Interpress Service articles from August 2003

Interpress Service archives from August 2003

POLITICS-SWAZILAND: PROTESTS TO COINCIDE WITH 'SMART' SUMMIT.
August 1, 2003... MBABANE, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Present and past heads of state are expected to attend the British Commonwealth SMART Partnership Summit, or Global 2003, which will be held in Ezulwini Valley, Swaziland from Aug. 13 to 17. The Smart...

MEDIA-MIDEAST: VOICE OF PEACE TO RISE AGAIN.
August 1, 2003... by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- For 20 years, intrepid Israeli peace campaigner Abie Nathan broadcast his message of coexistence to Jewish and Arab listeners from his boat in the Mediterranean Sea, which housed his...

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: COURT RULING ERODES HARDLINE REFUGEE POLICY.
August 1, 2003... by Bob Burton CANBERRA, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- The Australian government's controversial policy that child asylum seekers need to be held in detention centers has suffered a major blow, after a judge ruled Friday that there was a strong...

ECONOMY-INDIA: EXPERTS ALLAY WORRIES OVER CLIMBING RUPEE.
August 1, 2003... by Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- India's exporters are worried by a phenomenon not seen in decades - the steady appreciation of the rupee over the dollar and foreign exchange reserves hovering above the $80 billion mark. ...

SOUTH AFRICA: LIFE INSURANCE CATCHING ON AMONG MIDDLE-CLASS BLACKS.
August 1, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza DURBAN, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- More and more middle-class blacks are seeking life insurance as awareness grows and cheaper products become available. Sanlam Life, one of South Africa's top insurance companies, has...

KENYA: GOV'T MAY BAN PLASTICS DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL HARM.
August 1, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza NAIROBI, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- The use of plastics in the country, described as the 'cradle of humanity', could be banned. The government has warned that it might be forced to do so if manufacturers failed to come...

AFRICA: GOLD AND CERAMIC CLAY EXPLOITATION TO EASE MALAWI'S WOES.
August 1, 2003... BLANTYRE, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Malawi gold, believed to have been discovered in 1910 by British settlers, may finally be on the local and international market. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs has embarked on a project...

AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA, NAMIBIA INK GAS, PARK DEALS.
August 1, 2003... By Varsha Gupta d'Souza JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Namibia and South Africa have signed a gas trade agreement which will allow movement of the energy source across their borders upon development of gas fields in both countries. ...

AFRICA: CORPORATE INDIA EYES LESOTHO FOR INVESTMENT.
August 1, 2003... By Varsha Gupta d'Souza MUMBAI, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Lesotho is emerging as one of the most favored investment destinations for Indian businesses. By setting up units in Lesotho, Indian manufacturers hope to get easy access to the African...

TRADE: AGRICULTURE A PERSISTENT THORN IN GLOBAL TALKS.
August 1, 2003... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- Agriculture has been playing second fiddle to industry for decades and represents a tiny portion of the global economy. Still, it remains solidly at the center of dispute in international...

HEALTH-U.S.: STUDY FINDS HIGH PCBS IN FARMED SALMON.
August 1, 2003... by Katrin Dauenhauer WASHINGTON, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- A study released this week that found elevated levels of PCBs in fish-farmed salmon has been condemned by farmers but has led some U.S. retailers to promise they will replace bred...

POLITICS: U.S. SEEKS WAR CRIMES EXEMPTION FOR LIBERIA PEACEKEEPERS.
August 1, 2003... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- Washington is asking that if its peacekeepers are sent to Liberia they be exempted from prosecution for war crimes in the International Criminal Court (ICC). The clause, included in a...

RIGHTS-CANADA: NATIVES REFUSE TO FOLLOW NEW FIREARMS LAW.
August 1, 2003... by Mark Bourrie OTTAWA, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- Thousands of aboriginal people across Canada are refusing to obtain gun licenses and to register their rifles and shotguns under new gun control laws, a survey by the Canadian government...

VENEZUELA: KIDNAPS, MURDERS HEAT UP BORDER WITH COLOMBIA.
August 1, 2003... by Humberto M?rquez CARACAS, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- The unresolved kidnap of a Venezuelan politician has added fire to the already hot situation along the Colombia-Venezuela border, where the murders of dozens of ranchers and agrarian...

