Interpress Service articles from February 2003

Interpress Service archives from February 2003

RIGHTS-NIGERIA: RESCUE WORKERS STILL SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS.
February 3, 2003... By Toye Olori LAGOS, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- Rescue workers were still digging today into the rubble of a four-story building in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, where a weekend blast left 22 people dead and hundreds injured. Several...

POLITICS-TURKEY: PREPARING FOR WAR, RELUCTANTLY.
February 3, 2003... by Hilmi Toros ISTANBUL, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- Turkey is speeding up its war preparations for fear that sitting out a U.S.-led military strike against Iraq may prove more costly than active involvement. Turkey's motives are far different...

POLITICS-AUSTRALIA: GOV'T DRAWS FIRE OVER PEOPLE SMUGGLER CASE.
February 3, 2003... by Bob Burton CANBERRA, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- The Australian government will face tough questioning when parliament reconvenes tomorrow, following comments by an Indonesian official that there "is no official interest" by Australia in...

SRI LANKA: ACTIVISTS WANT RIGHTS ISSUES HIGHER UP IN TALKS.
February 3, 2003... by Feizal Samath COLOMBO, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- Sri Lanka's peace talks, now entering its sixth month, could lose credibility unless human rights issues are pushed even higher up at the top of the agenda, rights activists here warn "Unless...

POLITICS: SOUTH KOREA-U.S. RIFT DEEPENS AS NUKE ACTIVITY PICKS UP.
February 3, 2003... by Tim Shorrock WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- The news last week that U.S. intelligence satellites had picked up signs of intense activity around North Korea's nuclear power plant at Yongbyon has ratcheted up the U.S. standoff with Pyongyang...

MALAYSIA: ANTI-WAR CALLS SHOW DOUBLE STANDARDS - CRITICS.
February 3, 2003... by Anil Netto PENANG, Malaysia, Feb. 2 (IPS) -- A government-backed movement is mobilizing hundreds of groups and thousands of Malaysians to oppose war in Iraq, but strangely missing from its ranks are civil society groups expected to be...

KENYA: WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAMS EXCEL IN A FORMER MALE PRESERVE.
February 3, 2003... By Fredrick Nzwili NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb. 3 (WOMENSENEWS) -- It's a weekend afternoon and the mood is ecstatic in a soccer field in Pangani, a middle-class estate in Nairobi. A women's tournament is on and, every time Mary Adhiambo touches...

MEDIA: WOMEN'S MEDIA TRANSFORMED BY INTERNET.
February 3, 2003... By Sheila Gibbons NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (WOMENSENEWS) -- In the field of feminist periodicals, the news is both happy and sad. As some publications of the modern feminist era sign off, new ones appear, most often on the Internet, where their...

U.S.-RIGHTS: EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION UPHELD IN WIFE-BEATING CASE.
February 3, 2003... By Dakota Smith NEW YORK, Feb> 3 (WOMENSENEWS) -- Legal experts in New York are celebrating a higher court ruling that may affect how equitable distribution is decided in cases involving marital violence. In the first ruling of its...

MEDIA-U.S.: WRITER INGRID FORMANEK IN SECOND IRAQI TOUR.
February 3, 2003... By Rebecca Vesely NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (WOMENSENEWS) -- Growing up in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, Ingrid Formanek loved listening to Voice of America and learning about the world through the news. She knew at an early age that she wanted to...

U.S.-LABOR: EXECS AWARE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COSTS.
February 3, 2003... By Julie Leupold NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (WOMENSENEWS) -- Nine in ten senior executives from Fortune 1,000 companies believe that domestic violence affects both the private lives and working lives of employees, but only 12 percent of them are...

INDONESIA: HIGH PROFITS SPUR TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES.
February 4, 2003... by Kafil Yamin JAKARTA, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- The market is dirty, chaotic and reeks of wildlife. Called the Pramuka pet market, its bazaar-like atmosphere, punctuated by the calls of creatures in distress, camouflage the fact that this untidy...

DEVELOPMENT-JAPAN: 'PEACE DIPLOMACY' ALTERS ASSISTANCE GOALS.
February 4, 2003... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi's visit to conflict areas in Sri Lanka at the start of the year says volumes about the major changes under way in the country's traditional policy on...

POLITICS-SOUTH ASIA: SNAKE CHARMERS WITH IMMIGRATION WOES.
February 4, 2003... by Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- The immediate fate of a group of 213 stranded snake charmers may determine the future of India's new policy of deporting illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, who cross the border in large numbers...

