News headlines in April 2011, page 3

The fifth conference of the 173 parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Apr. 25-29, could bring to 22 the total number of internationally agreed forbidden pollutants. Alternatives to DDT - one of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) used in the fight against malaria - are gaining popularity, but its complete ban is not on the agenda.

History professor Somsak Jeamteerasakul has weathered a storm of insults since mid-December for doing the forbidden: he offered an alternative assessment of the most dominant institution in the country, its monarchy, in a forum at his university. Now military officials are dropping hints he could face more than just verbal attacks.

Migrant domestic workers often toil under difficult and abusive conditions out of sight of the world’s eyes. 'Individual migrant domestic worker have virtually no possibility to negotiate for better working conditions before moving to the country of employment,' Martin Oelz, International Labour Organization’s legal specialist in the Conditions of Work and Employment Programme told IPS.

A process of 'agrarian counter-reform' is taking place in Brazil, according to activist João Pedro Stédile, a leader of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST). Stédile said Brazil's land reform efforts faltered in the last few years of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011), while land ownership became more concentrated.

Was Adel Hamlily an agent for MI6, the British secret services, and simultaneously a 'facilitator, courier, kidnapper, and assassin for al-Qaida'? Was there a secret al Qaeda cell in Bremen that even the German government knew nothing about? And could it be possible that an 11-year-old Saudi villager was leading a terrorist cell in London?

'This book has not been lost. It has no owner; it is part of the Argentine Free Book Movement, and it was left in this place so that you would find it.'

The period between May and August is when farmers in the West African Sahel fear the arrival of swarms of locusts. This year, efforts to limit the devastation will be strengthened by coordination across the region thanks to the Africa Project to Combat Locust Invasions.

Bangladeshi women are pushing government to implement the recently approved National Women Development Policy (NWDP) 2011, which has met with strong resistance from Islamic clergy.

The countdown to the birth of an independent Palestinian state continues as September approaches. Although the new state will have the moral support of the majority of the international community, Israel’s lack of flexibility - supported by a possible U.S. veto - could stymie any recognition of permanent borders by the U.N. Security Council.

Shazia Kiran is seven months pregnant with her third child and worried she might be unable to juggle her work and the responsibilities of caring for a newborn. But what worries her more is that she has no maternity benefits, and she has not received her salary as a Lady Health Worker (LHW) for the last three months.