Interpress Service articles from March 2007

Interpress Service archives from March 2007

ARGENTINA: CONGRESS ACTS TO ROLL BACK PENSION PRIVATIZATION.
March 1, 2007... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Mar. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The Argentine Congress approved changes in the pension system that will strengthen the role of the state, after the partial privatization of the system that was carried out in the...

SLOVAKIA: PREMIER SEEKS TO DISTANCE NATION (A BIT) FROM THE U.S.
March 1, 2007... by Zolt n Dujisin BUDAPEST, Mar. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Robert Fico, the charismatic Prime Minister of Slovakia, is shifting his country's foreign policy into an unusual direction in this usually pro-U.S. region. After the collapse of...

BANGLADESH: ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE DELAYS ELECTIONS.
March 1, 2007... by Farid Ahmed DHAKA, Mar. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- With their eternal squabbling and street battles, Bangladesh's two main political parties have not only delayed national elections set for Jan. 22 but created a situation where a state of...

IRAQ: STORIES OF RAPE BEGIN TO EMERGE FROM THE SHADOWS.
March 1, 2007... by Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily BAGHDAD, Mar. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Accounts of rapes committed by both U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have been common since the early days of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The first stories emerged from Abu...

HEALTH: LEGAL DRUG ABUSE WILL SOON OUTSTRIP ILLEGAL.
March 1, 2007... by Ann De Ron BRUSSELS, Mar. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A growing number of people are getting addicted to tranquillisers and other legal prescription drugs, and this abuse will soon exceed illicit drug abuse, the International Narcotics Control...

CHAD: WHERE ELEPHANTS ONCE ROAMED, RATS NOW SCAMPER.
March 1, 2007... by Michal Didama N'DJAMENA, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The road from the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, isn't what it used to be. "Thirty years ago, you'd often come across herds of elephant crossing the highway at the southern exit of...

RIGHTS WATCH: FATE OF MANY 'GHOST PRISONERS' IS STILL UNKNOWN.
March 1, 2007... by Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The U.S. government should account for all "ghost prisoners" detained by the Central Intelligence Agency in secret prisons around the world, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urges. An HRW...

WEATHER: PLANES RUSH AID TO FLOOD-BESIEGED BOLIVIAN TOWN.
March 1, 2007... by Franz Ch vez TRINIDAD, Bolivia, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Seen from the air, the capital of the Bolivian department of Beni is surrounded by an enormous stretch of water. Local residents are hoping that the polluted floods, only 40...

IRAQ: WORLD BANK SILENT ON REPORT OF WOUNDED STAFFER.
March 1, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- An Iraqi World Bank staffer has been wounded in Baghdad, according to an inside source in the Bank and an e-mail message from a source on the ground in Iraq, but the Bank has made no...

ENVIRONMENT: NIGER SEEKS TO SAVE ITS MIGHTY RIVER.
March 1, 2007... by Ousseini Issa NIAMEY, Niger Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Stretching over more than 4,000 kilometres, the Niger is West Africa's longest river, and now gravely threatened by environmental degradation. "The lack of vegetation along the...

HAITI: CIVILIAN DEATHS MOUNT AS U.N. PURSUES GANG MEMBERS.
March 1, 2007... by Wadner Pierre and Jeb Sprague PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Nearly two months since U.N. troops began launching heavy attacks they say are aimed against gang members in poor neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, roadblocks and...

BRAZIL: ACTORS STAGE A TV SERIES TO SAVE THE AMAZON FORESTS.
March 1, 2007... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- An open letter demanding "an immediate halt to the deforestation of the Amazon jungle" has been released by Brazilian television stars taking part in the Globo Network series...

MEXICO: DISCHARGE OF HIV-POSITIVE SOLDIERS RULED ILLEGAL.
March 1, 2007... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the military to expel HIV-positive soldiers, a long-term practice of the armed forces. The verdict handed down on...

RIGHTS: CANADIAN COURT BARS USE OF SECRET DATA IN TERROR CASES.
March 1, 2007... by William Fisher NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A Canadian court has unanimously struck down a law that would allow the government to use secret evidence to detain foreign-born terror suspects indefinitely without charges or open...

