Interpress Service articles from September 2008

Interpress Service archives from September 2008

PAKISTAN: TALIBAN TWEAKS MEDIA COVERAGE TO ITS LIKING.
September 2, 2008... By Ashfaq Yusufzai PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sep. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The Pakistani government has frozen the bank accounts of the Taliban factions in the North-West Frontier Province, but it has not been able to diminish the factions' presence...

SIERRA LEONE: LOCAL CORRUPTION SAPS POWER OF FOREIGN AID.
September 2, 2008... By Lansana Fofana FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, Sep. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Sierra Leone has been a major recipient of foreign aid since the end of its devastating 11-year civil war in 2002, and government officials, donors and citizens have all...

PHILIPPINES: COMMUNITY RADIO BRINGS HOPE TO TROUBLED REGION.
September 2, 2008... By Kalinga Seneviratne UPI, Philippines, Sep. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The religiously mixed population of North Cotabato has embraced a community radio station as a beacon of peace, even as conflict rages on between government forces and...

GEORGIA: OSSETIA FEUD DRIVES WEDGE BETWEEN CHINA AND RUSSIA.
September 2, 2008... By Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, Sep. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Moscow's decision to recognize the two separatist regions of Georgia as independent states has exposed the divergence of geopolitical interests within the six-nation Shanghai...

INDIA: DEAL IN JAMMU DOES LITTLE TO COOL DOWN KASHMIR VALLEY.
September 2, 2008... Analysis by Praful Bidwai NEW DELHI, Sep. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The Jammu region of India is settling down to normality and peace, but the two-month turmoil in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley has shown no signs of abating. The...

IRAQ: AL-MALIKI'S DEMAND FOR WITHDRAWAL BLINDSIDES BUSH TEAM.
September 2, 2008... Analysis by Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signaled last week that that all U.S. troops -- including those with non-combat functions -- must be out of the country by the end of...

CHILE: UNDER BACHELET, PRESCHOOLS TEACH INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES.
September 2, 2008... By Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Chile, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "Mari, mari!" shout the excited group of 20 Chilean, Peruvian and Ecuadorean preschoolers, using the Mapuche greeting to welcome a visitor to their intercultural day care center...

TRADE: DOHA TALKS ARE IN PERIOD OF HIBERNATION, ECONOMIST SAYS.
September 2, 2008... By Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "History tells us that multilateral trade negotiations never die, and the current Doha Round is no exception," said economist Carlos Prez del Castillo, Uruguay's former permanent...

DEVELOPMENT: 'ACCRA AGENDA FOR ACTION' IS TOO WEAK, NGOS SAY.
September 2, 2008... By Miriam Mannak ACCRA, Ghana, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Representatives of civil society have raised concerns that the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra could represent a step backward in efforts to improve aid...

SUDAN: CUBAN-EDUCATED REFUGEES RETURN HOME TO REBUILD.
September 2, 2008... By Skye Wheeler JUBA, Southern Sudan, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Bona Bol's ambitions are even bigger than his 6-foot-5-inch frame. Together with his partner Majok Wek, he has already started a company importing goods into war-devastated...

GUINEA: MILITARY KILLINGS OF CHILDREN REMAIN UNPUNISHED.
September 2, 2008... By Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Guinea, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Kadiatou Diallo Sylla is haunted by memories of her 14-year-old son, an only child who was killed by the military during anti-government demonstrations in January 2007. Diallo...

THAILAND: PROTESTERS THREATEN TO TOPPLE FINANCIAL SYSTEM.
September 2, 2008... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Thailand, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A tense political drama playing out in the Thai capital has pitted anti-government protestors against a democratically elected dispensation, thereby threatening this...

PERU: COURT REOPENS INVESTIGATION INTO LIEUTENANT'S MURDER.
September 2, 2008... By ngel P ez LIMA, Peru, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Chief Prosecutor Pablo S nchez has requested a new trial in the case of the 1988 kidnapping, torture and murder of Marco Barrantes, a second lieutenant in the Peruvian army who was...

