May 1998

DISARMAMENT: South Asian Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Jeopardy

India's five underground nuclear tests this week, and the threat of a matching response from Pakistan, have all but ended a longstanding U.N. proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in South Asia.

RIGHTS-UN: Can Criminal Court Survive Without United States?

By Farhan Haq

Supporters of a proposed world court, before which war crimes would be tried, face a difficult question: Can such a body succeed if the United States does not participate?

POPULATION: Population Growing in Poor Nations

By IPS Correspondents

Developing countries presently account for 98 percent of the world's population growth , according to a report released Wednesday by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), a Washington research group.

CULTURE-BANGLADESH: Planned Beauty Contest Revives Fundamentalism

By IPS Correspondents

Islamic fundamentalists have not only got a planned beauty contest postponed but also used it as an opportunity to show off their muscle.

RIGHTS-D.R. CONGO: One Year On, Things Don’t Look Too Good

By IPS Correspondents

Bingo! The host of officials behind the scanner at the Njili International Airport here have found something suspect in the departing passenger's suitcase: newspapers!

POLITICS-BURUNDI: Split in Rebel Movement

By IPS Correspondents

A split in Burundi's main armed opposition group, the CNDD, came as no surprise as the armed Hutu guerilla movement had been undermined by serious internal squables.

BIOTECHNOLOGY-EUROPE: Parliament Clears ‘Biopiracy’ Directive

By IPS Correspondents

The European Parliament has controversially endorsed a directive that makes it legally possible to patent life forms and their genetic material under European law.

DISARMAMENT: Indian Military Geared to Brave U.S. Sanctions

By Thalif Deen

The U.S. decision to impose sanctions on India - the world's newest nuclear power - is expected to have only a minimal impact on the country's 1.3 million-strong armed forces.

DEVELOPMENT-THAILAND: Farmers Protest Copycat ‘Jasmine’ Rice

By IPS Correspondents

Thailand's rights to its famed jasmine rice, as well as its rice exports, are under threat by a U.S. firm's use of the name "jasmati" as a brand for a product that it calls a copy of the Thai variety, farmers and activists say.

JAPAN: Tokyo Mulls Freeze of Aid to India After Nuclear Testing

By IPS Correspondents

Shocked and angered by India's nuclear testing, Japan is contemplating economic sanctions on one of its biggest aid recipients.

JAPAN-INDIA: Tokyo Mulls Aid Freeze After Nuclear Testing/UPDATE/

By Suvendrini Kakuchi

Shocked and angered by India's nuclear testing, Japan is contemplating economic sanctions on one of its biggest aid recipients.

POLITICS-KOSOVO: Milosevic And Rugova Levered Into Talks

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

News that Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic will have face-to-face talks with ethnic Albanian community leader Ibrahim Rugova, here Friday, comes not a moment too soon for the flashpoint province of Kosovo.

HUMAN RIGHTS-JAMAICA: The Return of the Tamarind Switch

By IPS Correspondents

Barbados began it first, Trinidad and Tobago came next and four years ago it grabbed the headlines in Jamaica when the Whip as a method of punishment for the convicted felon was revived.

HEALTH: New Challenges for Cuba, 15 Years after ‘Health for All’

By Dalia Acosta

Cuba is facing new challenges, such as maintaining the quality of health services and preserving the gains of the past few decades, 15 years after reaching the goal of "health for all" outlined by the international community for the year 2000.

ENVIRONMENT-TRADE: U.S. Sidelines Environment, say groups

By IPS Correspondents

U.S. environmental groups, dissatisfied with U.S. trade policies, Wednesday urged U.S. President Bill Clinton to push a green agenda at the next meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

ENVIRONMENT: Conservationists Demand Protection for Whales

By Gustavo Capdevila

The threat of extinction hangs over the heads of six of the world's 11 large whale species, said a statement from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) calling for an international moratorium on hunting.

SPORT-ARGENTINA: Courts Suspend Violent Football Tournament

By Marcela Valente

Argentine courts suspended the national football championship, the most popular sporting event in the nation, Wednesday, until violent fans can be brought under control.

ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: Fire Ravages Reserve of Endangered Parrots

By Dalia Acosta

One thousand hectares of the world's largest reserve of the small green parrot known in Latin America as the "cotorra", an endangered species, were destroyed by fire over the past few days in Cuba.

DISARMAMENT-US: Clinton Slaps Sweeping Sanctions on India

By Jim Lobe

US President Bill Clinton, reacting to two more nuclear tests by India Wednesday, slapped sweeping sanctions on New Delhi.

TRADE: Debate Underlines Gap Between Rich and Poor

By IPS Correspondents

The need for wealthy countries to take a more liberal approach on trade issues and avoid widening the gap between rich and poor nations will figure high on the agenda of the May 18-20 ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO).