Interpress Service articles from December 2006

Interpress Service archives from December 2006

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: 'NO PLACE SEEMS SAFE,' SAYS KIDNAPPED REPORTER.
December 1, 2006... by Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- "I just reported the truth," 38-year-old Dilawar Wazir Khan says wearily, explaining to IPS over the telephone why he was kidnapped and tortured. The last journalist left reporting...

POLITICS-U.S.: BUSH BACKS OFF ON STRONG-ARM FOREIGN POLICY.
December 1, 2006... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In a new sign of a growing pragmatism in U.S. foreign policy, President Bush this week waived congressional restrictions on economic aid for countries that have refused to sign bilateral...

TRADE-INDIA: WAL-MART GETS A FOOT IN THE DOOR.
December 1, 2006... by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta NEW DELHI, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's decision this week to allow Wal-Mart into India's closed retail market has met opposition from not only the...

WORLD AIDS DAY: DEMOCRATS CHALLENGE ABSTINENCE-ONLY FUNDING.
December 1, 2006... by Haider Rizvi NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- While there is no indication the George W. Bush administration is willing to roll back its restrictions on funding for HIV/AIDS, it may find it difficult to maintain the status quo when...

ARTS-CHILE: PHOTO EXHIBIT CAPTURES THE SOUL OF AFGHANISTAN.
December 1, 2006... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- An Afghani woman, swathed in traditional Muslim attire, stands halfway down a stairway, her arms crossed and her head slightly bowed. She is alone, inside an old, dark building, lit...

WORLD AIDS DAY: KENYA FAILS ITS HIV-POSITIVE CHILDREN - ACTIVISTS.
December 1, 2006... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Children with HIV/AIDS aren't getting the support they need in Kenya, AIDS activists say as the country marks World AIDS Day Dec. 1. "The country and the world at large have shown...

WORLD AIDS DAY: FREE ARVs COULD SAVE THOUSANDS IN BURKINA FASO.
December 1, 2006... by Tiego Tiemtor OUAGADOUGOU, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Free treatment of HIV/AIDS is not yet available in Burkina Faso, even though dire poverty puts even subsidized care out of the reach of many. According to the Joint United...

WORLD AIDS DAY: THE COURAGE OF ONE LITTLE GIRL IN MOZAMBIQUE.
December 1, 2006... by Ruth Ansah Ayisi MAPUTO, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Dressed in jeans and a sweater, Julia* watches cautiously as her mother talks on her behalf. But as the interview proceeds, she gains confidence and begins to speak for herself. ...

WORLD AIDS DAY: ON THE PROWL WITH THE VACCINE HUNTERS.
December 1, 2006... by Katherine Stapp NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Smallpox, polio and a host of other contagious, often fatal diseases have been stopped in their tracks by simple vaccines. More than two decades into the quest to untangle the secrets...

BRAZIL: THE CASE FOR PRESERVING DIFFERENT CULTURES.
December 1, 2006... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Preserving cultural diversity is more important than ever now that the world is becoming more homogenous, experts at the World Cultural Forum here said. The tension between...

POLITICS-U.S.: BIRTH CONTROL FOE TO HEAD FEDERAL FAMILY PLANNING.
December 1, 2006... by Haider Rizvi NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Women's groups, health advocacy organizations and 21 members of Congress are strongly lobbying against the recent appointment of an anti-birth control activist as head of the nation's...

MEXICO: WILL CALDER N TAKE ON THE VESTED BUSINESS INTERESTS?
December 1, 2006... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In Mexico no single party has a monopoly on political power anymore. But a small group of companies and trade unions continue to reap privileges from their ties with the government....

ENVIRONMENT: WARMING COULD CUT MARCH OF THE PENGUINS SHORT.
December 1, 2006... by Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Ice-loving penguins have never been more popular, but few people realize they are threatened with extinction from climate change and industrial fishing. The loveable stars...

RIGHTS-BURMA: JUNTA SHUTTERS INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS OFFICES.
December 1, 2006... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Anxious as they are to avoid a showdown at the United Nations Security Council over its human rights record, Burma's military rulers continue a well-entrenched habit of shooting...

