Interpress Service articles from February 2007

Interpress Service archives from February 2007

CLIMATE CHANGE: CATASTROPHES INEVITABLE, SAYS NEW REPORT.
February 1, 2007... by Julio Godoy PARIS, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The outlook isn't good. Scientific findings confirm that global warming and its effect on nature and weather cycles will produce catastrophic results over the coming decades. Meeting in...

TRADE: HIGH STAKES IN DRUG GIANT'S APPEAL TO INDIAN PATENT LAW.
February 1, 2007... by Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A legal battle launched by Swiss pharmaceuticals multinational has led health activists to mount a campaign against drug monopolies and the people's right to medicines at affordable...

ECONOMY-ZAMBIA: ZAMBIANS FACE HUNGER DESPITE MAIZE SURPLUS.
February 1, 2007... by Isabel Chimangeni LUSAKA, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Zambia expects a maize surplus this season but it is still unlikely that the food will reach many of the 58 percent of Zambians who are classified as extremely poor. The ministry...

NEPAL: MADHESHIS GAIN A STRONGER VOICE IN THE 'NEW' NEPAL.
February 1, 2007... by Marty Logan KATHMANDU, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A 12-day uprising by Nepal's madheshi people has forced the revolutionary government to promise it will change the state structure to more fairly distribute power to excluded groups. ...

POLITICS: PENTAGON USES NEW MILITARY POST TO KEEP EYE ON AFRICA.
February 1, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- For the first time in its history, Africa is poised to get its own U.S. military command. The advent of "AFRICOM," which will be heralded next week when President George W. Bush...

MEXICO: CALDERON COURTS INVESTORS BY DISTANCING FROM LEFT.
February 1, 2007... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- On his first official visit to Europe, Mexican President Felipe Caldercentsn aired his differences with left-wing Latin American governments and showed why he is a rallying figure...

ECUADOR: DEMONSTRATORS DEMAND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM.
February 1, 2007... by Kintto Lucas QUITO, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Protesters, worried that former President Lucio Gutirrez would not support proposed constitutional reform, stormed congress to pressure the legislators to approve the referendum. One...

MEDIA: JOURNALISTS ARRESTED FOR TRAVELING OUTSIDE IRAN.
February 1, 2007... by Omid Memarian* BERKELEY, California, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- In a new blow to free expression in Iran, security forces arrested three members of a 15-woman delegation of journalists en route to a training workshop in India last week,...

CORRUPTION: MONEY MARKED FOR IRAQ WASTED ON 'LUXURY' ITEMS.
February 1, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Millions of dollars originally slated for the reconstruction and security of Iraq have been squandered on luxury items like an Olympic-size swimming pool, VIP trailers and buildings that...

SWAZILAND: SCHOOL DOORS STAY OPEN TO AIDS ORPHANS, AT-RISK KIDS.
February 1, 2007... by James Hall MBABANE, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- AIDS orphans aren't the only children suffering in Swaziland. Those who have lost one or both parents to the epidemic have it rough, but so do many other Swazi children vulnerable to food...

CZECH REPUBLIC: HAWKS AND DOVES CLASH OVER TALKS OF U.S. BASE.
February 1, 2007... by Zolt n Dujisin BUDAPEST, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The new right-wing government of the Czech Republic, eager to prove it's a reliable ally of the United States, last week began negotiations to establish a military base in the Czech...

DEATH PENALTY-INDIA: HANGMAN SHARES GRISLY DETAILS OF HANGING.
February 1, 2007... by Sujoy Dhar KOLKATA, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- In a tiny hovel on a narrow south Kolkata alley, 87-year-old Nata Mullick recalled with pride and placidity his chilling career as a hangman and his last job which catapulted him to...

IRAQ: SHIA CIVILIANS KILLED IN NAJAF BATTLE, COVER-UP EXPOSED.
February 1, 2007... by Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily NAJAF, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Independent investigations conducted by IPS have uncovered lies told by the Iraqi government about the killing of hundreds of Shias in an attack Jan. 28. After...

