Interpress Service articles from October 2007

Interpress Service archives from October 2007

Q&A-BURMA: DISSIDENT ACTIVIST CALLS ON CHINA TO WEAKEN JUNTA.
October 1, 2007... By Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, India, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Soe Myint has served as the symbolic face of Burmese resistance in India, ever since 1990, when he hijacked a Rangoon-bound Thai airliner to Calcutta to highlight the brutality...

INDIA: FISHERWOMEN PROTEST EXPANSION OF TOURISM INDUSTRY.
October 1, 2007... By M. Martin THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney described his 2002 Kerala tour in one word -- "magical." For the thousands of tourists who visit Kerala's green villages, picturesque...

Q&A: DEATH PENALTY HAS NO FOUNDATION IN ISLAM, PROFESSOR SAYS.
October 1, 2007... By Abderrahim El Ouali CASABLANCA, Morocco, Sep. 29, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Mustapha Bouhandi, a professor of comparative religion at Hassan II University in Casablanca, has drawn fierce criticism from Islamic extremists for arguing that the...

MOROCCO: INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION POSES SERIOUS HEALTH RISK.
October 1, 2007... By Abderrahim El Ouali CASABLANCA, Morocco, Sep. 29, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Industrial pollution is causing at least 2 billion euros worth of damage every year in Morocco, according to environmentalists. "This is a serious problem in...

NORTH AFRICA: ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURERS MOVE TO THE MAGHREB.
October 1, 2007... By Michael Deibert PARIS, Sep. 29, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- North Africa appears poised to become an electronics manufacturing hub, due to its abundance of skilled labor and the convenience of its proximity to the European market. The...

U.S./IRAQ: PENTAGON AWARDS $92 MILLION CONTRACT TO BLACKWATER.
October 1, 2007... By Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The Department of Defense has awarded a contract worth up to $92 million to Blackwater USA, a private security firm, despite lingering questions about its involvement in two separate...

FINANCE: NEW IMF BOSS INHERITS AGENCY'S LEGITIMACY CRISIS.
October 1, 2007... By Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- This November former French Socialist finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn is set to inherit the International Monetary Fund, along with outstanding debates about the agency's role in...

MEXICO: COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS AVERT CONSTRUCTION OF SKYSCRAPER.
October 1, 2007... By Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Mexico City residents have successfully blocked the municipal government's plan to build the tallest skyscraper in Latin America in their neighborhood. Strong opposition...

U.N.: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CALLS EMERGENCY SESSION ON BURMA.
October 1, 2007... By Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The United Nations Human Rights Council is planning to hold an emergency session next week to discuss the bloody crackdown on protesters carried out by the military regime in Burma...

HEALTH: NEW AIDS DRUGS WILL SIMPLIFY CARE OF RURAL CHILDREN.
October 1, 2007... By Adrianne Appel BOSTON, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A new form of AIDS treatment for children, targeted at families in rural areas, will be available within months, according to an official from the World Health Organization. The...

CLIMATE CHANGE: COMPANIES SEEK TECHNOLOGICAL CURES FOR CRISIS.
October 1, 2007... By Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The lack of governmental action on climate change is forcing scientists to consider implementing radical geo-engineering schemes to try and prevent the worst effects from...

LATIN AMERICA: ARTICLE ON CHILD LABOR WINS JOURNALISM PRIZE.
October 1, 2007... By Diana Cariboni MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- "Daniel San Juan Tolentino dug his own grave. A pile of earth fell on him and buried him." These sad sentences begin the article that won first prize in the "Latin America...

U.S.: AHMADINEJAD DELIVERS CONTROVERSIAL SPEECHES IN NEW YORK.
October 1, 2007... Analysis by Khody Akhavi WASHINGTON, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad courts controversy wherever he goes, and his visit to New York this week was no exception. The Iranian leader called for more...

ECUADOR: ELECTION SPARKS DEBATES ABOUT 21ST-CENTURY SOCIALISM.
October 1, 2007... By Kintto Lucas QUITO, Ecuador, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Controversy in Ecuador over the meaning of "21st-century socialism" has heated up the campaign leading up to Sunday's election of the constituent assembly that will rewrite the...

