Interpress Service articles from September 2006

Interpress Service archives from September 2006

SERBIA: LUNG CANCER CASES SPIKE IN NATION THAT LOVES TO SMOKE.
September 11, 2006... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Serbian health authorities say they plan to try to raise awareness about the health effects of smoking and the rising rate of lung cancer in a country where one in two people...

RIGHTS-INDIA: COMMUNIST GOV'T EVICTS FARMERS FOR INDUSTRIES.
September 11, 2006... by Sujoy Dhar KOLKATA, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Peasants living on the edges of this eastern metropolis are seething in anger at the provincial government's demand that they hand over their lush green farmlands for an automobile plant....

IRAQ: U.S. MILITARY DENIES IT PLANS ANOTHER ASSAULT ON FALLUJAH.
September 11, 2006... by Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily FALLUJAH, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- After enduring two major assaults, Fallujah is being targeted again by U.S. forces, residents say. "They destroyed our city twice and they are threatening us a...

FRANCE: COLONIALISM NEVER 'ENHANCED' AFRICA, MIGRANTS FUME.
September 11, 2006... by Julio Godoy PARIS, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- A definition of colonialism in the new edition of a French dictionary has stirred another debate on how France views its past. In its edition that appeared this month, the widely...

TRADE: WITH DEVELOPMENT AT STAKE, DOHA ROUND MUST RESUME - G20.
September 11, 2006... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Developing countries meeting Saturday demanded immediate resumption of the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks, with development and agriculture at the top of the agenda. ...

SOMALIA: CRITICS WARN OF DISASTER FOR PEACEKEEPING MISSION.
September 11, 2006... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Is the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) plan to send peacekeeping troops to Somalia, as one cabinet minister has claimed, a "welcome" troop deployment? Or is an analyst's...

LATIN AMERICA: MINING COMPANIES HIRE MORE NONUNIONIZED LABOR.
September 11, 2006... by Diego Cevallos* - Tierramrica MEXICO CITY, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Labor conflicts have intensified apace in the mining sector, where workplace dangers are shared by some of the region's best-paid miners and by several million poor....

RIGHTS-BURMA: ETHNIC MINORITIES STARVED, DENIED MEDICAL CARE.
September 11, 2006... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- To be a health worker along Burma's eastern borders, home to the Karen and Karenni ethnic communities, is to court death, injury or imprisonment, say doctors working in the area....

RUSSIA-AFRICA: PUTIN PROMISES DEVELOPMENT, BUT PROMOTES BUSINESS.
September 11, 2006... by Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to build new bridges with Africa on a tour this week, with development among the main pillars of the trip. Fresh from the meeting of...

POLITICS: CAN HAVANA BREATHE LIFE INTO NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT?
September 11, 2006... Analysis by Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Will next week's summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana, Cuba, be a wasteful jamboree marked by ponderous speeches and lofty but empty rhetoric? Or will it...

RIGHTS-NEPAL: ONLY HALF OF WOMEN KNOW ABORTION IS LEGAL.
September 11, 2006... by Marty Logan KATHMANDU, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- As the 21st century began, more women were dying during childbirth in Nepal than in almost any other country, and it was estimated that half of maternal deaths in hospitals were caused by...

FINANCE: MORE TROUBLE FOR NGOs AHEAD OF WORLD BANK-IMF MEET.
September 11, 2006... by Rudy Parawisto JAKARTA, Sep. 9, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Government attempts to stop an International People's Forum (IPF) on the Indonesian island of Batam, planned to coincide with next week's annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the...

SUDAN-U.N.: SHOWDOWN LOOMS OVER DARFUR PEACEKEEPING.
September 11, 2006... by Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Worried that Sudanese military action in northern Darfur will unleash another round of human misery in the strife-torn region, some of the world's leading rights groups in the West...

9/11-ANALYSIS: BUSH'S TERROR WAR CRYSTALLIZED HATRED OF U.S.
September 11, 2006... Analysis by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- To consider whether President Bush is winning his "global war on terror" (GWOT) five years after al Qaeda's devastating 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, one has only to...