CUBA: WEARY CASTRO APPEARS WITH CHAVEZ ON TV.
February 1, 2007... by Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A surprise visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Ch vez to Cuba served as a pretext to show images of his friend and host, Fidel Castro. Castro, who temporarily ceded power to his brother...

EGYPT: DESPITE PUBLIC DISAPPROVAL, CAIRO BACKS U.S. WAR PLAN.
February 1, 2007... Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani CAIRO, Jan. 31, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- During her visit to the region earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice secured the support of Cairo and other moderate Arab capitals...

EL SALVADOR: BANKS -- NOT PEOPLE -- BENEFIT FROM DOLLARIZATION.
February 2, 2007... by Ra[pounds sterling]l Gutirrez SAN SALVADOR, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Six years after adopting the U.S. dollar as legal tender for all transactions in El Salvador, the government claims that dollarization has brought economic benefits....

SRI LANKA: ONGOING CONFLICT THREATENS DONOR FUNDING.
February 2, 2007... Analysis by Amantha Perera COLOMBO, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Foreign donors this week urged the Sri Lankan government to resume negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to avert civil war. Without peace, donors...

CLIMATE CHANGE: IPCC CONFIRMS DANGERS OF GLOBAL WARMING.
February 2, 2007... by Julio Godoy PARIS, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Stark warnings over the damaging effect of impending climate change were underlined in the release Friday of the fourth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). ...

MIDEAST: U.S. BACKING FOR FATAH INCITES CLASH IN GAZA.
February 2, 2007... by Jon Elmer and Nora Barrows-Friedman GAZA CITY, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Violence resumed in the Gaza strip Thursday, only two days after a ceasefire ended a bloody week of factional fighting that left more than 30 Palestinians dead. ...

HUMAN RIGHTS-MALAWI: INJURED OFFICER VOWS TO FIGHT FOR WOMEN.
February 2, 2007... by Pilirani Semu-Banda BLANTYRE, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Chanju Mwale is a true role model. The 28-year-old lawyer is the Malawi Defense Force's legal officer. She is also the only female officer in the force who holds the rank of...

IRAQ: KURDS ON ALERT AS TURKISH TROOPS MOVE TOWARD IRAQI BORDER.
February 2, 2007... by Mohammed A. Salih ARBIL, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Growing confrontation between Iraqi Kurds and neighboring Turkey presents a new threat to a fragile calm in the north. Tensions have run high between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey since...

HEALTH-ASIA: ETHICS IN OUTSOURCING DRUG TRIALS QUESTIONED.
February 2, 2007... by Anil Netto PENANG, Malaysia, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Eyeing the expanding market for clinical research in the region, Malaysia is trying to position itself as an ideal place for pharmaceutical majors to conduct clinical trials. But...

POLITICS-US: LAWMAKERS CURB BUSH'S CONTROL TO ATTACK IRAN.
February 2, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Increasingly concerned about the escalating rhetoric against Iran by senior U.S. officials, including President George W. Bush, members of Congress are trying to put limits on his ability...

POLITICS: SCEPTICISM GREETS PLAN TO SPLIT U.N. PEACEKEEPING.
February 2, 2007... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- India, the third largest troop contributor to U.N. peacekeeping missions, has expressed strong reservations over a proposal by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to split the Department...

MEXICO: SOCIAL FORCES DEMAND WAGE HIKE, TALKS WITH CALDERON.
February 2, 2007... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The dialogue that Mexico's conservative government has opened up with trade unions and groups of small farmers demonstrating against the rise in the cost of basic food items,...

TRADE-US: PUTTING THE BRAKES ON "FAST TRACK" POWERS.
February 2, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- President George W. Bush has called on Congress to renew a longtime provision giving the White House broad authority to rapidly negotiate and sign trade pacts. But many labor unions and...

SOUTH AFRICA: ANTI-APARTHEID ICON AND ACTIVIST TAMBO DIES.
February 2, 2007... by Moyiga Nduru JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Adelaide Tambo died in Johannesburg, Jan. 31. Known affectionately as 'Ma-Tambo,' she was a fierce fighter and activist for political and economic...

