News headlines in June 2015, page 12

BETUL, India, Jun 04 (IPS) - Mamta Bai, 36, distinctly remembers the first time the police came to her village: it was December 2014 and her neighbour, Purva Bai, had just been beaten unconscious by her alcoholic husband, prompting Mamta to make a distress call to the nearest station.

MANAGUA, Jun 04 (IPS) - Nicaragua, the Central American country with the most abundant water sources, and where water – "agua" in Spanish – is even part of its name, is suffering one of its worst water crises in half a century, fuelled by climate change, deforestation and erosion.

KINGSTON, Jun 04 (IPS) - For Jamaica, planting more trees as a way to build resilience is one of the highest priorities of the government's climate change action plan. So when Cockpit Country residents woke up to bulldozers in the protected area, they rallied to get answers from the authorities.

PARIS, Jun 04 (IPS) - "Work is dignity," says Simone Cipriani. "People want employment, not charity."

CANBERRA, Australia, Jun 03 (IPS) - Fourteen Pacific Island Forum countries are currently locked in negotiations with their two largest economic neighbours, Australia and New Zealand, to forge a new regional free trade agreement called ‘PACER Plus', which supporters believe will boost economic growth in the region.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 03 (IPS) - The United Nations, which came under heavy fire for its failure to act swiftly on charges of sexual abuse by French troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) last year, has decided to set up an External Independent Review (EIR) to probe these allegations.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 03 (IPS) - After a difficult infancy, the Green Climate Fund is finally getting some legs. The big question now is what direction it will toddle off in.

LUPANE, Zimbabwe, Jun 03 (IPS) - Seventy-seven-year-old Grace Ngwenya has an eye for detail. You will never catch her squinting as she effortlessly weaves ilala palm fronds into beautiful baskets.

JOHANNESBURG, Jun 03 (IPS) - Patient and leading health organisations in South Africa have now joined a Fix the Patent Laws campaign launched in 2011 by Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to push for reform of the country's current patent laws.

CEUTA, Spain, Jun 03 (IPS) - A few kilometres before the border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and Morocco, a sign informs passers-by that this outpost of Spain on African soil stands in a privileged position for those who wish to observe the annual migration of birds across the Strait of Gibraltar, their shortest route from Africa to Europe.