Interpress Service articles from April 2003

Interpress Service archives from April 2003

HEALTH-CHINA: MEDIA SILENT AS KILLER VIRUS SPREADS.
April 1, 2003... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Beijing is a city in denial about the possibility of new global pandemic that may have originated in China. Here one learns more about the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq than about China's fight to...

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: FOREST GROUP WANTED WORLD BANK AID KEPT SECRET.
April 1, 2003... by Bob Burton CANBERRA, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- A leaked memo by an environmental group, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has revealed that it hoped to obtain - but not publicly disclose - World Bank funding for a high-level summit on forest...

AFRICA-ARTS: ZIMBABWE AND MUGABE IN THE LIMELIGHT.
April 1, 2003... by Gabriel Packard NEW YORK, Apr. 1(IPS) -- According to a Zimbabwean proverb, long ago did not live long ago that the past is not really past. Two documentary films being shown back-to-back at the 10th annual New York African Film...

FILM-ARGENTINA: THE SET IS ENORMOUS, AND KEEPS GROWING.
April 1, 2003... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Some 10,000 workers from the film, television and advertising industries in Argentina have been enjoying a boom during the past year, thanks to the depreciation of the currency, which turned...

ARTS-INDIA: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A NATIONALIST HERO.
April 1, 2003... by Sujoy Dhar KOLKATA, India, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- A film that seeks to portray the turbulent final years of one of India's greatest heroes of its freedom struggle is finally under way, but not without controversy. Subhas Chandra Bose,...

THEATRE-KENYA: THE V-WORD COMES TO THE STAGE.
April 1, 2003... by Katy Salmon NAIROBI, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- The word vagina is the biological term for a woman's genitalia. But try mentioning it in public in Kenya and you may find yourself on the receiving end of a stream of invective. In this...

ECONOMY: WITH MIDEAST IN TURMOIL, RUSSIA EYES OIL MARKETS IN ASIA.
April 1, 2003... by Sergei Blagov MOSCOW, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Moscow is planning to develop new markets in Asia for its crude oil and become an alternative to the volatile Middle East. In the blueprint are big pipeline projects to boost its oil exports to...

U.S.: RIGHTS GROUPS SEE DOUBLE STANDARD IN STATE DEPT. REPORTS.
April 1, 2003... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- U.S. rights groups this week praised the State Department's annual human rights country reports released Monday but questioned whether they will have any effect on Washington's policy toward abusive...

RIGHTS: IRAQ WAR SEEN DIVERTING WORLD FROM OTHER CRISES.
April 1, 2003... by Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- The war on Iraq is drawing attention away from other conflicts, such as those of Palestine and Colombia, said a Colombian activist who was awarded the most prestigious international human...

LABOR: IMMIGRANT WORKERS USE ANGER AS A TOOL FOR ORGANIZING.
April 1, 2003... by David Bacon NEW YORK, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- Organizing a union can be dangerous to your job; it should not be dangerous to your health. But for immigrant workers, with sometimes shaky documentation, it is often both. So concluded Judge...

IRAQ: U.N. AGREES ON AID BUT IS UNCLEAR ON POSTWAR ROLE.
April 1, 2003... Analysis - By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- A then top Pentagon adviser, Richard Perle, predicted last week that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will "go quickly, but not alone". "In a parting irony," the political...

IRAQ: A POLL FINDS PUBLIC RALLYING TO BUSH, BUT SUPPORTING U.N.
April 1, 2003... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- While a strong majority of the U.S. public is rallying behind President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, they also support the United Nations Security Council and back multilateral diplomacy...

IRAQ: FARMERS FACE A HARVEST OF FEAR.
April 1, 2003... by Hilmi Toros ISTANBUL, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- As the war intensifies in Iraq, agriculture is under threat in the land where it began 6,000 years ago. A crucial harvest is ready in the north, and it is time for vital seeding in the south,...

ECONOMY-LATIN AMERICA: IRAQ WAR UNDERMINES RECOVERY HOPES.
April 1, 2003... by Gustavo Gonz?lez SANTIAGO, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- The U.S.-British war on Iraq is undermining expectations of a resurgence of the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, say experts who fear the conflict will hinder external financing...

IRAQ: WINDS OF CHANGE IN GULF MEDIA.
April 1, 2003... by N Janardhan DUBAI, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- The Gulf media is experiencing a new wave of freedom. Normally accused by many of toeing the official line at the cost of compromising on objectivity, crises like the war against Iraq are being used...

