Interpress Service articles from May 2009

Interpress Service archives from May 2009

ECONOMY-US: WORKERS WIN AND LOSE IN CHRYSLER RETOOLING.
May 1, 2009... By Adrianne Appel BOSTON, May 1, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The U.S. government will invest billions in Chrysler and the United Auto Workers (UAW) trade union will become majority owners of the company, in a financial rescue deal announced Thursday...

U.S.: MAJOR FOREIGN TESTS LIKELY OVER NEXT 100 DAYS.
May 1, 2009... Analysis by Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - While Barack Obama has clearly improved Washington's image abroad during his first 100 days in office, the next 100 will almost certainly prove much more challenging for the new...

POPULATION: ASIA FACES LOWER BIRTH AND DEATH RATES.
May 1, 2009... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Asia has long been touted as the world's largest and most populous continent with over 4.1 billion people, accounting for more than 60 percent of the global population. But...

LABOR: WORLD BANK IN ABOUT-FACE ON WORKER RIGHTS.
May 1, 2009... By Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The World Bank is dropping an index scored for undermining worker rights from its flagship effort to promote business-led economic growth in emerging, developing, and former Soviet...

MEXICO: SWINE FLU FEARS TAKE TOLL ON PORK INDUSTRY.
May 1, 2009... By Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Esther de Anda has stopped eating pork since the appearance of swine flu in Mexico. "They say there's no problem in eating it, but for now I prefer fish or chicken," the homemaker told...

HEALTH-NAMIBIA: SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTRIES FIGHT MALARIA.
May 1, 2009... By Servaas van den Bosch WINDHOEK, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Within the next twelve months, eight Southern African countries will synchronise their battles against malaria through cross-border collaboration. They hope to eliminate malaria...

MEXICO: INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN RUN FOR FIRST CONGRESSIONAL SEATS.
May 1, 2009... By Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - No indigenous woman has ever held a seat in the Mexican Congress. But two of them, one belonging to the conservative ruling party and the other representing the leftwing opposition,...

LEBANON: GENERALS' RELEASE MAY INFLUENCE JUNE ELECTION.
May 1, 2009... Analysis by Helena Cobban* WASHINGTON, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - On Wednesday, a judge at the Hague-based "Special Tribunal for Lebanon" (STL) ordered Lebanon to release four senior Lebanese generals imprisoned since 2005 on suspicion of...

AUSTRALIA: ASYLUM SEEKERS AT CENTRE OF POLITICAL SQUABBLE.
May 1, 2009... By Stephen de Tarczynski MELBOURNE, May 1, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Australia's opposition and governing parties have been admonished for attempting to make 'political capital' out of the recent spike in asylum seekers trying to reach the nation's...

MAY DAY-COSTA RICA: DOMESTICS FIGHT FOR EIGHT-HOUR DAY.
May 1, 2009... By Daniel Zueras SAN JOS, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Domestic employees in Costa Rica have run out of patience. After 17 years of fighting, they are threatening to report the state to international bodies if their slave-like working hours...

CAMBODIA: CORRUPTION UNDERMINES KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL.
May 1, 2009... By Robert Carmichael PHNOM PENH, May 1, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The voice of Comrade Duch reverberates daily through the speakers at the 500-seat courtroom in Phnom Penh as he gives testimony in his trial for crimes against humanity. Duch...

MAY DAY-ARGENTINA: 'MY MOM IS A TAXI DRIVER'.
May 1, 2009... By Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - A new collection of children's books in Argentina shows women in jobs and professions that are traditionally held by men, challenging sexist preconceptions. The six books,...

ENVIRONMENT: ISRAEL STRIPPING WEST BANK QUARRIES.
May 1, 2009... By Mel Frykberg RAMALLAH, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din is taking the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), the Israeli civil administration and a number of Israeli mining companies to court. The rights...

MIDEAST: A FORMER 'TERRORIST' SPEAKS OUT.
May 1, 2009... By Mel Frykberg JENIN, Northern West Bank, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - A former high-level Palestinian resistance fighter, who spent years on the run from Israel's security forces, has just been appointed to the Palestinian Ministry of...

