News headlines in November 2011, page 4
CAPUT MUNDI
- Inter Press Service
Coffee aficionados say that one of the finest cafes in the world is Rome's Sant'Eustacchio, located in the city's historic centre. Since 1938 it has been the site of coffee pilgrimages and a must for the most ardent espresso devotees, writes Manuel Manonelles, director of the Foundation for the Culture of Peace, Barcelona.
CHINA: THE ECONOMY GROWS WHILE CULTURAL IDENTITY DISAPPEARS
- Inter Press Service
The Maoist revolutionary generation that I met in the World Conference of Students in 1957 was of an impressive austerity. The generation after that was the protagonist of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. During the revolution, it was the students that were the most fanatical destroyers of the old monuments and everything related with the culture of the past. Only with political reform after Mao’s death in 1976 was the celebration of the market and wealth consecrated, writes Roberto Savio, founder and President Emeritus of the news agency Inter Press Service (IPS).
BIOFUELS ARE NOT A SOLUTION TO THE CLIMATE AND ENERGY CRISIS
- Inter Press Service
Science tells us that we are heading for a climate crisis, yet it is within our means to change course. However, some very worrying false solutions are on the table in the United Nations Climate talks (UNFCCC), for instance promoting the biofuels currently on the market, such as ethanol, writes Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International and executive director and founding member of Environmental Rights Action.
GLOBAL FINANCE LOST IN CYBERSPACE
- Inter Press Service
High-speed trading and cloud computing have far outrun government oversight and control; can we learn to master our tools? The jury is still out, writes Hazel Henderson, author of award-winning "Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy" and other books, and founder and president of Ethical Markets Media.
Lessons from the Andes on Budgeting to Close the Gender Gap
- Inter Press Service
Three countries in South America's Andean region, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, have a great deal to teach and share with those meeting in Busan, South Korean this week to discuss, among other things, how to make sure that development aid incorporates a gender focus in order to be effective.
‘Nothing at Busan for African Women, Children’
- Inter Press Service
Although there has been considerable progress towards reducing maternal and infant mortality, millions of women and children in Africa are still in need of better health services, food and sanitation.
DR Congo Polls Disrupted by Violence
- Inter Press Service
Five people have been killed in two separate clashes on election day in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country's interior minister has said.
SPAIN: Self-Financed Communities 'A Tool for Building Trust'
- Inter Press Service
On the first Sunday of every month, Abdoulaye Fall, from Senegal, meets a group of people in Barcelona, to contribute money to a common fund or to take out a loan. This is one of 60 self-financed communities in Spain, an alternative to traditional banking systems that is having a powerful social effect.
‘Accountability Vital in Improving Aid Effectiveness’
- Inter Press Service
Key actors meeting in Busan on Tuesday, the first day of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4), lay emphasis on inclusive ownership, mutual accountability and the platform of the groundbreaking 2005 Paris Declaration.
Reclaiming a Waste Land Called Ukraine
- Inter Press Service
Ukrainian authorities are launching a massive nationwide project to transform the country’s dangerous and inefficient waste disposal network as officials admit the former Soviet state is facing an 'ecological catastrophe'.