IPS Pick, May 24 2013

	Marrying Off South Sudan's Girls for Cows  Charlton Doki  “Our daughters are our only source of wealth. Where else do you expect me to get cows from?” asks 60-year-old Jacob Deng from South Sudan’s Jonglei state. Deng’s attitude is a widespread one here as the practice of child marriage is still supported in many South Sudanese communities, where girls ... MORE > >
	Hungary Losing Its Best and Brightest  Zoltán Dujisin  As the European Union accuses Hungary of shifting towards authoritarianism, a spike in emigration from the country has led many to speak of a politically motivated exodus. Others suggest that economic conditions play a role in the westward flow of brainpower that is leaving Hungary's future ... MORE > >
U.S. Congress Moves Toward Full Trade Embargo on Iran  Jim Lobe  The U.S. Congress moved closer here Wednesday to imposing a full trade embargo against Iran and pledged its support to Israel if it felt compelled to attack Tehran’s nuclear programme in self-defence. The Senate voted 99-0 to adopt a resolution that urged President Barack Obama to fully enforce ... MORE > >
	Insects, from Delicacy to Tool against Hunger  Emilio Godoy  The Food and Agriculture Organisation's recommendation to consider using edible insects as a food source to combat hunger may have particular repercussions in Colombia and Mexico, two Latin American countries that have a tradition of eating insects and a high degree of biodiversity. Mexico has ... MORE > >
	Growing Peas and Greens to Maximise Water Usage  Miriam Gathigah  Amid warnings that Kenya’s agricultural water use is surpassing sustainable levels and adversely affecting food security, biodiversity researchers say that agrobiodiversity should be considered as a vital tool to combat this. “In order to feed the nation, the country must explore ... MORE > >
	Water Flows Again in the Valley  Zofeen Ebrahim  Staring out at his golden wheat field with satisfaction, 50-year old Alamgir Akbar says with a sigh of relief: "We've had a good crop this season.” The farmer has waited a long time to utter those words. A resident of a small rural community on the outskirts of the Ucchali village in the Soan ... MORE > >
	Stressed Ecosystems Leaving Humanity High and Dry  Stephen Leahy  Everyone knows water is life. Far too few understand the role of trees, plants and other living things in ensuring we have clean, fresh water. This dangerous ignorance results in destruction of wetlands that once cleaned water and prevented destructive and costly flooding, scientists and ... MORE > >
	Indigenous Brazilians Learn to Fight for the Right to Food  Clarinha Glock  Indigenous communities in remote areas of Brazil have begun to recognise that they have the right to not be hungry, and are learning that food security means much more than simply having food on the table. Rosiléia Cruz, 19, dreams of studying journalism. She chooses her words carefully during ... MORE > >
	Seeking Justice for Dictatorship Victims – Two Continents Apart  Supalak Ganjanakhundee  As news of the death of former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla in a prison cell spread around the world, Julia Parodi, who was in this South Korean city to receive the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights on behalf of HIJOS, said he died in the right place. HIJOS, the acronym for “Sons and ... MORE > >
	Living in Hell, Iraqi Christians Dream of Paradise  Karlos Zurutuza  Luis Shabi nostalgically recalls his nine years of novitiate in Rome and a "fantastic road trip through Europe" before returning to Iraq in 1969. "Those were the good times," sighs the Chaldean Archbishop of Baghdad from a bunker in the heart of the Iraqi capital. His office, in the basement of ... MORE > >
	How to Save a Fish … a Lake and a People  Mabvuto Banda  Lloyd Phiri, a fisherman from Senga Bay on Lake Malawi’s shores in Malawi’s central region, knows that the lake’s water levels are dropping. He can see it in his catch, which has shrunk by more than 80 percent in recent years. Years ago, it was the norm to catch about 5,000 fish a day, Phiri ... MORE > >
	Explosives Shatter Lives in Kashmir  Athar Parvaiz  Aadil Khan and his two siblings had been playing as usual behind their house in the village of Diver, 110 kilometres north of Kashmir’s capital, Srinagar, when they came across what they thought was a “plaything” laying on the ground. But no sooner had they picked the object up than it literally ... MORE > >
	Official Bullying Lurks Behind Prep for Olympics in Brazil  Fabiola Ortiz  As Brazil prepares to host several sporting mega-events, human rights abuses and authoritarian interventions by the authorities are going on behind the scenes, favouring major urbanisation projects and stadium remodelling, a study says. The state has forced almost 30,000 families across the ... MORE > >
	Afghan Women Harassed into Unemployment  Shelly Kittleson  While global attention is fixed on the scheduled pullout of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan in 2014, women here have a much more immediate concern: how will they survive another day at work? Having a job is now considered a routine aspect in the lives of many women around the world, but ... MORE > >
	Tribes Keep Uneasy Peace in Southern Libya  Rebecca Murray  Kaltoum Saleh, 18, is elated to graduate from her overcrowded high school in the remote Saharan town of Ubari, near the Algerian border. Saleh, a member of Ubari's indigenous Tebu tribe, says that for decades under former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan Tebu suffered from ... MORE > >
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