Interpress Service articles from September 2003

Interpress Service archives from September 2003

LABOR-VIETNAM: ABUSE OF CHILD WORKERS IS GROWING.
September 2, 2003... by Tran Dinh Thanh Lam HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Le Thi Kim Duyen, 13, worked to help her parents and earn money for her tuition, but her career was violently interrupted by an accident at a wood processing factory...

RIGHTS-UGANDA: LACK OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS HELPS THE SPREAD OF AIDS.
September 2, 2003... by Evelyn Kiapi Matsamura KAMPALA, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- In a society where women are still considered property, and do not have equal status within the family, rape and other brutal attacks on them by their spouses have caused HIV/AIDS...

POLITICS: U.S. QUAGMIRE IN IRAQ COMPLICATES TIES WITH MUSLIM WORLD.
September 2, 2003... Commentary - By Mushahid Hussain ISLAMABAD, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Addressing the American Legion, a U.S. military veterans group, a defiant President George W. Bush vowed in late August that "there will be no U.S. retreat from Iraq". The...

ECONOMY-SWAZILAND: WOMEN OWN MAJORITY OF SMALL BUSINESSES.
September 2, 2003... by Thomas Shongwe MBABANE, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Since the publication last week of a government report that showed a majority of small businesses are owned by Swazi women, women's empowerment groups are trying to reconcile this surprising...

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: ABORIGINAL GROUP FEARS POWER GRAB BY GOV'T.
September 2, 2003... by Bob Burton CANBERRA, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- A major government review is set to propose a radical restructuring of the elected peak Aboriginal body that supporters fear will prevent the organization from being able to effectively advocate...

PAKISTAN: SCIENTISTS WANT BIOSAFETY RULES, CRITICS URGE CAUTION.
September 2, 2003... by Muddassir Rizvi ISLAMABAD, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Proponents of biotechnology and genetic engineering in Pakistan are pressing the government to promptly issue biosafety guidelines, but food rights and environmental groups warn that a...

SINGAPORE: MORE SPACE CREATED FOR FUN, NOT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY.
September 2, 2003... by Ivan Gan SINGAPORE, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- By the standards of this straitlaced city state known for its no-nonsense approach to governance, recent government moves loosening the reins on leisure activity seem almost revolutionary. A...

LABOR: PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH ELUDES DEVELOPING ECONOMIES - ILO.
September 2, 2003... by Katrin Dauenhauer WASHINGTON, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- The world's workers were increasingly productive in 2002 but that growth was concentrated in industrialized economies, according to a new study by the International Labor Office (ILO)...

POLITICS: POLICE SEE UNDERWORLD HAND IN MUMBAI BLASTS.
September 2, 2003... by Rahul Bedi MUMBAI, Aug. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- Police in this city, India's financial capital, are still groping for clues to the perpetrators of last week's twin car-bomb blasts, but admit they strongly suspect involvement by the city's...

AGRICULTURE-ARGENTINA: THE 'GREEN DESERT' OF SOYA.
September 2, 2003... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 30 (IPS/GIN) -- Soya has become Argentina's number-one export, and the area planted with this crop is expanding each year at the expense of livestock and other traditional crops like maize, wheat,...

ENVIRONMENT-AFRICA: MILLIONS OF WOMEN FACE LONGER TREK FOR WATER.
September 2, 2003... by James Hall MBABANE, Aug. 30 (IPS/GIN) -- The link between environmental degradation and worsening poverty levels in African nations has left the realm of anecdotal evidence and now has the solidity of hard fact, thanks to data collected...

MIDEAST: ARAFAT BACK IN THE FOREFRONT.
September 2, 2003... by Ferry Biedermann RAMALLAH, Aug. 30 (IPS/GIN) -- The seeming collapse of the peace road map has brought Yasser Arafat back to centre stage - although he was never quite outmanoeuvred by Israel and the United States. With the...

MALAYSIA: DISPLAYS OF PATRIOTISM ABOUND, BUT CRITICS UNIMPRESSED.
September 2, 2003... by Anil Netto PENANG, Malaysia, Aug. 30 (IPS/GIN) -- Businessman K Thanabalan is elated with his latest feat - the painstaking creation of a giant Malaysian flag measuring 1.2 meters by six meters out of 'putu mayam', or traditional Indian...

