News headlines in January 2018, page 3

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (IPS) - As the ‘masters of the universe' gather for their annual retreat at Davos, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has just published its Inclusive Development Index (IDI) for the second time.

WASHINGTON DC, Jan 23 (IPS) - China's mass-market adoption of mobile payments in recent years has stunned observers. In 2016, more than 500 million Chinese used mobile payments and transacted 97 billion times on nonbank mobile apps.

BRATISLAVA, Jan 22 (IPS) - A landmark programme to combat drought set to be implemented in the small Central European country of Slovakia could be an inspiration for other states as extreme weather events become more frequent, the environmental action group behind the plan has said.

NANKAR, Bangladesh, Jan 20 (IPS) - Wahid Haider talks about his son's departure to Italy almost seven years ago without regret or hesitation. Haider has not seen Nayeem, now 30 years old, since he left Nankar in search of better economic prospects, travelling through Romania, where he spent several months, before entering Italy.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 19 (IPS) - International organizations have criticized the United States' decision to cut more than half of planned funding to a UN agency serving Palestinian refugees.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 18 (IPS) - As the elite in the world of finance gather in the Swiss luxury town of Davos, rallies are taking place around the world as citizens demand for solutions to rising inequality.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18 (IPS) - The continued erratic and outrageous comments by President Donald Trump – and his attempts to undermine the United Nations – are threatening to cause irreparable damage to the world body.

VIENNA, Austria, Jan 18 (IPS) - The Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Suleiman J Al-Herbish, has concluded a mission to Bangladesh, the first high-level visit to South Asian country, and in addition to meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Al-Herbish signed two loan agreements to help bolster the country's transportation sector.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18 (IPS) - A year into his position, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that peace remains elusive and that renewed action must be taken in 2018 to set the world on track for a better future.