Interpress Service articles from February 2008

Interpress Service archives from February 2008

SRI LANKA: DOCTORS PRESCRIBING NAME-BRAND MEDS MAY FACE JAIL.
February 1, 2008... By Feizal Samath COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Feb. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Sri Lankan doctors and patients' rights groups have rarely seen eye-to-eye in the global debate over name-brand versus generic drugs, but they are coming together against a new...

ICELAND: FISHING DISPUTE MAY HAVE WORLDWIDE CONSEQUENCES.
February 1, 2008... By Lowana Veal REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Feb. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Iceland must review its fishing management system within six months and pay compensation to two fishermen who were unfairly discriminated against, according to a decision by the...

TURKEY: GREEK PM DISCUSSES TRADE, CHURCH DURING HISTORIC VISIT.
February 1, 2008... Analysis by Jacques N. Couvas ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Constantinos Karamanlis, the first Greek prime minister to visit Turkey in 49 years, ended his three-day official trip to Ankara and Istanbul last week without having...

GREECE: LAWYERS ACCUSE POLICE OF HUSHING UP MIGRATION ABUSES.
February 1, 2008... By Apostolis Fotiadis ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Greek police officers allegedly used force against a group of lawyers last Sunday in an attempt to prevent them from documenting the treatment of migrants outside the Athens...

U.S.: WASHINGTON SPENDS BILLIONS ON DEFENSE, SKIMPS ON CLIMATE.
February 1, 2008... By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Washington is spending $88 on the military for every dollar it spends this year on climate-related programs, according to a study released Thursday by the Institute for Policy Studies. ...

GUATEMALA: 28 YEARS AFTER ARSON, FAMILIES WAIT FOR JUSTICE.
February 1, 2008... By Ins Ben tez GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "I suffer because three of my kids were murdered," said Catarina Lux, a 68-year-old indigenous woman from the northwestern province of El Quich. "One of them, who...

ISRAEL: PROBE OF 2006 WAR WITH LEBANON IGNORES CIVILIAN DEATHS.
February 1, 2008... By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Amnesty International, a leading international human rights group, is calling into question the findings of an Israeli inquiry into the Jewish state's war with Lebanon in 2006. ...

Q&A-KENYA: ATTACKS DISRUPT FRAGILE LIFE OF ETHIOPIAN REFUGEE.
February 1, 2008... By Kwamboka Oyaro NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Refugees from Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia came to Kenya in pursuit of safety, but they are finding themselves vulnerable to the post-election...

U.S.: MEXICAN PRIEST DIES WITHOUT FACING TRIAL OVER MOLESTATION.
February 1, 2008... By Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative Catholic order, "took with him to the grave secrets and guilt for which he never asked forgiveness,"...

MIDEAST: STATE EXECUTIONS TRIGGER HONOR KILLINGS, ANALYSTS SAY.
February 1, 2008... By Abderrahim El Ouali CASABLANCA, Morocco, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The widespread application of the death penalty and the holding of public executions are two principal factors that are driving people across the Middle East to engage...

ZIMBABWE: POVERTY-DRIVEN MIGRATION FUELS SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS.
February 1, 2008... By Ignatius Banda TSHOLOTSHO, Zimbabwe, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Young men who left the rural outpost of Tsholotsho in search of jobs to support their families are losing their lives at alarming rates to AIDS-related ailments, according...

ECONOMY: U.S. CRISIS POSES LITTLE DANGER TO BRAZIL, LULA SAYS.
February 1, 2008... By Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Brazil will not be heavily affected by the U.S. mortgage crisis, according to economists and the government of President Luiz In cio Lula da Silva. When he met East...

BOLIVIA: ITALIAN AID WORKER DROWNS IN FLASH FLOOD.
February 1, 2008... By Franz Ch vez LA PAZ, Bolivia, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Morris Bertozzi -- an Italian aid worker who had worked for the last 11 years with street children in the grip of alcohol, drugs and crime -- drowned last week in Bolivia trying...

U.S.: SENATORS SEEK TO LIMIT 'STATE SECRETS' PRIVILEGE.
February 1, 2008... By William Fisher NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Alarmed by the George W. Bush administration's increasing use of the "state secrets privilege" to keep politically embarrassing lawsuits against the government from coming before a...