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: COASTAL COMMUNITY FIGHTS POLLUTION.
February 2, 2007... by Dicentsgenes Pina * Special to IPS BAJOS DE HAINA, Dominican Republic, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Looking down from the hills of Para so de Dios, the smokestacks of more than 100 factories can be seen stretching out in a wide line, near...

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: DYING? OR MORE ALIVE THAN EVER?
February 2, 2007... Analysis by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- There are plenty of prophets of doom foretelling the death, or at least a deep crisis, of the World Social Forum (WSF), based on reports about organizational problems and a...

POLITICS-US: ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS PUSH FOR FUNDS CUT-OFF.
February 2, 2007... by Aaron Glantz WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Senior congressional Democrats now appear unlikely to cut off funds for war or take steps to stop President George W. Bush from sending 21,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. On...

BRAZIL: MARKETING NATIVE PLANTS TO GROW BRAZIL'S ECONOMY.
February 5, 2007... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Brazil's biodiversity reserves are the greatest in the world, but so far it has seen little hard cash in return for its natural resources. Now, an Environment Ministry initiative...

POLITICS-US: OFFICER MAY FACE PRISON FOR REFUSING TOUR IN IRAQ.
February 5, 2007... by Aaron Glantz TACOMA, Washington, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned U.S. officer to refuse to serve in Iraq, got underway today in Fort Lewis, Wash. "If more officers like...

MIDEAST: U.N. BARS CHILDREN FROM CLASSROOMS IN WAR-TORN GAZA.
February 5, 2007... by Jon Elmer GAZA CITY, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The United Nations has indefinitely suspended elementary school classes for tens of thousands of Gaza City's children following a weekend of unprecedented factional violence, which turned...

ENVIRONMENT-CHINA: IS PROSPERITY POSSIBLE WITHOUT POLLUTION?
February 5, 2007... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Following the release of an authoritative U.N, report last week that unequivocally links human activities with climate change, China's leaders are being forced to look at the...

BALKANS: KOSOVO STRANDED BETWEEN SERBIA AND INDEPENDENCE.
February 5, 2007... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The long-awaited U.N. proposal on the status of the southern Serbian province Kosovo stopped short of defining the province as an independent state, resulting in quite different...

DEVELOPMENT-PAKISTAN: GOVERNMENT HALTS RESORT DEVELOPMENT.
February 5, 2007... by Zofeen T Ebrahim - Asia Water Wire* KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- To the developers of a resort project to rise on Bhundar island, Rehmat Bibi's dilapidated hut must be quite an eyesore. Yet the spirited woman has so far...

BANGLADESH: POLICE RAIDS ILLEGALLY TARGET LOCAL POLITICIANS.
February 5, 2007... by Farid Ahmed DHAKA, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Human rights groups and the two main political parties in Bangladesh have raised a storm of protest over the detention of more than a dozen high-profile politicians Sunday by the...

NIGERIA: ELITES SQUANDER PROFITS FROM DELTA'S OIL WEALTH.
February 5, 2007... by Guthrie Gray WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Official corruption in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta is robbing the local population of basic health and educational services, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW)....

NIGERIA: OIL-HUNGRY CHINA TO HELP REVAMP RAILWAY.
February 5, 2007... by Toye Olori KAJOLA VILLAGE, Nigeria, Feb. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- China is working with the Nigerian transport sector to help the Nigerian government put the country's foundering railway system back on track. China's offer of a grant...

CLIMATE CHANGE: WARMER WINTERS ENDANGER EUROPE'S SKI RESORTS.
February 5, 2007... by Julio Godoy /Tierramrica * BERLIN, Feb. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Ski lovers in Europe are joining the list of those hurt by global climate change. This year the northern hemisphere winter is seeing moderate temperatures and little snowfall...

CAMBODIA: LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS THREATEN SMALL FISHERMEN.
February 5, 2007... by Kalinga Seneviratne - Asia Water Wire* CHHONG KNEAS, Cambodia, Feb. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Residents of this floating village at the northern end of Cambodia's great lake, the Tonle Sap, face problems of pollution, and job loss because of...