IRAQ: KASHMIR DILEMMA SOFTENS INDIA'S CRITICISM OF IRAQ WAR.
April 1, 2003... by Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- Activists staged here on Monday the biggest of a series of rallies aimed at eliciting a stronger official stand against the war in Iraq from India, a government that says it needs Western...

POPULATION-SOUTHERN AFRICA: POLYGAMY HANGS ON IN BAD TIMES.
April 1, 2003... by James Hall MBABANE, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- Current times of poor economies and social uncertainties have kept polygamy a reality for millions of largely rural women. "The war made us appreciate polygamy, because there was a need to...

AFRICA-POLITICS: YOUNG AFRICANS SEEK A BIGGER ROLE IN GOVERNMENT.
April 1, 2003... by Katy Salmon NAIROBI, Mar. 31 (IPS) -- Many young Africans are unhappy about the way their continent is being run. Most African politicians, like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, are middle-aged men. Rarely do you see a 20...

POLITICS-MALAWI: PRESIDENT WON'T SEEK ANOTHER TERM.
April 2, 2003... by Anderson Fumulani LILONGWE, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- Most Malawians breathed a sigh of relief this weekend as the dour face of President Bakili Muluzi filled the local television screen to announce that the National Executive Council (NEC) of...

POLITICS-SERBIA: MURDER PROBE CUTS INTO NARCOTICS TRADE.
April 2, 2003... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- The crackdown on organized crime after the assassination of former prime minister Zoran Djindjic three weeks ago has led to a recession in the drug trade. "We have an 80 per cent rise...

IRAQ: BATTLE FOR BAGHDAD LOOMS AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF DECEIT.
April 2, 2003... Commentary - By Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- Two weeks into the war on Iraq, the U.S.-British coalition has been buffeted by a series of military and political setbacks. There are growing doubts in Washington about the main...

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: EAST TIMOR LEADER HITS REFUGEE POLICY.
April 2, 2003... by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- Australia's government, already hurt by criticism for its role in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, is under fire for is its plan to boot out East Timorese asylum seekers who fled the former...

IRAQ: WAR ECHOES ALONG THE AFGHAN-PAKISTANI BORDER.
April 2, 2003... by Christopher Nadeem PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- In this town on the border with Afghanistan, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq is on everybody's mind -- whether it is Pakistanis, Islamic leaders or Afghan refugees who not too long...

IRAQ-U.N.: MEXICO HEADS SECURITY COUNCIL AT A CRUCIAL TIME.
April 2, 2003... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Mexico has assumed the temporary presidency of the United Nations Security Council Tuesday at an extremely difficult moment in the history of that body . Its delegation, one of the...

IRAQ: IT'S THE PENTAGON VS. POWELL OVER POSTWAR ROLES.
April 2, 2003... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Even as U.S. troops grind their way toward Baghdad, the Bush administration remains divided over its post-war plans. The main issue - who will be in charge of the occupation - pits the Pentagon...

ECONOMY-CARIB: FURNITURE FIRMS THINK LOCALLY TO COMPETE GLOBALLY.
April 2, 2003... by Dionne Jackson Miller MONTEGO BAY, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Alarmed at the impending arrival of a U.S. furniture giant as well as sliding exports of their products, Jamaican furniture makers say better designs and more regional cooperation will...

RIGHTS: CUBA TAKES U.S. TO TASK ON UN COMMISSION.
April 2, 2003... by Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Cuba has taken the offensive this year in the debate that pits Havana against Washington in the annual meeting of United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Havana delegation to the...

IRAQ: IRANIAN SPECIAL FORCES POISED NEAR IRAQ BORDER.
April 2, 2003... by Ramin Mostaqim TEHERAN, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- They are called the Badr Brigade, and people inside the northern border of Iraq have feared them for years. The brigade, with a reported strength of about 4,000, is preparing for clashes with...

ECUADOR: LINK TO INSURGENTS SEEN IN MUNITION BLASTS.
April 2, 2003... by Kintto Lucas QUITO, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Three explosions in military ammunition depots in Ecuador in less than five months have led to safety- related criticisms, and raised suspicions that they may have been intentionally set off to cover...

IRAQ: WAR COULD LESSEN WEST'S INFLUENCE, AFRICANS SAY.
April 2, 2003... by Nawaal Deane JOHANNESBURG, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- As the war in Iraq continues, the influence of America and Britain is at stake, analysts in South Africa say. "Why would Zimbabwe, or any African leader listen to Prime Minister Tony...