POPULATION: U.S. 'STRETCHING' BORDERS TO BLOCK MIGRANTS.
August 1, 2003... by Michael Flynn WASHINGTON, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- In a case that highlights the growing U.S. effort to detain migrants long before they set eyes on this country's borders, five crew members of an Ecuadorian fishing vessel called the San...

TRADE: EU AND U.S. MOVE AHEAD ON FARM TALKS.
August 1, 2003... by Stefania Bianchi BRUSSELS, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- The EU and the U.S. have taken cautious steps towards achieving a common ground on liberalizing global farm trade. The move is a last-ditch attempt to resolve the ongoing row over...

THAILAND: 'KING OF COMMERCIAL SEX' PUTS PREMIER IN HOT SEAT.
August 1, 2003... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Jul. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- Suddenly, the tough-talking prime minister of Thailand who has won public approval for his high-profile, populist campaigns - including the promise to be a crimebuster -- appears to be...

ENVIRONMENT: HIDDEN GM CROPS SOW FRESH DISPUTE.
August 4, 2003... by Ernesto Ferrini MILAN, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- The discovery of an undeclared plantation of genetically modified crops in Italy has given a new twist to the controversy over these crops. A routine inspection in the Piedmont region last...

POLITICS-YEMEN: EXTRADITION ORDER RAISES TENSIONS.
August 4, 2003... by Nabil Sultan SANA'A, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) - Tensions are rising over the decision by a Frankfurt court to extradite two Yemenis to the United States. The two, Mohammad Ali al-Moayyad and Mohsein Zaid have been sought by the U.S. as...

RIGHTS-INDIA: RELIGIOUS LEADERS WARY OF UNIFIED PERSONAL LAW.
August 4, 2003... by Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) - India's pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the pious intention of introducing uniform marriage, divorce and succession laws for this country of one billion people with different...

ECONOMY-ISRAEL: US EMBRACE TURNING PAINFUL.
August 4, 2003... by Ferry Biedermann JERUSALEM, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) - Israel's transition from a welfare state to market models closer to the U.S. economy is turning out to be a painful one. The single mothers in their colourful tents protesting against...

SOCIETY-MIDEAST: TILL ISRAELIS DO US PART.
August 4, 2003... by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Aug. 2 (IPS/GIN) - If Rawda Masarwa and her husband Khaled want to live together under the same roof like any regular married couple, they will either have to break the law or leave the country. If neither...

RELIGION-CANADA: VISA RESTRICTION UPSETS THE CHURCH.
August 4, 2003... by Joyce Mulama WINNIPEG, Aug. 2 (IPS/GIN) - Over 800 delegates, who attended a church conference in Canada, have begun returning home without the chance of meeting their 35 colleagues from Africa and Asia who were denied visa. The...

POLITICS-NEPAL: PEACE TALKS TO RESTART, MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN.
August 4, 2003... by Suman Pradhan KATHMANDU, Aug. 2 (IPS/GIN) - The stalled peace negotiations between Nepal's government and Maoist rebels are likely to restart again by mid-August, though where it will proceed from there is anybody's guess. Minister...

SOUTH AFRICA: ANC PLANS TO RENAME PRETORIA CITY FOR AFRICAN CHIEF.
August 4, 2003... By Gabriel Packard NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- South Africa's ruling ANC party plans to abolish the colonial name of the city Pretoria and rename it 'Tshwane' after a chief who ruled the area about 180 years ago, the city's mayor...

ENVIRONMENT: GLOBAL WARMING AFFECTS AFRICA MOST, SAYS STUDY.
August 4, 2003... y Gabriel Packard NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Even though Africa contributes least to the causes global warming, it is the inhabited continent that is being affected most, says a new study by the British Hadley Center. Scientists at...

AFRICA: TANZANIA UNIV TRAINS RATS TO SNIFF OUT LAND MINES.
August 4, 2003... By Gabriel Packard NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- At a Tanzanian university, African pouched rats are being trained to sniff out land mines and explosives, which can then be made safe by the rats's human handlers. After about five...

INDUSTRY: SOUTH AFRICAN WINE SET TO CHEER THE WORLD.
August 4, 2003... by Varsha Gupta D'Souza JOHANNESBURG Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- South African wine-makers are gearing up to give the French and Australians a taste of their own elixir. They are fast emerging in the forefront among key players armed with...

