News headlines in February 2019

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (IPS) - Shannon Scribner is Associate Director of Humanitarian Programs and Policy at Oxfam America

While natural hazards like hurricanes, exacerbated by climate change, are causing people to migrate, it's conflict, violence and persecution that have forced more than 68.5 million people from their homes today, exposing them to higher risks and increased vulnerability, especially women and children.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 28 (IPS) - Mauritius has scored a victory over Britain at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case involving the decolonisation of the strategically important island of Diego Garcia that is home to a United States military base.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 28 (IPS) - Human rights violations are at an all-time high in the Middle East and North Africa, and global indifference is only making it worse.

BULAWAYO, Feb 27 (IPS) - When Lawrence Afere told his parents he was going into farming rather than getting a job in Nigeria's lucrative oil and gas sector, they swore he was bewitched.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27 (IPS) - The United Nations, which prides itself with a "zero tolerance" policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, has come under relentless fire for failing to match its words with deeds—specifically in relation to some of the high-profile cases that have jolted the Organization.

CARACAS, Feb 27 (IPS) - The violent repression that prevented food and medical aid from crossing into Venezuela, which left at least four people dead and 58 with gunshot wounds, has distanced solutions to what is today Latin America's biggest political crisis, although 10 countries in the hemisphere are stepping up the pressure while at the same time ruling out the use of force.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Feb 26 (IPS) - The Caribbean Climate Smart Accelerator launched last year June with the backing of Virgin's Richard Branson has given itself five years to help the region become climate resilient.

NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (IPS) - Divya Srinivasan* is South Asia Consultant for international women's rights organisation Equality Now**

In an historic first, thousands of people participated in a 10,000-kilometre long Dignity March across India to raise awareness about sexual violence, bring an end to stigma faced by survivors, and highlight the barriers women and children face in accessing justice.

BHUBANESWAR, India and KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 (IPS) - Do politicians' words matter? Since becoming US President, Donald J Trump has dismissed his opponents and others he does not like as evil, stupid or both. He has referred to undocumented immigrants as animals, and to poor countries as shitholes.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 25 (IPS) - Climate change poses a global threat to food production, but for agriculture in Argentina it could also present new opportunities. In some areas of the country, farming conditions will improve, according to an analysis by experts of the latest climate projections.