BRAZIL: CAPITAL OF THE DEVELOPING SOUTH?
September 11, 2006... by Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Brazil is hosting two international meetings this week that reflect its diplomatic priority of strengthening concrete shared interests, especially trade-related, in smaller blocs of...

ENVIRONMENT-U.S.: ANOTHER PIECE OF OIL-RICH ALASKA GOES ON SALE.
September 11, 2006... by Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- While the George W. Bush administration has so far failed in its bid to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, 8 million acres of pristine Alaskan...

HAITI: EXHAUSTED SCHOOL SYSTEM GETS A SECOND CHANCE.
September 11, 2006... by Amy Bracken NEW YORK, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- September is a particularly stressful time of year in Haiti. As schools open, parents across the country hope for help in the form of bonuses from employers or money orders from loved ones...

CHILE: SENATE FAILS TO FREE INDIGENOUS FORMER HUNGER STRIKERS.
September 11, 2006... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The Mapuche people are once again preparing to mobilize within Chile and abroad to rally support for three imprisoned community members and one activist, following Senate rejection of...

CANADA-9/11: AN INCREASINGLY MUDDY MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN.
September 11, 2006... by Paul Weinberg TORONTO, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- One of the lasting legacies of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Canada's southern neighbor is the involvement of 2,300 Canadian troops as part of a NATO contingent in Afghanistan. ...

U.S.-ISRAEL: A CRISIS OF FAITH OVER CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS' HELP.
September 11, 2006... by Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, Calif., Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- As support for Israel grows among Christian evangelicals in the United States, conversion of Jews to Christianity continues to be a thorny issue for both Christians and Jews....

UAE-9/11: MUSLIMS SAY RACIAL PROFILING MARS TRAVEL TO THE WEST.
September 11, 2006... by Meena Janardhan DUBAI, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Saif Al Shaali, a U.S. resident since 2001, vows never to return to that country due to the allegedly racist treatment that he, his wife and three children received at the Los Angeles...

MEXICO/U.S.: CROSS-BORDER GROUP WAGES WAR TO SAVE WETLANDS.
September 11, 2006... by Stephen Leahy* - Tierramrica TORONTO, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- With 20,000 hectares of bright green in a sea of sand in the state of Sonora, the Cinaga de Santa Clara is one of Mexico's richest coastal ecosystems - one a binational...

RIGHTS-9/11: WAR ON TERROR TURNED INTO WAR ON MINORITIES.
September 11, 2006... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 8, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The U.S.-led global war on terror -- which began five years ago after a rash of terrorist attacks on the United States -- has been transformed primarily into a war against...

GERMANY: ORGANIZERS OF 'THOUGHT MARATHON' HOPE TO SPUR ACTIVISM.
September 12, 2006... by Jess Smee BERLIN, Sep. 12, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Dropping Knowledge, A German-U.S. non-governmental group, gathered 112 international thinkers -- a who's who of alternative thought -- in central Berlin Saturday. Among the conundrums to...

LEBANON: HEZBOLLAH CONSTRUCTION WING LEAVES GOV'T IN THE DUST.
September 12, 2006... by Jackson Allers BEIRUT, Sep. 12, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Nearly one month after a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect, Hezbollah appears to be winning a race with the Lebanese government to show commitment to helping residents...

MEDIA-IRAN: CRITICIZING REGIME GETS REFORMIST PAPER BANNED.
September 12, 2006... by Kimia Sanati TEHRAN, Sep. 12, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Few were surprised by Monday's ban on Iran's leading reformist newspaper Shargh (East), which has for some time been boldly voicing dissatisfaction with the outcome of last year's...

POLITICS-U.S.: SUPPORT FOR BOLTON'S U.N. NOMINATION EVAPORATES.
September 12, 2006... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- What looked like a virtually sure thing just one month ago -- Senate confirmation of the Bush administration's controversial ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton -- is suddenly...

PORTUGAL: ENVIRONMENTAL RULES AREN'T ENFORCED, CRITICS SAY.
September 12, 2006... by Mario de Queiroz LISBON, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Environmentalists and town leaders have left the Comiss o de Acompanhamento Ambiental (Environmental Monitoring Commission, CAA) on which they served along with SECIL-Outao, a cement...

