UNITED NATIONS, Mar 06 (IPS) - The United Nations, whose primary mandate is to maintain international peace and security, has been one of the longstanding leaders in the global campaign for a world without nuclear weapons.
But the progress has been relatively slow – despite the growing number of anti-nuclear treaties. Perhaps the only consolation is the absence of a nuclear attack or a nuclear war in over 80 years.
Read the full story, “Nuclear Weapons, Far from Diminishing, Keep Rising”, on globalissues.org →

ROME, Mar 05 (IPS) - "The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) should dissolve. I make this call and take historical responsibility," read the letter from Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish guerrilla, on Thursday, 27 February.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, Mar 05 (IPS) - Over 200 million women and girls around the world have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). This is the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

MANAUS, Brazil, Mar 05 (IPS) - Electricity is essential for the well-being and prosperity of traditional riverside communities in the Amazon, as demonstrated by the experience of the Santa Helena do Inglês community, located on the right bank of the Negro River in northern Brazil.