GHANA: DEVELOPMENT FORUM WILL FOCUS ON MAKING AID EFFECTIVE.
September 2, 2008... By Francis Kokutse ACCRA, Ghana, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- About 1,000 delegates are expected to take their seats tomorrow in Ghana's capital at a high-level forum on the effectiveness of aid. Some local residents are expressing skepticism...

SOUTH PACIFIC: AS SEA RISES, SMALL ISLANDS LOOK TO AUSTRALIA.
September 2, 2008... By Stephen de Tarczynski MELBOURNE, Australia, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- With the apparent effects of global warming already being felt among Pacific island nations, Australia and New Zealand are being urged to do more to prepare for...

PAKISTAN: MILITARY STANDS BACK AS DEMOCRACY PUTS DOWN ROOTS.
September 2, 2008... Analysis by Beena Sarwar KARACHI, Pakistan, Sep. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Pakistan's army has continued to keep its distance from politics and the political leadership has been affirming the country's democratic process, even as the nation has...

MEXICO: PEASANTS SEEK TO BLOCK CANADIAN-RUN GOLD MINE.
September 2, 2008... By Diego Cevallos / Tierramrica * MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Aug. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Peasant farmers have disrupted a Canadian corporation's plan to begin mining gold and silver in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, an area that it has...

RWANDA: BASKET SALES ABROAD SUPPORT WIDOWS, PEOPLE WITH HIV.
September 2, 2008... By Lauren Vopni KIGALI, Rwanda, Aug. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- In the courtyard of a red brick home, three women sit together on a bench, laughing and gossiping as they wrap lengths of crimson twine around a curl of bunched straw in the...

POLITICS: THAI WOMEN TAKE LEAD IN ANTI-GOVERNMENT CLASHES.
September 2, 2008... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Aug. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Businesswoman Somchit Suwanasay is one of thousands of middle-aged women making their presence felt at anti-government protests in the Thai capital. Somchit, who runs a small...

RIGHTS: TREATY BANNING "ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE" STALLED.
September 2, 2008... By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - They have vanished, but are not forgotten. Whether those who have "disappeared" have been killed or are being kept in secret, dark, and unknown prisons, their relatives, family...

DEVELOPMENT: GLOBAL GROUP CONSIDERS WORLD WITHOUT 'AID'.
September 2, 2008... Analysis by Ramesh Jaura BERLIN, Aug. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Imagine the dawn of a day when development aid ministries in Europe are shut down because there are no countries left in the 'South' that depend on financial assistance from the...

ECONOMY-NAMIBIA: DIAMOND DEPOSITS DWINDLE AFTER 100 YEARS.
September 2, 2008... By Brigitte Weidlich WINDHOEK, Aug. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Namibia's once rich diamond deposits are dwindling after a century of exploitation, forcing miners to look for the hard stones offshore while the country's fledgling cutting and...

TRADE-AFRICA: ASIAN DUMPING SEEN AS MAJOR THREAT.
September 2, 2008... By Francis Kokutse ACCRA, Aug. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) are being given a bad name for nothing, according to Ghanaian parliamentarian JB Danquah. Danquah, who is a member of the Ghanaian...

CUBA: SHORING UP THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.
September 2, 2008... By Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - In the new school year, which begins next Monday, Cuba's educational system will be trying out several changes aimed at overcoming the decline in the quality of teaching, blamed on a...

DEVELOPMENT-ZIMBABWE: U.N. WOMEN'S PROJECT STALLED AGAIN.
September 2, 2008... By Ephraim Nsingo HARARE, Aug. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - In 2006, there was shared concern among donors and women's organisations over the fragmented approaches to gender and women's empowerment programs in Zimbabwe. "This resulted in lack...

POLITICS-US: THE REINTERPRETATION OF DREAMS.
September 2, 2008... By Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and gave a speech that went down as one of the greatest in U.S. history. The speech, delivered...

POLITICS-US: MCCAIN'S VP PICK SEEN AS HIGH-STAKES GAMBLE.
September 2, 2008... By Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain stunned the political establishment Friday by choosing as his running-mate the little-known Alaska governor with virtually no national,...