AFRICA: WHAT CAN TODAY'S NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT DO FOR AFRICA?
September 12, 2006... by Moyiga Nduru JOHANNESBURG, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- With African countries accounting for almost half the membership of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), it could be argued that this continent has a particular interest in the future...

ENERGY-BOLIVIA: MORALES NEGOTIATES NEW DRILLING CONTRACTS.
September 12, 2006... by Franz Ch vez LA PAZ, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Four and a half months after Bolivian President Evo Morales seized control of the country's natural gas fields, he is waging a second battle to force the foreign oil companies to sign new...

ENVIRONMENT: NEW DATA ERASE DOUBT LINKING STORMS TO WARMING.
September 12, 2006... by Stephen Leahy BROOKLIN, Canada, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- There is little doubt now that climate change is making hurricanes and cyclones much more powerful and more frequent, top scientists announced Monday. Sea surface...

BRITAIN-MIDEAST: BLAIR PLAYS DUBIOUS STATESMAN IN LEBANON.
September 12, 2006... Analysis by Sanjay Suri LONDON, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- It was not the best day for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to talk peace in Lebanon. The date was a reminder how closely Blair has backed the U.S.-led "war on terror" since...

POLITICS: ANDEAN NATIONS NOT ALIGNED ON NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT.
September 12, 2006... by Humberto M rquez* CARACAS, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Andean governments attending the fourteenth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which opened Monday in Havana, agree that the 116-member bloc needs to be modernized, but their...

CUBA: QUESTION 1 FOR NON-ALIGNED SUMMIT: WILL CASTRO ATTEND?
September 12, 2006... by Alejandro Kirk and Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The week-long 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened Monday with heightened suspense over whether ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro would be...

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: JUSTICE FOR THE JUSTICES SOUGHT AFTER 18 YEARS.
September 12, 2006... by Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR, Sep. 11, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- A dark and shameful episode in the history of Malaysia's judiciary 18 years ago is finally unraveling as lawyers, judges and rights activists press for an independent...

NEPAL: PEACE COULD BRING NEW WAVE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
September 14, 2006... by Marty Logan KATHMANDU, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- An end in sight to Nepal's bloody, 10-year internal conflict is not necessarily good news for those fighting the growing problem of trafficking in girls and women. Tens of thousands...

ICELAND: COMMERCIAL WHALERS SHARPEN THEIR HARPOONS.
September 14, 2006... by Lowana Veal REYKJAVIK, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- If commercial whaling starts in Iceland again, the owner of the Hvalur boats is ready. His largest and youngest boat, Hvalur 9, has just been overhauled and is "just like new," says...

BALKANS: BUSINESS MERGERS TARGET CROSS-BORDER CONSUMERS.
September 14, 2006... by Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- It seemed impossible only some years ago, but businesses in ex-Yugoslav nations that fell apart in bloody wars are coming together to market across borders. "We are not...

PAKISTAN: SUICIDE BOMBERS SWEPT UP BY PASSION OF MUJAHIDEEN.
September 14, 2006... by Ashfaq Yusufzai PESHAWAR, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- One morning in late August, a group of about 15 men from the Hizbul Mujahideen jihadist group walked into Lal Faqir's home to congratulate him for the "martyrdom" of his son Bahar Ali...

POLITICS: JAPAN PRESSURED TO ACT ON INDO-U.S. NUCLEAR DEAL.
September 14, 2006... by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Tokyo is coming under pressure from the United States to support its own nuclear cooperation pact with India as well as internal pressure about how to handle possible nuclear threats...

SUDAN: RIGHTS GROUPS, ANNAN PUSH HARD FOR PEACEKEEPERS.
September 14, 2006... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Amid reports of a growing government offensive against rebel-held areas in Darfur, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and a host of international human rights and humanitarian groups are...

TRADE: BRAZIL, INDIA AND SOUTH AFRICA FORM NEW TRIUMVIRATE.
September 14, 2006... by Felipe Seligman BRASILIA, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The first India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) summit ended Wednesday in Brasilia with leaders inking several cooperative deals but falling short of reaching a free trade agreement. ...

