News headlines in February 2013, page 15

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 11 (IPS) - Amidst growing new threats of potential conflicts over fast-dwindling water resources in the world's arid regions, the United Nations will commemorate 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC).

NEW YORK, Feb 11 (IPS) - During World War II, a German U-boat made its way into New York Harbour. It fired two torpedoes at a British tanker, splitting the hull in three places and igniting it in flames. The captain and 35 members of his crew burned to death.

MANILA, Feb 11 (IPS) - After a year of intense diplomatic standoff and territorial brinkmanship among disputing states in the South and East China Seas, the U.S. military ‘pivot' to the region appears to be in full swing - a move that could further aggravate an already combustible regional dynamic.

MOPTI, Mali, Feb 11 (IPS) - At the entrance to the Evangelical church in Mopti, central Mali, military soldiers stood on either side of the door as Pastor Luc Sagara greeted his parishioners for Sunday mass.

SRINAGAR, Feb 11 (IPS) - "Give us his body; we want to give him a respectable burial…" this is the overwhelming demand across Kashmir following the hanging of Mohammad Afzal Guru who was convicted for his role in the attack on the Indian parliament on Dec. 13.  2001. Nine people died in the attack.

ZEITOUN, Gaza, Feb 10 (IPS) - Tawfiq Mandil, 45, stands amongst hundreds of Palestinian farmers, activists, and international supporters in the Gaza Strip's eastern Zeitoun district, about half a kilometre from the border with Israel. They are renewing a call for the boycott of Israeli goods.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 09 (IPS) - Argentina has better prospects in 2013 after modest growth in 2012, thanks to an excellent grain harvest and the recovery of Brazil, its main market.

GULFE, Cameroon, Feb 09 (IPS) - Approaching the Lake Chad basin from Gulfe, a small locality 45 kilometres from Cameroon's Far North Regional capital Maroua, the atmosphere of despair is palpable: dusty air, fierce and unrelenting winds, wilting plants and sand dunes suggest that this once lush area is undergoing a terrible change.

BARGUNA, Bangladesh, Feb 09 (IPS) - Monashatoli, a small coastal village of 5,000 residents in Bangladesh's southwestern Barguna district, located about 470 kilometres south of the capital Dhaka, is a living model of the success of bottom-up community development.

BEIRUT, Feb 09 (IPS) - One couple's modest marriage in Lebanon has catapulted them into media limelight and sparked a national debate pitting the Prime Minister against the President while eliciting stern condemnation from leading religious figures. Their union is both exceptional and controversial - it is the first civil marriage in the country.