News headlines in October 2017, page 7

ALTA FLORESTA, Brazil, Oct 16 (IPS) - The dirty water is killing more and more fish and ‘Taricaya' yellow-spotted river turtles every day. In addition, the river is not following its usual cycle, and the water level rises or declines without warning, regardless of the season, complained three Munduruku indigenous law students in the south of Brazil's Amazon rainforest.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) - The UN peacekeeping mission ended its operations in the Caribbean nation of Haiti after 13 years on October 15.

The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which aimed to bring stability to a politically chaotic Haiti of 2004, will transfer power to the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH), a much smaller successor mission that is going to assist the government on security issues.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) - Once in a while, Africa produces talented women politicians who, despite the odds, overcome the obstacles that impede their success in the political arena.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 16 (IPS) - In 1953 South Korea emerged from the ravages of a debilitating war, yet the total gross domestic product in nominal terms has surged 31,000 fold since 1953.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (IPS) - Globally, 108 million people faced food crises in 2016, compared to about 80 million in 2015 – an increase of 35%, according to the 2017 Global Report on Food Crises. Another 123 million people were ‘stressed', contributing to around 230 million such food insecure people in 2016, of whom 72% were in Africa.

ROME, Oct 14 (IPS) - The world is on the move. More people have been forced to flee their homes than at any time since the Second World War due to increased conflict and political instability, hunger, poverty, and an increase in extreme weather events linked to climate change.

OXFORD, United Kingdom, Oct 13 (IPS) - Milk and cookies, macaroni and cheese, fish and chips. Some foods seem to match perfectly together to the point where one can't go without the other. Food and health, while maybe not as catchy, should be viewed in the same light. Without good food it is hard to maintain good health; without good food growing practices it is difficult to maintain a healthy planet.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct 13 (IPS) - When nine women farmers from the Kendeng community in Central Java encased their feet in cement blocks last year, many indigenous advocates understood how that felt. Dressed in their traditional clothing, these women protested outside the State Palace in Jakarta to block a proposed cement plant that would pollute the rivers flowing through their villages. Their livelihoods as farmers were under threat, as was their cultural heritage.

SURREY, United Kingdom, Oct 13 (IPS) - According to the United Nations estimates almost 800 million people suffer from chronic hunger (1 in every 9 persons on the planet) and a higher number (1 in 3) suffer from malnutrition. 1 in every 5 persons (1.4 billion people) have no access to electricity worldwide (living with energy poverty) whilst 1 in 10 people do not have access to clean water.  With climate change, this situation is worsening across many parts of the world.

ROME, Oct 13 (IPS) - In a world where only 8 individuals – all of them men—possess as much as half of all the planet's wealth, and it will take women 170 years to be paid as men are*, inequality appears to be a key feature of the current economic model. Now a new study reveals that there is also a widening gap in hunger.