MEXICO: THE RIGHT FLEXES ITS MUSCLES IN CONFLICTS WITH CALDERON.
September 14, 2006... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Mexican president-elect Felipe Caldercentsn, a moderate conservative and devout Roman Catholic, has promised to govern with the opposition parties and has even adopted some of the...

UGANDA: LAW WOULD EXECUTE HIV-POSITIVE ADULTS ABUSING MINORS.
September 14, 2006... by Evelyn Kiapi Matsamura KAMPALA, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In 1999, a 30-year-old man with HIV named Fred Mwanga shocked the country when he raped a three-month-old baby in a Kampala suburb. Even more upsetting, Mwanga's action was...

CHILE: COURT BLOCKS FREE 'MORNING-AFTER' PILLS FOR TEEN GIRLS.
September 14, 2006... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The Santiago appeals court ruled Wednesday against the distribution of emergency contraception, or the "morning-after" pill, to girls between the ages of 14 and 18 without parental...

MEXICO: ANOTHER RICH BUSINESSMAN IMPLICATED IN CHILD SEX RINGS.
September 14, 2006... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The complicity in Mexico between child sex rings and the political and business elites "goes beyond what we can even imagine," says activist Lydia Cacho, who faces death threats and...

MEDIA-IRAQ/US: IS THE PROBLEM THE PR, OR THE POLICY?
September 14, 2006... Analysis by Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, Calif., Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In a recent speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared that, "The enemy is so much better at communicating. I wish we were...

ECONOMY: IMF, WORLD BANK FACE GROWING PRESSURE FOR REFORMS.
September 14, 2006... Analysis by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The state of the global economy and efforts to fine-tune the decision-making process at the World Bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to...

RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: VIDELA TO BE TRIED IN OPERATION CONDOR CRIMES.
September 14, 2006... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Sep. 13, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Twenty-one years after the historic trial in which former members of Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship were convicted, former general Jorge Rafael Videla is returning to court on...

NEPAL: RIGHTS RULINGS HAVEN'T CURED GENERATIONS OF POVERTY.
September 15, 2006... by Suman Pradhan KATHMANDU, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Before conflict and violence became synonymous with Nepal, this impoverished country wedged between India and China was known for some of the world's worst social abuses, linked...

RELIGION: FIRST RABBIS ORDAINED IN GERMANY SINCE THE HOLOCAUST.
September 15, 2006... by Jess Smee BERLIN, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The ordination of three rabbis in Germany -- the first such event since the Holocaust -- has been lauded by politicians and Jewish organizations as a step forward in Germany's long battle to...

CHINA: BEIJING AGGRESSIVELY TAPPING INTO TIBET'S RICH RESOURCES.
September 15, 2006... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- China has intensified its long-term quest to integrate the remote land and people of Tibet by building new infrastructure and drawing up plans to tap the Himalayan region's virgin...

CZECH REPUBLIC: WILL U.S. MISSILE INTERCEPTOR BASE BE SHOT DOWN?
September 15, 2006... by Zolt n Dujisin BUDAPEST, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Experts from the United States have recently -- and controversially -- visited several locales in the Czech Republic and Poland to consider a military base for the National Missile...

INDIA-ANALYSIS: EXPORT ZONES WOULD TRAMPLE WORKERS' RIGHTS.
September 15, 2006... Analysis by Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- India, often touted as an emerging economic superpower and "the next China," seems bent on emulating some of the worst aspects of Chinese pre-industrialization economic...

LABOR: TEMPORARY WORK CONTRACTS ARE A WIN-WIN FOR RICH AND POOR.
September 15, 2006... by Sanjay Suri LONDON, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Established, controlled temporary work programs that bring migrant labor in to developed countries to perform specific low-skilled jobs for a set time can help solve the world's immigration...

MEXICO: FOX AVERTS STANDOFF OVER INDEPENDENCE DAY TRADITION.
September 15, 2006... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Mexican President Vicente Fox backed down from his plan to celebrate independence day Friday in Mexico City's central Zcentscalo square, which has been occupied by the left for...