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: UNIONISTS DERIDE URIBE'S OFFER OF 'PROTECTION'.
September 2, 2003... by Constanza Vieira BOGOTA, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Some 50 union leaders and social activists in Colombia said "no thanks" Monday to the bodyguards, armor-plated vehicles, bullet-proof vests and cell-phones that the government has assigned...

ARGENTINA: COURT REOPENS KEY RIGHTS CASES OF DICTATORSHIP ERA.
September 2, 2003... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- An Argentine federal court decided Monday to reopen two notorious cases on human rights violations committed during the army dictatorship of 1976 to 1983. The proceedings had been...

CUBA: EX-FOE OF CASTRO RETURNS AND URGES U.S. TO BE 'SENSIBLE'.
September 2, 2003... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Former Cuban rebel commander turned exile leader Eloy Gutirrez Menoyo is calling on the United States to enact a policy towards Cuba that is "correct" and "more sensible", one that would lead...

MEDIA-TANZANIA: WIDER ROLE IN MEDIA SOUGHT FOR WOMEN.
September 2, 2003... by Ananilea Nkya DAR ES SALAAM, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- The lack of women's voices and their role in the media may soon change. "If our two-year plan is fully implemented on time, I am optimistic that a lot of positive changes will occur,"...

VENEZUELA: 41,000 FAMILIES GET LAND UNDER REFORM PROGRAM.
September 2, 2003... by Humberto M?rquez CARACAS, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- The Venezuelan government has distributed a million hectares of land to 41,000 families in seven months as part of a reform programme whose five-year goal is to settle 500,000 families on 10...

POLITICS-INDIA: DEMOLISHED MOSQUE REMAINS THE DIVIDING ISSUE.
September 2, 2003... by Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- A little more than 10 years after Hindu zealots brought the tri-domed Babri Masjid in northern Uttar Pradesh state crashing down, the ghost of the medieval mosque continues to make or break...

BURMA: DISSIDENT ON HUNGER STRIKE OVER HER RE-ARREST.
September 2, 2003... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Sep. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has launched a hunger strike to protest her re-arrest, according to the U.S. government. The revelation made by the State Department comes...

ENVIRONMENT-AFRICA: POACHERS ERADICATING ENDANGERED WILD DOGS.
September 3, 2003... by Wilson Johwa BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- They hunt in family groups over great distances, chasing mostly impala, kudu and duiker until the prey grows tired and can be caught. Thus, they have earned a well-deserved...

MALAYSIA: EVALUATING MAHATHIR'S LEGACY - BOTH THE GOOD AND THE BAD.
September 3, 2003... by Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- Malaysia's Independence Day celebration on Sunday was different - it was organized as a farewell gift for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and showcased his achievements as his 22 years...

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: TV VIEWERS MISS THEIR FAVORITE INDIAN SHOWS.
September 3, 2003... by Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Pakistan, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- "I really miss these plays," homemaker Afsan says of the Indian soap operas that used to be daily evening fare for many Pakistanis here. "At least, in this entertainment-starved...

EUROPE: SOCCER IS NOT JUST A SPORT ANY MORE.
September 3, 2003... by Tito Drago MADRID, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Soccer, the world's most popular sport, has become a transnational business - pushed and pulled by big capital and satellite television. The phenomenon can be seen in the purchase of soccer...

LABOR-MEXICO: A RECORD 20 MILLION WORK IN THE 'INFORMAL SECTOR'.
September 3, 2003... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Nearly 20 million people earn a livelihood in the so-called "informal sector" as street vendors or in "changarros" - small shops - in Mexico, a nation in which over half the population is...

ARGENTINA: KIRCHNER IS POPULAR, BUT ECONOMIC PROBLEMS PERSIST.
September 3, 2003... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- The popularity of Argentina's president, Nstor Kirchner, has taken off in the three months since he took office, but it could come crashing down if his administration delays action on...

COLOMBIA: 60 INDIGENOUS WOMEN CHOOSE FREE STERILIZATION.
September 3, 2003... by Mar!a Isabel Garc!a URIBIA, Colombia, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Esmeredith is one of 60 women from the Way[pounds sterling]u indigenous community, a matrilineal culture in northern Colombia, who have signed up for a family planning programme...

HEALTH-SENEGAL: WOMEN SEEK MANDATORY PREMARITAL HIV TESTS.
September 3, 2003... by Abdou Faye DAKAR, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Women's groups are urging health officials to make premarital HIV testing mandatory to protect young women against AIDS. The CAR-Femmes coalition, which is spearheading the campaign, is being...

