News headlines in February 2013, page 14

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (IPS) - Tuesday's nuclear test by North Korea poses major new questions about the sustainability of President Barack Obama's first-term policy of "strategic patience" in dealing with Pyongyang.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 (IPS) - The Millennium Development Goals challenged the world to cut extreme poverty in half, dramatically reduce child mortality, and make primary education universal, but Jody Heymann and Kristen McNeill say the world can do more.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 12 (IPS) - The process of cleaning the Matanza-Riachuelo river basin, which in its final flow borders the Argentinian capital, shows remarkable progress. But the biggest challenge remains the cleaning of the watercourse, which has been damaged by centuries of neglect.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 12 (IPS) - North Korea, which conducted its third nuclear test Monday, is following closely in the heavy footsteps of Israel as one of the world's most intransigent nations, ignoring Security Council resolutions and defying the international community.

LA PAZ, Feb 12 (IPS) - The 19,000 inhabitants of the municipality of Caraparí, the area supplying a third of Bolivia's gas exports, do not have access to gas or petrol, six years after the nationalisation of the mega deposit and almost a quarter century after its discovery.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 12 (IPS) - In 1983, producers of popular radio, alternative radio and educational radio convened in Montreal to define a new genre of radio: community radio. Those dialogues led to the formation of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).

TEHRAN, Feb 12 (IPS) - Last week's dramatic and very public display of deep fissures among the leading politicians of Iran has left many here wondering if the conflict will escalate into an all-out war among various political factions in the run-up to the presidential election in June.

GAZA CITY, Feb 12 (IPS) - Gaza is becoming increasingly radicalised as Hamas continues its crackdown on civil liberties, press freedom and the rights of women. In the last few weeks a number of journalists have been arrested and accused of being involved in "suspicious activities", several detainees shot dead by police during arrest attempts, and female students asked to abide by a strict Islamic dress code.

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (IPS) - Despite the start of a government-inspired dialogue with the opposition Sunday, the Bahraini government continues to jail dissidents, arrest demonstrators, and use a rigged judicial system to convict them.

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (IPS) - For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has publicly released a draft plan on how the department's programmes will adapt to global warming, in a move that could lay additional groundwork for important new emissions rulemaking the agency may announce in coming months.