News headlines in March 2016, page 6

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 15 (IPS) - When the UN Postal Administration recently unveiled a set of six new commemorative stamps -- as part of a global campaign promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities -- it did not expect a furious backlash as it did, mostly from the 54 members of the African Group and from Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council.

LOS REYES, Costa Rica, Mar 15 (IPS) - Before they got involved in farming, Luis Diego Murillo and Xinia Solano paid their bills and put food on their table with Luis's salary as a foreman on construction sites, an unstable job that kept him on the move.

ROME, Mar 15 (IPS) - Larry Summers, Clinton's minister of treasury, has made few friends in life. At that time, he was instrumental in eliminating the Glass Stegall Banking Law, which since 1933 separated the bank's customer deposits from the financial activities of the Stock Exchange, releasing a flood of money which created the present monster financial system.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 15 (IPS) - Last year we watched with cautious optimism as UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the new Sustainable Development Goals, and called upon the world to meet them.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Mar 15 (IPS) - Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores, was in her early 20s when she co-founded the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (Cophin), a group that campaigned for the rights of indigenous communities in the South American nation.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 (IPS) - As civil wars and cross-border military conflicts continue to escalate in the Middle East, Syria, Iraq and Libya are in danger of breaking up —even as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continues to make territorial gains in the volatile region.

MADRID, Mar 14 (IPS) - When the leaders of 28 European states enjoy again this week their exclusive flights, luxurious suites and official limousines, to meet for a new summit in Brussels to adopt a final decision on their proposed plan of using refugees as bargaining chips, 20.000 Syrians will most probably be still starving in the Idomeni camp in Greece, in a situation that has been described as "worse than World War I."

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 14 (IPS) - About 2.1 billion people are regarded as overweight or obese today, or almost thirty per cent of the world's population. With over 800 million people estimated to be chronically hungry in the world, it appears that the number of overweight is more than 2.5 times the number of undernourished.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 (IPS) - The Paris agreement means countries and corporations will be compelled to act much more quickly on making agricultural commodity production more sustainable. Companies must look beyond their supply chains. Farmers need support to overcome barriers such as: struggle with ineffective farming practices, lack of investment and fluctuating commodity prices.