Month: April 2009

By Zoltán Dujisin BUDAPEST, Apr 30 (IPS) – The situation of Roma in the Czech Republic has always been bad, but growing right-wing extremism has taken tensions to new levels, driving many to seek asylum in Canada.

IRIN DAKAR, 29 April 2009 (IRIN) – Nigeria has confirmed 193 polio cases in 2009 but as the latest round of vaccinations comes to a close international experts say they are gaining ground in the fight to eliminate polio in… Continue Reading →

By Zoltán Dujisin BUDAPEST, Apr 29 (IPS) – An official investigation shows that it is more and more likely that a CIA prison existed in Poland at the height of the “war on terror”.

Fareed Zakaria – NEWSWEEK From the magazine issue dated May 4, 2009 What Obama has been able to accomplish in his first 100 days is enough to make any president envious.

By Stephen Leahy* ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Apr 28 (Tierramérica) – While industrialised countries like Canada continue to emit ever-higher levels of greenhouse-effect gases, indigenous peoples around the world are working to survive and adapt to an increasingly dangerous climate. Over millennia,… Continue Reading →

By John Goetz and Britta Sandberg – Der Spiegel EUROPE’S ‘SPECIAL INTERROGATIONS’ The current debate in the US on the “special interrogation methods” sanctioned by the Bush administration could soon reach Europe. It has long been clear that the CIA… Continue Reading →

By Leonardo Padura Fuentes (*) HAVANA, Apr (IPS) It’s important to remember that before an end of the US embargo of Cuba became even remotely conceivable, certain major international developments had to take place: the profound political shift in Latin… Continue Reading →

By David Cole – The Nation This article appeared in the May 11, 2009 edition of The Nation. More than three years ago, KindHearts, a registered charity in Toledo, Ohio, had its offices raided, all its documents and records seized… Continue Reading →

Omid Memarian interviews DR. MUNIR JIWA, director of the Centre for Islamic Studies BERKELEY, California, Apr 24 (IPS) – In an Apr. 6 address to the Turkish Parliament on the final day of his European trip, President Barack Obama praised… Continue Reading →

By Karen Rothmyer – THE NATION In the days after the Maersk Alabama was attacked by Somali pirates, the papers here were full of news about the incident. Many letter writers praised the cargo ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, for volunteering… Continue Reading →

Analysis by Christi van der Westhuizen* CAPE TOWN, Apr 23 (IPS) – South Africa’s fourth democratic election will not bring an end the political turmoil that has beset the country since 2007 when former president Thabo Mbeki suspended the country’s… Continue Reading →

Kevin Peraino – NEWSWEEK From the magazine issue dated Apr 27, 2009 Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has long governed a tinderbox. His party survived armed clashes with separatist rebels in the country’s south and Houthi tribesmen in the north.… Continue Reading →

By Mario Lubetkin (*) ROME, Apr (IPS) Major global depressions, like the current one, always have a domino effect that reaches almost every economic and social activity. The media, however, tend to focus on only a few of its manifestations… Continue Reading →

By Christian Parenti – The Nation On a range of seaside mountains between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, two visions of China’s future development stand side by side. The slope of the mountains is busy with construction workers building roads and… Continue Reading →

John Vidal, Environment editor – guardian.co.uk Number of people affected by extreme weather has doubled in 30 years and is expected to reach 375 million a year by 2015 Tuesday 21 April 2009. Emergency organisations could be overwhelmed within seven… Continue Reading →

Analysis by Zoltán Dujisin BUDAPEST, Apr 21 (IPS) – As the extension of the U.S. missile defence system to Eastern Europe is halted, U.S. President Barack Obama seems inclined to exchange it for Russian cooperation in taming Iran’s nuclear ambitions.… Continue Reading →

By Jiyoung LeeAn SEOUL, Apr 20 (IPS) – Feminist activists have adopted ‘glocal’, a relatively new geolexical construct, to bridge activism from across Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Norman Girvan The Vth Summit of the Americas is now history. The Summit ended without the signing of the contentious Declaration that several countries had indicated contained unacceptable omissions and inclusions.

Analysis by Helena Cobban* WASHINGTON, Apr 17 (IPS) – Three months after the end of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and nearly four months after former prime minister Ehud Olmert started it, the standoff between Israel and Hamas is… Continue Reading →

Reprieve Reprieve welcomes the release of CIA memos sanctioning a system of professionalised torture and calls for full transparency on crimes committed during the ‘War on Terror’ Reprieve welcomes the release of documents detailing how CIA lawyers sanctioned the systematic… Continue Reading →