Global News Blog / IPSSaturday, May 17, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Aileen Kwa* GENEVA, May 17 (IPS) – The fate of the world’s oldest customs union, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), is hanging in the balance as a result of the economic partnership agreements that most SACU countries [...]
CHINA: Temblor – Test of Openness
May 13, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPSTuesday, May 13, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING, May 13 (IPS) – As the death toll from a devastating earthquake in south-western China continues to climb, the disaster is proving a credibility test for the government, whose mandate is derived from maintaining stability [...]
POLITICS: Gulf Seen Between Democracy in Theory and Practice
May 12, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPSMonday, May 12, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. JimLobe WASHINGTON, May12 (IPS) – The basic democratic principle that ”the will of the people should be the basis for the authority of government” is supported by overwhelming majorities throughout the world, according to a major new survey [...]
EAST TIMOR: No Solution In Sight For Army Deserters
May 4, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPS Sunday, May 04, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Setyo Budi DILI, May 5 (IPS) – While Gastao Salsinha — leader of the group of renegades accused of attempting to assassinate President Jose Ramos-Horta on Feb. 11 — has surrendered, there is little sign of amicable [...]
BOLIVIA: Violent Pro-Autonomy Election Day in Santa Cruz
May 4, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPS Sunday, May 04, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Franz Chávez SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, May 4 (IPS) – At least eight people were injured in clashes between backers of the autonomy referendum held Sunday in the eastern Bolivian province of Santa Cruz and supporters of the [...]
BANGLADESH: Amnesty for Tainted Tycoons as Economy Flags
May 2, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPS Friday, May 02, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Farid Ahmed DHAKA, May 2 (IPS) – Bangladesh’s military-backed interim government hopes that a ‘truth commission’ it plans to set up will give tainted businessmen an opportunity to revive their businesses and help put a badly flagging [...]
BOLIVIA: Santa Cruz Autonomy Statute Violates Constitution
May 2, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPS Friday, May 02, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Analysis by Franz Chávez SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, May 2 (IPS) – Voters in the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz, which is in the vanguard of an ”autonomy” movement involving six of the country’s nine regions, will decide [...]
PERU: Government Lashes Out at Human Rights Groups
May 2, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPS Friday, May 02, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. By Ángel Páez LIMA, May 2 (IPS) – The Peruvian government, with the backing of the parliamentary bloc that supports former President Alberto Fujimori, has unleashed a campaign against non-governmental organisations that defend human rights, according to [...]
IRAQ: Corruption Eats Into Food Rations
May 2, 2008 By
Global News Blog / IPS Friday, May 02, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail* FALLUJAH, May 2 (IPS) – Amidst unemployment and impoverishment, Iraqis now face a cutting down of their monthly food ration û much of it already eaten away by official corruption. Iraqis survived [...]
MIDEAST: The Anniversary Is Over, the Agony Is Not
Global News Blog / IPSMonday, May 19, 2008 All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2008. Mohammed Omer RAFAH REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza, May 19 (IPS) – Holding up an old copper key, Yousef al-Hums settles down to retell the story of his eviction from what was once his home, and now is Israel. Because [...]