OPED: Mayor a Demonized Hate Figure of British Conservative Press

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the “East End,” is the historic core of England, the home of the Tower of London,  and now it is a Gateway borough to the Olympics. It is also the site of St Mary Le Bow church - real Cockneys should be born within the sound of its bells-  but nowadays, there are probably more mosques than churches, which helps explain why Lutfur Rahman, the first directly Mayor of the borough, is also the country’s first, and so far only, Muslim to hold the office.

Mexican Communities Fight Mini-Dams

Small-scale hydroelectric dams with a capacity of under 30 MW are seen by the authorities in Mexico as an important alternative for generating energy. But local communities reject them on the argument that they would cause social, economic and environmental damages.

Using Cameroon’s Community Grapevine to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission

For nearly two years, not a single child with HIV has been born at the public hospital in the Cité-Verte district of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. Dr Emilien Fouda, the hospital’s director, says this proud record is the result of combined effort by his staff and community support groups.

Salvadoran Civil Society Groups Opposed to Carbon Credit Plan

Civil society organisations are asking the World Bank to reject the Salvadoran government’s proposal to join a programme for reducing greenhouse gas emissions linked to deforestation, on the argument that it will actually harm the environment.

UZBEKISTAN: Tashkent’s Sticky Fingers Spoiling Foreign Investors’ Appetites

(EurasiaNet) - The recent travails in Uzbekistan of Russian cellphone giant MTS – hit by employee arrests and a three-month suspension – highlight the perils for foreigners of doing business in Central Asia’s most populous country.

Somalia Adopts Provisional Constitution by Overwhelming Vote

Somalia adopted a  Provisional Constitution Wednesday setting a date for the political transition of the country.

Teachers’ Strike Does Not Mean Political Liberation for Swaziland

Swazis should not see the ongoing nationwide one-month teachers’ strike as a movement capable of overthrowing the political regime here, despite the fact that civil servants and nurses have joined the action, according to political analyst Dr. Sikelela Dlamini.

Banksters Hijack Microfinance

For several decades, microcredit presented itself as a magical and benign financial tool for the poorest people in the world, who were otherwise completely excluded from conventional commercial banking services, to secure easy access to loans in order to set up their own businesses and live a dignified life.

Children Injured in Police Crackdown on Chile’s Mapuche Indians

“We have been trampled by this racist Chilean state, which oppresses us. The police force represses all Mapuche people…they shoot at us in cold blood.”

Bolivia’s Indigenous Women Seek the Political Kingdom

A growing number of Bolivia’s indigenous women are participating in politics, ready to break the barriers of gender and ethnicity.

Papua New Guinea Casts Wide Net Against Malaria

In Papua New Guinea, a Pacific Island nation located south of the equator, 90 percent of the population is at risk of malaria and 1.9 million cases are reported every year.  But, according to a recent medical study, a programme to distribute long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to every district in the country has dramatically reduced malaria infections.

Cultivating Toxic Crops

At a time when spiraling input costs and perennial shortages of irrigation water are breaking countless farmers’ backs, a small village community on the outskirts of Lahore appears to have been spared.

Syria Bolsters Troops in Battle for Aleppo

(Al Jazeera) - Activists say thousands of troops have been sent to Syria’s second city, Aleppo, as clashes were reported in the city for the sixth consecutive day.

Sea Turtles Trapped by Sudden Drop in Temperature in Uruguay

A record number of sea turtles are turning up on Uruguayan beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and Río de la Plata this Southern hemisphere winter, suffering from cold shock and hypothermia.

Super Cereal For Mali’s Malnourished Children

Millet has become the basic ingredient for an enriched flour at the heart of an effort to establish a local, sustainable response to malnutrition in Mali.

Child Rape on the Rise in Sri Lanka

A spate of child rape cases in Sri Lanka has angered child rights activists and moved the government to consider tightening the relevant laws and making the offence punishable with the death sentence.

U.S.: Police Treat Condoms as Contraband, Rights Group Says

How many condoms is it legal to carry around in your pocket? That’s the question sex workers in the United States are asking after being routinely targeted by police for having prophylactics – not in itself a crime.

IPS LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE – New Look, Structure and Focus

Inter Press Service (IPS), the international non-profit news agency headquartered in Rome, officially launches its new website this Monday, Jul. 23.

KYRGYZSTAN: Rape Trial Spotlights Women’s Plight

Allegations that a member of Kyrgyzstan’s KGB-successor agency organised the brutal rape of his wife have outraged women’s rights activists in Bishkek. But what rights defenders call an ordinary crime is having an extraordinary effect because of the victim’s response: she pressed charges.

Caribbean Moves to Protect Rights of HIV-Positive Workers

Thirty years into the HIV and AIDS epidemic, Caribbean countries are slowly putting necessary legislation in place to ensure the rights of workers despite their HIV/AIDS and chronic disease status.

Prison Study Programme Shuns Argentine “Dirty War” Criminals

A group of prisoners convicted of crimes against humanity committed during Argentina’s last dictatorship (1976-1983) have put university and prison authorities in a difficult position by asking to enrol in an academic study programme for inmates financed by the state.