News headlines in 2015, page 15

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 26 (IPS) - You probably didn't notice it was World Statistics Day last week because, let's be honest, statistics don't have the most exciting reputation. Thankfully, I have a feeling this is about to change, big time.

KAMPALA, Uganda, Oct 23 (IPS) - Sixty-five years after a major international summit here on malaria, the mosquito-borne disease remains a scourge and its incidence may even be rising in parts of sub-Saharan Africa due to the combined effects of climate change, agricultural practices and population displacement.

ROME, Oct 23 (IPS) - In recent decades, many developing countries have experienced declines in fiscal revenue as a share of national income. There is an urgent need to reverse this trend, with greater revenue collection to finance the realization of developing countries' developmental aspirations.

ITABORAÍ, Brazil, Oct 23 (IPS) - Itaboraí still recalls its origins as a sprawling city that sprang up along a highway, not far from Rio de Janeiro. But a few years ago big modern buildings began to sprout all over this city in southeast Brazil, whose offices and shops are almost all empty today.

MONROVIA, Oct 22 (IPS) - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently affirmed her commitment to the land rights of Liberia's local communities, who rely on the forests for their livelihoods and have cared for them for generations.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (IPS) - As the flow of migrants continues to rise – from war-ravaged countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa to Europe – so do the horror stories of the harsh treatment meted out to these refugees.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 22 (IPS) - "We are lucky a local dam will give us cheap and uninterrupted power supply. Currently, we remain without electricity for 14-16 hours every day," Muhammad Shafique, a schoolteacher in Upper Dir, told IPS.

CASPANA, Chile, Oct 21 (IPS) - Terrace farming as practiced from time immemorial by native peoples in the Andes mountains contributes to food security as a strategy of adaptation in an environment where the geography and other conditions make the production of nutritional foods a complex undertaking.

NAIROBI and HARARE, Oct 21 (IPS) - Kenya has made tremendous steps towards ensuring that the elderly population does not slide into extreme poverty, hunger and, consequently, premature death.

LUJÁN DE CUYO, Argentina, Oct 20 (IPS) - The region of Cuyo in west-central Argentina is famous for its vineyards. But it is one of the areas in the country hit hardest by the effects of climate change, such as desertification and the melting of mountain top snow. And local winegrowers have come up with their own way to fight global warming.