IRAQ: NEW FEARS ABOUT DEPLETED URANIUM IN TOWN FIGHTING.
April 2, 2003... by Sanjay Suri LONDON, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- New fears have arisen over the long-term damage that can result from the use of depleted uranium in the attack on Iraq. "We are particularly worried because the tactics have changed in this war,"...

RIGHTS-LIBERIA: CONDITION OF THE DISPLACED 'TOO PAINFUL TO IGNORE'.
April 2, 2003... by Abdullah Dukuly MONROVIA, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- The images of the displaced in central Liberia and western suburbs of the capital, Monrovia, are "far too painful to ignore", an aid worker told IPS this week. "The condition of the...

DEVELOPMENT-SENEGAL: WATER SHORTAGES HIT WOMEN THE HARDEST.
April 2, 2003... by Adel Arab DAKAR, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Balancing a large bucket of water on her head, Fatou Sarr, a 20-year-old domestic, reflects the plight of hundreds of thousands of women in Senegal who spend hours searching for clean water every day....

MEXICO-U.S.: WAR TREMORS FELT ALONG BORDER.
April 2, 2003... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- The war on Iraq has slowed the flow of trade across the Mexican-U.S. border due to heightened security. Anyone who crosses the Mexican border into the United States today feels as if he is...

IRAQ: CONCERN OVER NORTH KOREA PUSHES JAPAN CLOSER TO U.S.
April 2, 2003... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- With the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq likely to last longer than initially thought, Japan sees no choice but to step up its support to the U.S., given its unstable relations with North Korea.. ...

IRAQ: U.S. APPLYING LESSONS LEARNED FROM ISRAEL.
April 2, 2003... by Ferry Biedermann AMMAN, Apr. 1 (IPS) -- Leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Abdullah Shami speaks with pride of "our F-16s". He means the suicide bombers that his organisation regularly sends into Israel. In just about ten days...

POLITICS: AMID REPORTS OF NEW FIGHTING, A CONGO PEACE ACCORD.
April 3, 2003... by Anthony Stoppard SUN CITY, South Africa, Apr. 3 (IPS) -- Even as reports emerged of new fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the warring parties signed a peace deal here ending the country's long-running...

RIGHTS-AFRICA: CRIMINAL GROUPS TARGETED FOR TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN.
April 3, 2003... by Anthony Stoppard JOHANNESBURG, Apr. 3 (IPS) -- The effective way to tackle the growing wave of human trafficking in southern Africa is for governments to seize the assets of criminal organizations involved in the practice, says an...

IRAQ: SADDAM URGES WORLD'S MUSLIMS TO HELP.
April 3, 2003... Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Apr. 3 (IPS) -- Just like President George W. Bush did before him, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has, in a manner of speaking, used the 'are you with us or against us' approach to seek to rally...

IRAQ: ANTI-WAR AUSTRALIANS CONFRONT RISING SUPPORT FOR U.S.
April 3, 2003... by Sonny Inbaraj PERTH, Australia, Apr. 3 (IPS) -- Anti-war demonstrators here are rethinking their strategy after learning that the latest opinion polls indicate growing support for the U.S.-led and Australia-supported attack on Iraq. ...

IRAQ: MEDIA-DRENCHED PAKISTANIS TRY TO FIND TRUTH ABOUT THE WAR.
April 3, 2003... Analysis By Muddassir Rizvi ISLAMABAD, Apr. 3 (IPS) -- Confronted with myriad media scenes of devastation caused by sophisticated U.S. weaponry, Pakistanis are finding it hard to find the truth about the war.. Like millions of other...

CULTURE-VIETNAM: HERITAGE-RICH STILT HOUSES ARE DISAPPEARING.
April 3, 2003... by Tran Dinh Thanh Lam NGHE AN, Vietnam, Apr. 3 (IPS) -- The road to the village of Bang, in the central Vietnamese province of Nghe An, is lined with empty stilt houses. They stand there sadly in the sun, and it looks like an entire...

FINANCE: WORLD BANK URGED TO CHANGE LENDING POLICIES.
April 3, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- The World Bank should revamp its lending policies for mining, oil and gas projects to avoid corruption, mismanagement and poor economic performance spreading in countries that rely on such...