BOOKS: POST-9/11 ADDENDUM EXPANDS ON 'END OF VICTORY CULTURE'.
October 1, 2007... By Daniel Luban WASHINGTON, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- George W. Bush decision to invoke the legacy of Vietnam last month to justify a continued U.S. presence in Iraq marked the completion of a rhetorical journey that few would have...

MALAWI: BUSINESSWOMEN STRUGGLE TO ADAPT TO GLOBALIZED TRADE.
October 1, 2007... By Pilirani Semu-Banda LILONGWE, Malawi, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Small businesswomen in Malawi are facing a major challenge as trade becomes increasingly sophisticated and global, especially because female adult literacy rates have...

BURMA: SOLDIERS KILL PROTESTERS, LAY SIEGE TO MONASTERIES.
October 1, 2007... By Moe Yu May and Marwaan Macan-Markar RANGOON, Burma, Sep. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Burma's heavily armed soldiers unleashed a hail of bullets Thursday upon civilian protesters who were chanting angry slogans outside a high school in Tamwe...

PAKISTAN: RESIDENTS ORGANIZE TO BUILD THEIR OWN SEWERS.
October 2, 2007... By Irfan Shahzad KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Muhammad Salam lets his children play out in the street without the slightest worry, unlike his anxious neighbors in the opposite lane. Salam's peace of mind comes from the...

Q&A-BULGARIA: OPENING OF COMMUNIST FILES UNNERVES LEADERS.
October 2, 2007... By Claudia Ciobanu SOFIA, Bulgaria, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A coalition of Bulgarian nongovernmental groups held a series of rallies in Sofia last Thursday to protest the appointment of alleged collaborators with the communist secret...

GERMANY: ANTI-TERRORISM PROPOSALS DIVIDE RULING COALITION.
October 2, 2007... By Julio Godoy BERLIN, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- National policy on the "war on terror" is dividing the German coalition government, with some right-wing Christian Democrat leaders seeking to shoot down commercial aircraft hijacked by...

CZECH REPUBLIC: PRESIDENT POOH-POOHS GLOBAL WARMING AT U.N.
October 2, 2007... By Zolt n Dujisin PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- "The recent rise in global temperatures has been very small in historical comparison, and its impact on man and his activities are basically negligible," Czech President...

PHILIPPINES: WOMEN AIM TO SUE MAYOR FOR BANNING BIRTH CONTROL.
October 2, 2007... By Stella Gonzales MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Within 12 years Lourdes Esplana-Osil gave birth to seven children. Warned by her doctor of complications from repeated pregnancies, she started using injectable...

TURKEY: POLITICIANS RESUME MEMBERSHIP TALKS WITH EU.
October 2, 2007... Analysis by Hilmi Toros ISTANBUL, Turkey, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The European Union and Turkey, which got engaged more than 40 years ago for a marriage that may never take place, are back in reconciliation mode after a period of...

PAKISTAN: ORGAN PEDDLERS PREY ON POOR NEIGHBORHOODS.
October 2, 2007... By Zofeen Ebrahim LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Faqir Masih, a 23-year-old laborer from a poor Christian settlement on the fringes of Lahore, is one of many low-income Pakistani workers who have been duped into selling their...

ARGENTINA: LATIN AMERICAN SUMMIT FOCUSES ON NATIONAL PARKS.
October 2, 2007... By Marcela Valente BARILOCHE, Argentina, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Latin America is blessed with the greatest biodiversity on the planet, but its export-based model of intensive economic development is rapidly destroying the region's...

REPORT: U.S. SUPPLIED MOST ARMS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN 2006.
October 2, 2007... By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The United States has reclaimed its ranking as the developing world's top supplier of conventional arms, according to a new report on 2006 arms deals published by the Congressional Research...

BRAZIL: DELL ASKS BUYERS TO SIGN PLEDGE AGAINST 'AXIS OF EVIL'.
October 2, 2007... By Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Dell is requiring its Brazilian customers to sign a declaration promising that their computers will not be exported to the "axis of evil" or used for weapons development,...

