News headlines in July 2013, page 16

PORT LOUIS, Jul 11 (IPS) - Raja Venkat, a food vendor on the sidewalk of Immigration Square in the centre of Port Louis, the Mauritian capital, sits on his tricycle with a bag full of dhal puris - small, round, flat Indian bread stuffed with pulses - which he sells together with tomato sauce and bean curry.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 (IPS) - Two Saudi Arabian women's rights activists are filing an appeal on Friday after being sentenced to 10 months in prison for helping a woman who had allegedly been abused by her husband.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jul 11 (IPS) - Four-year-old Muhammad Jihad is handicapped, and his parents know who to blame: the Taliban.

WASHINGTON, Jul 11 (IPS) - Technology education programmes are increasingly becoming a viable alternative to the standard four-year undergraduate university programme, according to the OECD, a major international grouping of rich countries.

WASHINGTON, Jul 11 (IPS) - An alliance of 17 major U.S. brands and retailers, including Walmart and the Gap, has unveiled a five-year agreement aimed at strengthening conditions and worker rights at garment factories in Bangladesh.

COLOMBO, Jul 10 (IPS) - It has been four years since the guns fell silent in Sri Lanka's northern Vanni region, after almost three decades of ethnic violence. Unfortunately peace does not mean the end of hardship for the most vulnerable people here: the women.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 10 (IPS) - With the Cambodian national assembly elections fast approaching on Jul. 28, local and international organisations are expressing concerns about the fairness and transparency of the electoral system.

HAVANA, Jul 10 (IPS) - Rather than talk about forecasts for hurricanes at the start of this year's season, Cuban meteorologist José Rubiera prefers to discuss the importance of reducing the country's vulnerability and improving preparedness.

WASHINGTON, Jul 10 (IPS) - In May 2011, almost a year and half after a Tunisian street vendor's self-immolation sparked waves of revolution still rocking the Middle East, Bahraini journalist Nazeeha Saeed was tortured during her 13-hour detention before signing a confession she was not allowed to read.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 10 (IPS) - Indonesia's forest fires, a predictable annual ritual, will continue to have serious implications for health and the environment in Southeast Asia unless the government strengthens forest protection, warn environmental groups.