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Thursday, September 02, 2010 20:27 GMT

Latest News

LEBANON: Rich Feast Through Month of Fasting
By Mona Alami
BEIRUT, Sep 2 (IPS) - Although not a celebration in the traditional sense, Ramadan in Lebanon is a time of joy for many, during which families reconnect and share their wealth with the poor. But in this country of extremes, not everyone has the luxury of celebrating the holy month.
MORE >>

MIDEAST: Pessimistic About Peace, Yet…
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Peter Klochendler
JERUSALEM, Sep 2 (IPS) - As President Obama on Wednesday initiates the ninth U.S. attempt in the last 30 years to bring about a final Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement, expectations are low and pessimism is high.
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U.N. Lagging on Water and Sanitation Development Goals
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 2 (IPS) - The United Nations stands accused of marginalising water and sanitation in its much-touted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at improving the lives of billions of people in the developing world.
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Environmental Forensics for BP Gulf Spill
By Adrianne Appel*
BOSTON, Sep 2 (Tierramérica) - Stealthy submarine gliders slide through the depths of the Gulf of Mexico with the precision of birds of prey. Robot-like rovers search for droplets of oil thousands of metres under the surface. Powerful computerised analysers send instant results to scientists on board the ship above. All of this to assess the impact of disaster.
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Uganda Could Become Regional Rice Exporter say Researchers
By Joshua Kyalimpa
KAMPALA, Sep 2 (IPS) - In a small garden at the Entebbe Botanical garden, about 40 kilometres from Kampala, a few yellowish plants are trying to adapt to their new environment.
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ARGENTINA-BRAZIL: Nuclear Safeguards System an Example for the World
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Sep 2 (IPS) - A system of mutual safeguards, created nearly two decades ago by Argentina and Brazil for in-situ verification of the peaceful use of nuclear power in both countries, serves as an international model of transparency and confidence building in this highly sensitive field.
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RIGHTS-INDIA: Law to Restrict Foreign Funding Alarms NGOs
By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Sep 2 (IPS) - Voluntary and charitable organisations in India are aghast at a new law to restrict foreign contributions, that was passed by both Houses of Parliament recently.
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PHILIPPINES: Criminal Ban, Stigma Drive Unsafe Abortions
By Diana Mendoza
MANILA, Sep 2 (IPS) - "I felt scared. When I looked around, all the mothers had finished giving birth, while I was still there. The blood that flowed from me had already dried and caked onto my body," Lisa, a 19-year-old married mother of three, says, recounting her experience in post-abortion care at a public hospital here in the Philippine capital.
MORE >>

SRI LANKA: Anger Rises Over Torture Case, But Solution Unclear

By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Sep 2 (IPS) - The ordeal of a Sri Lankan domestic worker whose Saudi Arabian employer allegedly drove nails and metal wires into her body has sent alarm bells ringing among government officials and activists, but how such abuses can be stopped remain far from clear.
MORE >>

Further Victims Identified in DRC Mass Rapes Case
By Aprille Muscara
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 1 (IPS) - The number of women raped by rebel groups during last month’s raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has risen to over 240, U.N. officials told reporters here today.
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Global Affairs

U.N. Lagging on Water and Sanitation Development Goals
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations stands accused of marginalising water and sanitation in its much-touted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at improving the lives of billions of people in the developing world.
MORE >>

RWANDA
Genocide Ideology and Sectarianism Laws Silencing Critics?
Analysis by Aprille Muscara
UNITED NATIONS - Among its unstable and conflict-ridden neighbours, Rwanda stands out. It has been pegged as a model of development and one of Africa’s success stories: Since the 1990’s, when a civil war ravaged the country, average incomes have doubled, its people have become healthier and less hungry and it has the highest proportion of women parliamentarians worldwide. Yet, maintaining this stability is a government accused of muzzling its opponents and committing human rights abuses.
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Geothermal: Getting Energy from the Earth
By Lester R. Brown*
WASHINGTON - The heat in the upper six miles of the earth’s crust contains 50,000 times as much energy as found in all the world’s oil and gas reserves combined. Despite this abundance, only 10,700 megawatts of geothermal electricity generating capacity have been harnessed worldwide.
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Billion Dollar Audit Missed by Pentagon Watchdog
By Pratap Chatterjee*
WASHINGTON - Military auditors failed to complete an audit of the business systems of an Ohio- based company - Mission Essential Personnel - even though it had billed for one billion dollars worth of work largely in Afghanistan over the last four years.
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Embattled U.N. Chief on Charm Offensive, Says Press Corps
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - When an Asian ambassador hosted a sumptuous lunch for more than a dozen U.N. correspondents in his swanky New York apartment many moons ago, he confessed he had a hidden agenda.
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MDGs

