News headlines in December 2015, page 4

PARIS, Dec 13 (IPS) - After 2 weeks of intense negotiations, on Saturday evening, the 21st UN climate conference (COP21) in Paris finally delivered a historic agreement that, for the first time, promises to keep the global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. The treaty, consisting 31 pages and signed by by 196 countries, include the big five steps of climate action:

PARÍS, Dec 13 (IPS) - The impossible was made possible. Governments from 195 countries around the world emerged here with the first universal agreement to cut greenhouse gases emissions and reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

PARIS, Dec 12 (IPS) - The link between women in climate change is a cross-cutting issue that deserves greater recognition at climate negotiations. It is pervasive, touching everything; from health and agriculture to sanitation and education.

SANTARÉM, Brazil, Dec 11 (IPS) - River port terminals in the northern Brazilian city of Santarém are considered strategic by the government. But what some see as an opportunity for development is for others an irreversible change in what was previously a well-preserved part of the Amazon rainforest.

ROME, Dec 11 (IPS) - The latest estimates are that over two billion people in the world suffer some micronutrient deficiencies, often referred to as "hidden hunger." The main sustainable solution is to ensure adequate public health interventions, including clean water, sanitation and hygiene as well as healthy, diverse diets for all.

GENEVA, Dec 11 (IPS) - The Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is now just a few days away, from 15 to 18 December in Nairobi.

PURI, India, Dec 11 (IPS) - Jeeja Behera, 34, the wife of a fisherman in the village of Sannapatna in India's cyclone prone Puri district, dreads the onset of the cyclone season between October and January every year due to the lack of water, sanitation and hygiene in cyclone shelters.

PARIS, Dec 10 (IPS) - On World Human Rights Day (December 10) at the UN climate conference in Paris, small island nations from the Pacific made a passionate call to the world leaders: stop climate change and honour our right to exist on the earth.

HAVANA, Dec 10 (IPS) - The crisis that has broken out at several border crossings in Latin America as a result of thousands of Cubans attempting to reach the United States has revived a problem that remains unresolved between the two countries in spite of agreements, negotiations and the diplomatic thaw that started a year ago.

GENEVA, Dec 10 (IPS) - Analysis of the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) expenditure projections for 187 countries between 2005 and 2020 reveals that there have been two distinct phases of government spending patterns since the onset of the global economic crisis.