POLITICS: NEW 'VANGUARD' WEBSITE TAKES AIM AT MOVEON.
March 1, 2007... by Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, California, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The history of the modern U.S. conservative movement -- circa 1964 to the present -- is replete with its share of hucksters, snake oil salesman, rhetoricians, mudslingers,...

AFGHANISTAN: PAKISTAN MINES BORDER REGION TO THWART TALIBAN.
March 1, 2007... Analysis by Sediqullah Bader - The Killid Group* KABUL, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Afghanistan's long and rugged frontier with Pakistan is being mined and fenced by Islamabad in response to mounting criticism from the U.S., Kabul and its...

BURMA/THAILAND: NEW DAMS THREATEN MANY INDIGENOUS GROUPS.
March 1, 2007... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Being a village headman means little if you live in a community nestling in the hills close to Thailand's northern border with Burma. Especially if officials have plans to use...

POLITICS: PENTAGON MEETING FOCUSED ON PRESSURE ON IRAN.
March 1, 2007... Analysis by Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Two weeks ago, Pentagon officials discussed escalating U.S. pressure on Iran with the intention of creating the impression that the U.S. is ready to go to war, according to...

PHILIPPINES: CHINA'S TOURISTS FIND A NEW PLAYGROUND.
March 1, 2007... by Antoaneta Bezlova BORACAY, Feb. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - From sand replicas of the Great Wall on the fine, white beaches here to rowdy banquets of singing moon gazers, traces of China's expanding economic boom are everywhere to be found on...

IRAN: TEHRAN BLAMES THE WEST FOR ETHNIC UNREST.
March 5, 2007... by Kimia Sanati TEHRAN, Mar. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The recent spate of hostilities between the governing Shia and the country's large Sunni ethnic groups is being attributed to meddling by western countries. "Iranian intelligence...

RIGHTS: MEXICANS JAILED FOR HELPING CENTAM IMMIGRANTS.
March 5, 2007... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Mar. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Like many of her neighbors, Concepcicentsn Moreno was in the habit of giving food and shelter to Central American immigrants. Two years ago she was sent to jail for this, accused...

TRADE: DEVELOPING NATIONS ASSAIL 'SWISS' TARIFF FORMULA.
March 5, 2007... by Ravi Kanth Devarakonda GENEVA, Mar. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Several developing countries have sharply criticised fresh attempts by the European Union and the United States to pry open their industrial markets through a controversial "Swiss...

POLITICS: IN A SURPRISE, RICE PICKS A NEO-CON AS COUNSELOR.
March 5, 2007... Analysis by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- In a move that has surprised many foreign policy analysts, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has appointed a prominent neo-conservative hawk and champion of the Iraq war to the...

ENERGY: MAJOR POWERS CLOSING RANKS ON UTILITY OF BIOFUELS.
March 5, 2007... by Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Despite their diverse and sometimes sharply conflicting political and economic interests, the major powers seem to be getting closer to each other in their quest to develop clean...

NUTRITION: CUBANS SPEND TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR INCOME ON FOOD.
March 5, 2007... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Mar. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- One of the main concerns of the average Cuban family is food, which costs about two-thirds of their income, according to several studies. In comparison, households in Costa Rica and...

BRAZZAVILLE: HELPING STREET KIDS CHALK UP SUCCESS STORIES.
March 5, 2007... by Arsne Svrin BRAZZAVILLE, Congo Mar. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Sixteen-year-old Bamanandoki Pitchou hasn't finished his apprenticeship in hairdressing yet, but he already has a small business. A former street child who lives in Kinsoundi -- a...

ENERGY: VENEZUELA WARY OF BUSH'S PLAN FOR AN 'ETHANOL OPEC'.
March 5, 2007... by Humberto M rquez CARACAS, Mar. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- President George W. Bush will visit Latin America next week seeking a strategic alliance with Brazil to develop biofuels -- and Venezuela, the region's main oil exporter, is watching...

CHILE: NEW LAW ON TEENS' PRISON PENALTIES DIVIDES EXPERTS.
March 6, 2007... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Mar. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The law on juvenile criminal responsibility that will enter into force in Chile on Jun. 8 is in need of major adjustments if it is to be enforced successfully, according to some...

