By John Feffer WASHINGTON (IPS) — For the second year in a row, the world is spending a little less on the military. Asia, however, has failed to get the memo. The region is spending more at a time when many others are spending less.Last year, Asia saw a 3.6 percent increase in military spending, […]

By Samuel Oakford   UNITED NATIONS  (IPS) — Policy uncertainty and plummeting solar prices led to a 14-percent decrease in investment in renewable energy in 2013, according to a report released Monday.Investment fell across the globe, even in high growth regions like China, India and Brazil. But it was severe cuts in Europe — until […]

By Patricia Grogg and Ivet González HAVANA (IPS) — A new law opening Cuba up to foreign investment and a shift in the country’s relations with the European Union are aimed at seeking outside support to overcome the chronic crisis plaguing the country since the early 1990s.The new legislation could also facilitate the return – […]

By Bijoyeta Das NEW DELHI  — L. Khino, 27, vividly remembers Christmas Eve at the Indian capital’s famed Connaught Place shopping hub four years ago: the blinking lights, the buzzing crowd, the winter chill – and the salty taste of her tears.Khino had just arrived in New Delhi from her home in India’s northeastern state […]

By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IPS) —The Middle East continues to be one of the world’s most lucrative arms markets, with two Gulf nations — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — taking the lead, according to a new study released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).During 2009-2013, 22 percent […]

By Umberto Márquez and Mitchell Plitnick CARACAS (IPS) — Seven of the 20 people killed in the street protests that have shaken Venezuela since the second week of February were shot in the head, a testimony to the role being played by firearms in the political struggle in this oil-rich country.The armed forces and the […]

By Mitchell Plitnick  WASHINGTON (IPS) —The failure of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could lead to a significant shift in public opinion in the United States regarding Israel’s future, according to a new poll released March 3.When asked about two options in the event the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict was no […]

By Pavol Stracansky MOSCOW (IPS) — Sitting in the dining room of a Moscow hotel, manager Yulia Golovanova explains why she always likes to see Russians, rather than foreigners, bring guests in.“Just watch them,” she says as eight well-dressed men sit down at a table and immediately order vodka. “They come in, order round after […]

By Mario Osava PIQUIÁ DE BAIXO, Brazil (IPS) — “My nephew was eight years old when he stepped in the ‘munha’ [charcoal dust] and burned his legs up to the knees,” said Angelita Alves de Oliveira from a corner of Brazil’s Amazonia that has become a deadly hazard for local people.Treatment in faraway hospitals did […]

By Andrew Green JUBA  (IPS)—South Sudan is taking the first steps in what promises to be a long process of healing the fractures that prompted more than five weeks of fighting, potentially leaving thousands of people dead and wounded and displacing 863,000 others.But tensions remain high, following reports of continued fighting in some areas of […]