News headlines in February 2018, page 2

KALIGANJ, Bangladesh, Feb 26 (IPS) - In Kaliganj village, 20 kilometres south of Rangpur city in Bangladesh, small farmers are turning to vermicomposting after crop yields started dropping. The problem was that soil fertility eroded due to organic nutrient depletion.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 24 (IPS) - The Argentine population can now generate their own energy through clean and unconventional sources and incorporate surpluses into the public grid, thanks to a new law. This is an important novelty in a country embarked on a slow and difficult process, with a still uncertain end, to replace fossil fuels.

WASHINGTON DC, Feb 23 (IPS) - Richard WaiteDaniel Vennard& Gerard PozziWorld Resources InstituteBurgers are possibly the most ubiquitous meal on Americans' dinner plates, but they're also among the most resource-intensive: beef accounts for nearly half of the land use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the food Americans eat.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 23 (IPS) - It is not known exactly how many child soldiers there are in the world, but current estimates tell us that in 2018, the number is likely to be in the tens of thousands.

HUARO, Peru, Feb 22 (IPS) - "The day will come when people do not have to go to the cities to overcome poverty," says Elmer Pinares, mayor of an Andean highlands municipality in Cuzco, in southern Peru, where malnutrition and lack of support for subsistence farming are among the main problems.

DOHA, Qatar, Feb 22 (IPS) - Mia Swart is a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center*In the post-Apartheid era, it is safe to say that Jacob Zuma has become the most reviled public figure in South Africa. Zuma was essentially discredited even before he became president in 2009 by his two essential weaknesses: his relationship with money and his lack of personal integrity.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Feb 22 (IPS) - Kul Chandra Gautam is a former UN Assistant Secretary-General & Deputy Executive Director of the UN children's agency, UNICEFAs a member of OXFAM GB's Council of Trustees since 2014, I have received many queries about the recent scandal concerning sexual misconduct committed by some OXFAM staff in Haiti in 2011 and elsewhere. I appreciate the concerns expressed as well as many messages of solidarity and support for OXFAM in the face of the relentless onslaught of criticism – both fair and foul.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 22 (IPS) - In the absence of concerted efforts to raise awareness on the dangers of aflatoxin to humans and domestic animals, advances in technology for early detection of aflatoxin in cereals and seeds such as maize will come to naught, experts warn.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21 (IPS) - Miroslav Lajčákis President of the UN General AssemblyThis week, we began intergovernmental negotiations on the Global Compact on Migration. Therefore, it has never been more important to have a fact-based discussion on this issue.

To start us off, I want to make main three points. First, I want to stress that migration is a fact. It is not an idea. It is not a theory. It is not a trend. It is a fact.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 21 (IPS) - When Shiba Kurian alighted from Chennai's city train, the evening office-returning crowd was thick and jostling. Having booked a ride-hail cab she walked out to the entrance. Instead of the cab for which she had to wait an hour, ribald comments and derisive laughter came her way from a group of roadside Romeos.