News headlines in November 2017, page 3

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 23 (IPS) - Every woman and every girl has the right to a life free of violence. Yet this rupture of human rights occurs in a variety of ways in every community. It particularly affects those who are most marginalized and most vulnerable.

PORT VILA, Vanuatu, Nov 22 (IPS) - It's been dry in Isavai on the island of Aniwa for last couple of years – ever since Tropical Cyclone Pam tore through Vanuatu in March 2015, leaving an El Nino-induced drought in its wake. A dry phase is bad news for farmers anywhere, but in Aniwa, where there is no constant water source and the only water supply comes almost exclusively from harvesting rain into tanks, it's disastrous.

NEW YORK, Nov 22 (IPS) - The initial response to the outpouring of ‘#MeToo' around the world has been of outrage at the scale of sexual abuse and violence revealed. The millions of people joining the hashtag tide showed us how little they were heard before. They poured through the floodgate, opening up conversations, naming names and bolstering the frailty of individual statements with the robustness of a movement.

MUMBAI, Nov 22 (IPS) - Jahhavi Kshsarter pulls out on to the Western Express Highway, careful to avoid the swarm of cars, lorries and motorbikes zipping past. She is one of 65 women employed by an all-female taxi company in Mumbai.

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Nov 21 (IPS) - Robert Mugabe - the world's oldest head of state - is dead, politically at least.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 (IPS) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly touted as the elixir for economic growth. While not against FDI, the mid-2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) for financing development also cautioned that it "is concentrated in a few sectors in many developing countries and often bypasses countries most in need, and international capital flows are often short-term oriented".

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 21 (IPS) - As cases of sexual harassment and assault continue to come to light every day, a different campaign to end such violence wants to keep the spotlight shining.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 21 (IPS) - If the thought of a man armed with a rifle and driving with whips a group of African men, women, and children to sell them at a slave market makes you marvel at what kind of greed motivated such revolting barbarity centuries ago, the shocking truth is that we are witnessing a 21st century repeat of that abhorrent practice on African soil.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 21 (IPS) - Back in November 2008, the 193-member General Assembly decided, by consensus, to ban smoking and tobacco sales at the UN headquarters in New York: a ruling observed by all affiliated agencies worldwide, including the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) which has severed links with the tobacco industry.

BRASILIA, Nov 21 (IPS) - Two white elephants - a huge football stadium that draws almost no fans and an empty 16-building complex that was to be the new headquarters of the district government – reflect Brasília's challenges as a metropolis, beyond its role as the capital of Brazil.