U.N.-REPORT: URBAN POOR ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO DISASTERS.
October 2, 2007... By Frank Mulder THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The urban poor are the worst affected by crime, natural disasters and insecurity, according to a Global Report on Human Settlements released Monday by the United Nations....

ECUADOR: CORREA'S PARTY WINS MAJORITY IN CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY.
October 2, 2007... By Kintto Lucas QUITO, Ecuador, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Ecuador's governing Movimiento Alianza Pa s won a landslide victory in the election for the country's constituent assembly on Sunday, clearing the way for leaders to lay the...

GUATEMALA: CANDIDATES PLEDGE TO REINSTATE DEATH PENALTY.
October 2, 2007... By Ins Ben tez GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Both of the presidential candidates who will face off in Guatemala's Nov. 4 runoff election have promised to remove the current de facto moratorium on capital punishment....

CHINA: OFFICIAL PRESS GLOSSES OVER VIOLENCE IN BURMA.
October 2, 2007... Analysis by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- One of China's more liberal official newspapers ran a lengthy feature article over the weekend about an ethnic Chinese entrepreneur striking it rich in Burma's jade business....

HEALTH: GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS NEEDS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
October 2, 2007... By Julio Godoy BERLIN, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Developed countries, financial institutions and private companies agreed last week to channel an additional $9.7 billion for the global fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but the...

RUSSIA: POLITICIANS REBUT U.S. REPORT ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS.
October 2, 2007... By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Russian authorities and analysts have rejected the latest U.S. State Department report on religious freedom, nonprofit organizations and democracy, calling it politically biased....

AUSTRALIA: NEW CITIZENSHIP TEST IS INANE AND RACIST, CRITICS SAY.
October 2, 2007... By Stephen de Tarczynski MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 1, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Prospective Australian citizens are now required to pass a citizenship test to prove their understanding of "Australia's values, traditions, history and national...

SOUTH AFRICA: EXPANSION OF MINING OPERATIONS APPEARS IMMINENT.
October 2, 2007... By Steven Lang JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Sep. 30, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Environmentalists and tour operators appear to be losing the battle against mining companies in Mpumalanga, a province in the east of South Africa. The...

U.N.: SEXUAL ABUSE IS INFECTING CHILDREN WITH AIDS, OFFICIAL SAYS.
October 2, 2007... By Adrianne Appel BOSTON, Sep. 30, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Sexual abuse, incest and early teenage sex are all sources of HIV transmission to children, so the executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS is calling on...

ZIMBABWE: DILAPIDATED SEWAGE SYSTEM SPREADS DISEASE IN HARARE.
October 2, 2007... By Tonderai Kwidini HARARE, Zimbabwe, Sep. 30, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Every move that the young Zimbabwean couple made in the direction of the Glen View One Satellite Clinic revealed the great pain that they were experiencing. "We are going...

SOUTHERN AFRICA: NONTARIFF BARRIERS BLOCK FLOW OF GOODS.
October 2, 2007... By Stephanie Nieuwoudt CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Sep. 30, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The Southern African Development Community has moved toward liberalizing trade to make the flow of goods between countries easier and economically more rewarding,...

BURMA: BLOODY CRACKDOWN SULLIES IMAGE OF JUNTA'S WHITESHIRTS.
October 2, 2007... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Thailand, Sep. 30, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Burma's military regime has deployed "whiteshirts" against protesting civilians in much the same way that Benito Mussolini used Blackshirts and Adolf Hitler unleashed...

CLIMATE CHANGE: SCIENTISTS USE ALGAE TO ABSORB CARBON DIOXIDE.
October 2, 2007... By Julio Godoy /IFEJ BERLIN, Sep. 29, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The possibility that algae could be used to capture carbon dioxide from the air is changing the negative reputation of these organisms, which are often seen as a plague caused by...

U.S.: PRESIDENT BUSH ACKNOWLEDGES EXISTENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
October 2, 2007... By Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Sep. 29, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- This week's White House-sponsored summit on climate change ended Friday with President George W. Bush admitting that global warming is real and humans are responsible for it....

Q&A: CROATIAN AUTHOR DISCUSSES POLITICS, LITERATURE.
October 2, 2007... By Claudia Ciobanu BUCHAREST, Romania, Sep. 29, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Croatian writer and journalist Slavenka Drakulic is preparing to release the German edition of her latest novel, Frida, in Berlin this November. Last week she attended...