AFGHANISTAN-REPORT: NATO IS WINNING BATTLES BUT LOSING WAR.
February 1, 2008... By Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan," begins a new issue brief from the Atlantic Council of the United States. That brief, called "Saving Afghanistan: An Appeal and...

BURMA: JUNTA IS BLUFFING ABOUT POLITICAL CHANGE, SUU KYI SAYS.
February 1, 2008... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, used the rare moment of freedom afforded to her this week to urge Asian governments not to be taken in by the junta's...

REPORT: U.S., EU IGNORED ANTI-DEMOCRATIC ACTS OF ECONOMIC ALLIES.
February 1, 2008... By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Western governments too often reward self-proclaimed and flawed "democracies" that clearly abuse the political and civil rights of their citizens, according to a report released Thursday....

Q&A-PAKISTAN: DOCTOR PUSHES STATE TO OFFER SEX ED IN SCHOOLS.
February 1, 2008... By Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Dr. Donya Aziz is eager to get back into the Pakistani assembly and resume the work she had to leave off when President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3,...

RUSSIA: PUTIN'S CLOSE ALLY IS EXPECTED TO WIN BY LANDSLIDE.
February 1, 2008... By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Opposition leaders and human rights activists are describing Russia's upcoming presidential election as a roll-call for endorsement of a Kremlin-sponsored candidate. Four...

LEBANON: HIDDEN CLUSTER BOMBS INJURE UNSUSPECTING FARMERS.
February 1, 2008... By Rebecca Murray SARAFAND, Lebanon, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Rasha Zayoun sits quietly in the bustling doctor's office, a small figure hunched in her chair, while her mother recounts the story of her terrible accident. Now 17, Rasha...

EAST TIMOR: PROMINENT LAWMAKER DECRIES CRACKDOWN ON REBELS.
February 1, 2008... Analysis by Setyo Budi DILI, East Timor, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The head of East Timor's Democratic Socialist Party has condemned the joint police and military operation recently mounted against renegade soldiers, calling it a mistake...

AFRICA: DOHA TRADE ROUND ENTERS MAKE-OR-BREAK PHASE.
February 1, 2008... Analysis by Aileen Kwa* GENEVA, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The World Trade Organization's beleaguered Doha Round could either be wrapped up in the next two to three months or be stalled for an indefinite period of time. There is a...

EGYPT: OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS DECRY SALE OF GAS TO ISRAEL.
February 1, 2008... By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani CAIRO, Egypt, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Egypt began pumping natural gas to Israel Monday, in accordance with an energy accord between Cairo and Tel Aviv. While the government defends the move...

SOUTH AFRICA: TARIFF CUTS WOULD CAUSE CRISIS, TRADE UNIONS SAY.
February 1, 2008... Analysis by Aileen Kwa* GENEVA, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The Doha Round negotiations on industrial products have once again come under fire at the World Trade Organization, with developing countries such as South Africa saying the...

ALBANIA: STATE SEEKS 'BLUE FLAG' RECOGNITION FOR CLEAN BEACHES.
February 1, 2008... By Zolt n Dujisin TIRANA, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Southern Albania's pristine beaches may well receive Blue Flag recognition soon, so long as the government addresses the growing problems of solid and wastewater treatment in the region....

FIJI: JOURNALISTS BRACE FOR REPRESSION IN WAKE OF DEPORTATION.
February 1, 2008... By Shailendra Singh SUVA, Fiji, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Activists in Fiji are urging local journalists not to succumb to intimidation by the interim government, amid fears of a new clampdown on media following the expulsion of...

PAKISTAN: STATE FEARS SUICIDE ATTACKS FROM FORMER OPERATIVES.
February 1, 2008... Analysis by Amir Mir ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Pakistan is coming to terms with an even stronger understanding of the threat posed by suicide bombers, following the assassination on Monday of the surgeon-general of...

AUSTRALIA: HEALTH EXPERTS URGE G-8 TO FIGHT CHRONIC DISEASES.
February 1, 2008... By Neena Bhandari SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- International health experts and activists are calling for immediate global action to avert the looming epidemic of preventable chronic diseases, which will kill 388 million...