FINANCE: CORPORATIONS SAID TO EYE WATER PRIVATIZATION IN U.S.
February 4, 2003... by Marty Logan MONTREAL, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- The multinational companies that have privatized public water systems in developing countries in the past dozen years are now eying nations like the United States, where they believe their profits...

POLITICS-U.S.: BUSH LINKS FOREIGN AID TO 'WAR ON TERROR'.
February 4, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- President George W. Bush today unveiled a proposed increase in foreign aid in the 2004 budget, with most of the raise going to countries that have joined Washington in its self-styled "war on...

POLITICS: OPIUM TRADE THRIVES IN 'NEW' AFGHANISTAN, U.N. SAYS.
February 4, 2003... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- Despite the establishment of a new government and the presence of a 4,800-strong international peacekeeping force in Kabul, the cultivation of opium is increasing in Afghanistan, a new U.N....

VENEZUELA: A RETURN TO NORMAL AS STOPPAGE FADES.
February 4, 2003... by Humberto Marquez CARACAS, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- The two-month strike/walkout against President Hugo Chavez appears to be losing steam, and the opposition has turned to collecting signatures for a series of referendums for early elections....

ECONOMY-CANADA: JOBLESS PROGRAM HURTS WOMEN, LAWYER SAYS.
February 4, 2003... by Paul Weinberg TORONTO, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- Women like Kelly Lesiuk who work part-time and have young children are not getting equal treatment under Canada's jobless benefits scheme, according to lawyer Byron Williams. The attorney is...

COLOMBIA: COFFEE CRISIS BLAMED ON SHIFT TO ASIA.
February 4, 2003... by Yadira Ferrer BOGOTA, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- The volume of Colombia's coffee exports grew 3 percent in 2002, but growers remain submerged in one of the worst crises in coffee production history due to the rock-bottom prices of the bean on the...

POLITICS: DESPITE TENSIONS, U.S.-PAKISTAN CONNECTION SURVIVES.
February 4, 2003... Commentary - By Mushahid Hussain ISLAMABAD, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- Notwithstanding constant suspicion and with the 'war on terrorism' entering a crucial phase vis-a-vis Iraq, Pakistan and the United States remain locked in a relationship based on...

HEALTH-INDIA: KIDNEY TRADE ALIVE AND WELL AS LAWS ARE IGNORED.
February 4, 2003... By Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- When India's human rights commission stepped in last week to order the state government in Punjab to produce a report on the flourishing trade in live human kidneys, it was a sign that laws...

ECONOMY-SENEGAL: CIVIL WAR CASTS A PALL OVER TOURISM.
February 4, 2003... By Chris Simpson CAP SKIRRING, Senegal, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- Hotel boss Ibrahima Diawara had hoped for a good season in Cap Skirring. His hotel, Le Savana Cap, is part of a long-established chain in Senegal, targeting business clients and...

RIGHTS-COTE D'IVOIRE: TOWARD A MULTIRACIAL NATION.
February 4, 2003... By Julio Godoy PARIS, Feb 3 (IPS) - In what could be a historical development, rebel forces seem to have won international backing for a multiracial nation in which minorities discriminated against in the constitution can have equal...

DEVELOPMENT: A BID TO REVIVE FISHING ON THE UGANDA-CONGO BORDER.
February 4, 2003... By Juakali Kambale KINSHASA, Feb 3 (IPS) - Plans to revive fishing in Lake Edward and Lake Albert, which straddle the Congo-Uganda border, are under way after years of civil war. The $15-million project, initiated by the Nile Basin...

ECONOMY-EGYPT: DEVALUED POUND BOOSTS MONEY MARKETS.
February 4, 2003... By Cam McGrath CAIRO, Feb. 3 (IPS) -- The newly floated Egyptian pound has lifted the money markets but raised fears of inflation and heavier import bills. The Egyptian pound fell some 15 percent during its first free floating day...

EDUCATION-KENYA: SCHOOL FEES ABOLISHED AND ENROLMENT SOARS.
February 5, 2003... NAIROBI, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- Kihumbuini Primary School, like thousands of others around Kenya, experienced a massive influx of children when school fees were abolished last month. The number of students rose from 600 to 1,000 overnight. ...

FINANCE: A PROFITABLE YEAR FOR SOUTH AFRICA STIRS CRITICISM.
February 5, 2003... by Farah Khan JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 5 (IPS) - By all accounts, South Africa will end its financial year with the government having collected more money than it spent over the last 12 months. Ironically, this unexpected economic good news...