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: CHILDREN BEGIN TO SPEAK UP ON EDUCATION ISSUES.
September 3, 2003... by Feizal Samath COLOMBO, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Once, at a workshop for children, government officials were busy praising the efforts of a special desk for women and children in Sri Lankan police stations, until one child asked: "But how can...

POLITICS: INDIA MOVES CLOSER TO NUCLEAR DEPLOYMENT.
September 3, 2003... Commentary - By Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Five years after it conducted a series of nuclear blasts, the Indian government has taken one more step toward the actual deployment of atomic weapons. The Political Council...

MIDEAST: AS THE WALL RISES, PALESTINIAN COMPLAINTS GROW.
September 3, 2003... by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- An army jeep meanders along a dirt road next to a wall that scythes through the olive groves in the wadi down below, forming a brown snake-like scar on the landscape. This is the...

ECONOMY-LATAM: LOW GROWTH FORECASTS SEEN A DANGER TO RECOVERY.
September 3, 2003... by Gustavo Gonz lez* SANTIAGO, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Latin America will be resuming a path towards modest growth, according to ECLAC's annual report. But analysts say there is no guarantee of a long-term recovery that would stave off the...

MUSIC-ZIMBABWE: GOV'T STIFLES CRITICAL VOICES IN THE MEDIA.
September 3, 2003... by Wilson Johwa BULAWAYO, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- No sooner had it made its debut in May than musician Leonard Zhakata's latest album disappeared from the airwaves. Entitled 'Hodho' (early shot gun), the album was banned from radio...

MUSIC-U.S.: AFRICAN CHOIR UNITES INTERNATIONAL SINGERS IN HARLEM.
September 3, 2003... by Gabriel Packard NEW YORK, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- The New York branch of the African Chorus counts eight nationalities among its 15 members. The Harlem-based Chorus performs a range of music by African composers, including opera, classical,...

ARTS-COLOMBIA: A TALENT FOR TELLING STORIES.
September 3, 2003... by Yadira Ferrer BARRANQUILLA, Colombia, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Sociologist, piano teacher, mother of three and grandmother of four, Ins Grimland decided at age 55 that the time had come to dedicate herself to what she really wanted to do: be...

ARTS-ARGENTINA: VOICES FOR HIRE.
September 3, 2003... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Sep. 2 (IPS/GIN) -- Light-headed from so much panting, the woman takes a break. She removes her headphones and leaves the sound studio to get a drink of water, but she is gone just a few minutes because in...

ENVIRONMENT-FRANCE: POLLUTION ALSO BLAMED FOR HEAT DEATHS.
September 4, 2003... by Julio Godoy PARIS, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- It was not just the heat. Pollution contributed to thousands of deaths in the heat wave in France last month, health experts say. "Between 1,000 and 3,000 people died in France last month due...

IRAQ: EXILES DOMINATE U.S.-APPOINTED 'GOVERNMENT'.
September 4, 2003... by Ferry Biedermann JERUSALEM, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- The first post-Saddam Hussein team of ministers took office Wednesday in the midst of a rapidly deteriorating security situation. The ministers have been appointed by the Governing...

COMMUNICATION-PORTUGAL: POLITICIANS TAKING OVER TV JOURNALISM.
September 4, 2003... by Mario de Queiroz LISBON, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Journalists in Portugal are being displaced in news commentary by politicians, and media critics complain of sensationalism and conflicts of interest. The best examples of this approach...

KENYA-POLITICS: JOSTLING FOR VICE PRESIDENCY ABOUT TO START.
September 4, 2003... Analysis By Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Kenya's political theatre has been thrown into disarray, following the death of Vice President Michael Kijana Wamalwa on Aug. 23. It has come at a time when the ruling party,...

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: WOMEN DECRY THEIR LACK OF POLITICAL CLOUT.
September 4, 2003... by Wilson Johwa BULAWAYO, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- As crucial municipal polls got underway in Zimbabwe on Aug. 30 and 31, gender activists could barely contain their disappointment at how little progress women have made in politics. Of the...

INDIA: BRITISH JETS TO REPLACE MIG 'FLYING COFFINS'.
September 4, 2003... by Ranjit Devraj NEW DELHI, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- The Indian government has concluded a 15-year-old deal to buy 66 advanced jet trainers from British Aerospace at a time of mounting criticism of its policy of training young pilots in...