U.S.: RIGHT-WING MEDIA PAINT OBAMA AS 'MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE'.
February 1, 2008... By Khody Akhavi WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Senator Barack Obama has weathered attacks on his background, race, name and religion since launching his bid for the U.S. presidency in 2007. His recent emergence as the...

GUANTANAMO: U.S. URGES EU TO PROVIDE HOMES FOR FREED DETAINEES.
February 1, 2008... By David Cronin BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The U.S. has been urging European countries to allow detainees from Guant namo Bay to settle on their soil, according to John Bellinger, a legal adviser to the U.S. State...

LATIN AMERICA: REGIONAL GROUP CRITIQUES NORMS OF MASCULINITY.
February 1, 2008... By Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "Until we scrutinize men's social roles and the concept of masculinity, we'll just be drawing circles around the women victims" of the patriarchal system, said Julio Csar Gonz lez, the...

U.S.: ECHOING 1971 EVENT, IRAQ VETS WILL TESTIFY ABOUT WAR CRIMES.
February 1, 2008... By Aaron Glantz SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to descend on Washington March 13-16 to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in those...

U.S.: AIDS BILL WORTH $50 BILLION EARNS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT.
February 1, 2008... By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The White House and Republican and Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives have agreed on a bill that, if passed, would provide $50 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and...

AFRICA-REPORT: MASS KILLINGS MAY SPREAD IF U.N. FAILS TO STEP IN.
February 1, 2008... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Genocide and ethnic violence may spread from Sudan and Kenya into other parts of Africa, if the international community continues refusing to take decisive action, according to a...

BRAZIL: INDIGENOUS DEATH TOLL RISES IN MATO GROSSO DO SUL.
February 1, 2008... By Mario Osava DOURADOS, Brazil, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Valdelice Vercentsn still remembers the moment on the morning of Jan. 12, 2003, when her daughter called out, "Mommy, Grandpa's on TV": It was the moment when Vercentsn learned...

ZIMBABWE: URBAN FAMILIES STRUGGLE TO ACCESS WATER RESERVES.
February 1, 2008... By Tonderai Kwidini HARARE, Zimbabwe, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Heavy rains in Zimbabwe and in the catchment areas of its major rivers in December and January filled most of the country's dams to capacity, but many urban households still...

KOSOVO: ETHNIC TENSIONS ESCALATE IN SERBIAN ENCLAVES.
February 1, 2008... By Apostolis Fotiadis PRISTINA, Kosovo, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo on Feb. 17 has caused ethnic tensions to rise dangerously, especially in Northern Kosovo and the other Serbian enclaves...

LEBANON: BLAST FISHING DISRUPTS ECOSYSTEM, MAIMS FISHERMEN.
February 1, 2008... By Rebecca Murray TYRE, Lebanon, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- On the afternoon of his grandfather's funeral, Ismael waded out to the sea rocks near the old Tyre lighthouse and looked out over the choppy water. He greeted his friends as they...

BURMA: FUGITIVE LEADER USES CELL PHONE TO RALLY OPPOSITION.
February 1, 2008... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Somewhere in the dilapidated city of Rangoon is a man who has been on the run since August last year. He has taken shelter in more than 10 homes so far. When Tun...

COLOMBIA: FREED HOSTAGE REJOINS HIS FAMILY AFTER 7 YEARS.
February 1, 2008... By Constanza Vieira BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb. 27, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Luis Eladio Prez, one of four hostages unilaterally released Wednesday by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is returning to a family much changed from the one he...

EL SALVADOR: DOLLARIZATION BACKFIRES, FUELING PRICE HIKES.
February 5, 2008... By Ra[pounds sterling]l Gutirrez SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Former Salvadoran President Francisco Flores dollarized the Salvadoran economy in January 2001, predicting that this move would lower interest rates and...

INDIA: ASTHMA RATES CLIMB AS AIR POLLUTION ENVELOPS BANGALORE.
February 5, 2008... By Keya Acharya BANGALORE, India, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Air pollution levels have risen alarmingly over the last five years in Bangalore, one of Asia's fastest growing cities, according to the pollution control board here in the Indian...

