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Wednesday, January 07, 2009   12:29 GMT    
Latest News
CULTURE-NIGERIA: Dance Draws Young Into Museum
By Amina Ahmed
KANO, Nigeria, Jan 7 (IPS) - On any weekday evening in the heart of Kano’s Old City, the sounds of a koroso dance troupe can be heard from within the maroon walls of the Gidan Makama Museum.
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CHINA/US: Wealth of Nations Redefined
Analysis by Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING , Jan 7 (IPS) - Chinese and United States leaders have hailed the 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries as one of the most defining bilateral ties of the 20th century, but Beijing and Washington are celebrating the anniversary in subdued mood.
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ECONOMY-CHILE: Workers Nervous, Despite Anti-Crisis Plan
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO, Jan 6 (IPS) - The four billion dollar economic stimulus plan announced by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has majority support, but trade unions are still worried about mass layoffs.
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MIDEAST: Obama Silence 'Ends Hopes From U.S.'
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO, Jan 6 (IPS) - With the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip now in its second week -- and as the Palestinian death toll approaches 600 -- U.S. president-elect Barack Obama has continued to remain silent. Obama's reticence, say Egyptian commentators, indicates that he will be no more even-handed on the issue of Palestine than preceding U.S. administrations.
MORE >>

MIDEAST: Israel Attacks Schools, Ambulances
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH, Jan 6 (IPS) - At least 42 Palestinians sheltering in a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza city were killed Tuesday afternoon after two Israeli tank shells exploded outside the school.
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ECONOMY-HONDURAS: Stormy Outlook for 2009
By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA, Jan 6 (IPS) - The economic outlook for Honduras this year is far from bright. The government has failed in its attempts to sign a new letter of intent with the IMF, and growth is expected to slow down due to the global financial crisis, according to analysts consulted by IPS.
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TRINIDAD: Where Are the Missing People?
By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Jan 6 (IPS) - When 15-year-old Devika Lalman left her home a few days before Christmas to buy school supplies for the new academic term, her parents had taken all the necessary precautions to ensure her safety.
MORE >>

RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: 'Young and Poor' at Risk from Trigger-Happy Police
By Sebastián Lacunza
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 6 (IPS) - In the 25 years since the end of one of the bloodiest dictatorships in the history of Latin America, Argentina has racked up a total of 2,557 deaths from abuses in police stations and prisons, summary executions or trigger-happy police, according to an organisation for families of the victims.
MORE >>

PERU: Foreign Drug Mules Can Serve Sentences at Home
By Ángel Páez
LIMA, Jan 6 (IPS) - Two couriers from the Netherlands caught trying to smuggle 3.2 kilos of cocaine out of Peru may now be able to serve out their sentences in their own country.
MORE >>

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: No Takers for Funds for Water Projects
By Moses Magadza
WINDHOEK, Jan 6 (IPS) - Nearly nine million dollars of donor aid intended to support transboundary water management projects in southern Africa was diverted elsewhere after governments in the region failed to submit proposals for funding.
MORE >>

Global Affairs
CHINA/US: Wealth of Nations Redefined
Analysis by Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - Chinese and United States leaders have hailed the 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries as one of the most defining bilateral ties of the 20th century, but Beijing and Washington are celebrating the anniversary in subdued mood.
MORE >>
 		 
RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Awaiting Gitmo's Closure
By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI - "I’ve thought a lot about what my first meeting with my father will be like after all these years. I don’t know how I’d react. I don’t even know what to expect,'' said Muneeza Paracha, 26, daughter of Saifullah Paracha, incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay since September 2004.
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MIDEAST: U.N. Diplomats Frustrated at Gaza Impasse
By Haider Rizvi
UNITED NATIONS - Disappointed with the Security Council's inaction regarding the worsening situation in Gaza, diplomats from numerous nations of the global South are close to taking the case of Israeli aggression to the U.N. General Assembly.
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U.S.: Networks' Int'l News Coverage at Record Low in 2008
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - Despite two wars involving more than 200,000 U.S. troops and a global economic crisis, foreign-related news coverage by the three major U.S. television networks fell to a record low during 2008, according to the latest annual review of network news coverage by the authoritative Tyndall Report.
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MIDEAST: U.S. Branch of Amnesty Calls on Rice to Drop "Lopsided" Stance
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - The U.S. section of Amnesty International sent an "urgent" letter Friday to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, calling on her to end what it called Washington's "lopsided response" to the ongoing Israeli air strikes on Gaza that have reportedly killed more than 400 Palestinians, including scores of unarmed civilians.
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MDGs
DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: No Takers for Funds for Water Projects
By Moses Magadza
WINDHOEK - Nearly nine million dollars of donor aid intended to support transboundary water management projects in southern Africa was diverted elsewhere after governments in the region failed to submit proposals for funding.
MORE >>
 		 
PERU: Open-Pit Mine Continues to Swallow City
By Milagros Salazar
CERRO DE PASCO, Peru - An immense open-pit mine located 4380 metres above sea level is swallowing up the centre of the city of Cerro de Pasco in Peru’s central highlands, while the damages, in the form of toxic waste, spread to nearby villages.
MORE >>
 		 
HEALTH-MALAYSIA: Divided Over HIV Testing
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR - A raging debate over mandatory HIV screening has exposed fear and ignorance within government, despite years of awareness campaigns to eradicate prejudice against people living with the virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
MORE >>
 		 
