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Friday, May 09, 2008   16:01 GMT    
Latest News
BIODIVERSITY-US: Loggers, Owls Not Out of the Woods Yet
By Michael J. Carter
SEATTLE, May 9 (IPS) - Some wounds heal slowly, and the wounds of the logging community on the U.S. northwest Pacific coast are still smarting nearly 20 years after measures to protect a threatened species devastated their industry.
MORE >>

IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?
Analysis by Trita Parsi*
WASHINGTON, May 9 (IPS) - The P5+1 -- the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany -- will present Tehran with a secret incentive package in the next few days to convince Iran to suspend its enrichment programme and enter negotiations.
MORE >>

RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Spat Escalates Over Anti-Gay Lyrics
By Zadie Neufville
KINGSTON, May 9 (IPS) - Under pressure from gay rights groups and a sponsorship boycott of live dancehall shows by local beer giant Red Stripe, some Jamaican dancehall stars are offering free performances to events at which no Red Stripe products are sold or consumed.
MORE >>

BURMA: UN Aid Arrives, But Many Doors Still Closed
By Arlene Chang
UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (IPS) - As the first U.N. relief planes landed in Yangon early on Thursday, humanitarian officials complained that the aid flowing into cyclone-devastated Burma (Myanmar) is still encountering bureaucratic obstacles that are threatening the lives of desperate survivors.
MORE >>

IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat
By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
BAQUBA, May 9 (IPS) - Water supply is drying out in what was once the agriculturally rich Diyala province north of Baghdad. Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, is now running out of water both for drinking and for irrigation.
MORE >>

TURKEY: Ruling Party Challenges Closure
By Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL, May 9 (IPS) - Facing closure by the Constitutional Court, Turkey's Islamic-rooted governing party has launched its formal defence, claiming that the case against the highly popular party and its leaders has no legal basis, and that it defends secularism despite charges that it plans to turn the country into an Islamic state.
MORE >>

ICELAND: Road Threatens Heritage
By Lowana Veal
REYKJAVIK, May 9 (IPS) - Environmentalists are concerned that a proposed new road will threaten the ecology of Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland's second largest lake.
MORE >>

CHINA: Buying Farmland Abroad, Ensuring Food Security
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING, May 9 (IPS) - Rattled by rapidly rising global grain prices, China is looking at strategies to ensure long-term food security for its 1.3 billion people such as procuring farmland overseas and opposing the formation of any international grain price- fixing monopolies.
MORE >>

LEBANON: Hezbollah Unleashes a Coup Bid
By Mona Alami
BEIRUT, May 9 (IPS) - Men clad in black have roamed the streets of Beirut since Wednesday, their faces covered with ski masks or dark kaffiya, as they wreaked havoc in the large avenues leading to the airport or dividing Sunni and Shia areas. As darkness loomed over Lebanon, the winds of discord seem to set the Lebanese capital ablaze.
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INDIA: Gov't 'Helpless' as Farmers Shylocked to Suicide
By Bharat Dogra
MAHOBA, May 9 (IPS) - There is no let up in farmers’ suicides, say activists urging the Indian government to extend its loan waiver offer to more agriculturists in western Maharashtra and central Madhya Pradesh states where the agrarian crisis is most severe.
MORE >>

Global Affairs
IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?
Analysis by Trita Parsi*
WASHINGTON - The P5+1 -- the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany -- will present Tehran with a secret incentive package in the next few days to convince Iran to suspend its enrichment programme and enter negotiations.
MORE >>
 		 
BURMA: UN Aid Arrives, But Many Doors Still Closed
By Arlene Chang
UNITED NATIONS - As the first U.N. relief planes landed in Yangon early on Thursday, humanitarian officials complained that the aid flowing into cyclone-devastated Burma (Myanmar) is still encountering bureaucratic obstacles that are threatening the lives of desperate survivors.
MORE >>
 		 
CHINA: Buying Farmland Abroad, Ensuring Food Security
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - Rattled by rapidly rising global grain prices, China is looking at strategies to ensure long-term food security for its 1.3 billion people such as procuring farmland overseas and opposing the formation of any international grain price- fixing monopolies.
MORE >>
 		 
DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Linked to Doha Deal
By Aileen Kwa
GENEVA - The issue of rising food prices was raised at the WTO's General Council meeting Wednesday, and for the first time, discussed in some detail. But there remains, as one African delegate put it, "a lot of confusion about the rising prices of commodities and the Doha Round. Somebody needs to demystify the links. The D-G (Director-General) is using this as a bait to catch us on concluding the Round as soon as possible."
MORE >>
 		 
EUROPE: Still without a 'Coherent' Human Rights Policy
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS - More than 50 years after its inception, the European Union continues to lack a "coherent and hard-hitting policy to uphold and promote human rights around the world", a new report by the EU's only directly-elected body has complained.
MORE >>
 		 
MDGs
IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat
By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
BAQUBA - Water supply is drying out in what was once the agriculturally rich Diyala province north of Baghdad. Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, is now running out of water both for drinking and for irrigation.
MORE >>
 		 
ENERGY-AFRICA: From Kerosene to the LED, O-HUB and O-BOX
By Stephen Leahy
ACCRA - In many of Africa's towns and villages, smoky kerosene lamps are all that keeps the darkness at bay after sunset. However, kerosene is a dangerous and increasingly expensive source of light for Africans who do not have access to electricity -- about three-quarters of those living on the continent, according to the World Bank.
MORE >>
 		 