SRI LANKA: CITIZENS TURN TO TEXT MESSAGES FOR BREAKING NEWS.
February 5, 2008... By Amantha Perera COLOMBO, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Sri Lankans are turning increasingly to nontraditional news and information outlets, in order to obtain accurate, rapidly delivered information. With the government and Tamil Tigers...

REPORT: 2007 WAS DEADLY YEAR FOR JOURNALISTS, WATCHDOG SAYS.
February 5, 2008... By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Last year was the deadliest in more than a decade for journalists across the world, according to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which monitors violations of press...

U.S.: LEADING BANKS ISSUE CARBON GUIDELINES FOR COAL COMPANIES.(Company overview)
February 5, 2008... By Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Three major U.S. banks have adopted environmental standards to tighten support for the coal industry, motivated primarily by a fear of regulation and financial losses related to climate...

AGRICULTURE: BIOFUELS ATTRACT RECORD FINANCING.
February 5, 2008... By Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Biofuels have quickly turned from an environmental proposal to a massive get-rich-quick scheme, with oil-poor countries now viewing their farms, peatlands and forests as...

COLOMBIA: 131 CITIES JOIN IN GLOBAL ANTI-FARC DEMONSTRATION.
February 5, 2008... By Gloria Helena Rey* BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated Monday in 131 cities on five continents to demand peace and protest against the kidnapping carried out by Colombia's FARC...

U.N.: FRENCH ENVOY URGES SUPPORT FOR IRANIAN CLOUT IN MIDEAST.
February 5, 2008... By Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A leading French diplomat has called on the international coalition sponsoring U.N. sanctions against Iran to support a larger Iranian role in the Middle East. Ambassador to the...

PARAGUAY: VICTIMS OF SUPERMARKET FIRE CALL FOR TOUGHER JUSTICE.
February 5, 2008... By David Vargas ASUNCION, Paraguay, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Survivors of the Ycu Bola[currency]os supermarket fire in Paraguay expressed bitter indignation when the three-judge panel sentenced the chief shareholder of the supermarket to...

SANITATION: SOUTH ASIAN WASTE PROGRAM EXPANDS TO AFGHANISTAN.
February 5, 2008... By Nergui Manalsuren UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Practical solutions to the global sanitation crisis will require greater knowledge-sharing among developing nations and more support from institutions such as the World Bank...

PERU: GARCIA FAILS TO LEVY TAX ON WINDFALL MINING PROFITS.
February 5, 2008... by Milagros Salazar LIMA, Peru, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Peruvian tax revenues shrank by nearly $2.7 billion in 2006 and 2007 as a result of the government's decision not to charge mining companies royalties or a tax on windfall profits...

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TRADERS DECRY HAITI'S EMBARGO ON POULTRY.
February 5, 2008... By Elizabeth Eames Roebling DAJABON, Dominican Republic, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- In a display of national sovereignty, Haiti has persisted with its embargo against the importation of all poultry products from the Dominican Republic,...

Q&A-CUBA: HISTORIAN DEVOTES LIFE TO RESTORING OLD HAVANA.
February 5, 2008... By Patricia Grogg and Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Eusebio Leal has been involved in the restoration of the historic center of the Cuban capital since 1967, when he began renovating the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales,...

SERBIA: TADIC'S RE-ELECTION BRINGS NATION CLOSER TO EU.
February 5, 2008... By Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Serbian voters have decided, in the tightest runoff so far, to retain incumbent Boris Tadic as their president for the next five years. Tadic is generally...

ARGENTINA: MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT EASES LONELINESS, MAKES JOBS.
February 5, 2008... By Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- An innovative mental health program developed in the Argentine province of La Pampa has minimized the relapses experienced by patients after they are discharged from the hospital....

CHINA: SNOWSTORM STRANDS MILLIONS OF MIGRANT WORKERS.
February 5, 2008... By Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Feb. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Millions of migrant workers became stranded in devastating snows last week as they attempted to make their way home for the Lunar New Year holiday. The travel disaster...

POLITICS-US: SUPER TUESDAY LEAVES BRUISING BATTLES AHEAD.
February 6, 2008... by Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2008 (IPS\GIN) - On a night when storms dotted with tornadoes wrought massive damage, injury and even death in the middle of the United States, storms of a different kind were sweeping the political...

