News headlines in January 2013, page 2

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (IPS) - The research arm of the U.S. Congress is warning that U.S. corporations' use of tax havens has risen substantially in recent years, with companies offering massively inflated profit reports from small countries with loose tax regulations.

LAGOS, Nigeria, Jan 31 (IPS) - The decision by The Hague over Shell's liability for polluting in the Niger Delta shows that justice is possible – but it is extremely hard to achieve if you are taking on a massive multinational, says Amnesty International's Africa programme director Audrey Gaughran.

LUANDA, Jan 30 (IPS) - Brazil has turned to large infrastructure as a unique way to globally expand its economy and build up its political influence, with the added bonus of furthering the development of small nations. But this strategy is not without its risks.

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (IPS) - As Washington broadens its military "footprint" in the Sahel region of Africa, U.S. analysts are urging the administration of President Barack Obama to devote more effort to diplomacy, especially in Mali.

ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 30 (IPS) - Since the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington fully legalised marijuana via ballot initiatives in the November 2012 elections, efforts to medicalise, decriminalise, or legalise marijuana at the state level are sprouting up like so many hemp stalks on a sunny day.

TEHRAN, Jan 30 (IPS) - With the June 2013 presidential election drawing closer, Iran's reformists are debating what they should do in the face of the severe restrictions to which their leaders and political parties have been subject since the popular protests that roiled the country after the last election four years ago.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 30 (IPS) - Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but nonetheless it is difficult to miss the irony in the following sentence from a news release, sent out by South Africa's First National Bank on Jan. 17.

JERUSALEM, Jan 30 (IPS) - "He who believes doesn't fear"…re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hums a popular tune played with great intensity by his supporters. Indeed, faith is what Netanyahu badly needs right now as people showed just how little faith they have in him. "We'll have coalition problems," confides a Likud lawmaker.

SYDNEY, Jan 30 (IPS) - Papua New Guinean opposition leader Belden Namah has launched legal proceedings against an Australian detention centre for asylum seekers in Manus province of this South Pacific island nation.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 30 (IPS) - South Africa has denied that it is taking a protectionist stance to protect its own producers against foreign competition, but says it is justified in boosting tariffs where this is allowed under international trade agreements.