AFRICA: TOUGH RULES ON AIDS AMONG WORKERS CALLED VITAL.
March 6, 2007... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Mar. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- With AIDS cutting a swath through Africa's workforce, experts agree that there is an urgent need for employers to set up policies that help HIV-positive staffers and ensure they are not...

TRINIDAD: ABORTION AS CRIME CURE? POLITICIAN IGNITES A FUROR.
March 6, 2007... by Peter Ischyrion PORT OF SPAIN, Mar. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- In 1999, the U.S. economists John Donohue and Steven Levitt argued that the sharp decline in murder rates in the United States in the 1990s could be traced to the legalization of...

SRI LANKA: ENCOURAGING FARMERS AND ELEPHANTS TO BE PARTNERS.
March 6, 2007... by Feizal Samath COLOMBO, Mar. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Decades after unsuccessful attempts to minimize the elephant-human conflict in Sri Lanka, authorities are trying out a bold experiment -- allowing both mammals to live together in harmony...

CENTAM: KILLINGS HIGHLIGHT REGIONAL NATURE OF DRUG TRADE.
March 6, 2007... by Ra[pounds sterling]l Gutirrez SAN SALVADOR, Mar. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- "You can't trust anyone any more. Things are going from bad to worse," said Julio Mcentsnico, a retired Salvadoran, commenting on the drugs-related murders in...

ENVIRONMENT: OCEAN FISHERIES NEARLY MAXED OUT, U.N. REPORT SAYS.
March 6, 2007... by Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Mar. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Two-thirds of fish stocks in the world's high seas are overfished, while most of those closer to shore are failing or fished to the maximum, a new U.N. report said Monday. ...

EGYPT: ANGER GROWS OVER ISRAELI DIGGING NEAR KEY MOSQUE.
March 7, 2007... by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani CAIRO, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- In a rare show of unity, parties from across the political spectrum have condemned Israeli digging near Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque. They warned of "dire...

DEFENSE: ACTIVISTS SEEK ABOLITION OF FOREIGN MILITARY BASES.
March 7, 2007... by Kintto Lucas QUITO, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- An international network for the abolition of foreign military bases has been created at a conference attended by over 1,000 activists and experts from 30 countries, which opened in...

CAMEROON: SOLAR POWER REPLACING ANTIQUATED KEROSENE LAMPS.
March 7, 2007... by Sylvestre Tetchiada YAOUNDE, Mar. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- For Merline Momo Azeufac, a teacher at Balefock village in western Cameroon, the days of fearing nightfall while correcting pupils' work are over. She's no longer hostage to the...

CHINA: SEEKING AN EXPORT POLICY THAT WON'T ALIENATE THE WORLD.
March 7, 2007... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Mar. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Chinese leaders are looking for a new formula for expansion of the world's fastest-growing economy - one that addresses environmental damage and a widening income gap. They are...

HAVANA/CARACAS: A PACT TO MAKE BIOFUELS FROM SUGAR, NOT FOOD.
March 7, 2007... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Mar. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The governments of Cuba and Venezuela are moving forward together on biofuels production, relying on producing alcohol from sugarcane in order to spare food crops. Official Cuban...

RIGHTS: SEX SLAVERY INDUSTRY IS GROWING SHARPLY.
March 7, 2007... by Mithre J. Sandrasagra UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Somaly Mau of Cambodia was sold into sexual slavery at such a young age that she does not remember her parents and does not know how old she is. Mau, a Glamour Magazine...

WORLD: ISRAEL, IRAN AND U.S. COME IN LAST IN POPULARITY POLL.
March 7, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar. 6, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A majority of people from around the world hold predominantly negative views of Israel, Iran, and the United States, according to a survey of more than 28,000 respondents in 27 countries....

ENERGY: AUSTRIA STEPS UP PRESSURE ON CZECHS OVER NUCLEAR PLANT.
March 8, 2007... by Zolt n Dujisin BUDAPEST, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The Czech Republic is once more under Austrian pressure over its controversial Temelin nuclear plant, which many want decommissioned. Temelin is a village in south Bohemia situated...

