News headlines in April 2019, page 5

WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 17 (IPS) - Water supply has long been a key issue in California. Today it is no less critical, especially given the years of drought that California is experiencing, lending additional impetus to assessing the impact of agriculture on water.

WASHINGTON DC, Apr 16 (IPS) - Anthony Annett is an assistant to the director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Joshua Lipsky is a senior communications officer in the IMF's Communications Department.

Sustainable development encapsulates the idea that material progress must always go hand in hand with social inclusion and respect for the environment.

NEW YORK, Apr 16 (IPS) - Alex Ellerbeck* is North America Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists & Avi Asher-Schapiro* is North America Research Associate

After a seven-year standoff at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, British police last week arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange--a development press freedom advocates had long feared.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 16 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which was the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and which took place in Belgrade, April 8-12.Increasingly facing restrictions and assault, civil society from around the world have come together to celebrate and promote people power.

KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Apr 18 (IPS) - The World Bank's Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) project, launched in 2013, has sought agricultural reforms favouring the corporate sector. EBA was initially established to support the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutritioninitiated by the G8 to promote private agricultural development in Africa.

VIENNA, Apr 16 (IPS) - Ambassador Walther Lichem* of Austria is President Inter Press Service (IPS).

The past seventy years since the end of the second world war have been marked by profound changes in our international system. Relations between states have become more horizontally structured interactions with a rising significance of the common good articulated and pursued by newly-created international programmes and organisations.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Apr 15 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which was the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and concluded in Belgrade, April 12   Sivananthi Thanenthiran is the executive director of the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), a regional NGO based in Malaysia championing sexual and reproductive health and rights in Asia Pacific. She is also a "SheDecides" Champion for Asia Pacific.Over a week ago – on April 3 – Brunei, the tiny South East Asian kingdom on the island of Borneo, announced its citizens would face the full force of the Shariah law.

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 15 (IPS) - The Academy Awardsi.e. The Oscarsmay occasionly award a worthy movie as Best Picturethough it is far from sure they select films with a unique artistic vision, enduring cultural influence and/or innovative qualities. Take for example the plain family drama Kramer vs. Kramerwhich in 1979 won Best Picture and Best Directorwhile Francis Ford Coppola´s by now classical epic Apocalypse Now was awarded for best sound.

LONDON, Apr 15 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which was the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and concluded in Belgrade, April 12

Helen Kidan is an Eritrean human rights activist and founding member of Horn Human Rights and Network of Eritrean Women.

As the first anniversary of the swearing on Ethiopia's Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed rolled around last week, Ethiopians – and observers worldwide – marvelled at the pace and scale of radical reform he has brought to the formerly repressed country in the past year.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 15 (IPS) - This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.

Counterterrorism measures are not only affecting extremist groups, but are also impacting a crucial sector for peace and security in the world: civil society.