 
Archives
|
|
Nigeria: U.S. concerned about Yar'Auda's returnby Charles Fromm and Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) —U.S. officials expressed concern recently that the return of Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, after a three-month stay in a Saudi hospital, could destabilize the oil-rich West African country.
While his spokesman said that Yar'Adua's vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, will continue for now to serve as acting president, a position to which he was elected by the National Assembly two weeks ago, officials here said the return could result in a significant inc... MORE >>
|
|
|
Development: EU countries set to break aid pledgesby David Cronin
BRUSSELS (IPS/GIN) —Pledges made by the European Union (EU) on increasing aid to poor countries will be broken this year, according to new data.
In 2005, the 15 governments that comprised the EU before its eastward expansion the previous year undertook to allocate at least 0.51 percent of their gross national income to development aid by 2010. But estimates published Feb. 17 project that the average aid allocation given by these countries this year will be just 0.48 percent of in... MORE >>
|
|
|
Chile: Another chance for reparations for Pinochet victimsby Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO (IPS/GIN) —Over the next six months, a new commission will receive testimony from victims of the 1973-1990 dictatorship of the late General Augusto Pinochet, who have not qualified for reparations since Chile's return to democracy.
A bill signed into law in December by President Michelle Bachelet that created the National Institute for Human Rights also established an advisory commission to certify victims of forced disappearance, politically-motivated murder or imprison... MORE >>
|
|
|
Mideast: Corrupt Arab regimes - Who is to blame?by Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH — The Mideast continues to be plagued by autocratic Arab regimes where human rights, democracy and freedom of speech are a pipe dream for the average citizen. But who is to blame and what can be done to amend this situation?
While progress towards democratization in previously autocratic regions — including Africa, Latin America and parts of the Muslim world - is implemented incrementally, the Arab world has still to see a seismic change in this direction.
T... MORE >>
|
|
|
Q&A: "Hamas accepts existence of Israel within 1967 borders"by Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH (IPS/GIN) — Palestinian politics are at an impasse. The four-year term of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) ended on Jan. 25 with no new elections planned. Presidential elections, meant to be held last year, were also postponed indefinitely.
IPS spoke with Dr. Mahmoud Ramahi, a neurosurgeon and secretary-general of the PLC, on the political deadlock.
Q: You spent three years in an Israel jail and were released last year. What were you held for?
A: ... MORE >>
|
|
|
Mideast: Some observers see double standard in Haiti aidby Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS/GIN) — A week after the devastating Haiti earthquake, Israelis watched proudly as their TV channels showed the New York Fire Department rushing two young boys, extricated from the rubble of a building, to a field hospital set up by the Israeli army in Port-au-Prince.
On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers from the special Home Front Command emergency unit rescued two young Haitian girls. They too are being treated in the Israeli field hospital.
A news report on the Un... MORE >>
|
|
|
Haiti: A night on the Rue Berne - Living in the streetsby Garry Pierre-Pierre*
PORT-AU-PRINCE (IPS/GIN) - The sun had barely set and already, the residents of Rue Berne were making their beds. Their improvised bedrooms were arranged neatly on one side of the street, away from shaky walls and fragile home frames that remain so dangerous.
The men erected barricades, leaving enough room for a vehicle to navigate the tiny canyon. Soon they shared whatever they had - pasta, or rice with smoked herring. A few hours later, mothers tucked their children in near their bel... MORE >>
|
|
|
Climate change: loss of bird species linked to weather changeby Ido Liven
TEL AVIV (IPS/GIN) — Numerous studies have been tracking the effects of climate change on the survival, migration, and reproduction of different bird species.
With the rising of spring temperatures, the breeding of the Ficedula flycatcher has been delayed across Europe. The same reason was attributed to earlier breeding by tree swallows in North America and an opposite tendency in Antarctic sea birds.
Ornithologists say that climate change is having a profound effect on bi... MORE >>
|
|
|
Mideast: New Year reopens wounds of the pastby Eva Bartlett
GAZA CITY (IPS/GIN) —For many survivors of the last Israeli war on Gaza, time has not healed their wounds, physical, or emotional.
Amal Samouni, 10, still suffers vision problems in her right eye. The shrapnel remaining in her head causes her constant pain and she is unable to concentrate at school.
Her concentration is broken, also, by memories of her martyred father and younger brother, both of whom she saw shot dead at close range by Israeli soldiers during the 2008-200... MORE >>
|
|
|
Climage changes: China reels under a barrage of criticismby Antoaneta Bezlova/Terra Viva
BEIJING — China is not happy, or at least that is how one of the Chinese state-sanctioned newspapers summed up Beijing's feelings about the week spent negotiating on climate change in the Danish capital.
After a very public showdown with the United States in the early days of the global climate talks, China found itself attacked by smaller developing countries for benefiting more than anyone else from carbon credit funding. And as the countdown to the end of negotiations began, B... MORE >>
|
| Next >>
|
|
