News headlines in October 2019, page 6

MELBOURNE, Oct 15 (IPS) - Success has many parents – so the saying goes. In the case of the massive successes of international agricultural research, no one person can claim parentage.

There are heroes along the way such as Norman Borlaug and his early cereal breeding, and the team that eliminated the cattle disease Rinderpest from the world – smallpox is the only other disease that has been totally eradicated. Another is the founder of The Crawford Fund, Derek Tribe, who was also instrumental in the creation of what is now the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which I chair.

However, it would be more correct to highlight the thousands of scientists who have contributed to the world's greatest feat of feeding an extra three billion people when pundits said it was impossible.

ROME, Oct 15 (IPS) - A new FAO report launched today by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization provides insights into how much food is lost - as well as where and why - at different stages of the food supply chain, calls for informed decisions for an effective reduction and offers new ways to measure progress.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (IPS) - The OECD Secretariat published its proposed ‘unified approach' to reform international tax rules to address tax challenges posed by digitalization on 9 October 2019.

Under current rules, there is little chance of a company being taxed without its physical presence in the country concerned. But digitalization enables many businesses to remotely conduct economic activities affecting a national economy without a direct physical presence.

JOHANNESBURG / AMSTERDAM, Oct 15 (IPS) - 2019 has not been a good year for Iranian human rights activists. At a time where civic space had completely closed, many watched in disbelief as the regime mounted even more restrictions on civil society. Over recent months, many activists have been arrested, like Noushin Javari (a photographer), Marzieh Amiri (a journalist), and Javad Lal Mohammadi (teacher).

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 15 (IPS) - With one-third of food produced for human consumption lost or wasted, and millions still going hungry, the UN's food-related agencies are shining a spotlight on the issue: on Monday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published its annual State of Food and Agriculture report with findings that could lead to a reduction in food loss and waste, and, earlier in October, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched its awareness-raising #StopTheWaste campaign.

Oct 15 (IPS) - The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate highlights the urgency of prioritising ambitious and coordinated actions to address the unprecedented and continuing changes that are taking place in the ocean and cryosphere (Earth's frozen lands).

SEOUL, Oct 15 (IPS) - For many Nepalis, it is dream to find work in Korea where they expect to earn many times more than in Nepal. Yet, there is a dark side to the Korean Dream: between 2009 to 2018, there were 143 deaths of Nepali workers in South Korean soil, and of them 43 were suicides.

HANOVER/ BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (IPS) - In recent years, global trade and trade policy have become central socio-political issues. The planned EU-US trade agreement TTIP triggered an unprecedented storm of indignation and resistance.

LIMA, Peru, Oct 14 (IPS) - Rural poverty and inequality continue inflicting large swaths of population in Colombia, especially in rural areas. This situation, endemic since at least the beginning of the twentieth century, was at the root of the 50-year long conflict that shattered the country, leaving 220,000 deaths and 5.7 million displaced persons, and devastating a significant part of the rural areas, where government services and infrastructure vanished.

NEW YORK, Oct 14 (IPS) - If one dreamed up an ambitious global #metoo success story, it might involve governments around the world enthusiastically supporting legal norms and action on sexual harassment with active support and cooperation from businesses and workers.