POLITICS-US: MUSLIM CHARITIES NEGOTIATE A MINEFIELD.
September 2, 2008... By William Fisher NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - As Muslims begin one of their most sacred holidays -- the month of Ramadan -- charitable organisations serving the American Muslim community are taking what some observers believe is a...

MEXICO: NATIVE WOMEN MOBILISE FOR THEIR RIGHTS.
September 2, 2008... By Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - If the Mexican government has not addressed the demands of indigenous women in the southern state of Oaxaca by the end of the first week of September, 10,000 native women will travel...

POLITICS: KENYA FALTERS IN HEALING DEEP ETHNIC TENSIONS.
September 2, 2008... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - A power-sharing agreement between the opposition Orange Democratic Movement and the Party of National Unity in Kenya has failed at healing ethnic divisions in the one-time...

ISRAEL: OLMERT HAS A LAST GO AT A LEGACY.
September 2, 2008... Analysis by Peter Hirschberg JERUSALEM, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may have announced that he will resign as soon as his ruling Kadima party has chosen a new leader next month, but that doesn't mean the...

CUBA: FOREIGN INVESTORS KEEN ON SUGAR PRODUCTION.
September 2, 2008... By Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Foreign direct investment in the sugar industry is acceptable to the Cuban government for producing alcohol and other derivatives, but it continues to be a topic that the authorities...

IRAQ: KIDNAPPINGS NOW BECOME 'UNOFFICIAL'.
September 2, 2008... By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail* BAQUBA, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Residents of Baquba deny police claims that kidnappings are now a matter of the past. "There are fewer people disappearing, but it continues," a trader who asked to be...

RIGHTS-EUROPE: THE DALAI LAMA, NOW THE ONCE WELCOMED.
September 2, 2008... By Julio Godoy PARIS, Aug. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - EU leaders speak repeatedly of tying increasing Chinese investment in Africa to respect for human rights. But no such considerations come in the way of the EU's own dealings with China. ...

U.S.: MCCAIN'S VP PICK STIRS CONTROVERSY AND UNCERTAINTY.
September 3, 2008... By Ali Gharib and Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Voters and journalists are struggling with a big question, following Sen. John McCain's decision to pick a little-known Alaskan governor as his vice presidential candidate:...

MALAYSIA: STUNG BY ELECTORAL SETBACK, STATE CENSORS NEWS SITE.
September 3, 2008... By Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The Malaysian government has closed down a popular and controversial Web site, thereby abandoning its decade-old promise to maintain Internet freedom. The Malaysia...

SPAIN: OPPOSITION PARTY SLAMS INVESTIGATION OF CIVIL WAR VICTIMS.
September 3, 2008... By Tito Drago MADRID, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Internationally renowned Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzcentsn has unleashed a heated debate in Spain by ordering the authorities to provide information on human rights crimes committed during...

CHILE: NGOS CALL FOR HALT TO EXPANSION OF SALMON FARMING.
September 3, 2008... By Daniela Estrada SANTIAGO, Chile, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Nongovernmental organizations are calling for an end to the expansion of salmon farming while simultaneously demanding support for thousands of workers who have lost their jobs...

CANADA: ALBERTA'S OIL LOBBYISTS STRIVE TO WIN OVER OBAMA.
September 3, 2008... By Chris Arsenault VANCOUVER, Canada, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Canadian politicians and oil executives are stepping up lobbying efforts to make sure that the U.S. president elected this November will continue purchasing notoriously dirty...

GHANA: SUMMIT AIMS TO FORGE BETTER AID PARTNERSHIPS.
September 3, 2008... By Miriam Mannak ACCRA, Ghana, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- More than 1,000 government and civil society delegates have gathered in the Ghanaian capital to debate how best to deliver and administer aid, and the summit is rapidly turning into...

PERU: NATIVE GROUPS THREATEN OIL COMPANY WITH BLOODSHED.
September 3, 2008... By Milagros Salazar SATIPO, Peru, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "We will not allow the oil company to come in because it will bring pollution and we will suffer," said Medaly Pancho, a member of the Ashaninka community in the central Peruvian...

EU: ANTI-POVERTY ACTIVISTS SAY 'SOCIAL PACKAGE' IS TOO WEAK.
September 3, 2008... Analysis by David Cronin BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Several events over the past year have raised fundamental questions about whether the European Union's primary mission is to ensure the smooth operation of an economic...