RIGHTS-RUSSIA: TORTURE 'SYSTEMATIC, WIDESPREAD' IN CHECHNYA.
December 1, 2006... by Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Three human rights organizations have said that abductions and torture are rampant in Chechnya despite the relative calm. The organizations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty...

WORLD AIDS DAY: HIV RATE CUT IN HALF, BUT NOT FOR HAITI'S WOMEN.
December 1, 2006... by Amy Bracken PORT-AU-PRINCE, Nov. 30, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- For a rare dose of optimism, stop by the oldest private HIV research center in the world. Fight your way through the chaotic, filthy streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, through a...

VENEZUELA: CHAVEZ WINS IN LANDSLIDE, PROMISES NEW SOCIALIST ERA.
December 4, 2006... by Humberto M rquez CARACAS, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Immediately after his landslide victory Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Ch vez announced the start of a new socialist era for the country. With 78 percent of the voting stations...

WOMEN-IRAN: ACTIVISTS WORK TO STOP STATE-SANCTIONED STONING.
December 4, 2006... by Kimia Sanati TEHRAN, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- A group of lawyers and women's rights activists are working to have the law allowing execution by stoning abolished from the Islamic Penal Code, arguing it is applied unfairly against...

POLITICS-FIJI: FEARS OF COUP INTENSIFY AS ARMY DISARMS POLICE.
December 4, 2006... by Shailendra Singh SUVA, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Fears of an impending military coup in Fiji intensified on Monday after the army raided police armories and set up roadblocks in the capital. Heavily armed soldiers first took control...

MEDIA-AFRICA: BATTLE FOR THE EAR OF AFRICA GOES DIGITAL.
December 4, 2006... by Petar Hadji-Ristic BERLIN, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Broadcasters from across Africa will gather in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, this week to hear new proposals to bring digital sound to their hundreds of millions of listeners. The...

IRAQ: EVEN SADR CITY SHIAS LOSE FAITH IN SHIA-LED GOVERNMENT.
December 4, 2006... by Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily BAGHDAD, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The noisy demonstration that greeted Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki on his visit to Sadr City last week was more than just a protest. It meant that the leader of a...

TURKEY: POPE FACES MECCA TO PRAY IN GESTURE OF CONCILIATION.
December 4, 2006... Analysis by Hilmi Toros ISTANBUL, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Despite controversy and fears for his safety, the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to a Muslim nation ended with a series of conciliatory gestures toward Islam and toward Turkey....

INDIA: MOSQUITOES FLOURISH WHEN POLLUTION DEGRADES ECOLOGY.
December 4, 2006... by Archna Devraj/IFEJ* CHERTHALA, Kerala, India, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The deaths of 125 people from an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease chikungunya has been a reality check for people in the southern Indian state of Kerla, whose...

SOUTH AFRICA: SAME-SEX MARITAL BLISS AMIDST ANTI-GAY PREJUDICE.
December 4, 2006... by Christi van der Westhuizen JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 3, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Resplendent in a tailored suit in brilliant white, Bongani* alighted from a white Mercedes Benz adorned with golden ribbons. By his side appeared Sipho* in a black suit...

SOUTHERN AFRICA: UNITED BY A MIGHTY RIVER, DIVIDED BY POLITICS.
December 4, 2006... by Thessa Bos CAPE TOWN, Dec. 2, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The recent conference on the Zambezi River Basin saw many good intentions expressed served as a reminder of the persistent weak cooperation between Southern African states. At the...

CHILE: MAPUCHES TRY TO KEEP AIRPORT PLANS FROM TAKING OFF.
December 4, 2006... by Daniela Estrada/ Tierramrica * SANTIAGO, Dec. 2, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The Chilean government wants the inauguration of the future international airport in the Araucan a region to mark the country's bicentennial in 2010. But some 500...

AFGHANISTAN: WHAT WAR DOES TONY BLAIR THINK HE'S WINNING?
December 4, 2006... by Saeed Zabuli - Pajhwok Afghan News* KABUL, Dec. 2, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair's surprising claim that NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) troops are "winning" the military mission against the Taliban...

CAMEROON: WESTERN FOOD IMPORTS STARVING OUT FARMERS -- NGOs.
December 4, 2006... by Sylvestre Tetchiada YAOUNDE, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Cameroonian activists are expressing concern that trade liberalization will decimate the Central African country's food industry. Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between...