FINANCE: NUMBER OF 'FRAGILE STATES' IN AFRICA, ASIA SOARS.
September 15, 2006... by Emad Mekay WASHINGTON, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- International donors and especially powerful multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank have failed to reduce the number of so-called "fragile states," leaving more...

KENYA: NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT COULD BOOST AFRICAN ECONOMIES.
September 15, 2006... by Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Although Kenya is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, whose leaders are meeting in Havana, Cuba, the NAM remains a mystery for some in this East African country. "I have never heard...

COLOMBIA: VILLAGE DOESN'T WANT SLUMS' STORM RUNOFF IN ITS BAY.
September 15, 2006... by Constanza Vieira BOGOTA, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Residents of a picturesque fishing village in northern Colombia are up in arms against a storm drain system that will discharge runoff from shantytowns in the nearby port city of Santa...

WORLD BANK-IMF: ACTIVISTS HARRASSED BY SINGAPOREAN AUTHORITIES.
September 15, 2006... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BATAM, Indonesia, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Singapore, a 30-minute ferry ride from this Indonesian island, is off limits for twentyfour year-old Julie de los Reyes. Authorities see this young Filipina as a security...

RIGHTS-U.S.: LATINO FIGHTS LIFE SENTENCE UNDER THREE STRIKES LAW.
September 15, 2006... by Aaron Glantz SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- A California immigrant serving a life sentence under the state's draconian 'three strikes you're out' law, got a day in court Wednesday. The Ninth District Court of...

DEVELOPMENT: FEW GRADUATE FROM U.N. PROGRAM FOR THE POOREST.
September 15, 2006... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- When the United Nations decided in 1971 to create the concept of "least developed countries" (LDCs) -- a new category of member states needing special social and economic assistance...

ARGENTINA: POLLUTION SLOWLY POISONS SLUM'S RESIDENTS.
September 15, 2006... by Marcela Valente* - Tierramrica BUENOS AIRES, Sep. 14, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Three thousand people live below the smoke stacks of petroleum refineries and alongside chemical storage sites, rubbish, debris and foul bodies of water in Villa...

LABOR: TUNISIA CANCELS EU-MEDITERRANEAN RIGHT-TO-WORK MEET.
September 18, 2006... by Vanya Walker-Leigh LONDON, Sep. 18, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The Tunisian government is under fire for its last-minute ban of an international right-to-work conference to have been held in Tunis Sept. 8-9. Tunisian authorities sabotaged...

FINANCE: AFRICA COULD GET MIRED IN DEBT TO CHINA, REPORT SAYS.
September 18, 2006... by Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Sep. 18, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- As world financial leaders cast ballots this week to increase the voting rights of China on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Chinese leaders have been reminded...

NEPAL: DEEPLY ENTRENCHED TRADITION SELLS GIRLS INTO BONDAGE.
September 18, 2006... by Suman Pradhan DANG, Western Nepal, Sep. 18, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- With a young daughter in her lap, Sudhani Chaudhary, 30, carefully picks freshly harvested corn inside a small mud hut in Deukhuri Valley of Nepal's southwestern Dang...

IRAQ: CIVILIANS SAY THEY'RE HURT BY MEASURES AIMED AT INSURGENTS.
September 18, 2006... by Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily RAMADI, Sep. 18, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- U.S. forces are collectively punishing civilians in several cities across the al-Anabar province west of Baghdad, residents and officials say. "Ramadi, the capital of...

RELIGION: POPE'S PLANNED VISIT TO TURKEY COULD BE IN JEOPARDY.
September 18, 2006... Analysis by Hilmi Toros* ISTANBUL, Sep. 17, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In another attempt to mollify the Islamic world following apologies from the Vatican earlier, Pope Benedict XVI personally intervened during his Angelus, the traditional Sunday...

FINANCE: TRANSPARENCY BEGINS AT HOME, NGOs TELL BANK, IMF.
September 18, 2006... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BATAM, Indonesia, Sep. 17, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Non-governmental groups gathered on this island ahead of the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in neighboring Singapore have...

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: CONTINENT SINKING DEEPER INTO POVERTY.
September 18, 2006... by Moyiga Nduru JOHANNESBURG, Sep. 17, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- With the number of least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa growing from 18 to 34 over the past 35 years, questions are being asked about whether policies to help these...

