News headlines in August 2016, page 3

GENEVA, Aug 22 (IPS) - In a landmark decision that has been hailed as a victory of public health measures against narrow commercial interests, an international tribunal has dismissed a claim by tobacco giant company Philip Morris that the Uruguay government violated its rights by instituting tobacco control measures.

BERLIN, Aug 22 (IPS) - The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 provides the foundation for citizens' rights to participate in shaping their communities.

TAIPEI, Aug 22 (IPS) - A literature professor at Cornell University in upstate New York, Nick Admussen, has recently published an online literary essay about writing novels in the Anthropocene Age.

NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (IPS) - The passage of the landmark Maternity Benefits Act 1961 by the Indian Parliament, which mandates 26 weeks of paid leave for mothers as against the existing 12, has generated more heartburn than hurrahs due to its skewed nature.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 19 (IPS) - As deadly yellow fever spreads to seven provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), new measures have been introduced to ensure that as many people as possible are immunised, despite global shortages of the yellow fever vaccine.

NEW YORK, Aug 18 (IPS) - Six years since UN peacekeepers brought cholera to Haiti, the United Nations has finally accepted a greater degree of responsibility for its role in causing the outbreak, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, and affected hundreds of thousands more.

WINDHOEK, Aug 18 (IPS) - Let us start with some good news.  Sort of.  The strongest El Niño in 35 years is coming to an end.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 18 (IPS) - Syria's White Helmets - the volunteers who rescue civilians from collapsed buildings - could be the "most popular" nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize ever, according to human rights group, the Syria Campaign.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 18 (IPS) - Brazil's first gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics gave it a new multipurpose heroine, Rafaela Silva, whose defeat of the favourites in judo has made her a strong voice against racism and homophobia. Not only is she black and poor, but she just came out as gay.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 17 (IPS) - As part of his nuclear legacy, US President Barack Obama is seeking a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution aimed at banning nuclear tests worldwide.