ENVIRONMENT: FOR DEGRADED LANDS, MONEY IS THE GREAT IRRIGATOR.
September 4, 2003... by Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- A lack of funds impedes the fight against desertification, say participants in an international conference underway here. They unleashed a flood of criticism of the industrialized world for...

IRAQ: U.S. PLEDGES ELECTIONS SOON IN A BID FOR PEACEKEEPING HELP.
September 4, 2003... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) - The United States is trying to win support for a multinational peacekeeping force in Iraq by pledging a timetable for elections and a return of sovereignty to the country it now occupies....

WTO-CANCUN: WORLD BANK URGES RICH TO TAKE THE LEAD ON TRADE.
September 4, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) - As delegates begin gathering in the Mexican sea resort of Cancun for talks aimed at opening up world trade, experts are warning that the meeting will fail without substantial policy changes by...

TECHNOLOGY: INTERNET SHAKING UP TRADITIONS IN CANADIAN ARCTIC.
September 4, 2003... by Mark Bourrie OTTAWA, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) - As Internet use takes hold in the Canadian Arctic, the new media is being seen both as a saviour and a threat. The technology is being used to sell Inuit art, to carry e-mail, local news,...

RIGHTS: ARGENTINA'S VOIDING OF AMNESTY LAWS MAY NOT SET AN EXAMPLE.
September 4, 2003... by Dar!o Montero* MONTEVIDEO, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) - The recent decision in Argentina to annul amnesty laws that kept human rights violators out of prison is not likely to be emulated any time soon by Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay or...

PERU-BRAZIL: AMAZON HIGHWAY PROJECT ALARMS ENVIRONMENTALISTS.
September 4, 2003... by Abraham Lama* LIMA, Sep. 3 (Tierramrica) - Plans to build two highways crossing the Amazon jungles to connect Peru and Brazil have environmentalists worried. They say the routes would sharply increase the already numerous threats to...

POLITICS: NIGERIA GEARING UP FOR COMMONWEALTH SUMMIT.
September 4, 2003... by Toye Olori LAGOS, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- Preparations are in top gear as Nigeria gets set to host Commonwealth heads of state and government at a summit in the capital Abuja in December. As part of the preparations, President Olusegun...

POLITICS: RWANDA VOTE EASES PATH TOWARD ITS JOINING REGIONAL BLOC.
September 4, 2003... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- Rwanda's first multi-party elections, which have been described as free and fair, may pave way for the central African country to join the East African Community bloc, according to a government...

POLITICS-BURMA: SUU KYI'S DEFIANCE PUTS ASEAN ALLIANCE ON THE SPOT.
September 4, 2003... Analysis - By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Sep. 3 (IPS/GIN) -- By going on a hunger strike, Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has pushed South-east Asian governments into the embarrassing position of being forced to reveal...

HEALTH-GHANA: KEEPING A DEADLY SECRET.
September 5, 2003... by Isabella Gyau Orhin ACCRA, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Diagnosed with HIV three years ago, Kabuki is determined not to let her sexual partner know. Thirty-five-year-old Kabuki, who hails from one of Ghana's HIV endemic areas, says she is...

ENVIRONMENT: PLANNED AFGHAN RESERVOIRS WORRY PAKISTAN.
September 5, 2003... by Muddassir Rizvi ISLAMABAD, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Afghanistan's reported plan to build large storage reservoirs along the Kabul river is causing jitters in neighbouring Pakistan, which fears a worsening of its water woes if this happens....

WTO-CANCUN: FARM TRADE CLASH WILL BE DECISIVE - UNCTAD.
September 5, 2003... by Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- The well-organized response of 20 developing countries to a U.S. and European Union agricultural trade reform plan has impressed a United Nations trade official. Within a week of...

RELIGION-LATAM: CATHOLIC BISHOPS SPEAK OUT AGAINST FREE TRADE AREA.
September 5, 2003... by Ra[pounds sterling]l Pierri MONTEVIDEO, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) looks less like a true regional integration project than a "neo-colonialist" plan that will make poor communities even poorer and...

POLITICS-U.S.: U.N. TO THE RESCUE?
September 5, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Now that President George W. Bush has decided to ask the United Nations Security Council to rescue Washington's occupation of Iraq, the question here is: 'at what price'? Will the...

