News headlines in December 2012

KABUL, Dic 30 (IPS) - One night in 1979, bombs dropped from the sky, killing 16 members of Ismail's family. "The war took some people to Europe and America, but it destroyed my family," Ismail, who is universally addressed as "uncle", says.

UDAWALAWE, Sri Lanka, Dic 30 (IPS) - Wild elephants are usually the primary attraction in the remote shrub jungles of Udawalawe, about 180 kilometres southeast of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. But this Christmas season, the massive Udawalawe dam stole the limelight from the lumbering beasts.

BUENOS AIRES, Dic 30 (IPS) - A programme launched in Buenos Aires three years ago to encourage the use of bicycles has already brought results: the use of this environment-friendly means of transport has increased fivefold in the Argentine capital.

BANGKOK, Dic 29 (IPS) - Days before leaders of the European Union (EU) arrived in Norway to collect this year's Nobel Peace prize, Thai public health activists sent a letter to the northern powerhouse, warning that the EU's 2012 accolades face a credibility test in this Southeast Asian country.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dic 29 (IPS) - To go down fighting in the Andean Community (CAN), with a combined market of 92 million consumers, or move up to the big leagues of Mercosur, with 275 million? This was the dilemma faced by Bolivia's foreign trade strategists when it came to pursuing full membership in the bloc formed by its neighbours to the south.

HEBRON, Occupied West Bank, Dic 29 (IPS) - Every day, Anas Maraka sees his family's home, but can't go inside. "It's hardest for my grandfather," said Maraka, referring to the house overlooking Shuhada Street, once the central marketplace in Hebron's old city.

CAPANDA, Angola, Dic 28 (IPS) - "We never used to eat carrots, but now we like them," said Rebeca Soba, admiring her vegetable garden, an island of diversity in the midst of a vast sugarcane plantation.

Vegetable gardening has been introduced at the Capanda Agroindustrial Pole (PAC) as a source of income for local small farmers.

MEXICO CITY, Dic 28 (IPS) - Edgar Torres Castillo, 21, has spent two years in the prison of Gómez Palacio, in the Lagunera district between the northern Mexican states of Durango and Coahuila – an arid zone known as one of the most dangerous parts of the country.

HAVANA, Dic 28 (IPS) - "Adaptation to climate change is urgent and must be part of development," said Bárbara Pesce-Monteiro, the United Nations resident coordinator in Cuba, assessing the damage done by hurricane Sandy in the eastern region of the country.

BULAWAYO, Dic 28 (IPS) - "Accelerating environmental pressures and growing economic inequality are triggering huge social changes around the world, putting existing democracies to the test," Halina Ward, director of the London-based Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development, tells IPS.