KENYA: BANKS TO START JOINT ATMS.
August 4, 2003... By Varsha Gupta d'Souza NAIROBI, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Medium and small size banks will introduce joint Automated Teller Machines (ATM) from September this year. The ATM facilities will be networked under the Kenswitch project, which is...

AFRICA: JAPAN GIVES $646,000 FOR COMPUTERIZED FINANCIAL SERVICES.
August 4, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza BANGUI, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Japan has given the Central African Republic (CAR) 49 computers and other equipment worth 388 million francs CFA ($646,000) to enable the government computerize its customs and tax...

GUATEMALA: EX-DICTATOR'S PRESIDENTIAL BID CHURNS UP OLD BITTERNESS.
August 4, 2003... by Jos Eduardo Mora SAN JOSE, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- The presidential candidacy of former Guatemalan dictator Efra!n R!os Montt (1982-1983) is adding fuel to the fire during the country's worst political crisis since the 36-year civil war...

ENVIRONMENT: GLOBAL MONITORING MUST LEAD TO ACTION, GROUPS SAY.
August 4, 2003... by Katrin Dauenhauer WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Observation of the environment must lead to action and individual countries must retain some control over global monitoring systems, environmental groups and developing nations told an...

POLITICS-U.S.: WHITE HOUSE DISCIPLINE BREAKING DOWN.
August 4, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- If foreign leaders and diplomats appear increasingly confused about where U.S. foreign policy is being made, they are not alone. From Qalqiya on the West Bank to Karbala in Iraq to...

U.S.: ACTIVISTS TO MARK HIROSHIMA WITH PROTESTS AGAINST BUSH NUKES.
August 4, 2003... by Mara Ginnane NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Peace activists country-wide will combine commemorations of the August 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with protests against the Bush administration's proposal to develop...

SOCIETY-CHILE: NO POOR WANTED IN ECO-COMMUNITY.
August 4, 2003... by Gustavo Gonz?lez SANTIAGO, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Residents of the exclusive Pe[currency]aloln Ecological Community in the Andean foothills of the Chilean capital's outskirts are refusing to accept the relocation of poor families to nearby...

REFUGEES-EUROPE: ITALY SEEKS TOUGHER MEASURES ON IMMIGRANTS.
August 4, 2003... by Ernesto Ferrini MILAN, Aug. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Italy has asked for long-term measures to deal with illegal immigration after another 200 migrants landed recently on the tiny island Lampedusa. The Italian island has become one of the...

IRAQ: SADDAM'S SONS AND DAUGHTERS STIR MIXED FEELINGS.
August 5, 2003... by Ferry Biedermann BAGHDAD, Aug. 5 (IPS\GIN) -- The divisions that have emerged in Iraq since the end of major fighting are reflected in the way people are reacting to the family of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. Many still...

CORRUPTION-SOUTH AFRICA: PROBE OF 'BRIBE' IN ARMS DEAL DIVIDES ANC.
August 5, 2003... by Anthony Stoppard JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 5 (IPS\GIN) -- After months of investigation, South Africans still don't know whether the country's deputy-president, Jacob Zuma, asked for a bribe in a multi-billion-dollar arms deal. The...

RIGHTS-INDIA: ACTIVISTS TARGETED FOR PHYSICAL ATTACKS AND ABUSE.
August 5, 2003... by Lalitha Sridhar CHENNAI, India, Aug. 5 (IPS\GIN) -- It was nine months ago that Aroyga Mary Lucia, a lawyer and 'dalit', low-caste Hindu activist, was assaulted in her house as she was preparing to take a 19-year-old rape victim for...

DEVELOPMENT: POOREST COUNTRIES TO SPEAK OUT AT WTO MEETING.
August 5, 2003... by Stefania Bianchi BRUSSELS, Aug. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Ministers from some of the world's poorest countries are determined to make their voices heard at next month's conference of the World Trade Organisation. Leaders from all over the...

RELIGION-MALAYSIA: THE DEBATE OVER SHARIA AND 'E-DIVORCE'.
August 5, 2003... by Mustafa Ali KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Ancient shariah laws and the emergence of modern mobile phone technology has sparked a fierce debate in Malaysia on how Islamic law should be enforced in marital affairs. Last month,...

RIGHTS: GAY ACTIVISTS SAY THE U.N. IGNORES THEIR RIGHTS.
August 5, 2003... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- The U.N. Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, remembers when participants at a major human rights conference decided in a rare political gesture to permit non-governmental...