Q&A: U.S. ELECTION WILL BE 'WON AT THE MARGINS,' BONIOR SAYS.
September 3, 2008... By Bankole Thompson DETROIT, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Michigan is a key state for the contenders in the U.S. presidential election, and it remains to be seen which way the state's voters will lean. Unlike Democratic nominee Barack...

NICARAGUA: NATION FORMALIZES IDENTITY OF INDIGENOUS CHILDREN.
September 3, 2008... By Jos Ad n Silva BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Some 250,000 indigenous children and adolescents who had no legal identity in Nicaragua are now being registered, a step that may help them to achieve recognition of their...

TRINIDAD: COMMUTATION OUTRAGES SUPPORTERS OF DEATH PENALTY.
September 3, 2008... By Peter Ischyrion PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Sept. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The government of Trinidad and Tobago is facing renewed pressure to clarify its position on the death penalty, following a high court ruling to take 52 convicted...

INDIA/US: Lawmaker's Disclosure May Torpedo Nuke Deal.
September 4, 2008... Analysis by Praful Bidwai* NEW DELHI, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Chances of the United States-India nuclear deal being completed have greatly receded with the release by a key U.S. lawmaker of a so-far-secret Bush administration document...

VIETNAM: PAYING FOR ECOSYSTEMS.
September 4, 2008... By Helen Clark HANOI, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), an environmental scheme now being trialled in this South-east Asian country, may serve as a model for the region, if found successful. Two pilot...

MEDIA-INDIA: COLUMNISTS SUPPORT KASHMIR'S SECESSION.
September 4, 2008... Analysis by Rita Manchanda NEW DELHI, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - "Anti-national" is the charge hurled in India at the usual radical suspects who argue for the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. But the recent outcrop of...

POLITICS-SOMALIA: U.S. POLICY LIKELY TO BRING BLOWBACK.
September 4, 2008... By Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - U.S. counter-terrorism policies and support for the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia have helped create an increasingly desperate humanitarian and security...

Q&A: "I APPRECIATE THIS UNIQUE MOMENT".
September 4, 2008... Interview with Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate DETROIT, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Whether he wins or loses in the November election, Barack Obama will have made U.S. history as the first African American to lead a major...

COLOMBIA: JUSTICE ON STRIKE.
September 4, 2008... By Constanza Vieira BOGOTA, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Some 34,000 judicial sector employees in Colombia began an indefinite strike Wednesday, demanding labour stability, the enforcement of a new salary scheme, and guarantees of independence...

DEVELOPMENT: NICE, FUZZY, POSITIVE LANGUAGE ON AID.
September 4, 2008... By IPS correspondents ACCRA, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Ministers and senior government officials from around the world have reportedly agreed an action plan to make the system of aid more effective after days of hard negotiations that...

POLITICS-US: CANDIDATES STAY THE COURSE ON LATIN AMERICA.
September 4, 2008... By Charles Davis WASHINGTON, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - With an election to replace an immensely unpopular president just weeks away, Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama have both sought to distance...

RIGHTS-CUBA: DISSIDENTS WORK FOR RACIAL INTEGRATION.
September 4, 2008... By Patricia Grogg HAVANA, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Dissident groups in Cuba are attempting to open up a debate on the problem of racism in the country, in order to promote "full integration" of all the island's citizens, without...

POLITICS-US: THE RETURN OF THE RETURN OF HISTORY.
September 4, 2008... Analysis by Daniel Luban WASHINGTON, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - In the wake of Russia's invasion of Georgia last month, many commentators have been quick to proclaim that the war signals "the return of history". But attentive observers could...

RIGHTS-US: DEATH ROW ACTIVIST PREPARES NEW APPEAL.
September 4, 2008... By Adrianne Appel BOSTON, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Mumia Abu-Jamal rallied thousands of protesters in the U.S. city of Denver last week who were calling for the release of U.S. political prisoners. In a recorded message for the crowds...

