News headlines in October 2017, page 9

WASHINGTON DC, Oct 11 (IPS) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and climate change do not often appear in the same headline together. Indeed, environmental issues have been, at most, peripheral to the Fund's core functions. But now economists inside and outside the IMF are beginning to understand that climate change has significant implications for national and regional economies, and so it's worth reconsidering the Fund's role in addressing the climate challenge.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 11 (IPS) - The Iran nuclear deal has demonstrated that diplomacy can triumph in nuclear non-proliferation: dialogue, rather than military action, can convince states to forgo pursuing nuclear weapons. The European Union has long played an instrumental role in the multilateral diplomacy that produced the historic deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

MONTPELLIER, France, Oct 11 (IPS) - We are at a moment of huge opportunity in the world's food system. We can continue on our current trajectory of consuming too little, too much, or the wrong type of food at an unsustainable cost to the environment, health care and political stability. Or we can change course. Fixing the food system will help solve humanity's greatest challenges – creating jobs, reducing emissions, and improving health.

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, Oct 11 (IPS) - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently announced that the number of hungry people in the world has increased by 38 million in the past year due to climate change, conflict and slow economic growth. Given this setback, can we, in fact, end hunger in our lifetime? The answer is a resounding, Yes, we can. The first step is simply wrapping our minds around the reality that—yes—ending hunger is possible.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (IPS) - One of the 11 areas that the World Bank's Doing Business (DB) report includes in ranking a country's business environment is paying taxes. The background study for DB 2017, Paying Taxes 2016 claims that its emphasis is "on efficient tax compliance and straightforward tax regimes".

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Oct 10 (IPS) - Yasmin, 26, holds her 10-day-old baby, who she gave birth to in a crowded refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, a southeastern district bordering Myanmar.

SINOP, Brazil, Oct 09 (IPS) - "After being displaced for the third time," Daniel Schlindewein became an activist struggling for the rights of people affected by dams in Brazil, and is so combative that the legal authorities banned him from going near the installations of the Sinop hydroelectric dam, which is in the final stages of construction.

ROME, Oct 09 (IPS) - Large movements of people is one of the most complex challenges the world faces today. In recent years there has been a huge increase in the number of people migrating around the world. Why is this happening and do they have a choice of staying in their own homes ?

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 09 (IPS) - The Global Green Growth Week 2017 (#GGGWeek2017), in its second year, will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from October 17 – 20 to discuss ways to scale up green growth in Africa and around the world.

ROME, Oct 09 (IPS) - Population growth, increasing urbanisation, modern technologies, and climate change are transforming the world at a fast pace. But what direction are these transformations headed in? Are they benefitting the poor and the food insecure? And will the food systems of the future be able to feed and employ the millions of young people poised to enter labour markets in the decades to come?