WOMEN'S DAY: WIFE-BEATING COMMON IN 'PROGRESSIVE' INDIAN STATE.
March 8, 2007... by Soma Basu MADURAI, Tamil Nadu, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A report released as part of a national family health survey has come as a shock for a state long regarded as progressive. Tamil Nadu placed high on a list of states where...

WOMEN'S DAY: A CAMPAIGN FOR THE RIGHTS OF BURMESE EXILES.
March 8, 2007... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- At 17 she was in Geneva, not as a tourist but as an invitee speaker at the annual sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In 2005, aged 24, she had a celebrated...

THAILAND: SCHOOLING SOUGHT FOR EXPLOITED MIGRANT CHILDREN.
March 8, 2007... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Troubled by the exploitation of migrant children on the Thai-Burma border, a labour rights group is seeking an unusual pact with the Thai government. The Migrant Action...

ECONOMY: EU AGAIN THREATENS POOR COUNTRIES ON TRADE.
March 8, 2007... by Mattias Creffier BRUSSELS, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The European Commission and a group of countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific again failed to reach an agreement on trade liberalisation in their latest effort. EU...

DRUGS: AFGHANISTAN STILL TOPS THE CHARTS IN OPIUM OUTPUT.
March 8, 2007... by Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Although backed by U.S. military might and support from other Western powers, the government in Kabul has failed to change Afghanistan's status as the world's leading illicit...

WOMEN: CHAOTIC IRAQ TORN BY GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE.
March 8, 2007... by Mithre J. Sandrasagra UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Amid the chaos and violence of U.S.-occupied Iraq, the significance of widespread gender-based violence has been largely overlooked, according to a report released here...

POLITICS: BUSH'S LATIN AMERICAN TRIP: TOO LATE IN THE GAME?
March 8, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- "Too little, too late" appears to be the consensus view among Latin America specialists about. President George W. Bush's six-day tour of the region, which begins Thursday when he boards...

POLITICS: RIGHTS REPORT DOWNPLAYS U.S. TERROR WAR ABUSES.
March 8, 2007... by Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The State Department's annual Human Rights Reports, released Tuesday in Washington, points to the humanitarian disaster in Sudan and the failure of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf...

GENOCIDE: BOSNIANS UNHAPPY WITH RULING THAT CLEARS SERBIA.
March 8, 2007... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- "Regardless of the decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), I know what I will tell my children about the war," Bosnia-Herzegovina leader Zdravko Komsic said after...

WOMEN'S DAY: RAPE AND VIOLENCE ARE STILL RAMPANT IN LIBERIA.
March 8, 2007... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- While the West African state of Liberia was being torn apart by 14 years of civil war, the main victims of the insurgency were women and children. "Not only are the terrible...

NARCOTICS: ONE IN TEN RUSSIAN DEATHS BLAMED ON DRUGS.
March 8, 2007... by Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Russia is losing one in ten people in its active population to drugs, a leading medical researcher told IPS. "Now it's for the authorities to wake up and take some measures,"...

WOMEN'S DAY: FEMALES IN TOP POSTS OFTEN GO ALONG TO GET ALONG.
March 8, 2007... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Having a woman as a top government minister does not guarantee a gender-conscious approach to policies. That at least is the conclusion from observing the work of women...

WOMEN'S DAY: KENYAN COURTS ARE FAR FROM CURE-ALLS FOR RAPE.
March 8, 2007... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Mar. 7, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- As the world marks International Women's Day on Thursday, under the theme of Ending Impunity for Violence Against Women and Girls, activists in Kenya claim there is much to do in ensuring...

ENVIRONMENT: EU PACT ON EMISSIONS DISAPPOINTS ACTIVISTS.
March 9, 2007... by Peter Dhondt BRUSSELS, Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- European heads of state have agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2020, but environmental groups say the measures fall short of what is needed...

TRADE: EUROPE'S DILEMMA OF EXCESS SUGAR PRODUCTION.
March 9, 2007... by Meghan Sapp BRUSSELS, Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Failed sugar policies within the European Union (EU) and the prospect of unlimited imports from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the near future have put a question mark over a...

