May 1998

INDONESIA: New Cabinet Unveiled, but Scepticism Reigns

New Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie tried to send the right political signals when he named a new "reform" Cabinet Friday, but sceptics say prospects for genuine change remain unclear at best.

ARUBA-TOURISM: A Changing Caribbean Culture

By IPS Correspondents

In under 15 years, Aruba has become one of the more spectacular success stories in Caribbean tourism history, though decision-makers here continue to maintain a watchful eye on the social impact of prosperous, boom-like conditions.

RIGHTS-ECONOMY: East Africa Divided on Affirmative Action

By IPS Correspondents

Like many other documents produced after the 1995 UN Conference on Women and Development in Beijing, a draft treaty for the re-establishment of an East African Community (EAC) devotes some space to gender-related issues.

LABOUR-PUERTO RICO: Union Piracy in the Making?

By IPS Correspondents

When earlier this year the Puerto Rican legislature passed a law that made it legal for all public employees to organise labour unions and collectively bargain with the government, some unions were euphoric.

MIGRATION: 144 Cuban Emigres Repatriated in Less Than One Week

By Dalia Acosta

The latest batch of 61 undocumented Cuban emigrants brought the total to 144 sent home this week by the governments of the United States and the Bahamas.

AID-SUDAN: Heavy Rains Disrupt Badly Needed Food Deliveries

By IPS Correspondents

European Union aid teams warn that heavy rains are blocking emergency aid deliveries to famine-stricken rebel held Southern Sudan, less than a fortnight after the Sudanese government lifted restrictions on the shipments.

UKRAINE: Living With The Aids Crisis

By IPS Correspondents

Oksana, her husband and their one-year-old child were a happy family before her blood test last autumn. But then she had to abort her second pregnancy and was told that, at the age of 22, she has ten years at most to live -- she had tested HIV-positive.

ECONOMY-CHILE: Tariff Reductions, Antidote to the Asian Crisis

By IPS Correspondents

Chile will lead Latin America on the trade liberalisation score once more, when the large drop in the single external tariff announced by President Eduardo Frei is coupled with the search for antidotes to the "Asian 'flu."

ENVIRONMENT-KENYA: First Lake Flood in Decades Threatens Thousands

By IPS Correspondents

Each year, people who live around Africa's largest freshwater lake suffer flood-related problems but nothing like those Lake Victoria now threatens to unleash on them.

INDONESIA: Habibie Has Legal Clout, But Political Power?

By IPS Correspondents

New Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie is armed with a full legal mandate to lead the country, but he will be hard pressed to prove his legitimacy and credibility in the coming weeks.

WEST AFRICA: Guinea Guards itself Against Turbulent Neighbours

By Lansana Fofana

Guinea has stepped up security along its porous border with Liberia and Sierra Leone in an attempt to ward off any attacks by rebels and dissidents based in the two countries.

HONG KONG: Little Excitement in First Direct Polls under China

By IPS Correspondents

For an election long pictured as a test of Hong Kong's autonomy under Chinese rule, this weekend's vote for a new local legislature is stirring little excitement here.

POLITICS-NIGERIA: U.S. Coalition Calls For Oil Sanctions

By Jim Lobe

A broad coalition of African American churches, human rights and environmental groups wants President Bill Clinton to reject further contacts with the Nigerian military regime and impose unilateral oil sanctions immediately.

INDONESIA: Suharto Quits, Hands Power to Vice President

By IPS Correspondents

Indonesia's President Suharto stepped down after 32 years in power on Thursday, his once-dominant rule broken by a collapsed economy that ignited months of angry protests across this vast country.

SRI LANKA: Peace Process Bogged Down in Unwinnable War

By Feizal Samath

The longest-ever battle in Sri Lanka for control of a strategic highway entered a second year this month with combatants vowing to continue the fight to the finish amidst fresh reports of conscription and also peace talks.

POPULATION-JAMAICA: Making Home Sweet Home a Reality

By IPS Correspondents

Ever heard the saying, a person's home is his or her castle? Well with many Jamaicans feeling that the opportunity of becoming a king in their own castle will never come their way through the right channel, many are resorting to illegal ways of making this dream a reality.

POPULATION-BARBADOS: Men Learning the Nurturing Role

By IPS Correspondents

Gone are the days when fathers in this eastern Caribbean island, like many of their counterparts in other islands merely concerned themselves with financial support, disciplining of children or helping their offspring to find jobs when they were ready to enter the working world.