LEBANON: MANY BUSINESSES PLAN TO EXPAND, DESPITE UNREST.
February 6, 2008... By Mona Alami BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 6, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The year 2008 has already been grim for most Lebanese businesses: Struggles with the nation's permanent protest movement, security problems, a brief war in a Palestinian refugee camp...

GUANTANAMO: PRISONER MAY DIE WITHOUT CARE, LAWYER SAYS.
February 6, 2008... By Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb. 6, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A Pakistani man who has been incarcerated in the United States military prison in Guant namo since September 2004 may die unless provided special care, according to the...

INDIA: BANK PROMOTES BIRD-WATCHING IN BID TO STOP HABITAT LOSS.
February 6, 2008... By Keya Acharya BANGALORE, India, Feb. 6, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A global banking and investment firm has taken to promoting bird-watching, in an unusual attempt to improve its corporate environmental responsibility. The Hongkong and...

NAMIBIA: GOVERNMENT MAY OFFER WATER SUBSIDIES TO POOR.
February 6, 2008... By Nhamoinesu Mseyamwa WINDHOEK, Namibia, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The Namibian government is finally taking steps to address the countrywide problem of access to water, after having been accused for years of making this vital resource...

U.S.-INTELLIGENCE REPORT: AL-QAIDA IN PAKISTAN IS GREATEST THREAT.
February 6, 2008... By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Al-Qaida's central leadership, based in border regions of Pakistan, continues to pose the most significant threat to the United States, according to retired Adm. J. Michael McConnell,...

U.N.: WORLD BODY FEARS FOR ITS WORKERS IN KENYA AND CHAD.
February 6, 2008... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The United Nations, which recently expressed serious concern over the safety of its staff in Algeria and Sudan, is also grappling with security issues in two new danger zones: Kenya...

PERU: GARCIA PUSHES CONGRESS TO APPROVE SALE OF JUNGLE PLOTS.
February 6, 2008... By Milagros Salazar LIMA, Peru, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The Peruvian Congress plans this week to debate a draft law that would authorize the sale of vast tracts of deforested, uncultivated land in the Amazon jungle to private companies...

U.S.: BUSH THWARTS ATTEMPT TO BAN PERMANENT BASES IN IRAQ.
February 6, 2008... By William Fisher NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- When George W. Bush signed the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act into law last week, he thumbed his nose at Congress by issuing a "signing statement" -- a declaration that...

ARGENTINA: PUBLIC UNIVERSITY PUBLISHES TRANSGENDER MAGAZINE.
February 6, 2008... By Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- With the support of one of Argentina's leading public universities, a group of transgender writers have launched a magazine aimed at reaffirming their identity and giving them a...

BURMA: 24-YEAR-OLD PROTEST ORGANIZER FLEES TO THAILAND.
February 6, 2008... By Marwaan Macan-Markar MAE SOT, Thailand, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "I want to ask the U.N. Security Council how many monks and people have to be sacrificed before the U.N. Security Council intervenes," said the Ven. Ashin Kovida, a...

U.S.: SUPER TUESDAY LEAVES BRUISING BATTLES AHEAD.
February 6, 2008... By Aaron Glantz SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The electoral battle shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. As voters in 24 U.S. states go to the polls for the "Super Tuesday" caucuses and primaries that will help...

CHILE: ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS MAY IMPEDE ACCESSION TO OECD.
February 8, 2008... By Cecilia Vargas SANTIAGO, Chile, Feb. 8, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Chilean leaders are upbeat about the country's chances of joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, but experts say there is still much to be done before...

INDIA: DEFORESTATION THREATENS TO RAVAGE BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT.
February 8, 2008... By Keya Acharya BANGALORE, India, Feb. 8, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Environmentalists are reviving a plan to conserve the "western ghats," a vast and hilly forested region running parallel to the west coast of peninsular India. "We have to...

CHILE: MAPUCHE FARMERS ACCUSE POLICE OF RAIDS, RACIST ABUSES.
February 8, 2008... By Daniela Estrada TEMUCUICUI, Chile, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The indigenous residents of Temucuicui have complained for years about enduring judicial persecution and police brutality in response to their attempts to hold onto their...