US/IRAQ: 'EXTREME PESSIMISM' SEEN OVER NEW PLAN FOR IRAQ.
February 5, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A long-awaited study by the U.S. intelligence community released here Friday concludes there is little, if any, light at the end of tunnel in Iraq. The report, which comes on the eve of...

POLITICS: ARAB NATIONS FEAR IRAN PLANS MIDDLE EAST TAKEOVER.
February 5, 2007... Analysis by Meena Janardhan DUBAI, Feb. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- As Iran vies with the United States for dominance in the Middle East, the smaller Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are left with several anxieties -- the consequences of...

TRADE: PLAY BY THE RULES, WASHINGTON TELLS CHINA.
February 5, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The United States said Friday it is taking China before the World Trade Organization (WTO) to complain about Beijing's use of "illegal subsidies." U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)...

MEXICO: VIOLENCE THREATENS STAFF AT COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS.
February 5, 2007... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- One of the 12 community radio stations operating legally in Mexico has literally come under fire, and its journalists have received death threats and been arrested; another has...

ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: WASTE FROM PULP MILL DESTROYING WETLANDS.
February 5, 2007... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Increasing society's knowledge about wetlands and improving coordination between the different public services involved in the conservation of these valuable ecosystems are currently...

PERU: AMAZONIAN COMMUNITIES FIGHT NEW OIL WELLS.
February 5, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Conservation groups are warning international investors that a Peruvian government offer to explore for oil in pristine Amazon land is fraught with risks, lacks community support and...

HUMAN RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: RET'D OFFICER ADMITS TO 'DEATH FLIGHTS'.
February 5, 2007... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A former head of naval operations during Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship admitted in court that he had signed written instructions for "the physical elimination" of...

HEALTH: WHO CHIEF'S STAND ON GENERIC DRUGS SLAMMED.
February 5, 2007... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Civil society and humanitarian groups slammed the new head of the World Health Organization (WHO), on the sidelines of a meeting here, after she appeared to favor the interests of...

BRAZIL: REVERSE OSMOSIS SLAKES WATER SHORTAGE IN BRAZIL.
February 5, 2007... by Mario Osava /Tierramrica * RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Thousands of people in Brazil's semiarid Northeast are slaking their thirst thanks to a technology that is little used in Latin America: the reverse-osmosis membrane,...

ENVIRONMENT: IPCC CLIMATE REPORT FINDINGS TOO CONSERVATIVE?
February 6, 2007... by Stephen Leahy /Tierramrica* TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The predictions in the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are too prudent because they don't take into account more recent studies, for...

CAMBODIA: WFP SUSPENDS FOOD AID TO CHILDREN, HIV/TB VICTIMS.
February 6, 2007... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- An estimated 740,000 Cambodians -- primarily schoolchildren -- are faced with acute food shortages with no relief in sight. Signs of this looming crisis in one of Southeast...

DEVELOPMENT-SUDAN: OIL BOOM CAUSES LAND PRICES TO SKYROCKET.
February 6, 2007... by Noel King KHARTOUM, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A patch of land just south of Khartoum has spurred a fight over land rights between some of Sudan's poorest citizens and a company with an ambitious business scheme called Dreamland. At...

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: TEEN'S RAPE TESTS NEW LAW TO PROTECT WOMEN.
February 6, 2007... by Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Proceedings under way against 11 men accused of gang-raping a 16-year-old girl will test the soundness of Pakistan's new legislation passed in December to protect women from crimes...

MEDIA: DEATH RATE, VIOLENCE TOWARD PRESS RISE IN 2006.
February 6, 2007... by Guthrie Gray WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- 2006 was another dangerous year for the international press as the number of killed and imprisoned journalists rose, according to an annual report by the New York-based Committee to...

POLITICS: BAN AIMS TO CALM FEARS OVER PROPOSED U.N. REFORM.
February 6, 2007... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose plans to restructure the U.N. Secretariat have hit a political roadblock, assured the 192 member states he is not heading toward a collision...

