News headlines in 2015, page 58

NEW YORK, Jun 24 (IPS) - It is hard to imagine today the public enthusiasm that greeted the founding of the U.N. in 1945.  After massive suffering and social collapse resulting from the Second World War, the U.N. seemed almost miraculous – a means at last to build peace, democracy, and a just society on a global scale.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 24 (IPS) - When a U.N. panel released a 217-page report accusing both Israel and Hamas of possible war crimes committed during the 50-day conflict in Gaza last July, the chances of Security Council action were remote because of the traditional U.S. commitment to stand by Israel – right or wrong, mostly wrong.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 24 (IPS) - On the eve of negotiations on the political declaration for the United Nations Summit to adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Women's Major Group (WMG) calls on governments to define a transformative agenda to ensure just, sustainable and rights-based development.

SAN JOSE, Jun 24 (IPS) - The lack of clear regulations and guidelines on therapeutic abortion in Costa Rica means women depend on the interpretation of doctors with regard to the circumstances under which the procedure can be legally practiced.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Jun 24 (IPS) - The Eastern Caribbean nation of Grenada is following the example of its bigger neighbours Belize and Jamaica in taking action to restore coral reefs, which serve as frontline barriers against storm waves.

OSLO, Jun 24 (IPS) - When he died at the age of 80 on Jun. 18 in Oslo, Fredrik Fasting Torgersen had divided Norway for 56 years and the "Torgersen case" had attracted international interest in forensic science circles, among them the U.S.-based Innocence Project.

LONDON, Jun 24 (IPS) - The overwhelming majority of lobby meetings held by European Commissioners and their closest advisors are with representatives of corporate interests, according to an analysis published Jun. 24 by Transparency International (TI).

CANBERRA, Australia, Jun 24 (IPS) - A referendum on independence within the next five years dominated campaigning in the recent general election held in Bougainville, an autonomous region of 300,000 people in the east of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which emerged from a decade-long civil war 15 years ago.

Jun 23 (IPS) - Travel into the heart of Kenya's southern Coast Province, nearly 500 km from the capital city of Nairobi, and you will come across one of the planet's most curious World Heritage Sites: the remains of several fortified villages, revered by the indigenous Mijikenda people as the sacred abodes of their ancestors.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 23 (IPS) - The widespread use of digital technology – including satellite imagery, body cameras and smart phones – is fast becoming a new tool in monitoring and capturing human rights violations worldwide.