Interpress Service articles from December 15 2005

Interpress Service archives from December 15 2005

LEBANON: AMBITIONS OF SYRIA, IRAN FUEL HEZBOLLAH'S POWER PUSH.
December 15, 2005... by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Dec. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- An Iranian and Syrian satellite, Hezbollah operating unfettered, and the Israeli army ceasing to patrol the south -- that is the fate Israeli leaders fear could befall Lebanon if...

LESOTHO: FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION HELPS BUILD UP A NATION.
December 15, 2005... by Ernest Chiombe MASERU, Dec. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Lineo was 15 in 1999 when she lost her father just as she was about to start school and just after her unemployed mother had become blind. Her dream of being educated and becoming a...

ASIA: JAPAN TURNS TO INDIA AS RELATIONS WITH CHINA REMAIN TENSE.
December 15, 2005... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Dec. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Fledgling relations between Japan and India were boosted by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's four-day visit here, which winds up on Friday. Singh's country is increasingly...

JAPAN: NEW BUSINESSES BLOSSOM UNDER WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS.
December 15, 2005... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Dec. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Growing numbers of Japanese women are starting their own businesses, applying their multitasking abilities to entrepreneurial endeavors. Rie Nakamura started her company in 2002...

LABOR-EGYPT: MASSIVE TEXTILE WORKERS' REVOLT PAYS OFF.
December 15, 2005... by Emad Mekay MAHALA EL-KOBRA, Egypt, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- More than 20,000 Egyptian textile workers have scored a rare win over plans to privatize their publicly owned company, with a massive strike that forced the company's...

RIGHTS-INDIA: JOB-GUARANTEE PLAN UPSETS RURAL PECKING ORDER.
December 15, 2005... by Kiran Bhatty HARDOI, Uttar Pradesh, Dec. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- A new law guaranteeing rural employment may be changing centuries-old power relations in India's villages. Dirt-poor villagers, denied work or cheated, have dared defy local...

POLITICS-U.S.: REPORTER SUBPOENAED IN WAR RESISTER'S ARMY TRIAL.
December 15, 2005... by Aaron Glantz SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The U.S. military subpoenaed an independent journalist Thursday, demanding she testify as a witness for the prosecution of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to be...

VENEZUELA: CASE CLOSED AGAINST PROSECUTOR'S ACCUSED KILLERS.
December 15, 2005... by Humberto M rquez CARACAS, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Venezuela's top prosecutor said he is closing the case into the assassination of prosecutor Danilo Anderson, the highest-profile murder case in Venezuela in years. Attorney...

CHALLENGES 2007: TOGO AND BENIN END THE YEAR IN DARKNESS.
December 15, 2005... by Nol Kokou Tadgnon LOME, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- For the neighboring West African nations of Togo and Benin, most of the past year has been plagued by power cuts that have been an inconvenience at best -- and a source of financial...

GUATEMALA: A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR GENOCIDE VICTIMS' FAMILIES.
December 15, 2005... by Paco Ficentsn* GUATEMALA CITY, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- One morning in 1982 the Guatemalan army descended on Pedro Santiago's village and started shooting anything that moved. Santiago, a member of the Ixil indigenous community, was...

POLITICS: NEW U.N. CHIEF VOWS HIGH ETHICAL STANDARDS.
December 15, 2005... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Incoming U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who took his oath of office before the 192-member General Assembly on Thursday, vowed to set "the highest ethical standards" in a world...

POLITICS-U.S.: LOSING ARAB ALLIES' HEARTS AND MINDS.
December 15, 2005... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Attitudes toward the United States reached new lows through most of the Arab world over the past year, according to the findings of a major new survey of five Arab countries released here...

CHALLENGES 2007: MALAWI'S MOTHERS WEEP FOR THEIR LOST BABIES.
December 15, 2005... by Pilirani Semu-Banda BLANTYRE, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Looking at Patience Ziyenda, 37, one would say that she is a jovial woman. But deep inside, Patience is sad. She lost three children under the age of 5 within a period of six...

CUBA: CHE'S DAUGHTER'S REVOLUTION IS FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH.
December 15, 2005... by Francesca Colombo for Tierramrica* MILAN, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Aleida Guevara March has the eyes of her famous father, the revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara. She speaks energetically, as if she is attempting to persuade a...

BALKANS: WESTERN-STYLE DEBT STALKS NEW CLASS OF CONSUMERS.
December 15, 2005... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- "You cannot put off the coming holidays until next spring, but you can put off your debts," one bank invites its customers in an advertisement. The bank offers to consolidate...

IRAQ: U.S. TROOPS RAID FALLUJAH HOSPITAL AGAIN IN SNIPER SEARCH.
December 15, 2005... by Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily FALLUJAH, Iraq, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Iraqi doctors and medical staff are outraged over yet another U.S. military raid at Fallujah General Hospital. The raid followed a roadside bombing Dec. 7 in...

PERU: COMPANY OFFERS BAND-AID SOLUTIONS TO TOWN IT POLLUTES.
December 15, 2005... by Milagros Salazar LA OROYA, Peru, Dec. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In this mining town in Peru's Andean highlands, there is a shelter, but not for the victims of a war. The only bombardment comes from toxic emissions that have already done...