POLITICS-US: CONSERVATIVE CEO RALLIES FOR END TO WAR ON TERROR.
February 6, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Meet Richard Wade Vague -- tall; friendly; with a firm, confident handshake and a ready, if surprisingly modest, smile; dressed in a dark, finely tailored suit -- he looks like the...

ENERGY-CHILE: BIOFUELS MAY COMPETE WITH FOOD PRODUCTION.
February 6, 2007... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The government of President Michelle Bachelet seems determined to develop the biofuels industry to diversify Chile's energy sources, in spite of doubts that have arisen about their...

RIGHTS-KENYA: COLONIAL LABOR LAWS VIOLATE ILO CONVENTIONS.
February 6, 2007... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Human rights campaigners have appealed to the International Labor Organization (ILO) to suspend Kenya's membership for continuing to resist efforts to reform its archaic labor laws. ...

POLITICS-UGANDA: REBELS LOBBY FOR NEW PEACE TALK VENUE.
February 6, 2007... by Moyiga Nduru JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- After Kenya turned down a request from a Ugandan rebel group to host stalled peace talks with the government of President Yoweri Museveni, the focus has shifted to South Africa. ...

ENVIRONMENT: 'WACKY IDEAS' THE CURE FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS?
February 6, 2007... by Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- With the stark realization that global warming is transforming our world, there will be a crazy new era of "greenwashing," desperate "geoengineering" schemes, "grandfathering" of...

ARGENTINA: MADRES' SMALL REVOLUTION LEADS TO DECENT HOUSING.
February 6, 2007... by Luciana Peker BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Wearing blue coveralls with a picture of a white scarf, the symbol of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, some 300 men and women from a slum in the Argentine capital are building new homes...

ROMANIA: PENDING JOB CUTS LEAVE MINERS WITH FEW OPTIONS.
February 7, 2007... by Claudia Ciobanu BUCHAREST, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Petrosani, a town of about 50,000, presents a stark picture today of what the abrupt replacement of state socialism by unbridled capitalism can do. The Romanian government...

CLIMATE CHANGE: RICH COUNTRIES WAVER ON CLIMATE FIGHT.
February 7, 2007... by Julio Godoy BERLIN, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Scientists have clearly stated the causes of global warming and recommended solutions. The question now is who will implement these solutions? In its newest assessment released last week...

MALAYSIA: IRAN DEAL CLOUDS FREE TRADE PLANS WITH U.S.
February 7, 2007... by Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Malaysia, in its final round this week, has run into opposition from trade unions and also from U.S. lawmakers opposed...

U.S.: BUSH'S PROPOSED '08 PENTAGON BUDGET RIVALS VIETNAM ERA.
February 7, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- How big is President George W. Bush's proposed 2008 Pentagon budget? At nearly $623 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, its size earned nothing but editorial superlatives...

RIGHTS: HRW GRANTS AWARDED TO PERSECUTED STORYTELLERS.
February 7, 2007... by Guthrie Gray WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A survivor of a secret Khmer Rouge prison where 14,000 people were brutally murdered is among the 45 recipients of this year's Hellman/Hammett grants, awarded each year to individuals...

FINANCE: "DOUBLE MAJORITY" VOTES PRESCRIBED FOR AILING IMF.
February 7, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- As more countries race to escape its tutelage, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been advised to implement a "double majority voting system" to salvage its teetering global...

BOLIVIA: PROTESTERS DEMAND - AND GET - FASTER NATIONALIZATION.
February 7, 2007... by Franz Ch vez LA PAZ, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Pressure from protesters in the Bolivian town of Camiri forced the government of Evo Morales to accelerate renationalization of the country's energy resources Saturday. But the...

ARGENTINA: RECOVERING ECONOMY STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO.
February 7, 2007... by Sebasti n Lacunza BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Argentine President Nstor Kirchner has kept his popularity ratings high, thanks at least in part to effectively managing the economy and reducing poverty, although the country is...