POLITICS-U.S.: AS USUAL, THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE WAR BUSINESS.
April 3, 2003... Analysis - By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- When the war on Iraq finally ends, the United States may have unleashed virtually all of its state-of-the-art weaponry on a country already devastated by a war 12 years ago and...

IRAQ: RUMSFELD & CO. UNDER FIRE OVER WAR STRATEGY.
April 3, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- While the U.S. military continues to drop bombs on Baghdad, a full-scale guerrilla war centered on President George W. Bush's controversial Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld has broken...

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: CHEMICAL SPILL LEAVES 500,000 WITHOUT WATER.
April 3, 2003... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- "We're worse off than Iraq," said Joacy Ferreira Gonalves, president of Fishing Colony V-21, about a chemical spill that has left long stretches of two rivers in southern Brazil contaminated...

CENTRAL AMERICA-U.S.: TRADE TALKS TO DEAL WITH TOUCHY FARM ISSUE.
April 3, 2003... by Nfer Mu[currency]oz SAN JOSE, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- The five Central American nations negotiating a new trade agreement with the United States are hoping for a reduction in U.S. barriers to their farm products and will try to make progress...

RIGHTS-CANADA: TRANSSEXUAL EX-COP TO LINK CITY AND GAY COMMUNITY.
April 3, 2003... by Mark Bourrie OTTAWA, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- Police in Canada's capital city have enlisted the country's first transsexual police officer in an effort to bridge the gap between investigators and the city's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender...

IRAQ: AFRICAN PRESS POUNDS U.S. OVER IRAQ WAR.
April 3, 2003... by James Hall JOHANNESBURG, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- With the African public and media almost unanimously opposed to the U.S.-British led war on Iraq - indeed, it is hard to find a pro-war voice on the continent. The Johannesburg Star echoes...

IRAQ: IRANIAN REFORMISTS BECOME HARDLINERS AGAINST THE WAR.
April 3, 2003... by Ramin Mostaqim TEHERAN, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- Back in March, Mostafa Boroumandi, a self-made tycoon, could not wait for the war in Iraq to begin. For Boroumandi, as for many progressive people in Teheran, this war would break a repressive...

POLITICS-ARGENTINA: APATHY RULES AS ELECTIONS NEAR.
April 3, 2003... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- The only certainty arising from the opinion polls about the April 27 presidential elections in Argentina is that, for the first time, a run-off vote will be necessary to elect the president....

IRAQ: FRENCH SEE A U.S. REGIME OF 'DR. STRANGELOVES'.
April 3, 2003... by Julio Godoy PARIS, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- French commentators are comparing the behavior of U.S. leaders with the fictive figures in Stanley Kubrick's black comedy of militarism and nuclear war 'Dr. Strangelove or how I learned to stop...

POLITICS: SUDANESE PRESIDENT HOLDS RARE MEETING WITH REBEL LEADER.
April 3, 2003... by Katy Salmon NAIROBI, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- President Omar el Bashir of Sudan held a rare meeting with rebel leader John Garang here on Wednesday, boosting hopes of progress at peace talks, which resume on Sunday. The meeting between the...

WATER-VENEZUELA: WATER RATIONING IN A DROUGHT-PLAGUED LAND.
April 3, 2003... by Humberto M?rquez CARACAS, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- Although water rationing has been a fact of life in the Venezuelan capital and other large cities in this South American country due to a drought that has dragged on since 2001, the measures...

IRAQ: MOURNING WITH GUNS IN THEIR HANDS.
April 3, 2003... by Nasreen Al-Rafiq BAGHDAD, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- When the U.S. generals planned their shock and awe policy of attacking Iraq, they didn't think about the funerals. In Baghdad people do not forget, and the funerals are arranged so that...

POLITICS: INDIA SUSPECTS NEW DEATH SQUADS ARE READY TO STRIKE.
April 3, 2003... by Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Apr. 2 (IPS) -- Claiming a build-up of death squads in Pakistan across the border from disputed Kashmir, India said Wednesday that it is considering a massive beefing up of troops on its side of the...

CUBA: GOV'T CRACKDOWN LINKED TO NEW WAVE OF EMIGRATION.
April 4, 2003... by Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- A government crackdown on the informal economy, on dissidents and on petty crime and drugs is being linked to a new wave of emigration from this socialist-run island. In the past 20 days there...

POLITICS-U.S.-IRAQ: KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON SPYMASTER WOOLSEY.
April 4, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- If you want to figure out whether the administration of President George W. Bush intends a crusade to "remake the Middle East" in the wake of Washington's presumed military victory in...

