News headlines in 2016, page 56

MONTEVIDEO, Jun 09 (IPS) - Uruguay is just weeks away from finding out if it will have a chance to stop being totally reliant on oil imports at some point in the future, when the first offshore exploration well in national waters – which set a new world record in terms of water depth - is completed.

NEW DELHI, ROME, Jun 09 (IPS) - As the seventh largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, India has fared better than many. Through a mix of interventions from the public and private sector, India's economy has promoted growth and welfare. However, in spite of these developments, the challenge of hunger and malnutrition remain.

YANGON, Jun 09 (IPS) - International aid agencies, big and small, are beating a path to Myanmar, relishing the prospect of launching projects in a nation of 51 million people tentatively emerging from more than five decades of military rule.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 09 (IPS) - The Asia Pacific region - home to two of the world's most populous countries - faces major food security challenges.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), both China and India are not only two of the world's biggest producers of food but also the world's biggest consumers.

ATHENS, Jun 09 (IPS) - Closure of the Western Balkans route has trapped tens of thousands of refugees heading to Central and Northern Europe in Greece, including many unaccompanied minors who either escaped from war zones after having lost their relatives, or were sent ahead in hopes of helping their families follow afterwards.

ROME, Jun 09 (IPS) - Big business is most often seen by human rights defenders and civil society organisations as "bad news," as those huge heartless, soulless corporations whose exclusive goal is to make the biggest profits possible. Too often and in too many cases this is a proven fact.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 08 (IPS) - A report released by The Small Arms Survey here Monday shows the alarming rate at which the trade of small arms and light weapons has been increasing.

COPENHAGEN, Jun 08 (IPS) - Four years ago, 27-year-old Tsering Dorji of western Bhutan's Satsam village took to organic vegetable farming. Since then, thanks to composted manure and organic pesticide, the soil health of his farm has improved, and the yield has increased manifold.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 08 (IPS) - Polynesian voyagers who have sailed the world by canoe using ancient navigation skills will bring pledges they collected along the way to the UN on Wednesday as part of World Oceans Day celebrations.

BUENOS AIRES, Jun 08 (IPS) - For the inhabitants of "Bajo Autopista" (Under the Freeway), a slum built under an expressway in the Argentine capital, "they" are the people who live in areas with everything that is denied to "us" – a simple definition of social inclusion and a metaphor for urban inequality.