ARGENTINA: Ecoclubs Draw Youngsters into Environmental Leadership
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES - Ecoclubs, an international social movement of teenagers and young people who work with their communities to enhance quality of life through environmentally-related initiatives, while developing their own potential for leadership and action, were born in Argentina 16 years ago and have since expanded to 30 countries in Latin America, Europe and Africa.
MORE >>
 		 
HEALTH-AFRICA: Maximising the Benefits of AIDS Funding
By Rosemary Okello*
NAIROBI - Significant new investments in the fight against the AIDS pandemic could have positive impacts on broader health systems in Africa if governments handle them right.
MORE >>
 		 
Environment
DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: No Takers for Funds for Water Projects
By Moses Magadza
WINDHOEK - Nearly nine million dollars of donor aid intended to support transboundary water management projects in southern Africa was diverted elsewhere after governments in the region failed to submit proposals for funding.
MORE >>
 		 
PERU: Open-Pit Mine Continues to Swallow City
By Milagros Salazar
CERRO DE PASCO, Peru - An immense open-pit mine located 4380 metres above sea level is swallowing up the centre of the city of Cerro de Pasco in Peru’s central highlands, while the damages, in the form of toxic waste, spread to nearby villages.
MORE >>
 		 
ARGENTINA: Ecoclubs Draw Youngsters into Environmental Leadership
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES - Ecoclubs, an international social movement of teenagers and young people who work with their communities to enhance quality of life through environmentally-related initiatives, while developing their own potential for leadership and action, were born in Argentina 16 years ago and have since expanded to 30 countries in Latin America, Europe and Africa.
MORE >>
 		 
ENVIRONMENT-CAMBODIA: Opting For The Big Dam
By Andrew Nette
PHNOM PENH - It has been a long held plan of Cambodia’s government -- a hydropower dam on the mainstream of the Mekong River in the central part of the country.
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ENVIRONMENT: Climate Change Forcing Penguins North?
By Adrianne Appel*
BOSTON - Warm ocean currents may have confused some 2,500 penguins from Argentina's Patagonia region that washed up -- dead and alive -- on Brazil's northern coast.
MORE >>
 		 
Human Rights
MIDEAST: Obama Silence 'Ends Hopes From U.S.'
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO - With the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip now in its second week -- and as the Palestinian death toll approaches 600 -- U.S. president-elect Barack Obama has continued to remain silent. Obama's reticence, say Egyptian commentators, indicates that he will be no more even-handed on the issue of Palestine than preceding U.S. administrations.
MORE >>
 		 
MIDEAST: Israel Attacks Schools, Ambulances
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH - At least 42 Palestinians sheltering in a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza city were killed Tuesday afternoon after two Israeli tank shells exploded outside the school.
MORE >>
 		 
TRINIDAD: Where Are the Missing People?
By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN - When 15-year-old Devika Lalman left her home a few days before Christmas to buy school supplies for the new academic term, her parents had taken all the necessary precautions to ensure her safety.
MORE >>
 		 
RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: 'Young and Poor' at Risk from Trigger-Happy Police
By Sebastián Lacunza
BUENOS AIRES - In the 25 years since the end of one of the bloodiest dictatorships in the history of Latin America, Argentina has racked up a total of 2,557 deaths from abuses in police stations and prisons, summary executions or trigger-happy police, according to an organisation for families of the victims.
MORE >>
 		 
PERU: Foreign Drug Mules Can Serve Sentences at Home
By Ángel Páez
LIMA - Two couriers from the Netherlands caught trying to smuggle 3.2 kilos of cocaine out of Peru may now be able to serve out their sentences in their own country.
MORE >>
 		 
Health
PERU: Open-Pit Mine Continues to Swallow City
By Milagros Salazar
CERRO DE PASCO, Peru - An immense open-pit mine located 4380 metres above sea level is swallowing up the centre of the city of Cerro de Pasco in Peru’s central highlands, while the damages, in the form of toxic waste, spread to nearby villages.
MORE >>
 		 
HEALTH-MALAYSIA: Divided Over HIV Testing
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR - A raging debate over mandatory HIV screening has exposed fear and ignorance within government, despite years of awareness campaigns to eradicate prejudice against people living with the virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
MORE >>
 		 
HEALTH-AFRICA: Maximising the Benefits of AIDS Funding
By Rosemary Okello*
NAIROBI - Significant new investments in the fight against the AIDS pandemic could have positive impacts on broader health systems in Africa if governments handle them right.
MORE >>
 		 
AIDS-LATIN AMERICA: Neglect, Ageism Put Older People at Risk
By Marcela Valente*
BUENOS AIRES - AIDS prevention campaigns tend to target the young, who make up a large percentage of those infected with the disease. But experts in Latin America say that people in older age ranges with an increasingly active sex life are being neglected, and are at risk because of lack of information.
MORE >>
 		 
MEXICO: Manganese Mines Harm Children's Mental Development
By Diego Cevallos*
MEXICO CITY - The Mexican mining company Autlán maintains that there is no evidence that manganese causes any harm to human health. But in the central state of Hidalgo, where the metal is mined, adults shake as if they suffered from Parkinson's disease and children's mental development lags behind normal.
MORE >>
 		 
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