RIGHTS: ROMA SEEK TO FLEE CZECH REPUBLIC.
May 1, 2009... By Zolt n Dujisin BUDAPEST, Apr. 30, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The situation of Roma in the Czech Republic has always been bad, but growing right-wing extremism has taken tensions to new levels, driving many to seek asylum in Canada. Roma...

RIGHTS-IRAQ: ABUSES PLACE SECURITY IN JEOPARDY, U.N. REPORT SAYS.
May 4, 2009... By William Fisher NEW YORK, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Unpunished crimes against women, detainees in Iraqi prisons, and others, have the future of Iraq in peril, according to a new United Nations report. According to investigators, Iraqi...

Q&A-DEVELOPMENT: 'JUST GIVE MONEY TO THE POOR,' PROFESSOR SAYS.
May 4, 2009... Mercedes Sayagues interviews Joseph Hanlon MAPUTO, Mozambique, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - A new anti-poverty program would put money right in the hands of the needy without preconditions or other requirements. "Just give money to the...

LESOTHO: PROGRAM STEPS UP HELP TO ORPHANS OF AIDS PANDEMIC.
May 4, 2009... By Lloyd Mutungamiri MASERU, Lesotho, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- The Lesotho government has embarked on an ambitious program aimed at supporting vulnerable children whose parents have died in the AIDS pandemic. In partnership with the...

MIDEAST: ENVIRONMENT EMERGES AS MAJOR CASUALTY IN GAZA WAR.
May 4, 2009... By Erin Cunningham/ IFEJ * GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- An already deepening environmental crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip has been further compounded by the recent war there. Countless fruit groves across the Gaza...

ICELAND: FAILED BUILDING BOOM LEAVES EMPTY, COSTLY LAND.
May 4, 2009... By Lowana Veal REYKJAVIK, Iceland, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Icelandic municipalities are being forced to repay individuals who had been allocated building land in new residential areas but can no longer afford to build. During...

ANALYSIS-MIDEAST: POPE TO BE 'PILGRIM OF PEACE' IN LAND OF STRIFE.
May 4, 2009... Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler JERUSALEM, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Pope Benedict XVI said his visit to the Holy Land will be as a "pilgrim of peace." The pontiff's pilgrimage starts in Jordan on Friday and continues...

EUROPE: RUSSIA CASTS SHADOW OVER FALTERING EX-SOVIET NATIONS.
May 4, 2009... By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Eighteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of the newly created republics are still struggling to construct a working democracy amid failing economies. "I...

POLITICS-U.S.: TURMOIL ABOUNDS AS ISRAELI LOBBY GROUP MEETS.
May 4, 2009... By Daniel Luban and Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, May 3, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- The American Israel Public Affairs Committee kicked off its annual policy conference this weekend during a period of unusual turbulence both for the organization and for...

SRI LANKA: JOURNALISTS KEEP WRITING DESPITE MURDER OF EDITOR.
May 4, 2009... By IPS Correspondents COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, May 3, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Lasantha Wickrematunge is gone but far from forgotten at The Sunday Leader, the newspaper where he was editor until his assassination on Jan. 7. At the end of the long...

RIGHTS: AFRICAN WOMEN SEEK SOLIDARITY AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE.
May 4, 2009... By Wambi Michael KAMPALA, Uganda, May 2, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Gender activists met here to discuss ways of strengthening the women's movement against gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict Africa. Increased cases of rape and...

AFRICA: 'WOMEN'S BODIES HAVE BECOME BATTLEFIELDS,' ACTIVIST SAYS.
May 4, 2009... Wambi Michael interviews Christine Butegwa KAMPALA, Uganda, May 2, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Akina Mama wa Afrika's Christine Butegwa doesn't hesitate when asked what explains the horrific levels of sexual violence against women in...

Q&A: EDITOR GIVES EAST AFRICAN PRESS FREEDOM AVERAGE MARKS.
May 4, 2009... Joyce Mulama interviews David Makali NAIROBI, Kenya, May 2, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Hopes for a free press have been deflated with the continued existence of repressive media laws and heightened attacks on media outlets in East Africa. ...

Q&A: EXPERT TALKS OF NEED FOR TRULY CLEAN DEVELOPMENT METHOD.
May 4, 2009... Julio Godoy interviews Lambert Schneider/Tierramrica * BERLIN, May 2, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- The Clean Development Mechanism established under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change "should go beyond pure compensation" and produce "a net...

