News headlines in April 2014, page 4

SANTIAGO, Apr 24 (IPS) - Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's proposed tax reform is seen as the cornerstone of her ambitious social programme and a sign of a new shift in fiscal policy towards redistribution of income.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 24 (IPS) - After a week that saw a massacre inside a U.N. base and wide-scale ethnic-based slaughter in an oil-producing region, the international community is grappling with what, if any, options remain to save lives in South Sudan.

HARARE, Apr 24 (IPS) - Zimbabwe's extensive informal sector could help boost government revenue if regularised, but this won't happen unless the government creates incentives for the informal sector to register, economists say.

SEOUL, Apr 24 (IPS) - Rice, a staple of the South Korean diet, is stirring up a bowlful of worry for Seoul. Under a promise to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the government has to make a tough choice on rice imports by June this year.

WASHINGTON, Apr 24 (IPS) - Last October, the Barack Obama administration suspended the delivery of attack helicopters to Egypt's interim government following the Jul. 2 military ouster of Egypt's democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 23 (IPS) - At the age of 22, Franco finally landed his first job, although he is not on any payroll and receives no labour benefits. He is part of Argentina's informal economy, where one out of three workers are employed – a proportion the government aims to reduce by means of a new law.

KAMPALA, Apr 23 (IPS) - As she sits in a Kampala hotel holding a mobile phone that rings frequently, Sandra Ntebi tells IPS: "I'm really exhausted. I don't know where to start. We have many cases pending." Ntebi manages a hotline and is helping Uganda's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community find alternative, safe accommodation after they have faced harassment.

TOKYO, Apr 23 (IPS) - Desperate for more workers to support a construction boom, Japan has proposed to expand its controversial foreign trainee programme to permit more unskilled labour from Asia to work in Japanese companies for five years from the current three years.

HAVANA, Apr 23 (IPS) - Standing in line for a concert at the Centro Cultural Fábrica de Arte, a cultural centre in the Cuban capital, Alexis Cruz anxiously checks his billfold, where he has the price of the ticket – 50 Cuban pesos (two dollars) - and three CUCs (equivalent to one dollar each) to buy something to drink.

BERLIN, Apr 23 (IPS) - As foreign forces withdraw slowly from Afghanistan, they leave behind a vulnerable band of people who were their ears and guides on the ground. These people who served as interpreters, face a life of threats and uncertainties. Many have been killed.