Global Gold Rush Brings Heightened Scrutiny

TORONTO, Sep 16 2011 (IPS) – Bolstered by gold prices hovering above 1,800 dollars an ounce and a global economy slowly recovering, exploration activity for the precious metal…

MALAWI: No Social Safety Nets for the Poor

Travis Lupick and Archibald Kasakura BLANTYRE, Nov 4 2011 (IPS) – In Mbedza village, a remote rural community in southern Malawi, Fedson Feston beams an infant s awkward…

JAPAN: Mothers Rise Against Nuclear Power

TOKYO, Dec 21 2011 (IPS) – Japan’s nuclear power industry, which once ignored opposition, now finds its existence threatened by women angered by official opaqueness on radiation from…

“A Catastrophic Year” as Hunger Crisis Looms over Sahel

NOUAKCHOTT , Feb 14 2012 (IPS) – Seven out of the eight governments in the Sahel the arid zone between the Sahara desert in North Africa and Sudan…

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Take Differing Approaches on Aral Sea

Correspondents* – IPS/EurasiaNet Orphaned ship in the former Aral Sea, near Aral, Kazakhstan. Credit: Public domain TASHKENT, Mar 22 2012 (IPS) – The saga of the Aral Sea…

Chinese Miners Dig Deep for Death

BEIJING, May 2 2012 (IPS) – China is notorious for containing some of the world’s deadliest mines a reputation that has been corroborated in recent months by a…

Samoan Breadfruit Makes a Splash in the Caribbean

Dr. Diane Ragone, director of the Breadfruit Institute, holds a flat of tiny Ma’afala breadfruit trees before shipping overseas. Credit: Jon Letman/IPS KAUAI, Hawaii, Jun 7 2012 (IPS)…

Celebrating the Olympic Ideal with a Big Mac

Olympic torch arriving at Tretherras School, Newquayon. Credit: Bobchin1941/CC by 2.0 NEW YORK, Jul 21 2012 (IPS) – As the 2012 London Olympics gears up to open on…

‘Cambodia Can’t Afford New Dengue Vaccine’

Dengue patients at Cambodia’s National Paediatric hospital. Credit: Erika Pineros/IPS PHNOM PENH, Sep 13 2012 (IPS) – Public health experts in Cambodia are unenthused by reports of trials…

CENTRAL ASIA: Disabled Citizens Find Avenues to Advancement Blocked

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Oct 24 2012 – As a child, Feruza Alimova dreamed of becoming a lawyer so she could help disabled people. But the 22-year-old cannot pursue a…