PAKISTAN: DARING STREET THEATRE TAKES ON SENSITIVE ISSUES.
February 5, 2003... by Nadeem Iqbal ISLAMABAD, Feb. 5 (IPS) - Once upon a time there was a tyrant king who wanted oil from an oil merchant. To win public support, he accused the oil merchant of possessing dangerous matches, which could be used to light the...

THAILAND: BUDDHIST NUNS LIVE BETWEEN TWO WORLDS.
February 5, 2003... by Chayanit Poonyarat BANGKOK, Feb. 5 (IPS) - Thai Buddhist nuns find themselves caught between two realms -- they are thought to be religious people by many in this mainly Buddhist country but are considered to be laity by the religious....

POLITICS-INDIA: NAGA PEACE IMPERILED BY ETHNIC RIVALRIES.
February 5, 2003... by Suman K Chakrabarti KOHIMA, India, Feb. 5 (IPS) - When leaders of a group fighting for an independent Nagaland state in India's volatile northeast arrived on Indian soil after 37 years of exile early January, it was seen as a...

LABOR-SAUDI ARABIA: FOREIGNERS LIMITED AS JOBLESSNESS GROWS.
February 5, 2003... by N Janardhan DUBAI, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- Saudi Arabia's decision to reduce its foreign workforce by more than half in 10 years is a clear indication of the oil-rich country's growing unemployment problem. Following a study on the job...

LABOR: UNIONS SAY IMF BIDS CROATIA CUT WORKER RIGHTS.
February 5, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- International labor unions say they will help Croatia resist pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to change its labor laws, a move they say would threaten workers' rights and create...

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: A COUNTRY DISAPPEARS.
February 5, 2003... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ceased to exist on Tuesday. Serbia and tiny Montenegro had together comprised the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). What remains of Yugoslavia is...

ENVIRONMENT-LATAM: THE SPECTER OF A DISPUTED DAM LINGERS.
February 5, 2003... by Edin Hernandez - Tierramerica* GUATEMALA CITY, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- The governments of Mexico and Guatemala affirm that they do not have plans to build a major hydroelectric plan on the Usumacinta River, the mightiest of the Mayan region and...

DEVELOPMENT: COMMODITIES EXPORTERS NEED STATE SUPPORT, EXPERTS SAY.
February 5, 2003... By Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Feb. 4 (IPS) -- Government support is needed to diversify commodities exports in the developing world, say experts convened by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). "Public...

POLITICS-THAILAND: PREMIER'S TRIP TO BURMA WILL FOCUS ON DRUGS.
February 6, 2003... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's scheduled visit to Burma Sunday is being called pivotal for his just-launched crusade against drugs because that neighboring country is Thailand's...

POLITICS: SNAKE CHARMERS VANISH FROM INDO-BANGLADESH BORDER.
February 6, 2003... by Suman K Chakrabarty COOCHBEHAR, India, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- After five harrowing days on a barren strip of borderland, hemmed in by heavily armed guards from India and Bangladesh, a group of 213 people vanished Thursday morning - probably...

RIGHTS-NORTHERN MARIANAS: HIV TESTS SEEN AS A RIGHTS ABUSE.
February 6, 2003... by Aldwin Fajardo SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- Vanni recalls being dumbfounded when a fellow Filipino migrant worker he knew packed his bags and left this Pacific territory in a rush two years ago. The worker, a...

FILM-BRAZIL: IN 'CITY OF GOD,' LIFE MINGLES WITH VIOLENT DEATH.
February 6, 2003... by Gabriel Packard NEW YORK, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- It was a case that the white rulers of the giant seaside city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, could not crack. Who were these children with guns holding up banks, selling dope and facing death with...

FILM-MIDEAST: FINDING HUMOR AMID THE VIOLENCE.
February 6, 2003... by Beverly Andrews LONDON, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- As the bloody conflict between Israelis and Palestinians goes on, few can find anything funny in this daily cycle of violence. But Palestinian director Elia Suleiman does just that. In his...

INDIA: A CITY'S BIRTHDAY STIRS A DISPUTE.
February 6, 2003... by Sujoy Dhar KOLKATA, India, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- India's bustling eastern metropolis, which in 1990 celebrated the 300th year of its 'founding' by British colonialists with much fanfare, is looking for a new birthday. This search is as a...

