BELGRADE, Sep 27 2012 (IPS) – A popular Serbian proverb quips that when it comes to politics there are as many opinions as there are people in this central European country of seven million.
But the adage was turned on its head last week when the masses sent a strong collective message to the government: no nickel exploitation in the country.
The controversy began when mining minister Milan Bacevic announced earlier this month that Mokra Gora – a 10,813-square-kilometre state-protected national park – and other areas in central Serbia contain more than four million tonnes of nickel deposits.
Bacevic went on to inform the public that several international companies were interested in exploiting the metal, bringing into the country investments totalling 1.44 bi…
A packet of 1,000 colourful, empty capsules costs roughly 2.25 dollars and is freely available at major medicine markets in Karachi. Credit: Adil Siddiqi/IPS
KARACHI, Dec 14 2012 (IPS) – When 26-year-old Muhammad Qasim, a rickshaw driver from Lahore’s low-income Shahadra settlement, died last month, his family was shocked to learn that the cause of death was an overdose – of cough syrup.
On Nov. 23, shortly before going to bed, Qasim drank a whole bottle of , which he was in the habit of doing on a somewhat regular basis.
A little while later, his mother heard strangled noises coming from his bedroom and ran in to see him foaming at the mouth. He was rushed…
U.N. delegates listen to a high-level heads of agencies panel at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Credit: Lusha Chen/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 6 2013 (IPS) – U.N. agency heads gathered Tuesday to reassert their unified commitment to ending the epidemic of violence against women and girls, and bringing justice and healing to survivors.
Grim statistics underscore the urgency of this issue: 70 percent of women worldwide report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence, 50 percent of reported sexual assaults are committed against girls under 16 years of age, and 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence has not been criminalised.<…
The EU logo for organic food, which became obligatory in 2009. Credit: Simon Leufstedt/cc by 2.0
WASHINGTON, Apr 24 2013 (IPS) – A decades-long push to require the labelling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients in the United States received a significant boost Wednesday, when bipartisan bills on the issue were simultaneously proposed in the House and Senate.
Advocates of such measures are reacting with excitement, noting that the new bills appear to be far better positioned than previous such attempts, in terms of both public and Congressional support. If the bills pass, the United States would join 64 other countries that have already put in place simil…
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 24 2013 (IPS) – Sexual violence against women is alarmingly under-reported and invisible in Brazil where, for example, there are no accurate, comparable data on rape in the country s 27 states.
We are on red alert, we are going to complain and demand changes from the authorities. We are also dissatisfied with the differential treatment given to victims from lower income classes, Eleuteria da Silva, the coordinator of (CAMTRA), a women s organisation in the state of Rio de Janeiro, told IPS.
In her view, national and state public policies for preventing and combating sexual crimes are ineffective, and measures to protect victims are equally inefficient.
The problem is both circumstantial and chronic. Policies do exist, but they are ineffectiv…
This story is part one of a three-part series on the challenges faced by people living with disabilities in a world where intense storms and other natural disasters are expected to become the “new normal”.
NEW YORK, Aug 14 2013 (IPS) – Like many people living in the path of Hurricane Sandy last fall, Lauren Scrivo needed more battery power. Despite a call offering help from the mayor of Fairfield, New Jersey, where Scrivo lives with her family, her concerns went far beyond extra water bottles and flashlights.
A resident in the Palestinian Yarmouk camp in Damascus prepares to slaughter a dog to feed his family as food supplies run out under siege. Credit: Mutawalli Abou Nasser/IPS.
DAMASCUS, Oct 25 2013 (IPS) – Acute food shortages have reached desperate levels in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus. Leading religious figures in the camps have issued a fatwa permitting the killing and consumption of cats, dogs, mice, rats and donkeys.
“We have been under siege for three months. There is nothing left to eat. This is what has become of us,” said a resident of Yarmouk as he prepared to kill a dog for his family following the fatwa (religious ruling).
Residents a…
SPOKANE, Washington, Feb 3 2014 (IPS) – Moral Monday, the populist movement in North Carolina that saw a diverse coalition of thousands of progressive activists descend upon the state legislature, is now spreading throughout the U.S. South.
“I think it’s a sign the body politic is healthy in the U.S. One of the cheap benefits of U.S. citizenship is the right to petition your government and protest unjust laws. I think it’s a sign of health, I expect that it will spread,” Janice Mathis, vice president of the Citizenship Education Fund, told IPS.
Young Bangladeshi women raise their fists at a protest in Shahbagh. Credit: Kajal Hazra/IPS
WASHINGTON, Apr 3 2014 (IPS) – Although half the world’s population is under 25 years old, young people in more than two dozen countries feel that their opportunities for educational, economic and societal advancement are limited, according to new research released here Thursday.
Researchers say the results should help to drive and prioritise both public and private investment in services.“The youth bulge can become a security, economic and humanitarian worry, and even maybe a disaster, or it can become a resource for development and change.” — William Reese
<…
Gaza is running out of drinking water. Credit: Eva Bartlett/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, May 19 2014 (IPS) – The United Nations, which is trying to help resolve the widespread shortage of water in the developing world, is faced with a growing new problem: the use of water as a weapon of war in ongoing conflicts.
The most recent examples are largely in the Middle East and Africa, including Iraq, Egypt, Israel (where supplies to the occupied territories have been shut off) and Botswana.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week expressed concern over reports that water supplies in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo were deliberately cut off by armed groups for eight day…