Mideast and Africa Still Holdouts on Women’s Rights

Gender equality around the world has increased dramatically over the past half-century even though the vast majority of countries continue to restrict women’s economic development in at least one way, the World Bank reports this week.

Poverty Declines as Inequality Deepens

As world leaders from 193 countries evaluate the successes and failures of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during high-level meetings and special events here, the United Nations claims that extreme poverty worldwide has been cut in half.

Sponsor a University Student in Spain

Adopt a tree. Adopt a polar bear. Sponsor a child in a poor country. The concept has caught on in Spain’s troubled academic system and now people and companies can sponsor a university student.

TransBrasil Could Boost Integration in Rio de Janeiro

The TransBrasil bus rapid transit system, which will connect poor suburbs with the centre of Rio de Janeiro, will be the high-speed bus corridor that serves the largest number of commuters in the world.

Bloomberg’s Love-Hate Relationship with NYC Press Corps

Mayor Mike Bloomberg has always had a love-hate relationship with the New York city press corps covering City Hall and municipal politics.

OP-ED: Sustainable Development Goals After 2015

Reducing the proportion of undernourished people by half until 2015 was one of the Millennium Development Goals that the international community set in 2000. It will not be reached: At least 870 million people worldwide – and one child in five – still go hungry; this in a world where we already produce enough food today to feed nine billion people in 2050.

U.S. Citizens’ Rights Will Not Be Affected Despite Arms Trade Treaty, Says Kerry

At a treaty-signing ceremony Wednesday, 17 member states were the latest signatories to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), bringing the total to 107.

Sponsor a University Student in Spain

Adopt a tree. Adopt a polar bear. Sponsor a child in a poor country. The concept has caught on in Spain’s troubled academic system and now people and companies can sponsor a university student.

Southern Libya Awaits Another Spring

“The government doesn’t care about us because we are from the south,” Mohamed Salah Lichekh, head of the Oubari local council in southern Libya, told IPS, expressing the majority sentiment in this part of the country.

Extremism Beckons Kenya’s Young

Ali Hassan Gitonga, 33, a recent convert to Islam from the Meru community in Kenya’s Eastern Province, is said to have travelled to Somalia for training with Al-Shabaab in 2011. He is under arrest for alleged involvement in the Sep. 21 Westgate Mall terror attack in Nairobi.

In Azerbaijan, a Presidential Campaign in Name Only?

There are three weeks to go before energy-rich Azerbaijan’s presidential vote on Oct. 9, but a race is nowhere to be seen. No political ads adorn the capital, Baku, and no candidate spots are running on private TV channels. The incumbent strongman, 51-year-old Ilham Aliyev, is not even bothering to run an active campaign.

Tallying the Benefits of Climate Action

More than a half-dozen governments on Tuesday launched a yearlong collaborative investigation into the economic benefits of taking broad action to combat global climate action.

Pressure Mounts to Cap Airline Emissions

A contentious global agreement on how to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the global airline industry will be at the top of the agenda over the next two weeks at an international summit, potentially solidifying details that have yet to emerge after more than a decade and a half of talks.

Breaking U.N. Protocol, Brazil Lambastes U.S. Spying

Throwing diplomatic protocol to the winds, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff launched a blistering attack on the United States for illegally infiltrating its communications network, surreptitiously intercepting phone calls, and breaking into the Brazilian Mission to the United Nations.

Ladakh Invites New Scarcities

The Ladakh of today is a different world from the one Skarma Namgiyal remembers as a child. Back then, he had taken for granted the breathtaking beauty of its landscape, the purity of the cold mountain air, and the sweet taste of water in its streams.

Cracks Widen Among Syrian Rebels

Scorching flames from a makeshift oil refinery sting eyes and the fumes choke throats near the top of a hill in northwestern Syria, where Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters gather for fuel, coffee and phone calls as darkness falls.

Zimbabwe Finally Working on Climate Change Policy

Despite all the evidence of climate change, Zimbabwe has no policy on climate change. Garikai Chaunza reports from Harare that the country is finally working on a climate change policy.

Bolivian President on Fighting Poverty and Intimidation by U.S.

At a press conference Tuesday with Bolivian President Evo Morales, the denial of airspace to his presidential jet by several European countries in July this year (covered by IPS here) was foremost among the minds of many journalists .

U.S., Iran Trade Cautious Overtures at U.N.

While the U.S. and Iranian heads of state have yet to meet, the 68^th session of the United Nations General Assembly may mark a new era between the two countries.

Nairobi Attack Exposes Flawed U.S. Terror Policies

In the aftermath of the worst terror attack in East Africa in three years, foreign policy scholars here are urging the U.S. government to rethink its counter-terror policy in the region.

Speculation over Iran-U.S. Détente Continues Apace

On the eve of a possible – if seemingly accidental – encounter between U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the corridors of the U.N. Secretariat building Tuesday, speculation over the possibility of détente between Washington and Tehran has become rampant.