Brazil Aims for Most Tender Beef

In 18 months, Brazilian scientists expect to have figured out the genetic puzzle that will allow their country to raise cattle that are more resistant to disease and produce better beef.

SARS Here to Stay

So far there have been no fatal victims of atypical pneumonia in Latin America, but the first economic impacts of the disease are being felt in the region. Chilean copper prices have fallen and Brazilian chicken exports have declined.

Iraqi Children – The War Generation

Iraqi children suffer an "innate" fear, say experts. Now the psychological traumas caused by the second Gulf War are leaving them with even more scars, and a potentially long road to recovery.

Decoding the Environmental Genome

The deciphering of 200 of the 554 genes considered "environmentally sensitive" has opened the door to greater understanding of our relationship with our surroundings and the human organism's reactions to specific problems, such as pollution.

Nature Longs for Lost Woodpecker

Every living species represents a library-full of knowledge, and the extinction of a type of bird, for example, means the disappearance of biological knowledge that will never be recovered.

Hydrogen

One hears the word "hydrogen" today and thinks of the future. Research being conducted around the world explores the possibility of using this simple element to generate energy. Hydrogen is abundant and its utilization as an energy source, many say, would not be harmful to the environment like non-renewable fuels are.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Kids' Environment Manifesto

In Colombia, 3,500 children, parents and teachers took part in drafting the "Children's Manifesto for a Healthy Environment", a document that establishes actions and commitments to promote the well being of kids at home, at school and in their natural surroundings.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: The Return of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, a disease that was on the decline in Argentina throughout the 1980s and 1990s, has been on the upswing since 2000, with more than 13,000 new cases each year, reports the Argentine Health Ministry's epidemiology department.

Ecobreves – IRAQ: Assessing the War's Environmental Impact

Five teams of biologists from the non-governmental alliance BirdLife International will spend 30 days in Iraq to evaluate the effects of the war on the environment, with particular attention to the situation of the country's bird populations.

Ecobreves – PERU: Bio-Trade under Scrutiny

The Peruvian Bio-Trade Committee, created through a 1996 initiative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to promote sustainable use of biodiversity, is drawing up an assessment of the private and community enterprises that are involved in such activity.

BECHTEL AND BLOOD FOR WATER IN IRAQ

The introduction into Iraq of Bechtel, a company which has a history of aggravating water conflict, is a recipe for disaster and long-lasting water wars, writes Vandana Shiva, author, international campaigner for women and the environment, and recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993. Its 680-million-dollar contract for rebuilding Iraq includes but is not limited to \'\'municipal water systems and sewage systems, major irrigation structures, and the dredging, repair and upgrading of the Umm Qasr seaport\'\'. In this article for IPS, the author writes that if we go by the record of the company\'s water privatisation experience in Bolivia, Bechtel will try to control the water resources, not just the water works of Iraq, claiming ownership of the Tigris and Euphrates. The executives at Bechtel have thirsted for control over Iraq for over 20 years. In 1983 Donald Rumsfeld, Reagan administration \'\'special Middle East envoy\'\', met with Hussein to discuss a massive pipeline project proposed by Bechtel. Hussein eventually rejected the Bechtel proposal. Now again Donald Rumsfeld has \'\'taken care of business\'\' for Bechtel. As secretary of defence, he has overseen the war to remove the obstacle and Bechtel is rolling in.

US-CENTRAL AMERICAN TRADE PACT: NEW BANANA REPUBLICANISM

United States banana republicanism is alive and well, and coming back to Guatemala, the US\'s first banana republic, writes Raj Patel, Policy Analyst at Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy, based in Oakland, California. From May 12-15, United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick will be negotiating a new deal with Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua known as the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). In this analysis for IPS, the author writes that farmers in the region vehemently oppose the agreement. They recognize that they stand little chance of being able to compete against the massively -subsidized US agribusiness machine. The 2002 US Farm Bill apportioned USD 180 billion in new subsidies over ten years; the total GDP for all five countries last year was just under USD 140 billion. The loudest cries of protest have come from the agricultural sectors in these economies. But the luxury of dissent isn\'t one afforded to the five CAFTA countries: if they agree to CAFTA by the end of the year they will simultaneously commit themselves to the FTAA. At a time when criticism of US foreign policy is deemed \'\'giving comfort to the enemy\'\', the grievances of the least powerful are likely to be swept under the rug. Protests by farmers in Central America continue to be censored, ignored, or met with retribution.

PEACE BREAKS OUT IN SOUTH ASIA

Suddenly, after years of hostility and mistrust, peace seems to be breaking out all over the South East Asian subcontinent, writes Kunda Dixit, editor and publisher of the Nepali Times newspaper in Kathmandu. In this analysis the author writes that India and Pakistan are, once more, trying to make up, a fragile ceasefire in Sri Lanka has now held for more than a year, and in Nepal the government and Maoist rebels are trying to find a negotiated settlement. The olive branch appears to have come from Indian prime minister Vajpayee\'s effort to go down in history as a man of peace and not someone who oversaw a wasteful nuclear arms race with Pakistan and the rise of Hindu revivalists. When he dramatically announced in parliament last month that he was willing to give peace \'\'a third and last try\'\', the offer was immediately seized upon by the Pakistani side.