U.S.-SUDAN: DARFUR ACTIVISTS DEPLORE CLOSER TIES WITH KHARTOUM.
May 4, 2009... By Marina Litvinsky WASHINGTON, May 1, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Critics are calling Washington's recent move to "normalize" relations with Sudan a "capitulation." The Sudan Times reported, "The United States of America is positioning itself...

MIDEAST: U.N. SAYS 60,000 PALESTINIANS' HOMES AT RISK IN JERUSALEM.
May 4, 2009... By David Cronin JERUSALEM, May 1, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- A report published Friday by a United Nations agency has warned that the problems facing the people of Silwan, who are facing eviction from their homes, are replicated throughout East...

POLITICS: CHINA PULLING SOUTHEAST ASIA BACK INTO ITS ORBIT.
May 4, 2009... By Antoaneta Bezlova -- Newsmekong* BEIJING, May 1, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- The global financial crisis is proving a boon for a resurgent China, which is poised to exert ever greater influence in Southeast Asia. While drawing neighboring...

EGYPT: HEPATITIS C LIKE TICKING TIME BOMB FOR HEALTH AUTHORITIES.
May 5, 2009... By Cam McGrath CAIRO, Egypt, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- A misguided health campaign in the 1960s has created an explosive health crisis that could cause the death of thousands of Egyptians from liver failure. Up to 9 million Egyptians...

ANALYSIS-EUROPE: ECONOMY SPURS RISE IN RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM.
May 5, 2009... Analysis by Pavol Stracansky BRATISLAVA, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Human rights activists are warning about a "proliferation" of far-right groups in central and eastern Europe amid an economic crisis fueling support for extremist movements...

HAITI: BATTERED ISLAND ILL-PREPARED FOR NEW ROUND OF STORMS.
May 5, 2009... By Marina Litvinsky WASHINGTON, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Haiti's environmental degradation is a time bomb that needs urgent attention if the country is to preserve its already strained social and economic stability, a new briefing from the...

DEVELOPMENT: MAKING USE OF AFRICAN SKILLS TO IMPROVE LIVES.
May 5, 2009... By IPS Correspondents JOHANNESBURG and CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- The aim of the third biennial Knowledge Management Africa conference is to find ways to apply vital information to the basic question of improving the...

LATIN AMERICA: WORLD PEACE MARCH TO REACH 300 CITIES, 90 COUNTRIES.
May 5, 2009... By Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Chile, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Over the last few days, the Chilean capital has hosted two very different activities that had a common objective: promoting global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. ...

RIGHTS-U.S.: OBAMA CONSIDERS REVAMPING MILITARY TRIALS.
May 5, 2009... By William Fisher NEW YORK, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Reports circulating in Washington suggest that President Barack Obama may try to revive the military commission system for prosecuting Guant namo detainees. Obama himself criticized...

RIGHTS: BRITAIN TRIES TO BLOCK RELEASE OF CIA RENDITION PAPER.
May 5, 2009... By William Fisher NEW YORK, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Britain is trying to keep secret a document that could show the nation had a role in the rendition of a British resident by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. British High Court...

POLITICS-U.S.: CHINESE UIGHURS' FATE PRESENTS OBAMA WITH PROBLEM.
May 5, 2009... By William Fisher NEW YORK, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- The probability that some Guantanamo detainees will soon be released into the United States will place the administration of President Barack Obama in the eye of a major political...

Q&A: EXPERT SEES 'SPRINGTIME OF HOPE' FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT.
May 5, 2009... Thalif Deen interviews Jayantha Dhanapala UNITED NATIONS, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- When he addressed a massive gathering in the Czech capital of Prague last month, President Barack Obama made a historic statement pledging that his country...

Q&A: PARAGUAYAN ACTIVIST SEES 'BRUTAL' MACHISMO GIVING GROUND.
May 5, 2009... Natalia Ruiz D az interviews Line Bareiro ASUNCION, Paraguay, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Women in Paraguay have learned to voice their demands and to fight for them, said activist Line Bareiro, whose track record in defense of human rights...

