March 2004

POLITICS: Gap Grows Between U.S., World Public Opinion

Mistrust of the United States, particularly U.S. President George W. Bush, has grown steadily in western Europe over the past 10 months while anti-American sentiment in the Arab world remains pervasive, says a major new public-opinion poll of nine countries.

HUMAN RIGHTS: Cuba-US Tensions Heat Up Early in UN Sessions

By Gustavo Capdevila

Cuba denounced the inclusion of an alleged terrorist in the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, stirring up the existing tensions just as its annual sessions are getting under way this week in Geneva.

POLITICS: U.N. Loses Face Over Hurried Vote on Spain Bombing

By Thalif Deen

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stopped short of criticising the Spanish government Tuesday for misleading the Security Council into believing that last week's train bombings in Madrid were the handiwork of ETA separatists..

BRAZIL: Route to Security Council Runs Through Haiti – Analysts

By Mario Osava

Sending Brazilian troops to take part in the U.N. stabilisation force in Haiti will pose military and political risks, but that is a price that must be paid by Brasilia if it aspires to a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, said analysts interviewed by IPS.

FINANCE: EU Likely to Act Against Microsoft

By IPS Correspondents

A European Union ruling against the computer giant Microsoft looks likely, following an approval by the bloc's member states.

POLITICS: Fear of More Attacks Sweeps Europe

By Julio Godoy

European governments have launched a new anti- terrorism campaign as evidence emerged that radical Muslims were behind the March 11 bombings in Madrid.

HAITI: Class Hatred and the Hijacking of Aristide

By IPS Correspondents

Some observers have described the Feb. 29 putsch against Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide as a Bush administration plot while many others label Washington's policy as an indirect one, such as "malign" or "wilful" neglect or "estranged engagement".

HAITI: Class Hatred and the Hijacking of Aristide

By IPS Correspondents

Some observers have described the Feb. 29 putsch against Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide as a Bush administration plot while many others label Washington's policy as an indirect one, such as "malign" or "wilful" neglect or "estranged engagement".

ENVIRONMENT: Nuclear Threat Worries Greens

By IPS Correspondents

Environment groups are calling on Swedish authorities to make nuclear power plants safer against terrorist attacks.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Women Activists Brave the Dangers

By Constanza Vieira

Women activists in Colombia's ''oil capital'', Barrancabermeja, provide a lesson in bravery, defying pressure and threats from the right-wing paramilitaries to continue their social activism.

CHILE: Environmental Law Old After a Decade

By IPS Correspondents

The environmental law that has been in effect in Chile since March 1994 aged very quickly, say activists, and there is near unanimity of opinion that the legislation should be reformed.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Water Management Crucial To Growth

By IPS Correspondents

Water management is set to play a crucial role in the development of travel and tourism industry in Africa in the coming years, according to experts.

HEALTH-ZAMBIA: Anger at Move to Declare Schools Condom-Free Zones

By IPS Correspondents

One step forward, three steps backwards: that's how various AIDS activists, parents and teachers in Zambia are describing government's decision to ban the distribution of condoms in schools on the grounds that it promotes promiscuity.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Media Faces Threats amid New Regulation

By IPS Correspondents

Politicians across the small island nations of the Pacific have begun to target local media organisations for criticism and new regulation, signs that press freedom gained in recent years could be curtailed.

DEVELOPMENT-EAST AFRICA: The Fate of the Nile in the Spotlight

By IPS Correspondents

The delicate topic of sharing the Nile's water is coming under discussion this week in Kenya, at a meeting to find ways of alleviating poverty in countries that lie within the Nile basin.

HEALTH: Silent Disease Finds a Voice

By Sanjay Suri

Filariasis has been the forgotten condition in what has emerged as a kind of snobbery among diseases, with global attention focused on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. But new drugs offer new hope to a billion people at risk of getting filariasis.

THAILAND: Fear of Bird Flu Abates, Experts Advise Caution

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

Along the street corners of the sprawling Thai capital, residents can once again take in the smoky fragrance of chicken being grilled in homespun braziers.

INDIA: Politicians Flock to Film Stars to Bag Votes

By Ranjit Devraj

As campaigning picks up for the April/May elections, political parties are busy competing to get popular stars from India's hugely popular film industry, known as Bollywood, to root for them.

VENEZUELA: Supreme Court Gives Recall Referendum a Green Light

By Humberto Márquez

The electoral chamber of Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered election authorities Monday to take steps that would, in the end, lead to a recall referendum on President Hugo Chávez.

TRADE-U.S.: Senators Want Mideast Commerce Tied to Reform

By Emad Mekay

A group of U.S. senators is trying to forge changes in the Middle East and South East Asia via a new trade programme that would open those markets to U.S. goods and agricultural products, while rewarding nations that support the Bush administration's "war on terrorism".