POLITICS: ULTRA-RIGHT STATE DEPT. OFFICIAL CLASHES WITH PYONGYANG.
August 5, 2003... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- To the North Koreans, he is "rude human scum" and a "bloodthirsty vampire". To former right-wing U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, he is "the kind of man with whom I would want to stand at...

RIGHTS: ANTI-ABORTION DRIVE COULD IMPERIL WOMEN'S HEALTH.
August 5, 2003... by Ricardo Grassi ROME, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Women's health is threatened by an anti-abortion campaign by conservative Roman Catholic organizations in the United States, the policies of President George W. Bush and diplomatic efforts by the...

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: ACTIVISTS SAY MBEKI LAGS ON AIDS DRUGS.
August 5, 2003... by Anthony Stoppard JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 4 (IPS\GIN) -- President Thabo Mbeki is going too slow in tackling the AIDS epidemic, activists say. This year the government has earmarked an additional R3.3 billion ($440 million) for preventive...

CULTURE-MALAWI: THE LINK BETWEEN HUNGER AND UNDERAGE MARRIAGE.
August 5, 2003... by Brian Ligomeka BLANTYRE, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Vyalema Mwakasungura had always harbored one ambition: to become a nurse. Her love for nursing began when she was admitted to hospital in Katongo, northern Malawi, after spraining her...

POLITICS-AZERBAIJAN: AILING PRESIDENT'S SON IN LINE TO REPLACE HIM.
August 5, 2003... Analysis by Sergei Blagov MOSCOW, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Ilham Aliyev, son of ailing President Heidar Aliyev, was named prime minister of Azerbaijan Monday, putting him in line to succeed his father. That also makes Azerbaijan the first...

VIETNAM: MIGRANT WORKERS HAVE MUCH WORK, LITTLE PLAY.
August 5, 2003... by Tran Dinh Thanh Lam HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Truong Thi Thu, a migrant labourer at a shoe factory here, is one of its best workers and earns 930,000 Vietnamese dong ($60) a month, not bad for someone who left her...

INDUSTRY: SOUTH AFRICAN WINE SET TO CHEER THE WORLD.
August 5, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- South African wine-makers are gearing up to give the French and Australians a taste of their own elixir. They are fast emerging in the forefront among key players armed with unique...

KENYA: BANKS TO START JOINT ATMS.
August 5, 2003... NAIROBI, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Medium and small size banks will introduce joint Automated Teller Machines (ATM) from September this year. The ATM facilities will be networked under the Kenswitch project, which is being spearheaded by the...

AFRICA: JAPAN GIVES $646,000 TO COMPUTERIZE FINANCIAL SERVICES.
August 5, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza BANGUI, Aug. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Japan has given the Central African Republic (CAR) 49 computers and other equipment worth 388 million francs CFA ($646,000) to enable the government computerize its customs and tax...

DRUGS-THAILAND: BANGKOK OFFERS TO HELP KABUL'S ANTI-OPIUM FIGHT.
August 7, 2003... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- In Disnadda Diskul, Thailand has the perfect salesman to help Afghanistan wean its communities away from poppy cultivation. This week, he made his pitch to an official delegation...

INDUSTRY-INDONESIA: PALM OIL FIELDS OVERTAKE NOMADS' LANDS.
August 7, 2003... by Kafil Yamin JAMBI, Indonesia, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- Mugiono, head of the village of Tanjung Lebar, can recall a past when he and his people freely roamed the lush Sumatran forest in Indonesia. Today the Anak Dalam, a traditionally nomadic...

POLITICS-U.S.: PENTAGON OFFICE IS CENTER OF THE NEO-CON NETWORK.
August 7, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- An ad hoc office under U.S. Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith appears to have acted as the key base for an informal network of mostly neo-conservative political...

ECONOMY: SOUTH AFRICANS AMONG THE WORST SAVERS IN THE WORLD.
August 7, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza CAPE TOWN, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- Greater credit use and the rise in the net wealth of households relative to their income have been cited as the key reasons why South Africans are being classified among the worst...

AFRICA: ANGLO AMERICAN-KUMBA DEAL BAD FOR EMPOWERMENT.
August 7, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza PRETORIA, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- Approval of the proposed merger between the world's second-largest mining company Anglo American and South Africa's largest iron ore producer Kumba Resources is likely to hurt the...

AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN POORLY REPRESENTED IN MEDIA.
August 7, 2003... BY Varsha Gupta d'Souza JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- Black women account for 5 per cent of news sources in South Africa although they represent 45 percent of the population. The South Africa Gender and Media Baseline Study (GMBS)...

SOUTH AFRICA: BINATIONAL PARK TREATY A BOON FOR POOR COMMUNITIES.
August 7, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza PRETORIA, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- Destitute Nama communities living in and around the Namibian and South African Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park are set to reap the fruits of a treaty between the neighboring...

SOUTH AFRICA: MAXIMUM JOB LOSS IN FINANCIAL SECTOR.
August 7, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- As many as 36000 jobs were lost in the banking, insurance and real estate sectors in the last three months of last year, figures by Statistics South Africa show. Stats SA...

SOUTH AFRICA: EFFORTS TO TAKE TELECOMS TO POOR.
August 7, 2003... by Varsha Gupta d'Souza JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 7 (IPS/GIN) -- The government plans to take telecommunications to the poorest communities by handing out free SIM cards to about 4 million people. Cellphone operators Vodacom, MTN and Cell C...

BRAZIL: PENSION REFORM GAINS DESPITE PROTEST BY 50,000.
August 7, 2003... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- Although the Brazilian government of Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva scored a triumph Wednesday with the approval of its pension reform bill by the lower house of parliament, uncertainty...

VENEZUELA: CONGRESS AND HIGH COURT CLASH OVER ELECTORAL COUNCIL.
August 7, 2003... by Humberto M?rquez CARACAS, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- The struggle for power that has polarized Venezuelan society was revived this week when the Supreme Court threatened to designate a new Electoral Council, a task that constitutionally...

ETHIOPIA: ONLY DEVELOPMENT WILL HELP, AID AGENCIES SAY.
August 7, 2003... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- Aid to overcome Ethiopia's famine must be delivered along with a commitment to making the African nation strong enough to withstand such challenges in the future, leaders of U.S. aid groups said...

SECURITY: U.S. PLANS FOR NEW NUKES COULD SPUR ARMS RACE.
August 7, 2003... by Katrin Dauenhauer WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- Critics of the Bush administration's arms policies say this week's top-level meeting to discuss new nuclear weapons and a possible resumption of testing could lead to a renewal of the...

HEALTH-U.S.: SMOKELESS TOBACCO LAUNCHES NEW PRODUCT.
August 7, 2003... by Katherine Stapp NEW YORK, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- As proponents of anti-smoking rules rack up legislative victories in cities around the country, one tobacco company has come up with a smokeless product that promises the same nicotine hit...

PARAGUAY: 'THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE PECCARY'.
August 7, 2003... by Alejandro Sciscioli ASUNCION, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- The Totobiegosode Ayoreo are the last indigenous hunter-gatherers still living in near-total isolation south of the Amazon basin. But ethnographers, non-governmental organizations...

RIGHTS-CANADA: SUPREME COURT SEALS FILE IN 'TERROR' LAW CHALLENGE.
August 7, 2003... by Mark Bourrie* OTTAWA, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- The Supreme Court of Canada has sealed the file containing the legal arguments and details of the first challenge of the government's anti-terrorism laws to reach the high court. The case,...

POLITICS: PEACEKEEPERS TREAD CAREFULLY IN LIBERIAN CAPITAL.
August 7, 2003... by Lansana Fofana FREETOWN, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- West African peacekeepers, who deployed in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, this week, say they will start to enforce a cease-fire and clear the way for humanitarian aid soon. "My...

RIGHTS: LIGHT SENTENCE FOR EAST TIMOR GENERAL DEPLORED.
August 7, 2003... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- International human rights groups have denounced the three-year prison sentence announced Tuesday against the most senior military officer indicted by Indonesian prosecutors for alleged abuses...

GREECE-TURKEY: YOUTH LOOK FOR A WAY TO HEAL WOUNDS.
August 7, 2003... by Hilmi Toros KAYAKOY, Turkey, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- While their national leaders bicker, youth from Greece and Turkey linked hands at a unique cultural festival last weekend to find ways that could bring them together. This was the...

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS GROUP SETS UP FIRM TO SELL CHEAP DRUGS.
August 7, 2003... by Nawaal Deane DURBAN, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- AIDS activists have launched a new company to sell cheap anti-retroviral drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The company, known as the Generic Anti-retroviral Procurement...

