News headlines for “Racism”, page 54
Mayans Demand Voice in 'Doomsday Tourism' Boom
- Inter Press Service
The indigenous people of southeast Mexico are demanding to be included in the official programmes planned for 2012 to take advantage of the world's interest in the 'Mayan prophecy', while at the same time fearing a 'doomsday tourism' that could damage and contaminate their sacred sites.
THAILAND: Malay-Muslim Insurgency - Lessons Learnt
- Inter Press Service
Teachers’ Day on Jan. 16 was a sombre affair in Thailand’s troubled southern provinces where memories are strong of 155 educators killed over the past eight years in an insurgency led by Malay-Muslim separatists.
CHINA: Building a Cultural Front Against the West
- Inter Press Service
President Hu Jintao of China made headlines in the early days of the new year saying China and the West were engaged in an escalating culture war, and calling on Chinese people to strengthen cultural production to defend themselves against the assault.
GUATEMALA: For the Maya, the World Isn't Ending — the Environment Is
- Inter Press Service
The end of the Maya long-count calendar does not predict a global catastrophe, let alone the end of the world, say native activists and elders who spoke to IPS in Guatemala. But what are coming to an end are the world's natural resources, as a result of human activity, they warn.
CAMEROON: Stepping Naturally Away from Plastic
- Inter Press Service
Maya Stella, a restaurant manager in the capital of Cameroon, no longer uses plastic to wrap the corn-fufu that she sells to her customers. She now uses banana or plantain leaves instead, because these are 'natural and it is our African culture to use leaves in wrapping food.'
BANGLADESH: Farmers Bet on Climate-Proof Crops
- Inter Press Service
With floods, droughts and other calamities battering deltaic Bangladesh regularly, farmers need little prompting in switching to climate-resistant varieties of rice, wheat, pulses and other staples.
CUBA: Pope to Visit a Country in Flux
- Inter Press Service
On his upcoming visit to Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI will find a country immersed in dramatic changes, as it 'modernises' its socialist system and continues to open up to religion, marking a difference from the society found by John Paul II when he visited almost 14 years ago.
AFGHANISTAN: Killing Heroin With Saffron
- Inter Press Service
Weaning Afghanistan’s poppy farmers away from growing the raw material for the bulk of the world’s illicit heroin has never been easy, but Kashmir’s saffron cultivators may have the answer.
THAILAND: Land of Smiles - and Grimaces
- Inter Press Service
The ‘Land of Smiles’ attracts some 14 million tourists annually to its tranquil beaches and glistening temples. But to many Thais, their country is becoming one of grimaces, thanks to its draconian lese-majeste (LM) law.
VENEZUELA: Putting (Mothers') Faces to the Violence
- Inter Press Service
These women are not fashion models, nor are they advertising any product, yet their images look down on passersby from giant black-and-white posters in the Venezuelan capital. There are 52 of them, and they are all mothers who have lost one or more children to the criminal violence that is plaguing the country.