TRADE: U.S. BUSINESS FIGHTS CURBS ON EXPORTS TO CHINA.
December 4, 2006... by Emad Mekay CAIRO, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Several U.S. business groups are opposing a proposed regulation that would place further export controls on China for fear that Beijing will use U.S. technology to modernize its military. The...

EGYPT: WEARING OF MUSLIM HEADSCARVES WRAPPED IN CONTROVERSY.
December 4, 2006... by Adam Morrow CAIRO, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Culture Minister Farouk Hosni's comment last week that the rising number of Egyptian women wearing the Islamic headscarf is a sign of social "regression" provoked outrage, particularly among...

WORLD AIDS DAY: BUREAUCRACY DELAYS TREATMENT IN RUSSIA.
December 4, 2006... by Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The budget for treatment of HIV and AIDS has been doubled in Russia, but patients are complaining they still do not have access to adequate treatment. Chief epidemiologist...

CUBA: WITH FIDEL AILING, RAUL PLANS BIG SHOW OF WEAPONRY.
December 4, 2006... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Part of the military arsenal that Cuba was forced to reconvert after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the island nation's main supplier, will be exhibited Saturday in Havana on...

ELECTIONS-VENEZUELA: TWO CANDIDATES ARE A STUDY IN CONTRASTS.
December 4, 2006... Analysis by Humberto M rquez CARACAS, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The contrasting styles of Hugo Ch vez, the retired army officer seeking reelection to the presidency in Venezuela, and opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, a teacher, reflect...

SOUTH PACIFIC: REGION BRACING FOR FIJI'S PLANNED MILITARY COUP.
December 4, 2006... by Neena Bhandari SYDNEY, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- A crisis loomed in the South Pacific as a 24-hour deadline for a military takeover from the democratically elected government in Fiji passed Friday afternoon. As the military's coup...

UKRAINE: SPOILS OF THE ORANGE REVOLUTION GO TO THE LOSERS.
December 4, 2006... by Zolt n Dujisin BUDAPEST, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Following the second anniversary of the "orange revolution," a popular uprising against election-rigging that rewarded pro-Western forces, the man who was ousted has returned to...

MIDEAST: PEACE MORE LIKELY IF ROADBLOCKS END, PALESTINIAN SAYS.
December 4, 2006... by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Sufyan Abu Zayda has seen too many broken ceasefires and heard too many unfulfilled speeches about peace and reconciliation to allow himself to enthuse about the latest...

HEALTH-CUBA: HAVANA GIVES VACCINE INDUSTRY A SHOT IN THE ARM.
December 4, 2006... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Dec. 1, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Cuba has launched full-tilt into the vaccine industry to compete on the international market with its products, some of which are unique. Cuban scientists are devoting themselves to...

COLOMBIA: AGRIBUSINESS TRICKED BLACKS OUT OF LAND - REPORT.
December 5, 2006... by Helda Mart nez BOGOTA, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The Colombian government is stepping up production of biofuels in a process tainted by the four-decade civil war and reported human rights violations and environmental degradation. ...

EUROPE: NORWAY LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST CLUSTER BOMBS.
December 5, 2006... by Tarjei Kidd Olsen OSLO, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Following the breakdown of U.N. negotiations, Norway is launching its own push to ban cluster bombs. The country is hoping to repeat the unprecedented success of the anti-landmine...

TURKEY: CYPRUS IMPASSE SLOWS, IF NOT STALLS, EU ACCESSION TALKS.
December 5, 2006... Analysis by Hilmi Toros ISTANBUL, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Talks to make Turkey the first Muslim nation in the European Union are heading toward a breakdown. The likelihood is growing that Turkey, which became an associate member of the...

IRAQ: POST-INVASION REGIME PUSHES WOMEN BACK UNDER THE SCARF.
December 5, 2006... by Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Iraq, once one of the best countries for women's rights in the Middle East, has now become an increasingly fundamentalist country where women fear for their lives. Iraqi...

POLITICS-FIJI: CONFUSION REIGNS AS MILITARY DECLARES COUP.
December 5, 2006... by Shailendra Singh SUVA, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Confusion reigned in Fiji on Tuesday, as the military announced a coup and said it had detained Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. President Ratu Josefa Iloilo refused to endorse the actions...

