PERU: All-Out War on Remnant of ‘Shining Path’ Guerrillas
By Ángel Páez
LIMA - The armed forces have launched a major offensive against the most combative remaining column of Sendero Luminoso (the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas) which is operating in the jungle valleys of the Ene and Apurimac rivers in southeastern Peru, where most of the country’s coca leaf and cocaine is produced.
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COLOMBIA: Therapeutic Abortion - A Right in Name Only?
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA - A woman in Pasto, the capital of the western Colombian province of Nariño, found out that the baby she was expecting was severely deformed. But when she went to the provincial university hospital for an abortion, the chief obstetrician gynaecologist told her that "If your son is born deformed, take him to a circus."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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INDIA: Gov't Leaves Farmers to the Mercy of Moneylenders
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.
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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.
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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.
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POLITICS-US: Lawmakers Seek Probe of "Media Generals"
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - As U.S. television networks continue their silence about their use of retired military officers to "sell" progress in Iraq, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on the Defence Department Inspector General to investigate the Pentagon-sponsored public relations effort.
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RIGHTS-US: Hundreds Arrested Protesting Police Abuses
By Haider Rizvi
NEW YORK - She was as happy and excited about getting married that day as any young person in love. But fate had something else waiting. Just a few hours ahead of her wedding, on Nov. 25, 2006, New York City police officers killed her fiancé Sean Bell in a hail of 50 bullets.
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