JAPAN/NORTH KOREA: A BITTER HISTORY DERAILS TALKS IN HANOI.
March 9, 2007... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Talks between Japan and North Korea this week to normalise bilateral relations failed to get over a bitter history, with the two sides unable to even set future dates for resumption of...

MOROCCO: WIDE AMNESTY HINTS AT END OF DEATH PENALTY.
March 9, 2007... by Abderrahim El Ouali CASABLANCA, Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- An amnesty for more than a dozen death-row prisoners and thousands of others is being interpreted here as a signal that Morocco is on the verge of being the first nation in the...

MIDEAST: IRAQI KURDS FEAR AN ATTACK BY TURKEY.
March 9, 2007... by Mohammed A. Salih QANDIL MOUNTAINS (Iraq-Iran-Turkey), Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The fragile quiet in this no-man's-land is broken by a young fighter shooting into the air at a regular morning ceremony to "commemorate martyrs". The...

RIGHTS: CHILD SEX TOURISM IS AN INDUSTRY IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
March 9, 2007... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- "There's no child sex tourism here," technical secretary of the Central American Tourism Council Mercedes de Mena stated firmly, saying that no tourism operator offers such a thing...

POLITICS: TENSIONS RISING AGAIN BETWEEN CHINA AND TAIWAN.
March 9, 2007... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- An escalating feud between China and Taiwan has the archrivals on an apparent collision course again. The Nationalist army of the Kuomintang party fled to the island of Taiwan...

POLITICS: U.S. URGED TO REACH OUT TO CHAVEZ.
March 9, 2007... by Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A report released Thursday by the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue charges that United States' policy in dealing with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has shown little skill or...

U.N.: PLAN FOR AN IRAN ARMS EMBARGO HITS A RUSSIAN ROADBLOCK.
March 9, 2007... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- When the U.N. Security Council decides to punish a member state -- be it Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Iraq -- one of its cherished prerogatives is the power to impose mandatory...

POLITICS: DEMOCRATS SEEK IRAQ WITHDRAWAL BY END OF 2008.
March 9, 2007... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- After several weeks of internal wrangling, the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives Thursday proposed legislation that would require all U.S. combat troops in Iraq to be...

RIGHTS: IRANIAN POLICE DISPERSE INT'L WOMEN'S DAY RALLY.
March 9, 2007... by Kimia Sanati TEHRAN, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- An attempt by several hundred women to commemorate International Women's Day by demonstrating in front of the Iranian parliament ended when police and plainclothesmen used force to disperse...

PAKISTAN: DESERTED WOMEN'S CENTRES A CLUE TO PUBLIC APATHY.
March 9, 2007... by Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Climbing up the flight of rickety wooden stairs leading to the two-room government women's centre in this southern port city can be frustrating. The deserted look reveals the general...

ROMANIA: RUSSIANS ANGERED BY COURT APPROVAL OF '41 INVASION.
March 9, 2007... by Claudia Ciobanu BUCHAREST, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Russia has expressed anger over a court decision declaring Romania's invasion of the former Soviet Union in 1941 legitimate. The Bucharest Court of Appeals delivered the decision...

WOMEN'S DAY: SEX TRADE KEEPS MANY LESS EQUAL THAN OTHERS.
March 9, 2007... by Mario de Queiroz LISBON, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- In spite of their many conquests in the 20th century and so far in the 21st, women in the European Union (EU) are still a long way from achieving equality with men -- a goal laid down...

WOMEN'S DAY: PROGRESS IN SOUTH PACIFIC, BUT DATA IS LACKING.
March 9, 2007... by Shailendra Singh SUVA, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- While there is greater awareness about women's issues in most South Pacific Island states, the lack of reliable data hampers the assessment of l progress. But the positive...

WOMEN'S DAY: SOUTH AFRICAN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS WIDESPREAD.
March 9, 2007... by Moyiga Nduru JOHANNESBURG, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- International Women's Day is this year focused on bringing those who abuse women and girls to book. The theme is a pertinent one for South Africa, where the twin challenges of...

WOMEN'S DAY: BIG LENDERS URGED TO ENFORCE GENDER RIGHTS.
March 9, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Mar. 8, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Dozens of international civil society groups have endorsed a call to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to require enforceable gender protections for women as a...