AFGHANISTAN: FIGHTING APPEARS UNLIKELY TO STOP FOR RAMADAN.
September 18, 2006... by A. Rohani, N. Khelwatgar and Shir Haidar - Pajhwok Afghan News* KABUL, Sep. 17, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Pitched battles on the ground were reported daily in Afghanistan just a week before the start of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer for...

SINGAPORE: REPRESSING VISITING ACTIVISTS BACKFIRES ON WB-IMF HOST.
September 18, 2006... by Marwaan Macan-Markar BATAM, Indonesia, Sep. 16, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Activists denied entry into Singapore to attend the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have vowed to take legal action...

ARGENTINA: COURT OVERRULES PARDON FOR FORMER MILITARY CHIEF.
September 18, 2006... by Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- An Argentine court ruling handed down Friday paves the way for the Supreme Court to annul a pardon granted over 15 years ago by former president Carlos Menem to members of the...

DEVELOPMENT: PROS AND CONS OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION.
September 18, 2006... by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- As the number of international migrants from poor to rich nations continues to rise -- reaching a record 191 million in 2005 -- most Western countries have either imposed or are...

HEALTH: DDT USE FOR MALARIA CONTROL NOT NECESSARY - ACTIVISTS.
September 18, 2006... by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In an important policy shift, the World Health Organization (WHO) Friday announced that it is urging the use of the pesticide DDT to control the spread of malaria, a mosquito-borne disease...

DEVELOPMENT: REAL AID TO LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DECLINING.
September 18, 2006... by Mithre J. Sandrasagra UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- One year after the G8 group of rich countries pledged to make African debt relief, accelerated aid, and increased trade their top priorities, most of those initiatives...

MEXICO: DRUG-RELATED VIOLENCE SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL.
September 18, 2006... by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico has escalated to terrifying levels, as beheadings of rivals and police become a regular event. As a society "so far we are just...

CENTRAL AMERICA: SOARING VIOLENT CRIME THREATENS DEMOCRACY.
September 18, 2006... by Thelma Mej a TEGUCIGALPA, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Soaring violent crime rates could jeopardize democracy in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras over the next few years if only strong-arm ("mano dura") tactics are used to fight crime...

CHILE: REFORM NEEDED FOR WOMEN, WORKING POOR WITHOUT PENSIONS.
September 18, 2006... by Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- In 20 years, even the minimum pension benefits will be unavailable for close to half of Chile's retirees, a troublesome forecast has spurred government into action. The country's...

RIGHTS-GHANA: THE IMPOSSIBLE TASK OF PRICING MISERY.
September 18, 2006... by Walter Kudzodzi ACCRA, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The government of Ghana is indicating it will soon begin disbursing about $1.5 million to people identified by the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) as requiring compensation for...

ENVIRONMENT-U.S.: KEEP ATVs OFF CALIFORNIA DUNES, ACTIVISTS SAY.
September 18, 2006... by Haider Rizvi* - Tierramrica NEW YORK, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Despite strong objections from environmental groups, the U.S. government wants to allow off-road vehicles in protected areas of sand dunes in the southern California...

FINANCE: UK THREATENS TO WITHHOLD MONEY FROM WORLD BANK.
September 18, 2006... by Sanjay Suri LONDON, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- The British government's statement that it is withholding some funds from the World Bank has drawn conditional praise from aid agencies. Britain's International Development Secretary...

FINANCE: MASS BOYCOTT BY NGOs MEANT TO SHAME WORLD BANK-IMF Marwaan.
September 18, 2006... Macan-Markar BATAM, Indonesia, Sep. 15, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Activists have fired an unprecedented salvo at the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by boycotting the annual meetings of the two financial powerhouses being...

HEALTH-FRANCE: HOW FAR WILL PROPOSED BAN ON SMOKING GO?
September 19, 2006... by Julio Godoy PARIS, Sep. 19, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Parliament is debating a ban on smoking in work places in the face of new evidence on the harmful effects of passive smoking. "In the face of the requirements to protect public health...