Finance : Global OTC derivatives market falls to $483 trillion (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The global market for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives saw a decline in the second half of 2016, with the notional amount of outstanding contracts (which determines contractual payments) falling from $553 trillion to $483 trillion between end-June and end-December 2016, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has reported.

Health : Who are the best "eaters" and how to use eggplants as toothbrush (PRIV)
(IPS, Rome)
The news is this: Japan is a global model for healthy diets and it currently has the lowest rate of obesity among developed countries - below four per cent. This is on the one hand. On the other, the African eggplant gorongo is often used as a toothbrush.

Africa : Drought highlights Ethiopia's IDP dilemma (PRIV)
(IPS, Gode)
Displaced pastoralists gather around newly arrived drums of brown water as a water truck speeds off to make further deliveries to settlements that have sprung up along the main road running out of Gode, one of the major urban centers in Ethiopia's Somali region.

Latin America : Mega-projects have magnified corruption in Brazil (PRIV)
(IPS, Rio de Janeiro)
It cannot be categorically stated that corruption has increased in the country in recent years, because there is no objective information from earlier periods to compare with, according to Manoel Galdino, executive director of Transparency Brazil.

Kenya : Drought - response must be sustainable, not piecemeal (PRIV)
(IPS, Nairobi)
Food security in Kenya has deteriorated significantly since the end of 2016.