News headlines in 2019, page 19

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 30 (IPS) - The crème de la crème of Hollywood was in Marrakech, Morocco, for the wedding of British movie star Idris Elba in April this year. Elba tied the knot with his Canadian model girlfriend, former Miss Vancouver Sabrina Dhowre, at the Ksar Char-Bagh hotel, an exquisite Alhambra-style hotel.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 (IPS) - The annual rhythm of the United Nations year peaks with the General Assembly in September. One month on, it's a good time to reflect on this year's gathering which was remarkable for its focus on fighting climate change, the transforming effect of one 16 year old girl telling it like it is, and the way people heard her words in a way they haven't heard before.

SHILLONG, India, Oct 29 (IPS) - The sun has barely risen when Phlida Kharshala shakes her 8-year-old grandson awake. He hoists an empty cone-shaped bamboo basket on his back, sets the woven strap flat across his forehead and off they go into the wilderness.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 (IPS) - A Republican US Senator of a bygone era was once quoted as saying "a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money."

KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Oct 29 (IPS) - Industrial policy refers to the promotion of new investments and technology by governments to encourage the growth and development of specific economic sectors. However, scepticism persists about the feasibility and desirability of using industrial policy, especially of the ability to ‘pick winners', often accused of leading to ‘propping-up failing industries'.

Oct 29 (IPS) - Children sit in a circle experimenting with different colours on palettes at a shelter in Godavari one morning this week. Some design flowers in bright colours, others draw homes nestled below mountains. Many of the children are survivors of rape or domestic violence, from rural parts of Nepal. The one thing they have in common is mental trauma.

MUMBAI, India, Oct 29 (IPS) - A majority of India's water problems are those relating to groundwater—water that is found beneath the earth's surface. This is because we are the largest user of groundwater in the world, and therefore highly dependent on it.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 (IPS) - More women are entering the workforce across Latin America, with an increase in 11 per cent in the last 30 years, putting the region ahead of the curve when it comes to growth in female labour force participation, according to new data published by the United Nations on Monday. 

Abu Dhabi, UAE, Oct 28 (IPS) - Nearly 50 million people in west Africa rely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihood but the land available for pastoral use has been rapidly shrinking.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 (IPS) - Last week, a too-familiar human tragedy captured news headlines. 39 people were found dead inside a shipping container on an industrial estate in Essex in Southeast England; 31 men and 8 women from China whose individual identities, for now, remain anonymous, as authorities begin to investigate one of Europe's worst people-trafficking cases.