THAILAND: MUSLIM-MALAY MILITANTS BOLDER AFTER THE COUP.
December 5, 2006... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- A month after he launched a peace offensive to win the hearts of the country's Malay-Muslim minority in the south, Thailand's military-appointed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont...

VIETNAM: HEALTH OFFICIALS KEEP THEIR GUARD UP AGAINST BIRD FLU.
December 5, 2006... by Sonny Inbaraj HANOI, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- For poultry farmer Tuan Thom, the onset of winter calls for extra vigilance against bird flu. And he is not letting his guard down, even though avian influenza has claimed no human victim...

POLITICS-CANADA: LIBERAL PARTY ANOINTS SAFE CHOICE AS LEADER.
December 5, 2006... Analysis by Am Johal VANCOUVER, Dec 3 (IPS/GIN) -- Stephane Dion, a bookish political science professor, walked away from Canada's Liberal Party convention as the leader of his party after a lengthy year-long battle reminiscent of the 1968...

POLITICS: U.S. ENVOY'S ABRASIVENESS TANKED IN DIPLOMATIC WORLD.
December 5, 2006... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- As one critic mockingly remarked, the outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton would have done better as an architect or an urban planner than an international...

ENVIRONMENT: LATIN AMERICA UNITES TO PROTECT WHALES.
December 5, 2006... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Twelve Latin American countries have joined to discuss a regional agreement for protecting whales and dolphins from commercial hunting and lethal scientific research. Civil...

RIGHTS-U.S.: BUSH PUSHES TO LIMIT LAWYERS' ACCESS TO GUANTANAMO.
December 5, 2006... by William Fisher NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- As the impending new Democratic Party majority in Congress considers whether to revisit the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), the administration of President George W. Bush is...

EL SALVADOR: COOP'S COFFEE BEANS MAKE A DARN GOOD CUP OF JOE.
December 5, 2006... by Ra[pounds sterling]l Gutirrez COMASAGUA, El Salvador, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- While most traditional Salvadoran coffee growers are facing an economic crisis, a coffee-growing cooperative high in the mountains is finding a gourmet...

POLITICS-U.S.: HAWKS LOSE ANOTHER ONE AS BOLTON RESIGNS U.N. POST.
December 5, 2006... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In a new blow to the dwindling number of hawks in top administration positions, President Bush on Monday accepted the resignation of his ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. ...

POLITICS-U.S.: EVANGELICALS LOST SOME CLOUT IN MID-TERM ELECTION.
December 5, 2006... Analysis by Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- Top-shelf conservative Christian evangelicals, Republican political leaders and a host of right-wing pundits, columnists and radio and television talk show hosts have just...

AFRICA: KENYA STEAMS AHEAD TO HARNESS GEOTHERMAL POWER.
December 5, 2006... by Wanjohi Kabukuru/IFEJ * NAIROBI, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The 12th session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change came to an end in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, recently with little...

POLITICS-U.S.: RICE'S IRAN STRATEGY FIZZLES; CHENEY WAITS IN WINGS.
December 5, 2006... Analysis by Gareth Porter WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's months-long diplomatic effort to get five other powers to agree to a tough United Nations Security Council resolution on sanctions...

HEALTH: MALARIA GOAL - A VACCINE BY 2015, A BETTER ONE BY 2025.
December 6, 2006... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The push for an immunization against malaria received a shot in the arm this week as leading health experts unveiled the blueprint for a preventive vaccine. But the architects...

MOLDOVA: BREAKAWAY REGION PREPARES TO REELECT A DICTATOR.
December 6, 2006... by Zolt n Dujisin BUDAPEST, Dec. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- President Igor Smirnov appears likely to win reelection Sunday in Transnistria, a ghost state still officially considered part of the Republic of Moldova. One year after its independence...

IRAQ: A KNOCK ON THE DOOR, A CALL, AND DOCTOR KNOWS HE MUST GO.
December 6, 2006... by Mohammed A. Salih ARBIL, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The call from his mother changed Dr. Harb Zakko's life. "Someone has been calling me to open the door, saying he has something for you," his mother said. Soon after, someone called...