ENVIRONMENT: WORLD'S SHARK POPULATION DOWN 80% IN 15 YEARS.
March 12, 2007... by Francesca Colombo /Tierramrica * MILAN, Mar. 12, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - Despite their fearsome reputation, sharks are a very vulnerable species, and some varieties are at risk of extinction. Of the 40 shark types found in European seas,...

MIDEAST: AN EGYPTIAN MEDAL FOR A U.S. GENERAL DRAWS FIRE.
March 12, 2007... by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani CAIRO, Mar. 12, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Cairo's decision last month to award U.S. General John Abizaid the prestigious medal of honour has angered much of the political opposition. The government...

JAPAN: PREMIER FIRM IN DENYING COERCION OF 'COMFORT WOMEN' EXISTED.
March 12, 2007... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Mar. 12, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- For more than 50 years after her return home to South Korea from Taiwan, where she spent three years as a forced sex provider for Japanese soldiers, Lee Yong Soo, 78, has waited for a...

DEVELOPMENT: INDIA MARKING A SHARP RISE IN TOURISM.
March 12, 2007... by Clive Freeman BERLIN, Mar. 12, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Tourism is becoming a major source of development in India. It contributed almost six percent to gross national income (GNI) last year. India made a strong push last week to develop...

SRI LANKA: BAN ON MOTHERS WORKING ABROAD COMES UNDER FIRE.
March 12, 2007... by Feizal Samath COLOMBO, Mar. 12, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A ban by the Sri Lankan government on young mothers taking up jobs as housemaids in foreign countries has whipped up a storm of protests, with rights groups slamming the move as hasty...

MALAYSIA: STATE TO RUN CITY BUSES AFTER PRIVATISATION FAILS.
March 12, 2007... by Anil Netto PENANG, Malaysia, Mar. 12, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A state-owned bus company is set to take over public transport in this traffic-clogged northern state after the failure of the privatised, deregulated bus service. But public...

TRADE: FOOD SAFETY IN AFRICA IS A VICTIM OF POOR INFRASTRUCTURE.
March 12, 2007... by Meghan Sapp BRUSSELS, Mar. 11, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A container ship is docked at Ghana's Tema port, stuffed to the brim with frozen food products, including thousands of metric tonnes of poultry parts recently arrived from Brazil. These...

HEALTH: LAOS JOINS THE BIRD-FLU DEATH ROSTER.
March 12, 2007... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Mar. 11, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A spell of good fortune that South-east Asia's poorest country enjoyed for three years ran out this month. Laos became the 11th country in the world to record a human death from...

AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN KIDNAPS ITALIAN NEWSMAN FOR 'SPYING'.
March 12, 2007... Analysis by Ricardo Grassi * ROME, Mar. 10, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The Taliban, the Islamist movement that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and is now an outlawed rebel force, showed a new tactic this week when it kidnapped an Italian...

ENERGY: BRAZIL-U.S. ETHANOL DEAL MEETS A MULTIPLICITY OF NEEDS.
March 12, 2007... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar. 10, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The new partnership to promote the use of ethanol agreed upon during President George W. Bush's visit to Brazil meets multiple needs of both countries. "If you're dependent on...

FINANCE: EUROPEAN REGIMES ASKED TO PRESSURE WORLD BANK.
March 12, 2007... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Mar. 10, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Activists across Europe have called on their governments to withhold funds from the World Bank unless specific changes are made in policy at the Washington-based global lender. But...

POLITICS: THE 'REALISTS' MAKE A COMEBACK, EDGING OUT CHENEY HAWKS.
March 12, 2007... Analysis by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Mar. 10, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- It was just nine months ago when Newsweek spoke for the conventional wisdom at that moment when it pronounced "The End of Cowboy Diplomacy". The phrase signaled the apparent...

LATIN AMERICA: URUGUAY'S LEFT DIVIDED OVER BUSH'S VISIT.
March 12, 2007... by Ra[pounds sterling]l Pierri MONTEVIDEO, Mar. 9, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- President George W. Bush's arrival in Uruguay Friday has created tensions in a leftwing coalition that is governing this South American country for the first time. ...