Stories by Marwaan Macan-Markar / IPS Inter Press Service

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Friday, May 09, 2008 16:38 GMT

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NGOs Pressure AsDB to Strengthen Safeguards
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
MADRID - Behind-the-scenes lobbying by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) paid off by the end of the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) concluding here Tuesday. Leading financial officials from a host of European countries came out in favour of the strong "safeguard policies" that activists are championing.
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AsDB Soliciting Private Investments
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
MADRID - When he was not attending seminars at a conference centre in the Spanish capital, the Asian Development Bank’s (AsDB) Seethapathy Chander was trying to broker deals to attract European investors to developing regions of Asia.
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Food Crisis Rises To Forefront At AsDB Sessions
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
MADRID - Three words -- high food prices -- emerged like a gatecrasher at an event hosted by the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) here that was originally billed as a celebration of the bank’s new vision for poverty eradication in Asia.
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NGOs Welcome At AsDB Meeting

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
MADRID - An Indonesian woman in her early fifties flew into this city to share a tale about "Three people and a goat". Her audience were heavyweights from the Asian Development Bank (AsDB), the Manila-based financial institution holding its 41st annual governors’ meeting in the Spanish capital from May 3 to 6.
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US Oil Major Complicit in Abuses - Rights Lobby
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - An environmental group is warning U.S. energy giant Chevron to clean up its act in Burma or face legal proceedings where the multinational’s links to gross human rights violations in the military-ruled country could be exposed.
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Food Crisis Adds to Women’s Burden
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - As if the burdens they shoulder are not enough, Asia’s women are being compelled to bear the additional weight of rising food prices, say women’s rights activists from across the region.
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'Neglect of Farming Led to Rice Crisis'
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The headlines screaming about a global food shortage have not aroused surprise in a leading non-governmental organisation (NGO) working with farming communities across Asia. To its members, warnings of hunger on a biblical scale are hardly news.
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Plans Readied to Rig Constitution Referendum
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A rising star within the ranks of Burma’s military regime is reported to have unveiled a plan to ensure the junta gets its way at the May referendum for a new constitution, according to information revealed to IPS.
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Facing a Famine
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - North Korea’s desperate need to feed its citizens has prompted a United Nations agency to warn of a ‘’humanitarian crisis’’ looming up in the months ahead.
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New Constitution Gives Impunity to Military
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Burma’s military regime is coming under fire for the language in a new constitution to be approved at a national referendum on May 10. The full text of the charter was made public only a month ahead of the plebiscite.
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Suffocation of 54 Burmese Workers - No Surprise
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The death by suffocation of 54 Burmese migrant workers, while being transported in an enclosed container truck in southern Thailand, was a tragedy waiting to happen say labour rights activists.
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Constitution Changes On The Cards
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Thailand’s eight-month-old constitution is at the centre of a growing political storm, heightening the prospect of public outrage and even anger on the streets in the months to come.
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Developing Countries Gain a Step
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Negotiators from the developing world won a significant first round at talks here to shape a new pact to curb global warming. Key among them was the backing to make green-friendly technology and financial assistance priority in a programme leading to the pact to be endorsed in 2009.
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Marwaan Macan-Markar - IPS's Bangkok correspondent provides essential reading on human rights, development, environment and politics in a dynamic region

Credit: Sayan Cheunodomsavad/Thailand for the Imaging Our Mekong programme

COLOMBIA: Therapeutic Abortion - A Right in Name Only?

BIODIVERSITY-US: Loggers, Owls Not Out of the Woods Yet

IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?

RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Spat Escalates Over Anti-Gay Lyrics

BURMA: UN Aid Arrives, But Many Doors Still Closed

IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat

TURKEY: Ruling Party Challenges Closure

ICELAND: Road Threatens Heritage

CHINA: Buying Farmland Abroad, Ensuring Food Security

LEBANON: Hezbollah Unleashes a Coup Bid

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COLOMBIA: Therapeutic Abortion - A Right in Name Only?

IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat

ENERGY-AFRICA: From Kerosene to the LED, O-HUB and O-BOX

LATIN AMERICA: Food Summit Declares Regional Emergency

DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Linked to Doha Deal

NEPAL: Poor Planning Behind Rising Food Prices

ARGENTINA: Food Inflation Hits People Close to Poverty Line

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Small Can Be Beautiful

LATIN AMERICA: South-South Cooperation to Fight Child Malnutrition

DEVELOPMENT: NGOs Pressure AsDB to Strengthen Safeguards

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