FILM-CHILE: FINALLY, CHILEANS SEE 'LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST'.
February 6, 2003... by Gustavo Gonzalez SANTIAGO, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- "The Last Temptation of Christ", the controversial film by Martin Scorsese that is part of film libraries around the world, is only now making its debut in Chile, after a long legal battle...

CULTURE-KENYA: AN ARTISTS' REALITY CHECK FOR EUPHORIC KENYANS.
February 6, 2003... by Katy Salmon NAIROBI, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- It is a scene that has become all too familiar in Kenya in recent months. The dancing crowd sing "Without Moi, everything is possible", holding high yellow posters of their new president, Mwai...

DEVELOPMENT: ETHIOPIA URGED TO ACT QUICKLY ON HUNGER.
February 6, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- To prevent a looming famine that could cost thousands of lives, Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest nations, needs to adopt food-for-school programs, create efficient road networks and develop a...

POLITICS: U.N. COUNCIL DIVIDED OVER U.S. 'EVIDENCE' AGAINST IRAQ.
February 6, 2003... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- Despite new U.S. charges accusing Iraq of hiding weapons of mass destruction, the 15-member U.N. Security Council remained divided Wednesday over the need for a military attack on Baghdad....

POLITICS-VENEZUELA: TWO POLLS SHOW CHAVEZ DOING BADLY.
February 6, 2003... by Humberto Marquez CARACAS, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez would be defeated by a wide margin in any election or any referendum on his mandate, according to two private polling firms that released their survey results...

RIGHTS-NIGERIA: MORE BODIES FOUND AS TOLL MOUNTS IN BLAST.
February 6, 2003... by Toye Olori LAGOS, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- The death toll from the weekend blast continues to rise, with 30 bodies recovered and more than 500 persons made homeless. Sunday's explosion destroyed three buildings and left several others in a...

POLITICS: HEFTY SALARY RAISES HAUNT JAMAICAN POLITICIANS.
February 6, 2003... by Dionne Jackson Miller MONTEGO BAY, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- Public sector workers here say that members of Parliament can't ask them to accept single-digit salary raises because the MPs themselves got 103 percent increases last year. A...

HEALTH: INDIA MOUNTS MAJOR OFFENSIVE AGAINST POLIO.
February 6, 2003... by Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- The government of India and the international health community are joining forces for a massive vaccination campaign aimed at wiping out poliomyelitis in one of its last strongholds: the...

RIGHTS-SLOVAKIA: PROBE ASKED OVER ROMA STERILIZATION REPORT.
February 6, 2003... by Ed Holt and Martina Pisarova BRATISLAVA, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- The European Parliament has asked the Slovak government to investigate a report that many Roma women have been sterilized without their knowledge. The government has been...

DEVELOPMENT-MEXICO: FARMERS ASK FOX TO HELP THEM.
February 6, 2003... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- Farmers are demanding urgent government action to prevent the ruin of agriculture in Mexico, a country where the 12 richest people have more wealth than that produced by 8 million rural...

RIGHTS: BIG POWERS SHUN U.N.'S AFRICAN DESCENDANTS PANEL.
February 6, 2003... by Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- The United States and the European Union are deliberately shunning the work of a group studying at the behest of the United Nations the problem of racial discrimination suffered by people of...

ENVIRONMENT: TRYING TO JAZZ UP THE SUBJECT.
February 6, 2003... by Sanjay Suri LONDON, Feb. 5 (IPS) -- The environment matters, of course, but why do so many people find the issue boring? That question is being asked now by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). And it is looking for...

HEALTH-NEPAL: GAY MEN MEET TO DISCUSS SEXUAL HEALTH.
February 7, 2003... by Ramyata Limbu KATHMANDU, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- In a slinky back sari and a minuscule string blouse, Kumar glides across the packed conference room in four-inch heels, as numerous heads turn. The 18-year-old tossed back long, black tresses...

POLITICS-MIDEAST: WAR WORRIES RISE AMONG FOREIGN WORKERS.
February 7, 2003... by N Janardhan DUBAI, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- It is the season of festive shopping festivals in the Gulf, but uncertainty due to an expected war against Iraq is gripping much of the region - and worrying its army of foreign workers the most. ...

LABOR-JAPAN: FOR MEN, MIDLIFE BRINGS NEW JOBS.
February 7, 2003... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- After 25 years of hard work at a cement manufacturing company in Japan, 49-year-old Ken Oishi quit his job in September and is now studying computer graphics. "This is the worst period of my...

