News headlines in May 2016

ST. Augustine, Florida, May 31 (IPS) - Today we are saturated with media hype about the joys of information and communication technology (ICT). We will all be connected, all the time, by the Idiocy of Things (IoT )devices and our social media, all converging in the cloud. Our lives will be monitored by smart sensors in homes with smart refrigerators, toasters, TVs, doorbells, alarm systems, garages, cars and electricity meters. We are bombarded with ads showing us how all these smart devices will improve our lives and health, bringing ever greater convenience. Driverless cars will be safer, allowing us to read, monitor our kids or enjoy the scenery. All this ICT and automation is already a multi-billion dollar industry and its producers are salivating over its growth and profits. Individual privacy rights and security concerns seem to be an afterthought.

UNITED NATIONS, May 31 (IPS) - This year for World No Tobacco Day on May 31 the World Health Organization has recommended that countries adopt plain packaging as a way to reduce tobacco use, however so far mostly only rich countries have been able to afford to implement the changes.

LUSAKA, May 31 (IPS) - Africa's contribution to global malnutrition statistics is miserably high, with 58 million children under the age of five said to be too short for their age, while 13.9 million weigh too little for their height.

SEOUL, South Korea, May 31 (IPS) - Like the Israel-Palestine conflict, the world has gotten tired of it, "what, the two Koreas still unable to sort it out"? Also, like Israel-Palestine, the USA is in it; making the situation complicated.

LUSAKA, May 30 (IPS) - "It is unacceptable that 138 years after Thomas Edison developed the light bulb, hundreds of millions of people cannot have access to electricity to simply light up the bulb in Africa," says Africa Development Bank (AfDB) Group President, Akinwumi Adesina, mourning the gloomy statistics showing that over 645 million people in Africa lack access to electricity, while over 700 million are without clean energy for cooking.

UNITED NATIONS, May 27 (IPS) - Around the world girls are struggling to stay in school when their menstrual hygiene needs are forgotten or ignored, yet the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and education sectors have remained reluctant to address the issue.

UNITED NATIONS, May 27 (IPS) - A new international accord to tackle illegal and under-reported fishing will come into force on June 5.

BLANTYRE, May 27 (IPS) - It's Saturday, market day at the popular Bvumbwe market in Thyolo district. About 40 kilometers away in Chiradzulu district, a vegetable vendor and mother of five, Esnart Nthawa, 35, has woken up at three a.m. to prepare for the journey to the market.

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (IPS) - The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which has played a key role in ensuring maternal health and promoting reproductive rights of millions of women world-wide, is expected to suffer over $140 million in funding cuts by Western donors this year.

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (IPS) - The world's poorest countries are making development gains, yet challenges remain, particularly for so-called fragile countries affected by conflict or other disasters.