POLITICS-US: CHRISTIAN RIGHT SUMMIT STILL WIELDS CLOUT.
September 4, 2008... By Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, California, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - If the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, survives the slings and arrows of intense media coverage, her next major appearance could be...

DEVELOPMENT-SWAZILAND: DON'T BLAME DONOR DEPENDENCY.
September 4, 2008... By James Hall MBABANE, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - What happens to a nation whose people depend on the largesse of international donor agencies for their existence, once support is withdrawn? If forecasts for the small landlocked African...

RIGHTS-INDIA: KASHMIRIS SEE POWER IN PEACEFUL PROTESTS.
September 4, 2008... By Athar Parvaiz Bhat SRINAGAR, Sep. 3, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Firefights between India's armed forces and separatist militants, a feature of life in Jammu and Kashmir state, have now given way to a different type of confrontation --...

GHANA: DONORS AND DEVELOPING NATIONS AGREE ON AID AGENDA.
September 5, 2008... By Francis Kokutse and IPS correspondents ACCRA, Ghana, Sep. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Delegates from both developing and developed countries have adopted the Accra Agenda for Action as a guide to improve the way in which aid is given and spent....

RIGHTS: BETANCOURT ADVOCATES POLITICAL NICHE FOR GUERRILLAS.
September 5, 2008... By Sabina Zaccaro ROME, Sep. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Ingrid Betancourt, the former presidential candidate who was held hostage by leftist guerrillas for more than six years, recently announced that resolution of the conflict in Colombia can...

NEPAL: LAWMAKERS DRAG FEET ON TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION BILL.
September 5, 2008... By Mallika Aryal KATHMANDU, Nepal, Sep. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Nepal's Supreme Court extended hope to many survivors in June 2007, when it directed the government to form a commission to investigate cases of forced disappearances committed...

THAILAND: SATELLITE TV FUELS ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS.
September 5, 2008... By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Thailand, Sep. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The opposition movement associated with the People's Alliance for Democracy in Thailand is butting heads with the old media order as it tries to shape the political...

ECONOMY: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FEEL EFFECTS OF SLOWDOWN.
September 5, 2008... By Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The robust growth seen in developing countries may be checked by the slowdown in the industrialized world, according to a United Nations report on the outlook for the global economy....

PAKISTAN: U.S. RAID MAY HERALD MORE CONFRONTATIONAL POLICY.
September 5, 2008... By Daniel Luban WASHINGTON, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- An apparent raid into Pakistani territory by U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan has prompted angry denunciations from Pakistani officials. The raid, which took place Wednesday...

RIGHTS: REPORT DOCUMENTS ABUSES OF ANTI-TERRORISM LAWS.
September 5, 2008... By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Numerous governments around the world are using anti-terror laws to suppress political dissent and civil liberties, according to a new report released by Amnesty International. ...

SOUTH AFRICA/VENEZUELA: ALLIANCE PAVES WAY FOR OIL DEALS.
September 5, 2008... By Humberto M rquez CARACAS, Venezuela, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Ch vez and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki signed a framework cooperation agreement this week, paving the way for future arrangements on...

U.N.-REPORT: WORLD HAS FAR TO GO TO MEET GOALS ON AID, TRADE.
September 5, 2008... By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- When the United Nations approved a set of development goals on poverty, health, gender empowerment and environmental sustainability, back in September 2000, it set a deadline of 2015...

LEBANON: TENSIONS RISE ALONG BORDER WITH ISRAEL.
September 5, 2008... By Mona Alami BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- To the human eye, little seems to separate Lebanon from Israel, except for the Western-looking houses along the horizon on the northern side of the blue border line between the...

CUBA: LECTURES REVIVE DEBATE ON GOVERNMENT'S CULTURAL POLICY.
September 5, 2008... By Dalia Acosta HAVANA, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The Criterios center in Cuba has resumed a series of lectures analyzing the impact of the Cuban government's cultural policy on the arts, following an interruption that lasted more than a...

GHANA: EU TAKES BABY STEP TOWARD HALTING ILLEGAL TIMBER TRADE.
September 5, 2008... By David Cronin BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The European Union has reached a new agreement aimed at preventing the import of illegal timber from Africa, but environmental campaigners believe bolder action is still needed...