POPULATION-BRAZIL: FOUR OUT OF 10 WOMEN STERILISED.
September 5, 2003... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- As many as four out of 10 Brazilian women of child-bearing age have had their tubes tied, according to estimates that are widely accepted by experts. That unusually high rate of...

FINANCE: DROP IN FOREIGN INVESTMENT THREATENS DEVELOPMENT GOALS.
September 5, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Global foreign direct investment, already down by over 40 percent in 2001, fell by another 21 percent in 2002, raising "considerable concerns" about prospects for achieving the Millennium...

VENEZUELA: RAIN GOD GETS HIS OWN PLANET.
September 5, 2003... by Humberto M rquez CARACAS, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) - A "mini-planet" far out in our solar system, discovered by astronomers at a Venezuelan observatory, will bear the name Huya (Juy ), the rain god of the Way[pounds sterling]u Indians who live...

SPAIN: THE CHALLENGES FACING IMMIGRANTS.
September 5, 2003... by Alicia Fraerman MADRID, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Many immigrants seeking a better life in Spain must first go through hell, only to live on the fringes of society once they make it, although there are notable exceptions. The number of...

INDIA: CITIZENS FIND NEW POWER IN LAW ON RIGHT TO INFORMATION.
September 5, 2003... by Bharat Dogra NEW DELHI, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Queues, whether orderly or unruly, are a part of life in the Indian capital, a city of nearly 14 million people where rights to basic amenities as clean drinking water, sanitation and steady...

POLITICS: U.S. MUST MOVE TOWARD NORTH KOREA - EXPERTS.
September 5, 2003... by Marty Logan MONTREAL, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- North Korea must be more flexible in trying to negotiate an end to the standoff with the United States over its nuclear programme, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday, but...

WTO-CANCUN: NIGERIA'S TEXTILE INDUSTRY FALLS PREY TO SMUGGLERS.
September 5, 2003... by Toye Olori LAGOS, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Cheap and sub-standard fabrics are flooding Nigeria, driving textile companies out of business, thanks to smuggling. The Textile, Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and...

ASIA-PACIFIC: NEGLECT OF HIV/AIDS PROBLEM WILL UNDERCUT ECONOMY.
September 5, 2003... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Countries across Asia and the Pacific may soon be staring at a drastic cut in their labour force - and see their economies undermined -- if their leaders fail to take action to stall the...

LITERATURE-CHILE: A POET'S ANGUISHED LOOK AT THE '73 COUP.
September 5, 2003... by Gustavo Gonz lez SANTIAGO, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Ra[pounds sterling]l Zurita, who many consider Chile's greatest contemporary poet, has broken a three-year silence with the publication of "INRI", a lyrical testimony to the sorrows that...

FILM-TIBET: EXILES TRY THEIR HANDS AT THE SILVER SCREEN.
September 5, 2003... by Daniel Haber DHARAMSALA, India, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) - It was like an old-fashioned circus sideshow -- a hand-painted banner, and in front, a barker on a battery-powered mike trying to sell tickets to the show. In this case, it was a...

ART-SERBIA: A SOAPY LINK WITH LATIN AMERICA.
September 5, 2003... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- Serbia has little in common with any Latin American country, but there is something millions of Serbs share with millions of people in Latin America -- the soap operas. Venezuelan...

ART-JAMAICA: PLAY LAUGHS AT DESPERATE ATTEMPTS TO SNAG U.S. VISA.
September 5, 2003... by Howard Campbell KINGSTON, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- With their country's economy showing little sign of growth in the past decade, many Jamaicans are taking desperate measures to migrate to the United States, a situation that playwright...

FILM-BRAZIL: THE CAMERA FOCUSES ON A NATION'S SORES.
September 5, 2003... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep. 4 (IPS/GIN) -- "Amarelo Manga" (Yellow Mango), the first feature-length film by Claudio Assis, feeds a current of Brazilian film that is more concerned with showing the open wounds of the national...

HONG KONG: CHIEF EXEC NIXES ANTI-SUBVERSION BILL.
September 8, 2003... by Antoneta Bezlova HONG KONG, Sep. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- By yielding to popular demands to drop an anti-subversion bill that has sparked mass protests in the territory, Hong Kong's leader is making a move to keep his allies in control of the...

