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Saturday, September 19, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Culture
POLITICS-US: Muslim Charities Negotiate a Minefield
As Muslims begin one of their most important holidays - the month of Ramadan - charitable organisations serving the American Muslim community are taking what some observers believe is a desperate last step to keep the U.S. government from shutting them down.
POLITICS: Kenya Falters in Healing Deep Ethnic Tensions
A power-sharing agreement between the opposition Orange Democratic Movement and the Party of National Unity in Kenya has failed at healing ethnic divisions in the one-time politically-troubled East African nation, according to a new report by Minority Rights Group International (MRG).
NEPAL: Dependence on Rice Adds to Food Crisis
Every year, around June, people living in the impoverished western half of this mountainous country suffer from food scarcity. This year was no different, except that the problem got aggravated by increasing dependence on rice flown in rather than locally grown food grains.POLITICS-US: Election Stirs Hopes and Fears Among Iraqis in U.S.
As the November election nears, Iraqis in the United States appear divided over their preferences for the next U.S. president, according to a series of interviews carried out by IPS.
POLITICS-US: Democrats Vow to Unite and Conquer
With Sen. Barack Obama's formal anointing as the first African American presidential nominee of a major political party in U.S. history, delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver say Obama can win in November on universal issues like the economy and health care.
POLITICS-PAKISTAN: 'Putting Musharraf on Trial is Pointless'
Pervez Musharraf resigned as Pakistan's president on Aug. 18 to escape certain impeachment. But now there are calls from various quarters to have the former military dictator prosecuted for actions committed during his nine eventful years in office.
MALAYSIA: Anwar's Win Spells Leadership Change
Despite a nasty campaign against him, opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim has won spectacularly in a landmark by-election in the family stronghold of Permatang Pauh, confirming his stature as possible prime minister with truly national appeal, cutting across race and religion.PHILIPPINES: Gov’t Urged to Resume Talks With Muslim Rebels
About 100 people have been killed or injured and more than 130,000 others displaced since hostilities resumed this month between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, said to be "frustrated" by a new hitch in a peace agreementCUBA: The End of the Long Olympics Reverie
Cuba has had a rude awakening from a three-decade dream as undisputed Olympic games leader in Latin America and the Caribbean, turning in the worst performance since Mexico City in 1968.
BRAZIL: Producing Guitars and Luthiers in the Rainforest
Cuban instrument-maker or luthier Raúl Lage came for six months, but has already spent seven and a half years in Manaus, the city in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. "The project is really fantastic," he says, explaining why he plans to renew his work contract again in September.
Q&A: A Holiday in Iran
When Michelle May, an avid traveler, returned to New York's John F. Kennedy airport after a seven-week trip to Iran this summer, she says she was closely questioned and her luggage searched after officials read on her customs card that she had been to the Islamic Republic.
MALAYSIA: Anwar Needs Huge Win in Crucial By-Election
All eyes in Malaysia and beyond are trained on this constituency of 58,000 voters in mainland Penang, the scene of a pivotal by-election on Tuesday that could determine if an opposition alliance can press ahead with its plan to take over the federal government in the coming weeks.
ENVIRONMENT: Conservation as Artists' Muse
Pulled-together socialites and not-so-sloppy artists recently gathered for an atypical art exhibition in San Diego that combines art with wilderness conservation, using contemporary art to investigate vanishing worlds and the people that inhabit them.
CHINA: Millennium Olympics?
As the curtain falls on the Beijing Olympics, the race is on to define the legacy of one of the most controversial games in history. For the host country, these are the "millennium games", which herald the dawn of the ‘Asian century’ where China reigns supreme.
SPORTS: Angst Follows Olympic Torch from Beijing to Vancouver
The 29th summer Olympics cast renewed light on China's treatment of ethnic minorities in Tibet, and as the games wind down, a similar, if less pronounced set of controversies will follow the torch to Canada when Vancouver hosts the 2010 winter games.PHILIPPINES: Hopes Narrow for Peace With Muslim Rebels
Hopes for peace in southern Philippines have grown slim as fighting escalates between government troops and Muslim separatist rebels. When August began, a different mood prevailed as negotiators on both sides reported progress on reconciliation talks on the sensitive issue of land.
POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Sleaze, Race Dominate Crucial By-Election
Sleaze and race are dominating the by-election for this constituency where opposition leader and self-proclaimed prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim is fighting to return to parliament after a decade-long absence.
LAOS: Film Reveals CIA's 'Most Secret Place on Earth'
It was known as the ‘secret war’, a covert operation waged by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) throughout the sixties and early seventies against communist guerrillas in Laos.
CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: Crafts That Steal Hearts All Over the World
It is early on a Monday morning and Margret Woermann is late for her interview with IPS. The owner and creative force behind the Heartworks shops is at a meeting discussing a project with a clothing designer.
CHINA: Agony Turns Ecstasy as Gold Medals Pile Up
As China piles up gold medals, even the host nation has been watching in bewilderment. Despite popular expectations that China’s athletes would shine on home turf, the medal bonanza has surprised usually skeptical Chinese people.PORTUGAL: Easing Food Safety Standards for Traditional Products
As the only alternative for preventing the disappearance of small-scale farming, farmers’ markets, rural slaughterhouses, taverns and traditional food products, Portugal has decided to interpret the strict European Union regulations on food safety with a domestic slant.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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