RIGHTS-IRAN: EXPATRIATES DISCUSS DAMAGE OF FORCED CONFESSIONS.
May 5, 2009... By Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, India, May 4, 2009 (IPS/GIN) -- Iranian political refugees living in India say there is an all too familiar ring about the supposed confessions of arrested journalist Roxana Saberi, which they expect to see...

U.S.: AUSTRALIA REVERSES COURSE ON NATIVE RIGHTS DECLARATION.
May 6, 2009... By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The United States is considering whether to endorse a major U.N. General Assembly resolution calling for the recognition of the rights of the world's 370 million indigenous peoples...

PAKISTAN: ANALYST WARNS OF "BLOODY PHASE" IN COMING MONTHS.
May 6, 2009... By Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The U.S. is fretting over what could happen if the "worst, the unthinkable" were to happen and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), toppled the country's year-old democratic government and...

ENVIRONMENT: CORAL REEFS ESCAPE LARGE-SCALE BLEACHING.
May 6, 2009... By Stephen de Tarczynski MELBOURNE, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Scientists have been surprised by the rapid recovery of coral reefs from mass bleaching on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef, but they warn that reefs remain particularly...

MIDEAST: ISRAEL WORRIES GROW OVER TOUGHER U.S. APPROACH.
May 6, 2009... Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler JERUSALEM, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Almost a full fortnight before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is received at the White House, U.S. officials have been calming fears that the...

GREECE: MASSIVE JOB LOSS MULTIPLIES MISERY FOR MIGRANTS.
May 6, 2009... By Apostolis Fotiadis ATHENS, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The economic crisis is hitting migrants harder than most other people, and it looks set to get worse for them. With close to zero growth rate and a constant upward revision of the...

Q&A: PLURALIST RABBI PURSUES PEACE OVER HATRED.
May 6, 2009... Daan Bauwens interviews RABBI MEIR AZARI TEL AVIV, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Beit Daniel is an Israeli pluralist religious organisation promoting coexistence between Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land. Executive director Rabbi Meir Azari...

PAKISTAN: MILITARY CRACKDOWN ON TALIBAN UPROOTS CIVILIANS.
May 6, 2009... By Ashfaq Yusufzai PESHAWAR, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Thousands of civilians are continuing to migrate to safer places from Upper Dir and Buner districts - the new theatres of an internal war between Pakistan's Taliban and the military in...

HEALTH: WORLD BODY SENDS FLU MEDS TO POOR COUNTRIES.
May 6, 2009... By Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Poor countries facing the greatest threat from the spread of the H1N1 flu virus - popularly known as "swine flu" - will begin to receive shipments of Tamiflu, the World Health...

U.S.: OBAMA'S GLOBAL HEALTH PLAN DISAPPOINTS ACTIVISTS.
May 6, 2009... By Ali Gharib and Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Global health activists expressed disappointment Tuesday over U.S. President Barack Obama's plans to spend 63 billion dollars over the next six years to fight diseases in poor...

POLITICS: U.N. INQUIRY CRITICAL OF ISRAELI ATTACKS IN GAZA.
May 6, 2009... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - A detailed 184-page report critical of Israeli attacks on U.N. personnel and buildings during the Gaza conflict last December-January has been meticulously stripped down to a 27-page...

ARGENTINA: FEW LIFE PROSPECTS FOR TEENAGE GIRL DROPOUTS.
May 6, 2009... By Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Cintia, 17, already has three children and is trying to go back to school, which she dropped out of several times because of the births and when her kids were sick. But the principal...

POLITICS-US: AIPAC CONFERENCE PUSHES HARD LINE ON IRAN.(Conference notes)
May 6, 2009... By Daniel Luban WASHINGTON, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful and hawkish pro-Israel lobby, wrapped up after three days primarily devoted to the threat of a...

PAKISTAN: MEDIA BEAR THE BRUNT OF TALIBAN VIOLENCE.
May 6, 2009... By Zofeen Ebrahim /Asia Media Forum* KARACHI, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Till two months back, Shireen Zada of the private television channel Express News would carry a pistol whenever he covered the news in the restive Swat Valley in...

Q&A: "BOOSTING AGRICULTURE NOT AN OPTION BUT AN IMPERATIVE".(Interview)
May 6, 2009... Ernest Corea interviews KANAYO F. NWANZE, IFAD President UNITED NATIONS, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - New support from donors will enable the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to help about 70 million poor smallholder...

