Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 2006 (IPS) – Breaking with some of their colleagues in the Christian Right, a group of more than 85 U.S. evangelical Christian leaders called on Congress Wednesday to enact legislation that would reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, which most scientists believe contribute to global warming.
Our commitment to Jesus Christ compels us to solve the global warming crisis, the group, which included the heads of a number of prominent evangelical universities and so-called megachurches, said in a statement that will appear in a full-page advertisement set to run in Thursday s New York Times.
The Evangelical Climate Initiative was motivated primarily by biblical injunctions to protect creation and help the poor, who stand to suffer most from clima…
Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Mar 14 2006 (IPS) – At a time when people in the developed world are enjoying longer lives, citizens of the world s poorest countries (LDCs) are still expecting to live comparatively short lives.
Against a life expectancy of 82 years in affluent Japan, people in the LDCs can expect to live no more than 50 years.
This is very disturbing in this day and age of good medical opportunities and good programmes aimed to save lives, Anwarul Chowdhury, U.N. under-secretary general for LDCs, told IPS on Tuesday following the opening of a conference here to help the region s LDCs achieve higher development targets.
For the 14 LDCs in the Asia-Pacific region to reach two of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) that call for a dramatic redu…
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
BAGHDAD, Apr 14 2006 (IPS) – As sectarian killings continue to rise in Iraq, the central morgue in Baghdad is unable to keep up with the daily influx of bodies a minimum of 60 and sometimes more than 100, a morgue employee told IPS.
As sectarian killings continue to rise in Iraq, the central morgue in Baghdad is unable to keep up with the daily influx of bodies.
The morgue is receiving a minimum of 60 bodies a day and sometimes more than 100, a morgue employee told IPS on condition of anonymity.
The average is probably over 85, said the employee on the morning of April 12, as scores of family members waited outside the building to see if their loved ones were among the dead.
The family of a man named Ashraf who had been tak…
Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 15 2006 (IPS) – Every year, the U.N. s Department of Public Information unveils its list of the world s 10 most under-reported stories, implying that politics, murder and sex scandals still take precedence over poverty, peace-building or economic development.
Every year, the U.N. s Department of Public Information (DPI) unveils its list of the world s 10 most under-reported stories, implying that politics, murder and sex scandals still take precedence over poverty, peace-building or economic development.
The list, released by the United Nations Monday, covers a wide range of stories from the plight of asylum seekers and refugees in ongoing conflicts to earthquake relief and post-war reconstruction that received little or no play in the …
Jare Ajayi
VANCOUVER, Jun 16 2006 (IPS) – Keeping a promise made at the United Nations six years ago to dramatically improve the lives of at least 100 million poor city dwellers by the year 2020 will be a major focus of the World Urban Forum here from Jun. 19 to 23.
The third gathering of its kind since the forum was launched in 1998 by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, also called U.N.-Habitat, this year s theme is Sustainable Cities: Turning Ideas Into Action . It is expected to draw more than 15,000 participants from non-governmental organisations, academia, and national and local governments.
Given the fact that about half the world s population of 6.5 billion live in towns and cities (a proportion that will hit two-thirds by 2020, according to U.N.-…
Emad Mekay
WASHINGTON, Jul 31 2006 (IPS) – Critics of a controversial pipeline in the Amazon rainforest that has ruptured five times since its inception in 2004 are dismayed that the main public funder of the project is on the verge of giving more money for its second phase despite earlier promises to await the results of audits probing the pipeline s persistent leaks.
Last week, the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed a mandate letter with companies of the Peru Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline that transports gas from the highly controversial Camisea field.
The letter kick-starts the due diligence process, a mechanism that often signals the imminent release of further loans.
The companies, led by Texas-based Hunt, SK Corporation …
Raúl Gutiérrez
SAN SALVADOR, Sep 5 2006 (IPS) – Juan Carlos Merino, known during his days as a guerrilla fighter as Camilo , has undergone three operations on his spine since he was injured by right-wing paramilitaries in 1987, at the height of El Salvador s civil war. But despite the doctors best efforts, he can still just barely move his legs.
However, Merino doesn t let that get in his way. He drives a tractor, and rides out on horseback to supervise his crops and fish farming tanks. He also built pens for raising chickens and two pigs in his yard.
The 48-year-old campesino and former combatant with the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), who says his dream is to walk again, rides back to his house in the municipality of Cinquera, located 60…
กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย (วันที่ 25 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2567) – เน็ตมาร์เบิ้ล ผู้พัฒนาและให้บริการเกมมือถือคุณภาพสูงชั้นนำ มีความตื่นเต้นเป็นอย่างยิ่งที่จะประกาศว่าเกมมือถือและ PC ที่จะเปิดให้บริการเต็มตัวเร็ว ๆ นี้อย่าง Solo Leveling:ARISE ได้ขึ้นอัน…
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Humberto Márquez
CARACAS, Sep 25 2006 (IPS) – An organisation that assists the deafblind has helped make their plight more visible in Venezuela, while knitting a network aimed at improving the quality of life of those who are dual sensory impaired.
Sordociegos (Deafblind) of Venezuela (SOCIEVEN) has worked for 10 years, teaching and improving the quality of life of around 100 deafblind people, and now we are seeking out many more, people we have never met, María Luz Neri, director of the non-governmental organisation, told IPS.
According to her estimates, there could be as many as 4,000 dual sensory impaired people in this South American country of 26.5 million.
Neri said the situation is similar or more accentuated in other countries of Latin America, accor…