The week with IPS2/3/2017

2017/2/3	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
	US Trade Hawks and the China Bogey Jomo Kwame Sundaram New US President Donald Trump has long insisted that its major trading partners having been taking advantage of it. Changing these trade terms and conditions will thus be top priority for his administration, and central to overall Trump economic strategy to ‘Make America Great Again’. Quit ... MORE > >
	Want to Prevent Stroke, Diabetes, Cancer? Get Moving… Now! Baher Kamal Tired, lazy, bored, laying down long hours watching TV or seated checking your email? Wrong. And dangerous: not enough exercise contributes to cancer, diabetes, depression and other non-communicable diseases. The warning is bold and comes from the United Nations top health organisation, which ... MORE > >
	Families of the “Disappeared” Search for Clandestine Graves in Mexico Daniela Pastrana Juan de Dios is eight years old and is looking for his younger sister, Zoe Zuleica Torres Gómez, who went missing in December 2015, when she was only five years old, in the northeastern state of San Luis Potosí. He is the youngest searcher for clandestine graves in Mexico. With pick and shovel, ... MORE > >
	How a Spring Revival Scheme in India’s Sikkim Is Defeating Droughts Athar Parvaiz Bina Sharma, a member of the Melli Dhara Gram Panchayat Unit in the southern part of India’s northeastern Himalayan state of Sikkim, is a relieved woman. For the past three years, Sharma said, she has received hardly any complaints from villagers about water disputes.3 “Until a few years ... MORE > >
	Why Kenya Must Create a Million New Jobs Annually Ambassador Victor Ronneberg and Siddharth Chatterjee It is estimated that 3000 Kenyans are born every day, a million a year. With a median age of 18 years, Kenya is witnessing a massive youth bulge, which could either be a demographic dividend, or a disaster. Consider this. In 1956, Kenya’s population stood at about 7 million, twice that of ... MORE > >
	Seeds Are Key to Improving Bean Production in Cuba Ivet González “You have to have good and varied seeds to test which one adapts best to each kind of soil,” says 71-year-old farmer Rubén Torres, who on his farm in central Cuba harvests 1.6 tons of organic beans every year, among other crops. The importance that Torres places on seeds in order for the ... MORE > >
	‘World Must Implement Pledges on Women’s Human Rights’ IPS World Desk “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work” will provide concrete, practical and action-oriented recommendations that will cover significant new ground, on overcoming structural barriers to gender equality, gender-based discrimination and violence against women at work, a senior ... MORE > >
	Kenyans Turn to Wild Fruits and Insects as Drought Looms Miriam Gathigah Too hungry to play, hundreds of starving children in Tiaty Constituency of Baringo County instead sit by the fire, watching the pot boil, in the hope that it is only a matter of minutes before their next meal. Unbeknownst to them, the food cooking inside the pot is no ordinary supper. It is ... MORE > >
	Insecurity Fuelling Food Shortages in Lake Chad Basin: UN Coordinator Lyndal Rowlands Children under five years of age are not surviving due to severe food shortages in some parts of the Lake Chad region, says Toby Lanzer, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel. “I saw adults sapped of energy who couldn’t stand up, I saw an entire ... MORE > >
	The US War on Muslim Refugees Salil Shetty The gloves are off. With today’s Executive Order on “Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Attacks by Foreign Nationals,” President Donald J. Trump has declared war on Muslim refugees around the world. With the stroke of a pen, the President has – among other actions – banned Syrian refugees ... MORE > >
	Pakistani Reporters in the Crosshairs Ashfaq Yusufzai The Federally Administered Tribal Areas located on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border remain one of the most perilous places in the world to be a reporter, with journalists walking a razor’s edge of violence and censorship. FATA has been a bastion of Taliban militants since they crossed over to ... MORE > >
	Shocks for Developing Countries from President Trump’s First Days Martin Khor His first days in office indicate that President Donald Trump intends to implement what he promised, with serious consequences for the future of the United Nations, trade, the environment and international cooperation, and developing countries will be most affected. Those who hoped Trump would ... MORE > >
	Riverbank Populations Displaced by Dams in Brazil Miss Old Way of Life Mario Osava “Now we have internet and TV. Before, we didn't even have electricity, but it was better,” said Lourival de Barros, one of the people displaced by the hydropower plants which have mushroomed aorund Brazil, mainly since the 1970s. Barros was evicted from his home in Sento Sé towards the end of ... MORE > >
	Farmer Field Schools Help Women Lead on Climate Change Sally Nyakanyanga Discussions around climate change have largely ignored how men and women are affected by climate change differently, instead choosing to highlight the extreme and unpredictable weather patterns or decreases in agricultural productivity. Women constitute 56 percent of Ugandan farmers and provide ... MORE > >