PHILIPPINES: UNRESOLVED GULF WAR CLAIMS RECALLED AS NEW WAR LOOMS.
February 7, 2003... by Marites Sison MANILA, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- As the U.S.-led war against Iraq looms and plans are drawn up for the evacuation of Filipinos working in the Middle East, those who suffered from the effects of the 1990 Gulf War and have not been...

POLITICS-IRAQ: CHIRAC REJECTS RIGHT WING PRESSURE TO BACK WAR.
February 7, 2003... By Julio Godoy PARIS, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- The French government is still asking for a diplomatic solution in Iraq in the face of a new Anglo-American diplomatic offensive to back war. The pressure on President Jacques Chirac to support war...

RIGHTS-MEXICO: SKEPTICISM ON WORLD COURT'S STAY OF US EXECUTIONS.
February 7, 2003... By Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- Human rights activists and diplomats scored a mixed victory this week with a decision by the International Court of Justice ordering the United States to stay the scheduled execution of three...

POLITICS-SUDAN: THE END OF WAR WITHIN REACH - MEDIATIOR.
February 7, 2003... By Katy Salmon NAIROBI, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- The mediator trying to end Sudan's 20-year civil war says "the end of the war is within reach". Speaking at the end of two-weeks of negotiations between the government of Sudan and rebels of the...

HEALTH-INDIA: TOP BOTTLED WATER BRANDS LOADED WITH PESTICIDES.
February 7, 2003... By Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- For years, Indians and visitors to this country who fear water-borne pathogens have put their faith in bottled water, paying as much per litre -- 20 U.S. cents -- as they would for the same...

RELIGION-SERBIA: NATIONALISM GATHERS AROUND CHURCH.
February 7, 2003... By Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- The Serbian Orthodox Church finds itself at the heart of a new nationalism. Nationalist politicians are rallying Serbs on religious grounds. Their moves come as the Church looks for a...

TRADE-LATAM: BRAZIL AVOIDS FRICTION BY AGREEING TO FTAA TIMELINE.
February 7, 2003... By Raul Pierri MONTEVIDEO, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- Brazil has agreed to follow the timeline for Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, as its regional trade partners urged here this week, in a move indicating Brasilia wants to ensure...

POLITICS-UGANDA: LARGEST ETHNIC GROUP SEEKS SELF-RULE.
February 7, 2003... By Evelyn Kiapi Matsamura KAMPALA, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- Members of Uganda's largest ethnic group, the Baganda, are demanding self-rule, or Federo (Federation) as they call it. Their demands have other ethnic groups worried. The Baganda, who...

ARGENTINA: NOBEL LAUREATE, RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CALL FOR GLOBAL PEACE.
February 7, 2003... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 6 (IPS) -- Adolfo Perez, who received the 1980 Nobel Prize for Peace in honor of his defence of human rights during the Argentine military dictatorship (1976-1983). According to a survey conducted...

TURKEY: WOMEN PROTEST HEADSCARF BAN.
February 7, 2003... By Stephan Faris ISTANBUL, Turkey Feb. 6 (WOMENSENEWS) -- Their days begin like those of most other girls their age. Every morning, they put on their uniforms and go to school. The difference comes when they reach the gate. Others go...

U.S.-HEALTH: CATHOLIC HOSPITALS REFUSE PATIENTS CONTRACEPTION.
February 7, 2003... By Megan Cooley SPOKANE, Washington, Feb. 6 (WOMENSENEWS) -- After a rape, the victim often encounters this advice: Contact a trustworthy person, don't shower and see a doctor immediately. Another practice, however, might soon become...

U.S.-HEALTH: SEARCHING FOR CLUES TO BREAST CANCER RATES.
February 7, 2003... By Rebecca Vesely TIBURON, California, Feb. 6 (WOMENSENEWS) -- On a sunny Saturday morning, more than 2,000 volunteers fanned out over the affluent suburbs north of San Francisco to conduct a door-to-door search for clues to the mystery...

POLITICS: U.S. FACES FRANCO-GERMAN BARRIER OVER IRAQ WAR.
February 8, 2003... Analysis - By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- The United States, which is pushing for a fresh U.N. resolution authorizing military force against Iraq, will have to overcome a powerful Franco-German alliance in the U.N. Security...

TRADE: BRAZIL TAKES AIM AT EU ON SUGAR SUBSIDIES.
February 8, 2003... By Mario Osava and Gustavo Capdevila RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- The efforts of the Asia, Caribbean and Pacific group (ACP) in Brasilia proved useless Friday, as the former European colonies failed to dissuade Brazil from following...