BALKANS: SERBIAN LEADERS COURT RUSSIAN INVESTMENT.
October 2, 2007... By Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, Sep. 29, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Visitors to Montenegro are welcomed by billboards in Russian, and many Serbs believe that similar signs might start appearing in the Belgrade airport, as well....

PORTUGAL: BLACK ACTORS BREAK INTO TOP THEATER COMPANIES.
October 3, 2007... By Mario de Queiroz LISBON, Portugal, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Dark-skinned Brazilian, African and Portuguese performers have begun appearing more frequently in films, television serials and plays in Portugal. Black performers already...

POLAND: VETO OF ANTI-DEATH PENALTY DAY CATERS TO VOTERS.
October 3, 2007... By Zolt n Dujisin KRAKOW, Poland, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Poland will not be observing a "European Day against the Death Penalty" next week, because its leader recently clashed head-on with the European Union and vetoed a proposal to...

FRANCE: SARKOZY EXPRESSES INTEREST IN FULL NATO MEMBERSHIP.
October 3, 2007... By Julio Godoy PARIS, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that France wants to be a full member of the Washington-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization, providing further proof of his eagerness to cultivate new...

IRAN: CHE GUEVARA'S CHILDREN DERAIL CONFERENCE IN TEHRAN.
October 3, 2007... By Kimia Sanati TEHRAN, Iran, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A conference organized by the student militia of Tehran University has come to an abrupt end following complaints made by the son and daughter of the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto...

U.S.: ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP DECRIES BIG BANKS FOR FINANCING COAL.
October 3, 2007... By Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A U.S.-based environmental group launched a campaign Tuesday against Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., two banks that the group has accused of leading the effort to finance new...

BURMA: U.N. COUNCIL DEPLORES CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTING MONKS.
October 3, 2007... By Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The United Nations Human Rights Council approved a resolution Tuesday "strongly deploring" the violent crackdowns on protesters that have occurred in Burma over the last few weeks. ...

Q&A-MALI: INDEPENDENT FEMALE LEGISLATOR SHARES ELECTION STORY.
October 3, 2007... By Almahady Ciss BAMAKO, Mali, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Hadara Ichata Ciss took her chances by running as an independent in Mali's parliamentary race earlier this year, despite the fact that even women with party backing often find it...

SUDAN: ATTACKS ON PEACEKEEPERS THREATEN U.N. MISSION IN DARFUR.
October 3, 2007... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The 15-member U.N. Security Council agreed Tuesday to condemn a "murderous attack" last weekend that killed 10 African Union peacekeepers in South Darfur, Sudan. A presidential...

CLIMATE CHANGE: U.S. BANKS INVEST IN COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS.
October 3, 2007... By Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The United States' largest banks are investing billions of dollars in as many as 150 new coal-fired power plants around the country, even as global warming melts the Arctic. ...

U.N.: COALITION SEEKS TO IMPROVE MATERNITY CARE WORLDWIDE.
October 3, 2007... By Alexandra Stahl UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A global coalition of governments and organizations has launched a new campaign to drastically improve pre- and post-natal health care in countries with inadequate maternity...

BELGIUM: FRENCH COMPANY MAY FACE CHARGES FOR WORK IN BURMA.
October 3, 2007... By David Cronin BRUSSELS, Belgium, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Total, a giant French energy company, may soon face charges in connection with crimes against humanity perpetrated by Burma's military junta in the 1990s. A federal...

TRADE: CARIBBEAN STRUGGLES WITH LOSS OF SUGAR DEAL WITH EU.
October 3, 2007... By Bert Wilkinson GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The EU has unilaterally renounced a 32-year sugar protocol that formerly guaranteed fixed quotas and prices and an unlimited duration for sugar shipments from African,...

TANZANIA: HIGH-LEVEL DELEGATES DISCUSS 'AID FOR TRADE' OPTIONS.
October 3, 2007... By Sarah McGregor DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Agricultural exporters in poor nations need more financial support and technical assistance to comply with food safety norms, according to World Trade Organization...

