News headlines in November 2019, page 5

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 19 (IPS) - The 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) stands virtually paralyzed in the face of genocide charges against the government of Myanmar where over 730,000 to one million Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh since a 2016 crackdown by Myanmar's military.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 19 (IPS) - Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is Executive Director UN Women If I could have one wish granted, it might well be a total end to rape. That means a significant weapon of war gone from the arsenal of conflict, the absence of a daily risk assessment for girls and women in public and private spaces, the removal of a violent assertion of power, and a far-reaching shift for our societies.

BERLIN and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (IPS) - Any balanced assessment of the so-called Chinese economic miracle will recognize that it was extremely successful, not only during the reform period from 1979, but also since Liberation in 1949 despite the setbacks of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

NEW DELHI, Nov 19 (IPS) - Ankita Gupta, a housewife from south Delhi, is anxious about whether she should send her 4-year-old daughter to kindergarten. Outside visibility is poor as smog — a combination of emissions from factories, vehicle exhausts, coal plants and chemicals reacting with sunlight — has settled over the city, surpassing dangerous levels.

ROME, Nov 19 (IPS) - Mottled and reddish, the Lake Oku puddle frog has made its tragic debut on the Red List, a rapidly expanding roll call of threatened species. It was once abundant in the Kilum-Ijim rainforest of Cameroon but has not been seen since 2010 and is now listed as critically endangered and possibly extinct.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 18 (IPS) - Ending the practice of defecating in the open, rather than in a toilet, will have “transformational benefits” for some of the world's most vulnerable people, says the UN's partner sanitation body, the WSSCC (Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council).

KATHMANDU, Nov 18 (IPS) - For those who think that Nepal is too underdeveloped to make full use of artificial intelligence (AI), think again. That is exactly what they used to say about computers and mobile phones in the 1990s.

NOUMEA, New Caledonia, Nov 18 (IPS) - In just under a month, countries around the world will gather for UNFCCC COP 25. The hashtag for this year's "Blue COP" is yet another reminder to us all that it is "Time For Action". We can no longer afford to wait as the effects of the climate crisis become ever more present. Vulnerable populations, whether from Small Island States, the rural heartland or the world's megacities, are becoming ever more vulnerable, and the wellbeing of people and planet continues to face its most existential threat.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 18 (IPS) - The Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Prime Minister Agostinho do Rosario of Mozambique engaged in a discussion titled, Invest in Africa's Space: Conversation with African Heads of State, moderated by Dr. Victor Oladokun, African Development Bank Group Director of External Relations and Communications, at the Africa Investment Forum, Johannesburg, 11 November 2019.

VIENNA, Nov 18 (IPS) - Despite latest research showing Turkey lagging in overall food sustainability, progress in sustainable agriculture appears to be a bright spot in the country's troubled agriculture industry.