U.S.: ATTORNEY GENERAL BLOCKS INQUIRY INTO WATERBOARDING.
February 8, 2008... By William Fisher NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey declined Thursday to open a criminal investigation into the Central Intelligence Agency's use of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation...

NICARAGUA: ORTEGA'S EFFORTS HAVE MADE LITTLE DENT IN POVERTY.
February 8, 2008... By Jos Ad n Silva MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Nicaragua has made little progress toward cutting the prevalence of extreme poverty in half, despite the social plans implemented by President Daniel Ortega, according to...

CANADA-REPORT: MINING OIL SANDS HAS NOT AIDED ENERGY SECURITY.
February 8, 2008... By Am Johal VANCOUVER, Canada, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Alberta's Parkland Institute and the Polaris Institute have a released a report calling for an emergency strategic petroleum reserve for Canada, as well as for tougher policies to...

U.S.: EXECUTION STOPPAGE MAY PERSIST REGARDLESS OF COURT RULING.
February 8, 2008... By Adrianne Appel BOSTON, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to outlaw lethal injection when it rules on a test case this spring, but many states may nevertheless continue their de facto moratoriums well into the...

U.N.: MILLENNIUM CAMPAIGN PAINTS AFRICA IN BAD LIGHT, CRITICS SAY.
February 8, 2008... By Abra Pollock WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Benchmarks used by the United Nations to evaluate progress toward human rights goals misrepresent reality and contribute to an international stereotype of "African failure," according...

CANADA: STUDENTS DECRY BRITISH MINING FIRM'S WORK IN COLOMBIA.
February 8, 2008... By Chris Arsenault HALIFAX, Canada, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- It's an interesting sign of the times when the chairman of a mining company notorious for illegally evicting subsistence farmers to increase international coal exports is...

MEXICO-BOOKS: RESEARCHERS DETAIL ABUSE OF CAPTIVE DOLPHINS.
February 8, 2008... By Diego Cevallos/ Tierramrica* MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Feb. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- More than half of the dolphins kept in captivity in Mexico since the 1970s have died early deaths from pneumonia, stress, gastric illness or trauma, according to...

FRANCE: SARKOZY LACKS SUPPORT FOR PLAN TO 'CLEAN UP' SUBURBS.
February 11, 2008... By Julio Godoy PARIS, Feb. 11, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The French government's new plan for the revitalization of the nation's poorest neighborhoods has sparked criticism, both within the government and among the opposition. Deputy minister...

BALKANS: ALBANIA ASKS JAPAN TO SUPPORT KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE.
February 11, 2008... By Catherine Makino TOKYO, Feb. 11, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Albania's first democratically elected prime minister, Sali Berisha, has asked Japan to strengthen economic ties with his country and support Kosovo's bid for independence from Serbia....

SOUTH AFRICA: PROTESTERS CALL FOR END TO RAIDS ON REFUGEES.
February 11, 2008... By Davison Makanga CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 9, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A police raid on a Methodist church that is providing shelter to hundreds of refugees in the South African financial center of Johannesburg has continued to draw angry...

BRAZIL: LOGGING THREATENS LIVELIHOOD OF PANTANAL INDIANS.
February 11, 2008... By Mario Osava /Tierramrica * CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil, Feb. 9, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Indigenous residents of the central-western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul are struggling to survive without enough land on which to grow crops. The...

SUDAN: U.N. URGES GOVERNMENT TO ACCEPT ASIAN PEACEKEEPERS.
February 11, 2008... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 8, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The United Nations Secretariat is challenging the feasibility of meeting the government of Sudan's demand for an all-African peacekeeping force in politically troubled Darfur. ...

GUATEMALA: BUS DRIVERS LIVE IN FEAR AFTER WAVE OF KILLINGS.
February 11, 2008... By Ins Ben tez GUATEMALA CITY, Feb. 8, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "Oh, I wish they would stop killing bus drivers -- Jesus, I wish they would!" said Ernestina Gonz lez, a domestic worker who rides the bus every day. Gonz lez cried as she took...