CAMEROON: MICROFINANCE PROJECT YIELDS WELLS, CEREAL MILLS.
September 5, 2008... By Tamfu Hanson GAROUA, Cameroon, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Adjoumi Hamidou, one of three surviving widows of Ali Hamidou, is the president of Akoldiningnal, a collective that runs a multi-cereal mill at Gashiga village. Located 15...

BOLIVIA: MEETING REVEALS FISSURES WITHIN OPPOSITION COALITION.
September 5, 2008... Analysis by Franz Ch vez LA PAZ, Bolivia, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Major disagreements are emerging among the right-wing authorities and landowning and business interests opposed to Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales. The...

U.S.: ABU GHRAIB INTERROGATOR LEAVES ARMY, CRITICIZES WAR.
September 5, 2008... By Aaron Glantz* SAN FRANCISCO, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Few people have thought more about the morality of the U.S. occupation of Iraq than Joshua Casteel, a former U.S. Army interrogator who served at the Abu Ghraib prison in the wake...

ANGOLA: VOTERS HOPE FOR SOLUTION TO SOARING UNEMPLOYMENT.
September 5, 2008... By Louise Redvers LUANDA, Angola, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Unemployment stands at around 65 percent in Angola, even though its economy is booming on the back of high oil prices and strong diamond exports. Take a walk down any street...

ARGENTINA: AS EXILES RETURN HOME, CHILDREN STRUGGLE TO ADAPT.
September 5, 2008... By Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Sep. 4, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A new study has shed light on the problems faced by the children of former exiles who are struggling to integrate into Argentine society. The children's parents left...

AFGHANISTAN: U.S.-NATO AIRSTRIKES RESULT IN HIGHER CIVILIAN TOLL.
September 8, 2008... By Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, Sep. 8, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Ramped-up U.S. and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan are causing an increased civilian death toll, according to a major new report by Human Rights Watch released here Monday. The...

U.N.-REPORT: 'WAR ON TERROR' HAS UNDERMINED RIGHTS WORLDWIDE.
September 8, 2008... By Julio Godoy PARIS, Sep. 8, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The "war on terror" in the aftermath of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has undermined human rights globally, according to activists and experts who attended a U.N. conference in Paris. ...

BRAZIL: CLIMATE CHANGE FEARS FUEL ZERO-CARBON INITIATIVES.
September 8, 2008... By Mario Osava /Tierramrica * RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Sep. 7, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- It has become fashionable in Latin America to pursue zero-carbon initiatives aimed at neutralizing the climate-changing greenhouse gases produced by industry,...

Q&A-NIGERIA: HAUSA WRITERS RESIST CENSORSHIP EFFORTS IN KANO.
September 8, 2008... By Amina Koki Gizo KANO, Nigeria, Sep. 6, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Young Hausa writers began writing about their lives and contemporary problems in the late 1980s and early 1990s, often bypassing formal publishers and self-published their novels...

SWAZILAND: WOMEN CITE CONSTITUTION IN BID TO EXERCISE RIGHTS.
September 8, 2008... By Mantoe Phakathi MBABANE, Swaziland, Sep. 6, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Swazi traditionalists are still livid about how leaders of Swaziland's women's movement took to the streets to challenge what they called extravagance by the royal family in...

COLOMBIA: ARMED MEN DRIVE PEACE COMMISSION WORKER AWAY.
September 8, 2008... By Constanza Vieira BOGOTA, Colombia, Sep. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Threats from armed men in civilian dress have forced a human rights defender from the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission to flee Bajo Atrato, an area of Colombia where...

PARAGUAY/BRAZIL: LUGO AIMS TO SEEK NEW TERMS FOR ITAIP DAM.
September 8, 2008... By Mario Osava RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Sep. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Paraguay's new government wants to increase ninefold the revenues the country takes in from the sale of its share of the energy generated by the Itaip[pounds sterling]...

U.S.: BUSH ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERS GEORGIA'S PLEA FOR WEAPONS.
September 8, 2008... By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Sep. 5, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The outgoing administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is devoting increasing attention to the question of whether to re-arm Georgia in the aftermath of its thrashing last month by...