BRAZIL: NEW HOMES TO BE ECO-FRIENDLY (AND BULLET-PROOF).
May 6, 2009... By Fabiana Frayssinet RIO DE JANEIRO, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Plans for the construction of low-cost housing using thermally and acoustically-insulating material offer a special amenity: the houses are all bullet-proof. The new...

CHINA: MEASURES TO CURB SWINE FLU CALLED TOO EXTREME.
May 6, 2009... By Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Rebuked in the past for its sluggish response and attempts to cover up the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), China's measures to curb the spread of the swine...

RIGHTS-US: WOMEN MIGRANTS DESCRIBE ABUSE IN COUNTY JAILS.
May 6, 2009... By Valeria Fern ndez PHOENIX, Arizona, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Broken arms, dislocated jaws, intimidation and vulgarities are part of the daily routine immigrant woman experience in Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) jails,...

BURMA: OPPOSITION BALKS AT GIVING LEGITIMACY TO 2010 POLLS.
May 6, 2009... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - With the hint of a general election in the air, the largest opposition party in military-ruled Burma is facing a dilemma about its future. Should it or should it not contest the...

AGRICULTURE: FOREIGN BUYERS LEAD GLOBAL LAND RUSH.
May 6, 2009... By Stephen Leahy/ Tierramrica * ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 5, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - More than 20 million hectares of farmland in Africa and Latin America are now in the hands of foreign governments and companies, a sign of a global "land grab" that...

POLITICS-INDIA: SELF-MADE BENGALI LEADER A TENACIOUS FIGHTER.
May 7, 2009... By Monobina Gupta KOLKATA, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Mamata Bannerjee, six-time member of Parliament from West Bengal, bucks the stereotype of women political leaders in India. Neither heir to a political dynasty nor blessed with a...

POLITICS-US: SUPPORT WANES FOR AFGHAN AND PAK LEADER.
May 7, 2009... By Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Despite an overhaul of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, it appears that the U.S. strategy in that region is running into obstacles as varied as the U.S. Congress and the leaders of...

MIDEAST: PALESTINIANS REBUILD WITH MUD.
May 7, 2009... By Eva Bartlett RAFAH, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Jihad el-Shaar is pleased with his mud-brick house in the Moraj district of Gaza. The 80-square metre home is a basic one-storey, two-bedroom design, with a small kitchen, bathroom and sitting...

POLITICS-INDIA: CRIME, CORRUPTION DETER WOMEN CANDIDATES.
May 7, 2009... By Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - While India's major political parties are pledged to increase the space for women in the electoral process, a major deterrent to female participation is the steady criminalisation of...

POLITICS: SIGNING MARITIME TREATY COULD BOOST U.S. INTERESTS.
May 7, 2009... By Marina Litvinsky and Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The U. S. should quickly accede to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, according to a new Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) report. Concluded in 1982 after...

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: MDC, ACTIVISTS WIN RELEASE OF DETAINEES.
May 7, 2009... By Ntandoyenkosi Ncube CAPE TOWN, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Eighteen rights activists detained on terrorism charges by the Mugabe government were released on bail Tuesday. Their detention had drawn protests in neighboring South Africa from a...

Q&A: FARMING TO HELP AFRICAN WOMEN DURING GLOBAL SLOWDOWN.
May 7, 2009... Kudzai Makombe interviews MWILA CHIGAGA, ILO Regional Senior Gender Specialist ADDIS ABABA, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - With first hand reports of job losses, house foreclosures and citizens living on credit card debt, the impact of the global...

HEALTH-MEXICO: TRAINING PROFESSIONAL VILLAGE MIDWIVES.
May 7, 2009... By Emilio Godoy SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, Mexico, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Mexican communications specialist Marla Vargas had her baby in the bathtub at home, attended by a midwife, because, she says, "I wanted a different experience, and a...

DISARMAMENT: MAYORS GATHER AT U.N. TO LOBBY AGAINST NUKES.
May 7, 2009... By Matthew Berger UNITED NATIONS, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The issue of nuclear disarmament is being discussed with new vigor in the halls of the U.N. as the third and final preparatory committee leading up to the 2010 review conference of...