TRADE: U.S. POLICIES RISK ISOLATING SEED-BEDS OF TERROR - REPORT.
February 8, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- U.S. trade policy could be isolating Muslim countries, including those that joined Washington in its self-styled "war on terror", deepening poverty and increasing social dissatisfaction - fertile...

SOUTH ASIA: IMMIGRANT ISSUE SOURS INDO-BANGLADESH RELATIONS.
February 8, 2003... Commentary - By Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- Relations between India and Bangladesh have hit a new low over what New Delhi claims is a "huge influx" of "illegal immigrants" into its territory from across the porous 4,984 kms...

DEVELOPMENT-LATAM: POVERTY HAS A CHILD'S FACE - UNICEF.
February 8, 2003... By Nefer Munoz SAN JOSE, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- Economic crisis and social exclusion are taking a particularly heavy toll on children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean, where more than half of the population under age 19 lives in...

EDUCATION-NIGERIA: ANOTHER WASTED YEAR FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.
February 8, 2003... By Toye Olori LAGOS, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- Dupe Olutuye is worried that she may spend this year at home if the striking lecturers at Nigeria's 24 universities refused to return to work. "Someone is playing games with our future. The earlier...

AGRICULTURE: TRANSGENICS WILL NOT SAVE THE BANANA, SAY EXPERTS.
February 8, 2003... By Julio Godoy - Tierramerica* PARIS, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- Neither pesticides nor genetic manipulation will save the Cavendish banana from disappearing, says scientist Jean Vincent Escalant, research coordinator for the International Network for...

POLITICS-RUSSIA: A WORLD LEADER IN SUICIDES.
February 8, 2003... By Sergei Blagov MOSCOW, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- Russia is emerging as something of a world leader in suicides. At 39 suicides per 100,000 population per year, it is leaving the U.S. at 11 per 100,000 far behind. Only Lithuania has a higher...

POLITICS-ISRAEL: ANXIETY AT LARGE AS IRAQ WAR DRAWS NEARER.
February 8, 2003... By Ferry Biedermann TEL AVIV, Feb. 7 (IPS) -- Ramat Gan, a bustling modern suburb of Tel Aviv was one of the places hardest hit by the 39 Iraqi Scud missiles that fell on Israel during the Gulf War of 1991. The material damage has been...

BURMA: AMNESTY SEEKS PRISONERS' RELEASE, EXILES SKEPTICAL OF VISIT.
February 10, 2003... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Feb. 10 (IPS) -- Amnesty International, which this week ended its first-ever visit to Burma, called on the military government Monday to release all political prisoners as proof that it is serious about...

MIDDLE EAST: U.S. WAR PLANS BODE ILL FOR U.N., MULTILATERALISM.
February 10, 2003... by N Janardhan DUBAI, Feb. 10 (IPS) -- A U.S.-led attack on Iraq without the approval of the United Nations would spell doom for the world body and be another ominous sign of unilateralism in international affairs, say analysts in the...

PAKISTAN: QUESTIONS ARISE ON FOREIGN DONORS TRAINING NEW MP'S.
February 10, 2003... by Muddassir Rizvi ISLAMABAD, Feb. 10 (IPS) -- To western donors and local supporters, the training of newly elected legislators is part of Pakistan's return to civilian democracy. To a growing number of critics, it is interference that...

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: FIFTH ROUND OF PEACE TALKS FOCUSES ON RIGHTS.
February 10, 2003... by Johan Mikaelsson BERLIN, Feb. 9 (IPS) -- At the fifth round of Sri Lanka peace talks, representatives of the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have agreed to deal with key human rights and political issues. ...

GUATEMALA: ALARM ON VIOLENCE, GOV'T INACTION, DRUG LINKS.
February 10, 2003... by Nefer Munoz SAN JOSE, Feb. 9 (IPS) -- Violent crime continues to rise in Guatemala, prompting the United Nations mission to this Central American nation to call for immediate government action aimed at stopping the wave of murders,...

POLITICS-ASIA: U.S. HAS LOTS OF CONVINCING TO DO ON IRAQ ATTACK.
February 10, 2003... Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Feb. 9 (IPS) -- When seen from Asia, the looming war against Iraq appears to have all the hallmarks of an Anglo-Saxon adventure. So far, Australia is the only Asia-Pacific country to...