LATIN AMERICA-REPORT: CONSERVATION EFFORTS GAIN MOMENTUM.
October 3, 2007... By Marcela Valente /Tierramrica BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The size of protected areas in Latin America has nearly doubled within the past 10 years, according to a regional study provided exclusively to Tierramrica....

BURMA: U.N. ENVOY HOLDS CLOSED-DOOR MEETING WITH THAN SHWE.
October 3, 2007... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Few foreigners are as qualified to explain Burma's dictatorship as Razali Ismail, a Malaysian diplomat who served five years as the special United Nations envoy charged...

PERU: OFFICIALS STAND ACCUSED OF POST-EARTHQUAKE PROFITEERING.
October 3, 2007... By Angel P ez LIMA, Peru, Oct. 2, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A number of federal, provincial and municipal authorities in Peru appear to have benefited from the disaster caused by the Aug. 15 earthquake: They have been accused of lining their...

PARAGUAY: MORTALITY RATES REMAIN HIGH, DESPITE U.N. CAMPAIGN.
October 4, 2007... By David Vargas ASUNCION, Paraguay, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- It is becoming increasingly less likely that Paraguay will meet the health goals that United Nations member countries pledged to achieve by 2015. In fact, its health indices may...

BURMA: ACTIVISTS DECRY FRENCH COMPANY'S INVESTMENT IN PIPELINE.
October 4, 2007... By Michael Deibert PARIS, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The Yadana natural gas pipeline runs from gas fields in the warm waters of the Andaman Sea through southern Burma and into Thailand. It also runs through the heart of a high-stakes debate...

ROMANIA: COMMUNE RESIDENTS REPEL ADVANCES OF MINING FIRM.
October 4, 2007... By Claudia Ciobanu ROSIA MONTANA, Romania, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- "I never had money, I never wanted money and I never will want money," said one determined resident of Rosia Montana. "I fear no one but God," said another. "I will not...

SOLOMON ISLANDS: SOGAVARE SPEAKS OUT AGAINST PEACEKEEPERS.
October 4, 2007... By Stephen de Tarczynski MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands is pooh-poohing the results of a survey that showed widespread support among islanders for a Australian-led...

EU: REPORT QUESTIONS EU'S DECISION TO SUBSIDIZE BIOFUELS.
October 4, 2007... By David Cronin BRUSSELS, Belgium, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The European Union could save money and do a better job of tackling climate change if it used the money it is spending on biofuels on carbon credits, according to a recent study....

PAKISTAN: MAYOR OF KARACHI SLOWS DOWN TOILET-BUILDING EFFORTS.
October 4, 2007... By Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Hari Ram, the 60-year-old caretaker of a pay-and-use bathroom at Karachi's Civil Hospital, is too meek to argue with most of the people who demand to use the toilets for free....

U.S.-REPORT: CHRONIC DISEASE HAS SAPPED TRILLIONS FROM ECONOMY.
October 4, 2007... By Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Unhealthy lifestyles are costing the U.S. economy more than $1 trillion a year in lost productivity and medical treatment costs, according to a private foundation, which said this toll...

U.S: RIGHT-WING CHRISTIANS DISCUSS THIRD-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL BID.
October 4, 2007... Analysis by Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- The Christian right wing in the United States is alive and functioning, despite the frequency with which hopeful critics have written its obituary. It continues to...

PARAGUAY: HUNGER PLAGUES FIRE-RAVAGED NORTHERN PROVINCES.
October 4, 2007... By David Vargas ASUNCION, Paraguay, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Food shortages and hunger continue to plague the northern Paraguayan provinces of Concepcicentsn and San Pedro, following the worst fires in this country's history, which broke...

U.S.: CELEBRITIES URGE U.N. TO REDUCE HUNGER RATES WORLDWIDE.
October 4, 2007... By Anne-Kathrin Keller UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- A group of activists demonstrated outside the U.N. compound last week, calling on the international body to fulfill its pledge to halve the number of undernourished people in...

LATIN AMERICA: DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS THREATEN NATURE PRESERVES.
October 4, 2007... By Marcela Valente BARILOCHE, Argentina, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Roads, bridges, dams, gas pipelines and ports are expanding in South America, trampling roughshod over protected ecological areas in the name of development and...

