Mental health woes for southern Thai women

Two women outside their home in southern Thailand. Many women have been impacted by the conflict and in need of social support. photo: contributor/IRIN© 

(IRIN) PATTANI, April 30, 2014 - Activists and academics in southern Thailand are calling for improved assistance, including mental health services, for women affected by the decade-long armed conflict between government forces and Muslims seeking greater autonomy.

Attempt murder suspect, Alfred Tapia, taken into custody

LACSD press conference regarding the apprehension  Alfred Tapia.
photo: lacsd

(BMLTV) LOS ANGELES, April 18, 2014 - In December 2013, 34-year-old Alfred Tapia, a known gang member from the Whittier area of Los Angeles County had been identified as being responsible for three separate vicious stabbing attacks in the cities of Pico Rivera, Whittier, and Chino.

Women paying the price: Latin America drug wars

Caught between the  Drug War, two women  die from apparent gunshot injuries.  

photo: felix marquez/AP

 
(IRIN) NEW YORK, April 15, 2014 - As growing numbers of women languish in Latin American jails on drug-trafficking charges, their role in organized crime is under the spotlight - as is the prison system that incarcerates them, and the patriarchal society that appears to be failing them.

New US Farm Bill provides hope for food aid reform

Men unload sacks of rice to store in the World Food Program warehouse in Gao, Mali. The rice is used to respond to emergency food and nutritional needs in conflict-affected areas, such as Gao in northern Mali, which fell under occupation of armed groups in 2012.
tanya bindra/IRIN©

(IRIN) NEW YORK, April 14, 2014 - Efforts to improve the way the US government distributes roughly US$2 billion in international food aid each year achieved some successes in the recently enacted Agriculture Act of 2014 - commonly referred to as the Farm Bill - but the food aid mechanism used by the world’s largest donor continues to prioritize the needs of US commercial interests.

Rebuilding in Jakarta: learning what works

Tracks of houses in the slums outside of Jakarta, jammed close together up against a public dumping area. jefri aries/IRIN©
 
(IRIN) DAKAR, April 8, 2014 - A whole industry has emerged to foster humanitarian learning and, in the main, actors are increasingly collaborative and open when it comes to learning lessons from emergencies.

Growing up in war - the DRC's child soldiers

Pictured is a  boy at  the age of 11-years-old when he became a child soldier with an armed group. photo: guy oliver©/IRIN

(IRIN) KIWANJA (NORTH KIVU PROVINCE), April1, 2014  - When he was seven Dikembe Muamba* became a soldier on the orders of his uncle, a chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) North Kivu Province.