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Friday, May 6, 2016

The Week with IPS

Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter   

Mexico Needs to Improve Control of Toxic Chemicals
Emilio Godoy
A recent explosion at a petrochemical plant in southeast Mexico highlighted the need to strengthen monitoring of hazardous substances, step up inspections of factories and update regulations in this country. The Apr. 20 blast at the Clorados III plant in the Pajaritos Petrochemical Complex in ... MORE > >

Deteriorating Protection of Journalists’ Sources a Global Problem
Linus Atarah
The freedom of the press is a universally cherished democratic right, but what may have been overlooked as the World Day Freedom of Information was celebrated on Wednesday is that the ability of journalists to protect their source is increasingly coming under attack by authorities. To Julie ... MORE > >

Farmers Hold Keys to Ending Poverty, Hunger, FAO Says
Friday Phiri
With recent data showing that 793 million people still go to bed hungry, ending hunger and poverty in 15 years is the next development challenge that world leaders have set for themselves. As part of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), these two have been made a special priority because of ... MORE > >

Seeking a New Farming Revolution
Kitty Stapp
As the World Farmers' Organization meets for its annual conference in Zambia to promote policies that strengthen this critical sector, IPS looks at how farmers across the globe are tackling the interconnected challenges of climate change, market fluctuations, water and land management, and energy ... MORE > >

A Region’s Eyes Turn to Healthy Nutrition
José Graziano da Silva
After its remarkable success in reducing hunger, Europe must now rise to the challenge of making sure food assures more than survival and furnishes healthy lives. As head of a global hunger-fighting organization, nothing gives me more satisfaction than to see a vast region of the world achieving ... MORE > >

Is the System Broke or Broken?
Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Though the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit may seem timely, a debate ensues on an important question: is the world humanitarian system broke or broken? The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit, which takes place in Istanbul on May 23-24, was convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to ... MORE > >

The Waves of the Pacific Are on Chile’s Energy Horizon
Marianela Jarroud and Orlando Milesi
Chile, a country with 6,435 km of Pacific Ocean coast line, could find in wave and tidal power a solution to its need to diversify its energy mix. According to a study commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), this South American country has 164 MW in wave energy potential, ... MORE > >

New Generation Aims to Plug Africa's Research Deficit
Busani Bafana
The tonnes of uncollected garbage piling up on the streets of her home in Cairo was a brain wave for Sherien Elagroudy. Elagroudy has since developed a facility to transform waste into alternative solid fuel for use by cement companies. This has helped reduce the frequency of power cuts to save ... MORE > >

High-Level Defamation Cases Curb Critical Journalism
Lyndal Rowlands
High-level defamation, libel and sedition cases in Asian countries are sending signals to journalists that writing critical journalism can cost millions of dollars or years in prison. “Increasingly we’re seeing countries, especially countries that call themselves democracies, (using) this ... MORE > >

Mideast: 1 in 3 Bribes to Access Basic Public Services
Baher Kamal
Just an ordinary citizen living in a Middle East and North of Africa country and requring a birth certificate for your new-born daughter? No problem—just take something with you, either some cash, a pack of cigarettes or buy a glass of tea with milk and a lot of sugar. Or a rich Middle-Eastern ... MORE > >

Indian Women Worst Hit by Water Crisis
Neeta Lal
A staggering 330 million Indians, making up a quarter of the country's population (or roughly the entire population of the United States), are currently reeling under the effects of a severe drought, resulting in an acute drinking water shortage and agricultural distress. State governments are ... MORE > >

The Family Garden Going Out of Style in Cuban Countryside
Ivet González
In the past, all rural homes in Cuba had gardens for putting fresh vegetables on the dinner table. The local term for these gardens is “conuco”, a word with indigenous roots that is still used in several Caribbean nations. The gardens provided the foundation for healthy meals based on vegetables ... MORE > >

Can the UN Security Council Stop Hospitals Being Targets in War?
Lyndal Rowlands
Hospitals, health care workers and patients in war zones are supposed to be protected under international humanitarian law yet recent attacks from Syria to Afghanistan suggest that they have become targets. The seeming lack of respect for the sanctity of health care in war zones has prompted ... MORE > >

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