DEVELOPMENT: WAR ON IRAQ THREATENS U.N. POVERTY GOALS.
April 4, 2003... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- The U.S.-led war on Iraq is threatening to undermine the U.N.-led global war against poverty. The deadline to achieve some of the U.N.-mandated social and economic goals - including the...

HEALTH-CANADA: SARS - OFFICIALS COUNSEL CALM, PEOPLE PREFER MASKS.
April 4, 2003... by Marty Logan MONTREAL, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- The mayor of the capital city of Canada's British Columbia (B.C.) province returned from a two-week holiday and immediately shut himself, his wife and their two high school-age children in their...

GLOBAL-OIL: WORLD MARKETS TASTE THE END OF WAR.
April 4, 2003... by Humberto M?rquez CARACAS, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- Petroleum prices declined in the leading markets this week in the wake of news reports suggesting an imminent U.S.-British victory in Iraq and of renewed positive signals sent by OPEC...

CUBA-U.S.: APPEAL IN ESPIONAGE CASE SET TO BEGIN.
April 4, 2003... by Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- Lawyers for five Cubans sentenced to between 15 years and life in prison in the United States on espionage charges are expected to file an appeal to the verdict Monday. Speaking to IPS, lawyer...

IRAQ-PORTUGAL: VETERAN OFFICERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST WAR.
April 4, 2003... by Mario de Queiroz LISBON, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- The invasion of Iraq is an illegal war, one that uses 21st-century technology and medieval ideology against freedom, democracy and progress, say several influential Portuguese military officials...

ENVIRONMENT-ARGENTINA: DANGER TO CALAMARI SQUID FROM FOREIGN SHIPS.
April 4, 2003... by Marcela Valente - Tierramrica* BUENOS AIRES, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- The illex squid (Illex argentinus) found in Argentina's ocean waters are under threat from overfishing as the number of foreign vessels without permits increases in the area....

CONFLICT-LIBERIA: ESCAPING WAR, REFUGEES FLOOD SIERRA LEONE.
April 4, 2003... by Lansana Fofana SULIMA, Sierra Leone, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- Hundreds of fishing families, many of them of Ghanaian origin, are fleeing an escalation of fighting in Liberia, putting pressure on neighboring Sierra Leone which fears being drawn...

CULTURE-UNESCO: MEMORY PROJECT CONSIDERS FREE SOFTWARE, GARDEL.
April 4, 2003... by Julio Godoy PARIS, Apr. 4 (IPS) -- New entries to the Memory of the World Register Program of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) are under review. The register was opened in 1997. Now, six years...

INDUSTRY: WOMEN-OWNED HARD-HAT COMPANIES ARE BOOMING.
April 4, 2003... By Laura Koss-Feder NEW YORK, (Mar. 31) IPS\WOMENSENEWS -- More and more women across the nation are starting businesses in fields that have been traditionally dominated by men, including construction, electrical work, engineering,...

HEALTH: INTEREST IN CAMPUS REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS CONFERENCE SOARS.
April 4, 2003... By Frederick Clarkson NEW YORK, (Apr. 1) IPS\WOMENSENEWS -- Student activism around war, peace and globalization may grab the headlines. However, campus-based organizing related to feminism and reproductive rights is also dramatically on...

RIGHTS: AUGUSTA NATIONAL'S REFUSAL TO ADMIT WOMEN MATTERS.
April 4, 2003... By Lisa D. Mickey NEW YORK, (Apr. 2) IPS\WOMENSENEWS -- For a month, I wrestled with the question: Why does Augusta National matter to women? I should know because I work in the golf industry. I write about golf and play it. I love the...

RELIGION-MEDIA: AZIZAH CELEBRATES MUSLIM AMERICAN WOMEN.
April 4, 2003... By Rebecca G. Dorr NEW YORK, (Apr. 3) IPS\WOMENSENEWS -- As a Muslim woman of color, Tayyibah Taylor did not see herself reflected accurately in the magazines, newspapers, TV shows and films that surround her in North America. So, she...

LABOR: WOMEN IN BUSINESS ASK: ARE WOMEN MORE ETHICAL?
April 4, 2003... By Jeff Lemberg BOSTON, (Apr. 4) IPS\WOMENSENEWS -- As the number of women in the top corporate jobs continues to climb, many wonder if the ethical woes that shaped much of last year's financial news will decline in tandem. Some argue...

