Cuban Agroecological Project Foments Local Innovation Ivet González Armando Marcelino Pi divides his day between the university, where he teaches philosophy, work on his family farm, and coordinating a group of 33 agroecological farmers, in this mountainous rural municipality in western Cuba. “There is a need for a greater application of science and technology ... MORE > >
	Opinion: Another U.N. General Assembly Talk Fest Begins Dr. Palitha Kohona UNGA 70 formally commenced on Sep. 15. In accordance with custom, it elected a new President, Denmark's Mogens Lykketoft, who has picked as the theme for his tenure as the President, "The UN at 70 - A New Commitment to Action". An appropriate theme as this year's highlight, the Summit for the ... MORE > >
	Costa Rica Finally Allows In Vitro Fertilisation after 15-Year Ban Diego Arguedas Ortiz After banning in vitro fertilisation for 15 years and failing to comply with an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling for nearly three years, Costa Rica will finally once again allow the procedure for couples and women on their own. On Sept. 10, centre-left President Luis Guillermo Solís ... MORE > >
	Opinion: Iran and Nuclear Weapons, a Dangerous Delusion Farhang Jahanpour Despite all the propaganda about the Iranian leaders’ rush to acquire nuclear weapons, ever since the start of the country’s nuclear programme, Iranian leaders have been adamant that they only wish to make peaceful use of the nuclear energy to which they are entitled as a member of the ... MORE > >
	Is Good Governance Good For Development? Jomo Kwame Sundaram Many well-meaning people who would like better governance have been misled into insisting on so-called ‘good governance’ reforms, with the expectation that this would lead to development. There is no clear or systematic evidence that good governance – as an approach -- is necessary for ... MORE > >
	Antofagasta Mining Region Reflects Chile’s Inequality Marianela Jarroud The inhabitants of the northern Chilean mining region of Antofagasta have the highest per capita income in the country. But some 4,000 local families continue to live in slums - a reflection of one of the most marked situations of inequality in this country. “The contrasts in this region are ... MORE > >