RIGHTS-LIBERIA: JUSTICE DELAYED BLAMED FOR APRIL PRISON BREAK.
May 7, 2009... By Rebecca Murray Zwedru, LIBERIA, May 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The rain was falling hard in the early hours of April 17, when forty detainees kicked down the doors to their cells at the National Palace of Corrections, scaled the prison's...

RIGHTS-INDIA: PROTESTS MOUNT FOR RELEASE OF ACTIVIST DOCTOR.
May 8, 2009... By Keya Acharya BANGALORE, May 8, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - As India goes to the polls in a lumbering show of democracy, human rights activist-doctor Binayak Sen remains in prison over his alleged ties to Maoist groups. Sen's bail plea was...

DEVELOPMENT-EAST TIMOR: LUXURY RESORT, MALL GET GO-AHEAD.
May 8, 2009... By Matt Crook DILLI, May 8, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - With an eye on tourist dollars, the government of East Timor has given the go-ahead to two major developments, including a shopping mall complete with stores, restaurants and the impoverished...

PAKISTAN: TALIBAN BLOCK FLEEING CIVILIANS SEEKING SAFE HAVEN.
May 8, 2009... By Ashfaq Yusufzai PESHAWAR, May 8, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Thousands of people are stranded in violence-wracked Swat and Buner districts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) because the Pakistan Taliban have refused to allow them passage...

HEALTH-MEXICO: SHUNNED ABROAD, FACING NEGLIGENCE AT HOME.
May 8, 2009... By Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The Mexican government is complaining about measures taken by other countries to protect themselves against possible contagion from the new H1N1 flu virus, which is widely seen as...

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: ACTIVISTS FREED ON BAIL, CHARGES REMAIN.
May 8, 2009... By Ntandoyenkosi Ncube CAPE TOWN, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Eighteen political activists who were sent back to prison May 5 following their formal indictment on charges of terrorism have been released after an intervention from the highest...

RIGHTS-SIERRA LEONE: CHILD MINERS A LEGACY OF CONFLICT.
May 8, 2009... By Lansana Fofana FREETOWN, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Since the end of the civil war seven years ago, the Sierra Leonean authorities and child welfare agencies have been battling to remove children from the diamond-mining fields, a trend...

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: JOURNOS SPURN GOVT SUMMIT ON PRESS FREEDOM.
May 8, 2009... By Busani Bafana BULAWAYO, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Zimbabwe's unity government is stumbling in its new-found mission to restore press freedom in a country which had once branded independent journalists as 'enemies of the state'. The...

RIGHTS-US: PSYCHOLOGISTS FACE PROBE FOR ROLE IN TORTURE.
May 8, 2009... By William Fisher NEW YORK, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - A leading human rights organisation is charging that an American Psychological Association (APA) task force formed to advise the U.S. military on prisoner interrogations was "stacked with...

POLITICS-US: OFFICIALS ADMIT PAKISTANIS REJECT U.S. PRIORITIES.
May 8, 2009... Analysis by Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The advances of the Taliban insurgents beyond the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in recent weeks and the failure of the Pakistani military to counter them have...

CLIMATE CHANGE: SNOW COVER TURNING TO LAKES IN THE HIMALAYAS.
May 8, 2009... By Stephen Leahy UXBRIDGE, Canada, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - As climate change takes hold, even the mighty Himalayas and Hindu Kush mountain ranges are now losing their snow and ice. These are the world's greatest repositories of snow...

POLITICS-US: A MILLION NAMES ON FLAWED TERROR WATCHLIST.
May 8, 2009... By William Fisher NEW YORK, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Hundreds of thousands of people are being wrongly identified on a government terrorist watchlist because of wasteful and inefficient management of the list, the American Civil Liberties...

RIGHTS: SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS WATCH LOBBIES EL SALVADOR.
May 8, 2009... By Ra[pounds sterling]l Gutirrez* SAN SALVADOR, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - Representatives of School of the Americas Watch visited El Salvador to ask the incoming government of the leftwing FMLN, which will take office in June, to stop sending...

POLITICS: SECURITY COUNCIL SILENT ON BURMA'S CHILD VICTIMS.
May 8, 2009... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, May 7, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - The U.N. Security Council, which has remained virtually paralysed on Palestine because of strong Western support for Israel, is considered equally ineffective on Burma (Myanmar)...