CUBA: GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY CENTER TRANSFORMS NEIGHBORHOOD.
October 4, 2007... By Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- Two women set out nine years ago to help the Cuban barrio of Balccentsn Arimao tackle its numerous problems through community participation. After an uphill battle, the Paulo Freire...

CANADA: UPCOMING OLYMPICS STOKE DISPUTE OVER INJECTION CENTER.
October 4, 2007... By Am Johal VANCOUVER, Canada, Oct. 3, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- For more than two decades, the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board has tried to discourage nations from developing harm reduction programs and other HIV/AIDS...

BRAZIL: COMMUNITY ACTION BEATS BACK ADVERSITY.
October 5, 2007... By Mario Osava PINTADAS, Brazil, Oct. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - When the town of Pintadas chose a mayor from the leftist Workers Party (PT) in 1996, the conservative government of the state of Bahia responded by closing the only bank in this...

RIGHTS-JAPAN: 'DON'T ERASE WARTIME ATROCITIES FROM TEXTBOOKS'.
October 5, 2007... By Mutsuko Murakami TOKYO, Oct. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - After more than 110,000 Okinawans joined a dramatic protest rally on the weekend, the Japanese government may review its controversial history textbook writing policy, which has seen the...

FINLAND: CONSUMERS DEMAND RESPONSIBLE CORPORATE BEHAVIOUR.
October 5, 2007... By Linus Atarah HELSINKI, Oct. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - Corporate social responsibility is beginning to influence consumption behaviour in Finland, according to a survey published here this week. Environmental issues and employees' welfare...

TRADE-AFRICA: COMESA STATES URGED TO DROP NON-TARIFF BARRIERS.
October 5, 2007... By Pilirani Semu-Banda LILONGWE, Oct. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - Despite the reduction in trade tariffs within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), member states are still grappling with non-tariff barriers which restrict...

UKRAINE: 'JUST START GOVERNING, PLEASE'.
October 5, 2007... By Zolt n Dujisin PRAGUE, Oct. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - An exhausted public waits as Ukrainian political parties work out a coalition agreement following last week's parliamentary elections. The governing Party of the Regions won the greatest...

FAR EAST: KOREAS IN WIN-WIN DEAL.
October 5, 2007... Analysis by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Oct. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - Surpassing all expectations historic talks between the leaders of North and South Korea in Pyongyang have produced a joint declaration that seeks a formal end to the 1950-53...

BURMA: INDIA SHAMED INTO REVISING STAND ON JUNTA.
October 5, 2007... Analysis by Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Oct. 5, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - Faced with a pro-democracy popular upsurge in Burma, the Indian government first brazenly sided with the military junta. But it is now reluctantly revising its stand under...

CORRUPTION-CHILE: PINOCHET'S FAMILY HIT WITH FELONY CHARGES.
October 5, 2007... By Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - A Chilean judge ordered the arrest of the widow of former dictator General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), his five children, and 17 of his closest civilian and military associates on...

ENVIRONMENT: LEGAL FISH CATCHES ARE SET TOO HIGH, SAYS WWF.
October 5, 2007... By David Cronin BRUSSELS, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - European Union governments routinely ignore scientific advice when they establish catch limits for their fishermen, a leading environmental group has suggested. Each December, the EU's...

CLIMATE CHANGE: ENTIRE LANDSCAPES LOST TO WARMING EFFECT.
October 5, 2007... By Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - The unseasonable temperatures of global warming have now reached some of the coldest northern regions of world, turning frozen landscapes into mush as temperatures soar 15 degrees...

MEXICO: ARMED FORCES FACE RAPE CHARGES IN CIVILIAN COURTS.
October 5, 2007... By Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - Mexico's armed forces, playing a central role in the security strategy ordered by President Felipe Caldercentsn, are also being pilloried over complaints that soldiers have raped women...

FINANCE: CRITICS PRESS IMF ON SOCIAL SPENDING.
October 5, 2007... By Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2007 (IPS/GIN) - When Dominique Strauss-Kahn takes over as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month, he will confront demands for the agency to more actively support health and education...