TRADE-AFRICA: U.N. AGENCY SAYS GROWTH DEPENDS ON MARKET ACCESS.
August 7, 2003... Analysis by Farah Khan JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- As the world awaits the next round of trade talks in Cancun, Mexico next month, a U.N. agency has asserted that Africa would benefit far more from better access to European and U.S....

DEVELOPMENT-JAPAN: DEBATE RAGING ON REVISIONS TO AID POLICY.
August 8, 2003... TOKYO, Aug. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- A debate is raging over impending revisions to Japan's aid policy that would anchor it on national prosperity and the "national interest", an approach that critics say fail to plug long-term weaknesses of the...

IRAQ: SUNNIS FIND THE BACK SEAT UNCOMFORTABLE.
August 8, 2003... by Ferry Biedermann ARAB AL-JUBOURI, Iraq, Aug. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- What was Habib Ali Farhan's front door lies some 10 metres away from his house, a twisted and burnt sheet of metal. Ever since a raid by U.S. soldiers on his house in mid-July,...

HEALTH-BALKANS: WHEN AIDS CATCHES THEM YOUNG.
August 8, 2003... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Aug. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- Stanko is a lively boy from Belgrade, due to start his fifth grade of elementary school on Sep. 1. The fifth grade is a turning point for pupils. They get different teachers for new...

DEVELOPMENT-EGYPT: FARMERS PROGRESS TO THE PAST.
August 8, 2003... by Cam McGrath CAIRO, Aug. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- Egyptian farmers are switching back to the farming practices of their ancestors to cash in on the growing world demand for organic foods. A growing number of farmers in 130 countries have been...

HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA: SEX WORKERS JOIN EFFORTS TO CONTAIN AIDS.
August 8, 2003... by James Hall MBABANE, Aug. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- Commercial sex workers are not responsible for the rise in AIDS cases regionally, but their activities do contribute, and efforts to contain the spread of HIV now include members of the world's...

RELIGION-SRI LANKA: BUDDHIST TEMPLES GO DOWN DEVELOPMENT PATH.
August 8, 2003... by Kalinga Seneviratne EMBILIPITIYA, Sri Lanka, Aug. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- Dynamic Buddhist monks and progressive temple managements in this predominantly Buddhist country are getting more involved in more worldly concerns, by treading a new path...

MIDEAST: PALESTINIANS BITTER OVER RELEASE OF FEW PRISONERS.
August 8, 2003... by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Aug. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- It was meant to be a powerful confidence-building measure. But the release of 334 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails Aug. 6 achieved the opposite: it left Palestinians bitter over...

LIBERIA: 12-15,000 TROOPS NEEDED TO KEEP PEACE, SAYS U.N. OFFICIAL.
August 8, 2003... by Ushani Agalawatta UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 7 (IPS) -- As Nigerian peacekeeping troops trickle into Monrovia and U.N. humanitarian agencies plead for emergency aid for Liberia, non-governmental experts and U.N. officials insist the key to...

CUBA: EXILED OPPOSITION ACTIVIST HAS COME HOME TO STAY.
August 8, 2003... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Aug. 7 (IPS) -- The announcement Thursday by moderate Cuban exile leader Eloy Gutirrez Menoyo that he plans to stay in Cuba and fight for change from within apparently took both the government and dissident groups...

POLITICS-U.S.: ADMINISTRATION DEADLOCKED OVER IRAN.
August 8, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (IPS) -- Does the administration of President George W. Bush still consider al-Qaeda and its associates the main target in its almost three-year-old "war on terrorism", or has its military victory...

DEVELOPMENT: LANDLOCKED NATIONS TO MOVE UP ON THE GLOBAL AGENDA.
August 8, 2003... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 7 (IPS) -- Landlocked developing countries need an extra boost to overcome the challenge of doing business in an era of globalisation without sea access, a senior U.N. official told IPS ahead of a...

ECUADOR: INDIANS PULL OUT OF ALLIANCE, LEAVING GOV'T WEAK.
August 8, 2003... by Kintto Lucas QUITO, Aug. 7 (IPS) -- Ecuador's indigenous movement made good on its threat to pull out of the government of President Lucio Gutirrez, accusing him of turning his back on the leftist alliance that brought him to power, and...