VENEZUELA: OPPOSITION FEELS MORE EMPOWERED TO TACKLE CHAVEZ.
December 6, 2006... by Humberto M rquez CARACAS, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Although Hugo Ch vez easily won reelection in Venezuela's presidential elections, the election showed the opposition vote is growing and maturing. Ch vez took 61 percent of the...

PAKISTAN: 'WAR ON TERROR' CALLED AN EXCUSE FOR DISAPPEARANCES.
December 6, 2006... by Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- "A taste of their own medicine would be the best punishment for these people," says Mohammad Atif, 23, when asked how agents of the state who kidnapped and detained him for two years...

CHALLENGES 2007: WOULD DENG AGREE WITH CHINA'S INT'L ASPIRATIONS?
December 6, 2006... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- If 2006 established China firmly as the world's fourth-largest economy, it also delivered Beijing the means to move past the late Deng Xiaoping's maxim that the communist country...

FIJI: COUP BRINGS INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION; U.S. SUSPENDS AID.
December 6, 2006... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The United Nations has warned that Tuesday's military coup in Fiji -- the fourth in the last two decades -- could jeopardize the status of that country's troops in U.N. peacekeeping...

POLITICS-U.S.: NEO-CONS MOVE TO PREEMPT BAKER'S IRAQ REPORT.
December 6, 2006... Analysis by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- To have read the neo-conservative press here over the past month, one would think that former Secretary of State James Baker poses the biggest threat to the United States and...

CHILE: PINOCHET'S HEART ATTACK - MIRACULOUS RECOVERY, OR RUSE?
December 6, 2006... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Just two days after an accumulation of liquid in his lungs, a major heart attack and emergency angioplasty, 91-year-old former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), who is...

IVORY COAST: BILL COMES DUE FOR REBEL-PROMISED FREE UTILITIES.
December 6, 2006... by Aly Ouattara KORHOGO, Northern Ivory Coast, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- For the past four years, free water and electricity have been supplied to citizens in northern Ivory Coast, an area under rebel control. But the free ride may be...

LATIN AMERICA: DEVELOPMENT BYPASSES INDIGENOUS PEOPLES - ECLAC.
December 6, 2006... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- For the first time ever, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has devoted a chapter to indigenous peoples in its annual Social Panorama report on the...

CHALLENGES 2007: U.S. UNLIKELY TO SENTENCE SOLDIERS TO DEATH.
December 6, 2006... by Mark Weisenmiller TAMPA, Fla, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The final month of 2006 will be one to remember because the first two -- of perhaps many -- U.S. Army servicemen will face charges that can carry the death penalty for crimes...

CARIBBEAN: OLD BANANA TRADE BEEFS TO RESURFACE AT ACP MEET.
December 6, 2006... by Peter Richards PORT OF SPAIN, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Leaders at the two-day summit of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group starting Thursday in Sudan are expected to discuss a proposed Economic Partnership Agreement with...

FIJI: NEWSPAPER, TV STATION SHUT DOWN TO PROTEST COUP GAG ORDERS.
December 6, 2006... by Shailendra Singh SUVA, Dec. 5, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Fiji's leading daily newspaper and sole television station have suspended operations after attempts to censor their news by the military, which seized control of the country on Tuesday,...

ICELAND: ACTIVISTS HOPE TO FOIL ALUMINUM INDUSTRY EXPANSIONS.
December 6, 2006... by Lowana Veal REYKJAVIK, Dec. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Nature conservationists are becoming increasingly concerned that Iceland will soon have more aluminum plants than it can handle and will violate the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions....

PORTUGAL: MICROCREDIT HELPS MIGRANTS START ANEW.
December 7, 2006... by Mario de Queiroz LISBON, Dec. 7, 2006 (IPS/GIN) Microfinance is growing in Portugal, with as much money loaned to small business enterprises this year as in the previous five years combined. Since 1999, micro-businesses have been...

AFGHANISTAN: HOW ABOUT TRYING A NON-MILITARY SOLUTION?
December 7, 2006... Commentary by Dad Noorani - The Killid Group* KABUL, Dec. 7, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- NATO's struggle to defeat a rising insurgency in south and southeast Afghanistan along with its failure to secure additional troops at its summit in Riga is...

