News headlines in March 2016, page 7

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Mar 14 (IPS) - On the evening of March 4, heavily armed police forced their way into the headquarters of the Turkish daily Zaman. The hundreds of protesters that had gathered in front of the building in an Istanbul suburb in solidarity with their newspaper were violently dispersed.

ROME, Mar 11 (IPS) - The last formal act of European disintegration was the last negotiation between 28 European leaders and the Prime Minister of Turkey. The deal, against all international treaties, is a total capitulation to European values. Europe will give Turkey 6 billion dollars, and in exchange Turkey will keep refugees from coming to Europe. Or better, will screen everybody, and send to Europe only the Syrians who are eligible for political asylum.

GAZA, Palestine, Mar 11 (IPS) - In the safety of his sister's bare flat in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, 42 year-old Iyad Yusef still shakes his head in disbelief when he recounts the journey that from war-torn Syria, brought him and his family to the relative safety of the blockaded strip.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 10 (IPS) - In Argentina, there are now 20 brand names that guarantee that their garments are produced by workers in decent working conditions, thanks to the Clean Clothes network, aimed at eradicating slave labour in the garment industry, which illegally employs some 30,000 people in sweatshops around the country.

CHAIPAINAWABGANJ, Bangladesh, Mar 10 (IPS) - About a year ago, seven year-old Afroza Khatun dropped out of school as her mother could not continue supervising her homework.

KAMPALA, Uganda, Mar 09 (IPS) - Nearly two weeks after controversially winning a fifth term, it has emerged that Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has signed another repressive law which restricts the operations of thousands of NGOs working in the country.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 08 (IPS) - In the 1960s, when gender discrimination was widespread at the United Nations, there was a story doing the rounds of a woman candidate who had applied for a mid-level professional job in the UN Secretariat.

CHICOASÉN, Mexico, Mar 08 (IPS) - In 1976, the construction of a hydroelectric dam destroyed farmland in the rural municipality of Chicoasén in southern Mexico. Forty years later, part of the local population is fighting a second dam, which would deprive them of more land.

NEW YORK, Mar 08 (IPS) - International Women's Day is a chance to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world – often against great odds and all too often remaining invisible. But women and girls worldwide are change makers and leaders for a better world. Role models are many.

MADRID, Mar 08 (IPS) - In a yet another violation of international laws and their own human values, 28 European countries have just agreed with Turkey to open a new "bazaar" of refugees, this time using the old barter system. i.e. Iraqis and Afghans in exchange of Syrians.