Trade : BITs ‘not decisive in attracting investment', says South Africa (PRIV)
(Meena Raman, Geneva)
South African government's experience has shown that there was no clear relationship between signing Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and increased inflows of FDI, according to a senior official of that nation.

United Nations : Iran, Syria, strained int'l relations dominate GA opening (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Addressing the 67th General Assembly at the United Nations in New York Tuesday, US President Barack Obama accused the Iranian government of propping up the dictatorship in Syria and supporting terrorist groups abroad.

United States : Changing demographics likely to tip scales for Obama (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
With just six weeks left before the US presidential polls, analysts on Tuesday suggested that recent demographic changes in the United States, particularly through immigration, have made it more difficult than ever for a Republican candidate to vie for president.

UN Women : Demand end to impunity for wartime rape and violence (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
At a high-level event at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, UN Women, the United Nations body for female empowerment and gender equality, called for stronger action from world leaders to prevent and punish sexual violence in conflict.

United States : Gloomy news, prognosis out of Afghanistan (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington)
With all foreign troops due to leave Afghanistan just two years from now, the news out of that nation is becoming increasingly gloomy.

Climate Change : Reducing air pollution would cool the planet (PRIV)
(IPS, Uxbridge)
The planet can be cooled a whopping 0.5 degrees C with fast action to reduce air pollution from coal-fired power plants, gas fracking, diesel trucks and biomass burning, recent studies show.

Brazil : Urban agriculture sprouts in favelas (PRIV)
(IPS, Rio de Janeiro)
You do not need to live in the countryside to grow vegetables, as hundreds of thousands of people involved in urban agriculture from Havana to Buenos Aires know very well. Now they are being joined by residents of Rio de Janeiro's "favelas".