RIGHTS: SEXUAL ASSAULT PERVASIVE IN MILITARY, EXPERTS SAY.
April 4, 2003... By Marie Tessier NEW YORK (Mar. 30) IPS\WOMENSENEWS -- Victim advocates and military health care leaders say that sexual assault remains a pervasive problem for women serving in all branches of the military, including those deployed...

EAST ASIA: SARS 'SUSPECTS' TREATED AS OUTCASTS.
April 8, 2003... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Apr. 8 (IPS) -- With fear gripping East Asia over the rapidly spreading atypical pneumonia that has killed 100 people in the past few months, a steady cough or few sneezes in public can be a ticket to...

RIGHTS-SLOVAKIA: ANGRY GAY GROUPS SEEK LEGAL PROTECTION.
April 8, 2003... by Ed Holt and Martina Pisarova BRATISLAVA, Apr. 8 (IPS) -- Gay rights groups in Slovakia are seeking legal protection after a member of parliament angered them by saying that homosexuality is a "health defect" and that lesbians and...

IRAQ: WILL THE U.N. GO THE WAY OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS?
April 8, 2003... Analysis by Hilmi Toros ISTANBUL, Apr. 8 (IPS) -- "It is us today, it will be you tomorrow." With those words, a small nation appealed to a world organization to save it from invasion. Its plea was in vain. The international...

ENVIRONMENT-SERBIA: WAITING FOR OLD BOMBS TO EXPLODE.
April 8, 2003... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Apr. 8 (IPS) -- As the U.S. bombardment of Iraq continues into a third week, Serbs are thinking of the bombs they still live with four years after the American blitz on Belgrade. Serbs still come...

TRADE: VIETNAM JOLTED BY PANCAKE TRADEMARK FUROR.
April 8, 2003... by Tran Dinh Thanh Lam HO CHI MINH CITY, Apr. 8 (IPS) -- Socialist Vietnam is starting to learn the ways of capitalism as its products enter the global market. Take the case of Vietnam's prized rice pancakes, whose name is synonymous...

POLITICS-NIGERIA: VIOLENCE CLOUDS OUTLOOK AS ELECTIONS NEAR.
April 8, 2003... by Toye Olori LAGOS, Apr. 8 (IPS) -- Sixty-two million eligible voters in Nigeria will this week be issued voters' cards as a series of elections gets underway this weekend. Nigerians will Saturday go to the polls to elect members to...

POLITICS-PAKISTAN: INDIA'S THREAT OF 'PRE-EMPTION' STIRS ALARM.
April 8, 2003... by Muddassir Rizvi ISLAMABAD, Apr. 8 (IPS) -- The international community, preoccupied with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, may have ignored India's latest harsh talk of "pre-emption" against Pakistan, but many security experts here view it...

RIGHTS-CUBA: HARSH PENALTIES FOR DISSIDENTS ACCUSED OF U.S. LINKS.
April 8, 2003... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Apr. 7 (IPS) -- Cuban courts began to hand down stiff prison sentences Monday for 75 dissidents accused of conspiring with the U.S. The individuals tried over the past week were rounded up and imprisoned in...

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: PARAMILITARIES SAID TO VIOLATE OWN CEASEFIRE.
April 8, 2003... by Yadira Ferrer BOGOTA, Apr. 7 (IPS) -- Civil society organizations are complaining that the paramilitary Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) are violating the unilateral ceasefire that they declared in December. AUC announced in a...

IRAQ-U.S.: 'NATION-BUILDING' FALTERS IN TROUBLED AFGHANISTAN.
April 8, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Apr. 7 (IPS) -- As U.S. officials promise to rebuild and democratize Iraq, the people of that country might wish to consider Afghanistan just a year after President George W. Bush compared U.S. intentions...

OIL-VENEZUELA: THE FIGHT TO RESUME ITS FORMER EMINENCE.
April 8, 2003... by Humberto M?rquez CARACAS, Apr. 7 (IPS) -- Venezuela's state oil monopoly, PDVSA, one of the biggest companies in the Southern Hemisphere, is facing the challenge of holding onto its status as one of the world's leading oil firms after a...

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: FUROR ERUPTS OVER SALE OF MODIFIED SOY.
April 8, 2003... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr. 7 (IPS) -- Brazil will permit the sale of genetically modified soy harvested this year in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, even though it was planted illegally. Consumer and environmental groups...