IRAQ: WIDOWS LEFT TO PICK UP THE PIECES WITH LITTLE OUTSIDE HELP.
December 7, 2006... by Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily BAGHDAD, Dec. 7, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Hundreds of thousands of widows are yet another tragedy of a country sliding deeper into chaos by the day. Decades of violence have left more than a million men dead,...

INDIA: SINCE WHEN DOES THE LEFT SEIZE LAND FOR PRIVATE FACTORY?
December 7, 2006... Analysis by Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Dec. 7, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- India's mainstream left parties, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), are getting into an ugly confrontation with civil society groups and classes over...

POLITICS-FIJI: COUP TURNED MILITARY HERO INTO POLITICAL VILLAIN.
December 7, 2006... Analysis by Shailendra Singh SUVA, Dec. 7, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Fiji's military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, is being fiercely criticized for taking over the government in a coup Tuesday. His stated vision of a multi-racial...

POLITICS-U.S.: IRAQ PANEL FINDS 79 WAYS TO IMPROVE BAD SITUATION.
December 7, 2006... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Calling the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating," the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG) Wednesday urged a major overhaul of U.S. policies both in Iraq and the larger Middle East. ...

SOUTH AMERICA: WORK ON ANDEAN GOLD MINE TEMPORARILY HALTED.
December 7, 2006... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Work on the massive Pascua Lama gold mine high up in the Andes Mountains appeared to have slowed or stopped in recent weeks, according to local farmers, but the mining company says it...

DEVELOPMENT: ACP STATES FEELING PINCH OF 2007 TRADE DEADLINE.
December 7, 2006... by Noel King KHARTOUM, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The fifth summit of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States will kick off on Thursday in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, amidst fierce speculation over the fate of trade...

BULGARIA: OLD COMMUNIST SECRET SERVICE'S SECRETS WILL BE OUT.
December 7, 2006... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The Bulgarian parliament finally adopted a much-delayed law Wednesday to open most of the archives of the country's former communist secret services. The names of thousands of...

DEATH PENALTY-U.S.: NEW JERSEY PANEL MULLS CURBING EXECUTIONS.
December 7, 2006... by Michael Deibert NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- When Lorry Post's daughter was murdered in 1989, Post did not want to see his daughter's murderer executed, but to spend the rest of his life behind bars. "Lisa loved people, she...

ENVIRONMENT: SOUTH AMERICA'S FORGOTTEN GRASSLANDS.
December 7, 2006... by Pablo D'Atri - IPS/IFEJ * SANTA ROSA, Argentina, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Grasslands provide humanity with "environmental services" worth billions of dollars a year. But only 0.7 percent of the world's grasslands -- and only 0.3...

BRAZIL: THE 'MASSACRE OF A GENERATION' BY FOREIGN-MADE GUNS.
December 7, 2006... by Tarjei Kidd Olsen OSLO, Dec. 6, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Many of the weapons that give Brazil the world's highest gun death rate outside of conflict are foreign-made and traceable, reveals a new report by Norwegian and Brazilian organizations....

HEALTH-ITALY: BILL WOULD LEGALIZE MEDICINAL USE OF MARIJUANA.
December 8, 2006... by Francesca Colombo/ Tierramrica * MILAN, Dec. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In Italy only 10 people are authorized to use marijuana as therapy against pain. But that number could grow in the coming months if parliament approves a law allowing use...

ASIA: CHINA WORRIES JAPAN WILL JOIN REGIONAL NUCLEAR ARMS RACE.
December 8, 2006... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Dec. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- China's concerns about a nuclear arms race in East Asia are beginning to override Beijing's long-term worry of seeing a collapsed state on its border, according to analysts and...

INDIA: FOREST, DESERT DWELLERS TAKE WAR ON EVICTIONS TO DELHI.
December 8, 2006... by Bharat Dogra /IFEJ * DUNGARPUR, Rajasthan, Dec. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The dusty road in India's desert state of Rajasthan leads to a pond surrounded with pleasant greenery. The nearby village has a remarkably large number of trees that...

FINANCE-ANALYSIS: IS THE IMF IRREDEEMABLY IRRELEVANT?
December 8, 2006... Analysis by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta NEW DELHI, Dec. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The relevance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is being questioned more than six decades after its founding, with critics asking whether the fund meant to...