ATTENTION EDITORS AND CORRESPONDENTS: WE ARE DISTRIBUTING BELOW A NEW COLUMN BY VANDANA SHIVA ON IRAQ AND THE TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION BECHTEL. THE FIRST COLUMN WAS DISTRIBUTED ON 21.05.03.: WAR AS GLOBALISATION BY OTHER MEANS

Little more than two months from the start of the war against Iraq, the real victor is emerging: Bechtel, with its 680-million- dollar contract for \'\'rebuilding\'\' Iraq, writes Vandana Shiva, author, international campaigner for women and the environment, and recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993. In a period of declining economic growth and a slowing of the globalisation juggernaut, war has become a convenient excuse for enlarging corporate rule, Shiva writes in this article. In essence, Bechtel was given a license to make money in a closed-door process restricted to a handful of politically-connected US companies. The Bechtel contract and the Iraq war which created the opportunity for \'\'reconstruction\'\' profits highlight the lack of democracy, transparency, and accountability in the way economic and political decisions are made by a US administration which has become indistinguishable from US corporations. A regime in which government becomes the instrument of corporate interests is no longer a democracy.

G-8 ECONOMISTS IN RETREAT

The G-8 Summit is no longer just about economics, as seen in the agenda of the recent Evian meeting, yet the economics profession still bestrides national policy, writes Hazel Henderson, author of \'\'Beyond Globalisation\'\', \'\'Building a Win-Win World\'\', and co-developer of the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators. In this analysis for IPS, Henderson writes that economics is politics in disguise. Cost-benefit analysis or a carefully crafted economic impact statement can squelch any government reform or new social or environmental initiative, emphasising the costs of change to existing interests while down-playing the current costs of the status quo on other actors, the environment, or future generations. Economics was always based on patriarchal values, ignoring the work of women in child rearing, caring for the old, community volunteering as \'\'uneconomic\'\'. It did not predict the rise of socially-responsible investing, now at USD 2.3 trillion in the US alone. Nor did \'\'inflation-hawk\'\' economists foresee the new threat of worldwide deflation. Today, the chinks in economists\' armour are becoming more evident. As we witness the debacles in Asia, Russia, and Argentina, economist-ridden governments clearly need no longer defer to these defrocked priests.

CURE FOR CRIMINALITY: REPRESSION OR INCLUSION ?

Latin America is in the grip of a crime epidemic, writes Bernardo Kliksberg, general coordinator of the Inter-American Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics and Development and the author of \'\'Towards an Economy with a Human Face\'\' . In this article for IPS, the author writes that the most popular approach to the new wave of crime is the \'\'strong hand\'\' -- the strengthening of repressive actions. The risks of this approach are evident. In Latin America, there is an emerging tendency to criminalise poverty, which can open the way to more extreme phenomena, like the extra-judiciary execution groups. In sharp contrast to the \'\'strong hand\'\' approach is the preventive approach, which holds that youth crime should be recognised as a different phenomenon, the roots and structural causes of which must be understood and confronted in a different way. The author argues that the real solution to youth criminality lies in devoting more resources to job creation, opportunities in sports, culture, or leisure for young people, strengthening family ties, and increasing the levels of education.

EIGHT

On May 9, the European Union commemorates its \"Declaration of Interdependence\", writes Joaquin Roy, Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the European Union Centre at the University of Miami. In this article for IPS, Roy writes that on that day in 1950, the foundational document of the EU was presented, formulating a unique proposal to pool the coal and steel industries of France and any democratic West European nation. The objective was not to expand free trade but to \'\'make war unthinkable and materially impossible\'\'. Like it or not, the EU is still a French proposal that one cannot refuse and that Germany will by necessity accept. Eight French leaders and statesmen have contributed in their own ways to European integration. The eighth French statesman is President Jacques Chirac. Free from running in the next elections, Chirac has a golden opportunity to lead the way, anchor France at the centre of European integration, serve as a bridge between the \'\'new\'\' Europe and legitimate national interests, and be faithful to the legacy of Monnet and Schuman.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Promoting Renewable Energy

Cuba seeks to boost the use of renewable energy sources, hand in hand with its programs for industrial re-conversion to reduce reliance on petroleum-based electrical plants.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: 15,000 Turtles Released

More than 15,000 young turtles, of the 'arrau' or South American river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) species, were released Apr 26 along the banks of the middle Orinoco River in Venezuela as part of a preservation program of the governmental wildlife service Profauna.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Poverty Spurs Recycling

Brazil remains the leader in recycling metal containers, reclaiming 87 percent of all beer and soft drink cans used in 2002, reports the Brazilian Aluminum Association. The recyclable waste collection sector provides income for 150,000 people.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Schools Seek Environmental Certification

A hundred primary and secondary schools in Chile are applying to obtain environmental certification through a government project launched Apr 22, in honor of Earth Day.