POLITICS-US: NEOCON SHIITE STRATEGY LED TO SECTARIAN WAR.
February 7, 2007... Analysis by Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The supreme irony of President George W. Bush's campaign to blame Iran for the sectarian civil war in Iraq as well as attacks on U.S. forces is that the Shiite militias who...

CARIBBEAN: EASTERN ECONOMIC UNION TAKES SHAPE.
February 7, 2007... by Peter Ischyrion BASSETERRE, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Their history of cooperation is well established. Even before they signed the Treaty of Basseterre in 1981, the seven islands of the Eastern Caribbean had been pooling their economic...

BOLIVIA: WOMEN IN LOCAL POLITICS FACE SPECIAL CHALLENGES.
February 7, 2007... by Bernarda Claure LA PAZ, Feb. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Bertha Acarapi, who wears the traditional dress of an Aymara Indian woman, is a town councilwoman in El Alto, the sprawling slum city of 1 million people next to the Bolivian capital....

CLIMATE CHANGE: LANGUAGE BARRIER STALLS TREE PLANTING CAMPAIGN.
February 8, 2007... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Feb. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The severe degradation of the environment and its impact on climate change are dominating discussions at the 24th meeting of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) governing council. ...

AUSTRALIA: CATHOLIC CHURCH GETS $34M TO GIVE ABORTION ADVICE.
February 8, 2007... by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY, Feb. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A government plan to award $34 million U.S. to Centacare, the health and welfare arm of the Roman Catholic Church, for abortion counseling has triggered stormy debates over...

MEDIA-IRAN: LITERARY CENSORSHIP IN IRAN A 'CULTURAL DISASTER'.
February 8, 2007... by Kimia Sanati TEHRAN, Feb. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Iran's nuclear program, an undeniably serious issue for Iranians and the rest of the world, has overshadowed the country's deplorable human rights situation, including severe censorship of...

POLITICS: ANTI-WAR GROUPS REJECT MOVE TO DOWNGRADE DDA.
February 8, 2007... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who last month acknowledged the positive role of civil society in the peace process in Africa, is facing the wrath of a formidable coalition of...

CORRUPTION: BANK'S GRAFT CRUSADE EXAGGERATED, CRITICS SAY.
February 8, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Publicizing a self-styled crusade against corruption, the World Bank said it is successfully stepping up its campaign against graft, probing more than 400 cases over the last two years...

PERU: U.N. PROBES PRIEST'S CLAIM OF HARASSMENT BY MINING CORP.
February 8, 2007... by Angel P ez LIMA, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A priest who provides support for Peruvian farmers in their conflict with a transnational gold mining corporation complained to a U.N. mission that he was under surveillance by a private...

DEVELOPMENT-US: VIETNAMESE ENCLAVE THRIVES AFTER KATRINA.
February 8, 2007... by Ngoc Nguyen NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- As Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005, Mo Thi Nguyen, 71, fled New Orleans with family members to Dallas where she stayed for three months. But unlike half of the city's...

RIGHTS-SOUTH AFRICA: GOV'T URGED TO FEED ALL HUNGRY CHILDREN.
February 8, 2007... by Moyiga Nduru JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- More than half of South Africa's children (or 10 million of the country's 18 million minors) live in poverty, according to the Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town. ...

COSTA RICA: 'PEACE PRESIDENT' ARIAS NOW TURNS TO FREE TRADE.
February 8, 2007... by Daniel Zueras SAN JOS, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Once known as the "peace president," Oscar Arias now faces criticism from his former backers on the left for supporting a free trade pact with the United States. Before his conversion...

ECONOMY: CORPORATE INDIA, BRAZIL WIELD NEW GLOBAL POWER.
February 8, 2007... by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta NEW DELHI, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel manufacturer Corus by India's Tata group signifies a coming of age of industrial corporations in developing countries. The fact that...

HEALTH-BOLIVIA: BAD DOCS ESCAPE DISCIPLINE UNDER CURRENT LAWS.
February 8, 2007... by Bernarda Claure LA PAZ, Feb. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- In Bolivia, most cases of medical negligence go unpunished. The Health Ministry intends to address the problem this year with the establishment of a medical audit system and the...