May 1998

LABOUR: Nike’s Initiative to Improve Factory Conditions

The Nike sports-shoe and clothing manufacturer, stung by charges of human rights and labour abuses, announced Tuesday plans to further improve conditions of factory workers abroad.

POLITICS-COLOMBIA: Murder of Former Minister Blamed on Extremists

By IPS Correspondents

The murder of retired general Fernando Landazabal, former defence minister of Colombia Tuesday, just three weeks before the general elections here, was blamed on extremists by the government and other sectors alike

ECONOMY-LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEAN: Balancing Growth and Development

By IPS Correspondents

Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are struggling to find the correct balance between what now appears to be a pattern of economic growth and the anomaly of social displacement.

HEALTH: Governments Under Pressure from Baby Food Companies

By Gustavo Capdevila

The baby food industry is putting pressure on governments to block legislation based on international recommendations on breast milk substitutes.

DISARMAMENT-INDIA: Indian Nuclear Tests Criticised

By IPS Correspondents

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticised India Monday following New Delhi's surprise announcement it had conducted three nuclear explosive tests, the first since 1974.

RIGHTS: Bonino Looks for US Support for Intl Criminal Court

By IPS Correspondents

European Commissioner for Human Rights, Emma Bonino, took her fight for the establishment of an effective International Criminal Court (ICC) to Washington Monday and declared the world was changingbut not for the better.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Unchain Africa, Debt Campaigners Say

By IPS Correspondents

Imagine an Africa freed of its debt bondage.

POLITICS-INDONESIA: Riots Ease, but Uncertainty Rises

By IPS Correspondents

At the height of last week's anti- government protests, students at the Bandung Institute of Technology set up a makeshift slum shanty. Above it hung a banner that said: "Life is getting hard. In need of new president."

POLITICS-HAITI: Opposition Groups Seek to Confront Lavalas

By IPS Correspondents

Opposition groups from both the left and right are attempting a comeback in Haiti after years of virtual political irrelevance.

ENVIRONMENT-PUERTO RICO: Out With ‘Eco-Hypocrisy’

By IPS Correspondents

To the Puerto Rican government, it was a gesture intended to show to the people that protection of the environment is at the top of its agenda, but as far as those people it was trying to impress is concerned, it was nothing more than eco- hypocrisy.

ENVIRONMENT-CHINA: Smog Hangs Over Spring

By IPS Correspondents

"Springtime used to be best time in town, but we haven't seen nice weather and blue skies now for weeks," observes Liu Hongli, a 68-year-old native of Beijing.

SRI LANKA: U.N Talks Warring Sides into Taking Care of Children

By Feizal Samath

A top U.N. official who is armed with a mandate to seek the protection of children caught in war zones worldwide, has reported some success in Sri Lanka.

POLITICS-BRAZIL: Food Crisis Slows Govt Election Drive

By Mario Osava

A food crisis spawned by drought and famine in northeastern Brazil has slowed President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's drive for re-election on October 4.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Blasphemy Law Triggers Violence in Punjab

By IPS Correspondents

Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law has sparked riots and strikes in its richest province of Punjab after the suicide last week of a widely respected Roman Catholic bishop.

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Chief Minister Dodges Anti-dam Activists

By IPS Correspondents

The Chief Minister of central Madhya Pradesh state, Digvijay Singh, cancelled, Monday, a scheduled visit to the Maheshwar dam site evading Indian activists waiting there to present him with the "Maheshwar Declaration."

POLITICS-NIGERIA: Limping From Crisis To Crisis

By IPS Correspondents

Following the announcement that General Sani Abacha will be Nigeria's sole presidential candidate, the West African nation has gone from crisis to crisis as Abacha tightens his grip.

RWANDA-UN: Chilly Relations Between Kigali And The UN

By IPS Correspondents

After a week which saw UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan roundly humiliated by the Rwandan government, there seems little likelihood of a prompt rapprochement between the United Nations and the authorities here.

HEALTH: Moderately Optimistic Outlook for 21st Century

By Gustavo Capdevila

Remarkable advances have been made in global health, and the outlook for the 21st century is moderately optimistic. But the gap between the state of health of the rich and the poor is as wide as 50 years ago, and still growing, says a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report.