News headlines in June 2013, page 24

GENEVA, Jun 04 (IPS) - The old theories governing the way that countries produce and trade are being replaced. The pattern of trade is being transformed by increasingly sophisticated technology and innovations in transportation; and the topography of actors is shifting to reflect new poles of growth.

BOGOTA, Jun 04 (IPS) - Drugs and arms traffickers are muscling in on Colombia's Pacific coastal region, forcibly displacing local people, according to a new report by the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES).

QUITO, Jun 04 (IPS) - The "páramos" or high plateaus of Ecuador, a crucial source of water, are showing signs of extreme fragility and a troubling loss of capacity to conserve this vital resource and sustain the survival of numerous species found nowhere else on earth.

Jun 04 (IPS) - More than three decades after Zimbabwe's independence, the idea of developing its rural areas seems to have been laid to rest, as points intended for development have been turned into beer outlets, which seem to be more lucrative than industry.

GULU, Uganda, Jun 04 (IPS) - It is swerves and roundabouts for Keddy Olanya, a 32-year-old wife and mother of three from Gulu, northern Uganda, who is one of only a handful of female drivers negotiating the country's potholed roads on a bodaboda or motorbike taxi. 

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Jun 04 (IPS) - Acutely aware of China's strong presence in resource-rich Africa, Japan, the world's third largest economy, is beefing up its relations with the continent. Participants at a high-level donor conference hosted by Japan this week stressed the need for closer engagement, not through the traditional grants and assistance loans that have hitherto defined the relationship, but rather through trade and investment led by the Japanese private sector.

WASHINGTON, Jun 04 (IPS) - President Barack Obama tried Monday to jumpstart a new national discussion on mental health, sponsoring a conference with Vice-President Joe Biden aimed at reducing social stigma around the issue.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 04 (IPS) - The United Nations witnessed a historic moment Monday with the signing of the Arms Trade Treaty, first adopted in April by the General Assemblyand the first time the 85-billion-dollar international arms trade has been regulated by a global set of standards.

WASHINGTON, Jun 03 (IPS) - The U.S. federal prison system's use of solitary confinement and other forms of "segregated housing" has increased substantially over the past five years, according to new data released by the U.S. Congress's official independent watchdog.

DARWIN, Australia, Jun 03 (IPS) - "There is a belief that consent is about saying yes or no, about who wins," observed James Anaya, the United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous rights. But consultation with indigenous peoples is a matter of "creating open processes where they can voice their opinions and influence decisions, and where there is the necessary will to seek consensus."