Funding Begins Flowing for African Agriculture
By Claire Ngozo
WINDHOEK - The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has received a major boost as several countries have begun drawing on funds from a $22 billion pledge made by the G8.
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PERU
Quechua Congresswoman Fights Discrimination in Education
By Ángel Páez
LIMA - Hilaria Supa has broken down many barriers in her life. Now she has overcome another one, in an unprecedented achievement: this Quechua indigenous woman who never went to school is today chair of the congressional education committee in Peru.
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BOTSWANA
HIV-positive Mothers Not Convinced to Exclusively Breastfeed
By Alma Balopi
GABORONE - "An HIV-positive woman must never be encouraged to breastfeed because regardless of what the doctors or researchers say - it is too dangerous for the baby," says Koziba Kelatlhe an HIV-positive mother who was advised by health workers not to breastfeed her child.
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500,000 Pregnant Women at Risk in Pakistan Floods
By Aprille Muscara
UNITED NATIONS - Aid groups and U.N. agencies are raising the alarm over the vulnerability of pregnant women and babies in flood ravaged Pakistan.
MORE >>

Environment

Environmental Forensics for BP Gulf Spill
By Adrianne Appel*
BOSTON - Stealthy submarine gliders slide through the depths of the Gulf of Mexico with the precision of birds of prey. Robot-like rovers search for droplets of oil thousands of metres under the surface. Powerful computerised analysers send instant results to scientists on board the ship above. All of this to assess the impact of disaster.
MORE >>

Fisheries Can Play Key Role in Africa
By Davison Makanga interviews MARI-LISE DU PREEZ, forests, fisheries and governance expert
CAPE TOWN - Fisheries contribute at least $10 billion dollars to African economies every year. In countries such as Angola, Egypt and Namibia, fisheries are vital economic drivers.
MORE >>

Environmentalists Push For Coal-ash Regulation
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - In what promises to be a contentious, high-profile series of debates, the forces of environmental protection will be lining up against those of the electric power industry over the future status of coal-ash.
MORE >>

Human Rights

LEBANON
Rich Feast Through Month of Fasting
By Mona Alami
BEIRUT - Although not a celebration in the traditional sense, Ramadan in Lebanon is a time of joy for many, during which families reconnect and share their wealth with the poor. But in this country of extremes, not everyone has the luxury of celebrating the holy month.
MORE >>

MIDEAST
Pessimistic About Peace, Yet…
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Peter Klochendler
JERUSALEM - As President Obama on Wednesday initiates the ninth U.S. attempt in the last 30 years to bring about a final Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement, expectations are low and pessimism is high.
MORE >>

PHILIPPINES
Criminal Ban, Stigma Drive Unsafe Abortions
By Diana Mendoza
MANILA - "I felt scared. When I looked around, all the mothers had finished giving birth, while I was still there. The blood that flowed from me had already dried and caked onto my body," Lisa, a 19-year-old married mother of three, says, recounting her experience in post-abortion care at a public hospital here in the Philippine capital.
MORE >>

SRI LANKA
Anger Rises Over Torture Case, But Solution Unclear

By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - The ordeal of a Sri Lankan domestic worker whose Saudi Arabian employer allegedly drove nails and metal wires into her body has sent alarm bells ringing among government officials and activists, but how such abuses can be stopped remain far from clear.
MORE >>

Health

SOUTH AFRICA
‘Tea Bag’ Filter Provides Safe Drinking Water
By Chris Stein
JOHANNESBURG - Though it may look like a tea bag, straining water through this recently developed filter could provide a cheap, easily replenished source of water for those who need it most.
MORE >>