News headlines in 2016, page 35

MEXICO CITY, Aug 22 (IPS) - In July 2015, the Mexican government granted a U.S. corporation permission for the use of genetic material obtained in Mexican territory for commercial and non-commercial purposes, in one of the cases that has fuelled concern in Latin America about the profit-oriented approach to biodiversity.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 22 (IPS) - The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which was aimed at curbing the flow of small arms and light weapons to war zones and politically-repressive regimes, is being openly violated by some of the world's arms suppliers, according to military analysts and human rights organizations.

ROME, Aug 22 (IPS) - In today's "Post-Feminist" world, it is time to pose a fundamental question. If we are really raking in the liberating outcomes of a "gender-just" 21st century, why do the vast majority of young girls and women, the world over, continuously refuse to speak out in the face of verbal, sexual and physical harassment on public transport?

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.