News headlines in April 2018

MEXICALI, Mexico, Apr 30 (IPS) - In the airport of this Mexican city, on the border with the United States, customs agents warn that they will carry out a "random" inspection. But it's not so random. The only people who are stopped and checked have dark skin and kinky hair, and virtually do not speak a word of Spanish.

ROME, Apr 30 (IPS) - Organ transplantation is one of the most incredible medical achievements of the past century. Since the first successful transplants, which took place in the 1950s, organ transplantation has saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

NEW YORK, Apr 30 (IPS) - Kanya D'Almeida* is a Sri Lankan writer, journalist and editor. &nbsp This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.When Sri Lankan journalist Richard de Zoysa was abducted from his home in Colombo on the night of February 18th, 1990, his family knew there would be dark days ahead. The population was still reeling from one of the bloodiest episodes in the island nation's history – a government counterinsurgency campaign to crush a Marxist rebellion in southern Sri Lanka, which left between 30,000 and 60,000 people dead at the hands of government death squads.

SYDNEY & KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 30 (IPS) - After largely failing to provide 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Income (GNI) in aid to developing countries for almost half a century since making the commitment, donor countries have recently promoted blended finance (BF) as a solution to the financing for development challenge. Blending refers to combining public development funds (in the form of grants, technical assistance or interest indemnification) with loans from private lenders.

NAPIER, New Zealand, Apr 30 (IPS) - Alison Small is a communications expert and a former United Nations official.If an estimated 500 million smallholder farmers at a conservative estimate, produce 70 percent of the food we eat, why are they still so invisible in many countries?Governments, development agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector have been working for decades on rural development in developing countries but still rural areas lag far behind cities and outlying areas in terms of infrastructure, services, social and economic development, notwithstanding the contribution that rural producers make to supplying us with food.

WASHINGTON DC, Apr 30 (IPS) - Daryll G. Kimball is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association*For most of the past year, North Korea's provocative long-range missile launches and a high-yield nuclear test, combined with the reckless threats of "fire and fury" and "preventive war" from the White House, have raised tensions and increased the threat of a catastrophic conflict in the region. Some of us warned that nuclear war was closer than at any point since the Cold War.

ACCRA, Apr 30 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.Ghana is a living contradiction, at least in the arena of freedom of expression, free speech and press freedom.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 27 (IPS) - Despite progress achieved in occupational safety in Latin America, the rates of work-related accidents and diseases are still worrying, especially among young people, more vulnerable in a context of labour flexibility and unemployment.

ROME, Apr 27 (IPS) - The pilot version of a new index for measuring empowerment and the inclusion of women in agriculture was launched April 27 in Washington DC.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 27 (IPS) - Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya.Cultural diplomacy is a soft power that promotes the exchange of ideas, information, art, and culture to strengthen friendship and cooperation among nations and communities.