News headlines in March 2015, page 5

PARIS, Mar 23 (IPS) - We are lucky to live in a country that has long since abandoned the image of the damsel in distress. Even Disney princesses now save themselves and send unsuitable "saviours" packing. But despite the great strides being made in gender equality, we are still failing rural women, particularly women farmers.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 23 (IPS) - The Commission on the Status of Women, one of the biggest events on the calendar for United Nations headquarters in New York City, is over for another year.

JOHANNESBURG, Mar 23 (IPS) - For those of us interested in a vibrant civil society, it seems to be best of times and the worst of times.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 22 (IPS) - Guards at a Nauru refugee detention centre managed by the Australian government traded marijuana for sexual favours from detainees, according to the latest damning report into the Australia's beleaguered refugee policy.

OWERRI, Nigeria, Mar 22 (IPS) - In Nigeria, it's all about the numbers. My nation recently became the largest economy in Africa by some distance, with a GDP of well over 500 billion dollars.

DURBAN, South Africa, Mar 22 (IPS) - Agriculture is the major employer and a backbone of the economies of Southern Africa.

ROME, Mar 21 (IPS) - The "surprise" re-election of incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Mar. 17 elections has been met with a flood of media comment on the implications for the region and the rest of the world.

MEXICO CITY, Mar 21 (IPS) - "I would tell institutions and companies that are aware of the enormous damage they do to the soil, plants and the environment, to respect the decisions of the people. They are attacking life and health," complained Taurino Rincón, an indigenous Mexican.

LONDON, Mar 21 (IPS) - Undoubtedly, we are at a crucial time in the advancement of gender equality.

GAZA CITY, Mar 21 (IPS) - Israel's siege of Gaza, aided and abetted by the Egyptians in the south, has aggravated the plight of Gazan women, and the Jewish state's devastating military assault on the coastal territory over July and August 2014 exacerbated the situation.