US: NGOs Condemn Merger of Immigration and Criminal Justice

As two Democratic senators introduced yet another version of immigration reform legislation - and two Republican senators immediately condemned it - more than 500 not-for-profit organisations called on President Barack Obama to end what they called "the merger of immigration enforcement with criminal justice."

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: An Eco-Bus for Buenos Aires

This week the city of Buenos Aires gets its first "eco-bus," which has a hybrid engine that runs on electricity and diesel, emitting 40 percent less greenhouse-effect gas, but costing four times more than a conventional bus.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: A Boost to Automotive Efficiency

Four non-governmental organizations in Mexico launched a campaign on vehicle efficiency -- with sights on achieving government regulation on the matter.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Speeding Up Environmental Permits

The Honduran Secretariat of Natural Resources and Environment announced a project to eliminate delays in issuing environmental permits.

Washington Debates PEPFAR Funding Ahead of Global Fund Meet

Global health advocates are strongly urging the Barack Obama administration to remain financially supportive of the fight against HIV/AIDS, amidst fears that economic prudence from the U.S. will reverse encouraging gains.

HAITI: Finding Butterflies Among the Rubble

Michele Garlin had massive headaches after Haiti’s 7.0 earthquake killed some 230,000 people and left 1.3 million others, like herself, homeless.

SOUTH AFRICA: Female Entrepreneurs Forge Their Own Path

At dawn, Fatima Jardine-Millard straps a massive, German-engineered tank to her back and a tray of pastries to her waist, and prepares to cater to groggy motorists immobilised at a traffic light in Johannesburg's chaotic daily commute.

Geoengineering May Represent Earth’s Best “Plan B”

Beyond Copenhagen and Cancún, a different climate debate has been brewing. The outcome of this debate, however, will affect far more than the climate, and that is precisely why it is so contentious.

PAKISTAN: Education Falling Out of Afghan Refugees’ Reach

He is only 13 and a refugee in a not-too-hospitable country, but Ahmed Jamal already knows what he wants to do for the next decade or so: follow in the footsteps of his older brother.

Zoellick Embraces “Multi-Polar World Economy”

Speaking ahead of next week's World Bank and IMF annual meetings here, World Bank President Robert Zoellick critiqued both development economics generally and the lack of transparency of his own institution.

HAITI: Empty Promises, Empty Votes

"We are not going to the election in tents. We want housing before elections." These words were chanted in Creole and held high on placards during a recent demonstration at Haiti's crumpled National Palace, where protesters decried "inhumane" conditions in the camps for displaced people and condemned the government and NGOs which they said have abandoned them.

ENVIRONMENT-BURMA: Flood Of Support Rises to Save Inle Lake

Monsoon rains might have brought welcome relief to the inhabitants of Inle Lake, but concerned Burmese groups – both government and non-governmental organisations alike – are rallying to preserve Burma’s second largest lake from drying up again, as it did from earlier this year due to prolonged drought.

IPS Gender and Development Glossary

 

U.S.: 9/11 Rescue Workers Still Waiting for Healthcare

Election-year interparty political wrangling is threatening to again sabotage congressional efforts to provide medical help for tens of thousands of firefighters and other first responders whose health was damaged by the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Centre.

Europe Offers Tax Benefits for Illegal Settlements

Organisations raising funds to benefit the Israeli army and illegal settlements in the West Bank enjoy tax-exempt status in Europe, an IPS investigation has shown.

FBI Raids Seen as Political Retribution

Recent raids by federal agents on the homes and offices of peace activists are being viewed by civil libertarians and civil society groups as further proof that the U.S. is morphing into a "surveillance state" where the right to privacy and other constitutional protections are being quietly whittled away.

Ashcroft’s Post-9/11 Roundups Spark Lawsuit

Hundreds of people who believe they were falsely detained and imprisoned by the Department of Justice in the wake of the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks are now seeking redress through the U.S. courts.

MIDEAST: Homeless Bedouin Take On the State

The pukk...pukk ...pukk of a generator wired into the engine of a small truck punctures the silence of the desert. A man folds the bottom of his long yellow galabiya robe, tucking it into his blue jeans. He takes a plank of wood from the back of the truck and carries it over to a younger man who is sawing other planks.

Trinidad Scraps Controversial Smelter

The new government of Trinidad and Tobago wasted little time. In fact, Finance Minister Winston Dookeran took less than 30 seconds of a two-hour budget presentation to announce that the People's Partnership government, headed by the country's first female prime minister, Kamla Persad Bissessar, was scrapping the $66.6 million dollar smelter plant project involving investors from China and Brazil.

U.S.: Sikhs Need Not Apply

A North Carolina man is joining a growing group of Sikhs who are looking to U.S. courts to remedy the "ignorance and intolerance" faced by practitioners of the religion, especially since the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, which they say "unleashed a torrent of discrimination".

U.S.: Librarians Lead Fight Against Banned Books

Penguins are indisputably cute. And a children's book about such inoffensive animals could hardly be expected to trigger a nationwide controversy. But then came "And Tango Makes Three" and a heated debate was fired up.