News headlines in July 2014, page 6

WASHINGTON, Jul 21 (IPS) - Pressure is building here for lawmakers to pass a bill that would funnel billions of dollars of U.S. investment into strengthening Africa's electricity production and distribution capabilities, and could offer broad new support for off-grid opportunities.

MALAGA, Spain, Jul 21 (IPS) - Little Samir covers his face with his hands as he plays under the orange tree in the centre of the inner courtyard of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission (CEAR) centre in the southern city of Malaga. He is four years old and has spent nearly a year in Spain, where he arrived with his parents, fleeing the war in Syria.

SYDNEY, Jul 21 (IPS) - Marama Pala, hailing from Waikanae on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, was diagnosed with HIV at 22. The news of her diagnosis spread like wildfire in her tight-knit Maori community.

GENEVA, Jul 21 (IPS) - The "fragility" of the World Trade Organization's ‘Bali package' was brought into the open at the weekend meeting in Sydney, Australia, of trade ministers from the world's 20 major economies (G20).

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jul 21 (IPS) - Some fled on foot, others boarded trucks along with luggage, rations and cattle. Many were separated from families, or collapsed from exhaustion along the way. They don't know where their next meal will come from, or how they will provide for their children.

BEIRUT, Jul 19 (IPS) - Gaunt, haggard Syrian children begging and selling gum have become a fixture in streets of the Lebanese capital; having fled the ongoing conflict, they continue to be stalked by its effects.

WASHINGTON, Jul 18 (IPS) - A new ranking has lauded Germany for its energy efficiency, while condemning the United States for lagging near the bottom.

TEGUCIGALPA, Jul 18 (IPS) - The migration crisis involving thousands of Central American children detained in the United States represents the loss of a generation of young people fleeing poverty, violence and insecurity in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America where violence is rife.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 18 (IPS) - As the civil war in Syria continues into its fourth year, the Western nations sitting on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) have unsuccessfully tried to condemn the killings of civilians, impose punitive sanctions and accuse the Syrian government of war crimes - in four vetoed and failed resolutions.

BERLIN, Jul 18 (IPS) - Attempts to genetically modify food staples, such as crops and cattle, to increase their nutritional value and overall performance have prompted world-wide criticism by environmental, nutritionists and agriculture experts, who say that protecting and fomenting biodiversity is a far better solution to hunger and malnutrition.