POLITICS: FEAR OF U.S. SPURS TIES BETWEEN EX-FOES IN MUSLIM WORLD.
September 8, 2003... Commentary - By Mushahid Hussain ISLAMABAD, Sep. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- An unintended and probably unexpected consequence of the U.S. 'war on terror', particularly the invasion of Iraq, has been its role in forcing countries in the Muslim world to...

LABOR-INDIA: POORLY PAID 'PIED PIPERS' KEEP MUMBAI DISEASE-FREE.
September 8, 2003... by Rahul Bedi MUMBAI, India, Sep. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- Suresh Kharva wears no masks to protect himself from infections. Armed with a crude wooden club and a torch, he scours the narrow, stinking alleyways every night to track down and kill some...

MIDEAST: NEW PM NOMINEE BRINGS LITTLE PROMISE.
September 8, 2003... by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Sep. 8 (IPS/GIN) -- Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat on Sunday picked a moderate and one of the architects of the Oslo peace accords with Israel as the next Palestinian prime minister. But it is...

POLITICS-U.S.: UNILATERALISTS PLUNGE BACK TO EARTH.
September 8, 2003... Analysis - By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- It was always only a matter of time, but who would have predicted that the steep unilateralist trajectory on which neo-conservative and right-wing hawks set U.S. foreign policy two...

ENVIRONMENT: ANIMAL TRAFFICKING - A CRUEL BILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS.
September 8, 2003... by Francesca Colombo* MILAN, Italy, Sep. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- At least 110,000 exotic birds, most from Latin America, brighten the homes of Italian families with their song and their colors. They are the few survivors of the cruel and lucrative...

POLITICS-SUDAN: CRUCIAL TALKS TO END AFRICA'S LONGEST WAR.
September 8, 2003... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Sep. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- International pressure is mounting on the government of Sudan and the main rebel movement, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), to make peace or risk sanctions. Yielding to the...

AUSTRALIA: TOBACCO FIRM'S 'SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE' LABEL DRAWS FLAK.
September 8, 2003... by Bob Burton CANBERRA, Sep. 6 (IPS/GIN) -- Tobacco control advocates are dismayed that the world's second largest tobacco company, British American Tobacco (BAT) and its Malaysian subsidiary, have been included in the Dow Jones...

RIGHTS: AS 'BIG BROTHER' GROWS, SO DOES PUBLIC OPPOSITION - REPORT.
September 8, 2003... by Miriam Kagan WASHINGTON, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Global opposition to governments' growing infringement on individuals' privacy has risen sharply in the past year, says a report released Friday by a major U.S.-based civil liberties group....

IRAQ: U.S. SEEKS INTERNATIONAL HELP AGAIN - IN DOLLARS.
September 8, 2003... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- As the Bush administration turns to Congress for billions of dollars more to help stabilise Iraq, U.S. officials say they will also seek foreign donors and investors to commit cash to the...

RIGHTS-CHILE: HEAVY TV COVERAGE SURROUNDS 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF COUP.
September 8, 2003... by Gustavo Gonz lez SANTIAGO, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- As the 30th anniversary of the Sep. 11, 1973 coup d'etat in Chile approaches, TV coverage of the crimes against humanity committed by the 1973-1990 dictatorship is so heavy that some...

WTO-CANCUN: BRAZIL IMPORTS GENERIC AIDS DRUGS FROM INDIA, CHINA.
September 8, 2003... by Mario Osava* RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) - Brazil's decision to import generic HIV/AIDS drugs, manufactured in China and India, has gained greater legitimacy with the related agreement approved by the World Trade Organisation last...

COLOMBIA: RIGHTS GROUPS DEMAND SUSPENSION OF US AID DELIVERY.
September 8, 2003... by Yadira Ferrer BOGOTA, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Local human rights groups in Colombia will ask the United States government to cancel an instalment of military assistance to Colombia, arguing that this civil war-torn country has failed to...

WTO-CANCUN: AFTER TRADE, A MESS OVER INVESTMENT.
September 8, 2003... by Sanjay Suri LONDON, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Nobody is talking yet of turning the World Trade Organisation into a world trade and investment organisation. But that is the way it will go if the European Union and its supporters have their...

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: RULING PARTY HOLDS KEY TO ENDING CRISIS.
September 8, 2003... by Frank Phiri BLANTRYE, Malawi, Sep. 5 (IPS/GIN) -- Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change has held talks with Malawi's President Bakili Muluzi to try and chart a roadmap to resolving the deepening crisis dogging the...