LATIN AMERICA: Food Summit Declares Regional Emergency
By José Adán Silva
MANAGUA - The presidential summit on "Food for Life", held in Nicaragua, has ended with 16 Latin American countries agreeing to produce more food and sell it at low prices through strategic alliances, amid criticisms of free markets and capitalism.
MORE >>
 		 
DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Linked to Doha Deal
By Aileen Kwa
GENEVA - The issue of rising food prices was raised at the WTO's General Council meeting Wednesday, and for the first time, discussed in some detail. But there remains, as one African delegate put it, "a lot of confusion about the rising prices of commodities and the Doha Round. Somebody needs to demystify the links. The D-G (Director-General) is using this as a bait to catch us on concluding the Round as soon as possible."
MORE >>
 		 
NEPAL: Poor Planning Behind Rising Food Prices
By Mallika Aryal
KATHMANDU - As the sole breadwinner in a family of five, Maya Tamang watches her food budget carefully. And she can vouch best for the way many items are steadily disappearing from the table as food prices spiral steadily.
MORE >>
 		 
Environment
BIODIVERSITY-US: Loggers, Owls Not Out of the Woods Yet
By Michael J. Carter
SEATTLE - Some wounds heal slowly, and the wounds of the logging community on the U.S. northwest Pacific coast are still smarting nearly 20 years after measures to protect a threatened species devastated their industry.
MORE >>
 		 
ICELAND: Road Threatens Heritage
By Lowana Veal
REYKJAVIK - Environmentalists are concerned that a proposed new road will threaten the ecology of Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland's second largest lake.
MORE >>
 		 
ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Controversy Over Indigenous Land and Biofuels
By Mario Osava
BRASILIA - The legal status of an indigenous territory in the far north of Brazil, and biofuels, are two hot potatoes at the Third National Conference on the Environment being held in the capital city, which is focusing on climate change.
MORE >>
 		 
BURMA: Junta Gives Referendum Priority Over Cyclone Relief
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - Disregarding the disaster caused by Cyclone Nargis, Burma’s military rulers are bent on holding a constitutional referendum on Saturday, said to be designed to enhance the junta’s grip over the country.
MORE >>
 		 
BURMA: Cyclone Nargis Exposes Junta's Anti-People Attitude
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - Cyclone Nargis -- Burma’s worst natural disaster in living memory -- has reinforced the image of the military in that country as a force interested solely in perpetuating its grip on power, regardless of costs to the people it claims to protect.
MORE >>
 		 
Human Rights
RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Spat Escalates Over Anti-Gay Lyrics
By Zadie Neufville
KINGSTON - Under pressure from gay rights groups and a sponsorship boycott of live dancehall shows by local beer giant Red Stripe, some Jamaican dancehall stars are offering free performances to events at which no Red Stripe products are sold or consumed.
MORE >>
 		 
IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat
By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
BAQUBA - Water supply is drying out in what was once the agriculturally rich Diyala province north of Baghdad. Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, is now running out of water both for drinking and for irrigation.
MORE >>
 		 
TURKEY: Ruling Party Challenges Closure
By Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL - Facing closure by the Constitutional Court, Turkey's Islamic-rooted governing party has launched its formal defence, claiming that the case against the highly popular party and its leaders has no legal basis, and that it defends secularism despite charges that it plans to turn the country into an Islamic state.
MORE >>
 		 
INDIA: Gov't 'Helpless' as Farmers Shylocked to Suicide
By Bharat Dogra
MAHOBA - There is no let up in farmers’ suicides, say activists urging the Indian government to extend its loan waiver offer to more agriculturists in western Maharashtra and central Madhya Pradesh states where the agrarian crisis is most severe.
MORE >>
 		 
AUSTRALIA: Women in Top Posts but Discrimination Prevails
By Stephen de Tarczynski
MELBOURNE - While some have hailed the recent announcement that a woman is to be Australia’s next governor-general as a breakthrough for women -- the first time that the English monarch’s representative in this country will not be male -- advocacy groups argue that discrimination against women remains prevalent.
MORE >>
 		 
Health
BURMA: UN Aid Arrives, But Many Doors Still Closed
By Arlene Chang
UNITED NATIONS - As the first U.N. relief planes landed in Yangon early on Thursday, humanitarian officials complained that the aid flowing into cyclone-devastated Burma (Myanmar) is still encountering bureaucratic obstacles that are threatening the lives of desperate survivors.
MORE >>
 		 
LATIN AMERICA: South-South Cooperation to Fight Child Malnutrition
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO - Cooperation between Latin American countries, which is cheap, efficient and horizontal, could fast-track the fight against child malnutrition, Nils Kastberg, the regional director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said at a conference held in the Chilean capital.
MORE >>
 		 
DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Bodies Under Fire for Food Crisis
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - As the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) readies for a summit of world leaders next month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday defended the Rome-based U.N. agency, which has come under fire for its failure to help meet the growing challenges of hunger worldwide.
MORE >>
 		 
DEVELOPMENT-ZAMBIA: Counting the Cost of Recent Floods
By Newton Sibanda
LUSAKA - Samson Mwenda, a farmer from Namwala in Zambia’s Southern Province, recalls with bitterness the massive floods of the 2007/2008 rainy season and the harsh consequences they had for his life.
MORE >>
 		 
ENVIRONMENT: "Doctor" Nature in Danger
By Stephen Leahy*
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - "When we harm nature, we are harming ourselves," says Aaron Bernstein, a doctor at Harvard Medical School and one of the authors of the upcoming book "Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity".
MORE >>
 		 
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