TODAY'S TOP STORIES
YESTERDAY
PAST WEEK
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MIDEAST: MEDIA BANNED FROM GAZA AS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS GROWS
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Israel was again preventing journalists from entering Gaza to report firsthand on the escalating crisis there as its military operation entered its fifth day.
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MIDEAST: ANGER TARGETS EGYPT IN WAKE OF ISRAELI MOVE ON GAZA
CAIRO, Egypt, Dec. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- As the Palestinian death toll approached 400, much of the popular anger throughout the Arab world has been directed at Egypt -- seen by many as complicit in the Israeli campaign.
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POLITICS-BANGLADESH: EX-PRIME MINISTER WINS SECOND CHANCE
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jan. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- With her stunning landslide victory, Prime Minister-elect Sheikh Hasina Wajed has a second opportunity to put the ghosts of the past to rest and release Bangladesh from a cycle of crises that has plagued it since its violent birth in 1971.
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LABOR-SRI LANKA: ANALYSTS SEE GLOOMY PROSPECTS FOR NEW YEAR
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan. 2, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- If the global financial crisis slams the brakes on worker remittances from the Middle East, Sri Lanka’s top foreign exchange earner, it could severely intensify this country’s economic woes, analysts say.
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ENVIRONMENT-CAMBODIA: BIG DAM ACROSS MEKONG BACK IN PLANS
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Jan. 1, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Phnom Penh is moving ahead with a dam that would block the entire width of the Mekong River at Sambor, Kratie province, in central Cambodia.
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RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: IMMIGRATION FACILITY OPENS ON REMOTE ISLAND
MELBOURNE, Australia, Dec. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Refugee rights organizations have criticized the Rudd government’s decision to hold suspected asylum seekers in a controversial detention center on an isolated Australian island in the Indian Ocean.
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CUBA: GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY ARRIVES AMID DIFFICULT TIMES
HAVANA, Dec. 31 (IPS/GIN) -- The Cuban Revolution's 50th anniversary on Jan. 1 finds the country facing the challenge of sorting out the economy and improving living conditions.
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ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE POSSIBLY SENDING PENGUINS NORTH
BOSTON, Dec. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN ) -- Warm ocean currents may have confused about 2,500 penguins from Argentina's Patagonia region that washed up -- dead and alive -- on Brazil's northern coast, animal welfare experts say.
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ANALYSIS-MIDEAST: VIOLENCE IN GAZA BLOWS PEACE PROCESS TO BITS
CAIRO, Egypt, Dec. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Formally, the Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" appears set to continue, in line with the last U.N. Security Council resolution. But the chances of finding a resolution are virtually nil in light of Israel's new campaign against the Gaza Strip.
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ANALYSIS-ECONOMY: CRISIS HAS ASIA LOOKING AWAY FROM WEST
SINGAPORE, Dec. 31, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The year 2008 may well be a watershed one in which the global financial crisis, precipitated by the collapse of Western economic models, “decolonized” Asians’ minds, observers say.
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PERU: COFFEE GROWERS BRING SCHOOL TO THEIR CHILDREN
JUNÍN, Peru, Dec. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Coffee growers in the Selva Alta are setting up schools near their farms so that their children don't abandon their studies.
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ANALYSIS-INDIA : NEW DELHI SEEKS BEIJING’S SUPPORT ON PAKISTAN
NEW DELHI, India, Dec. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- As the Pakistani government digs in its heels against India’s demands for action on the suspected masterminds of the November terrorist strikes in Mumbai, India is looking to China rather than the United States for support.
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CUBA-LATAM: SUCCESSFUL DIPLOMACY ENDING CUBA’S PARIAH STATUS
HAVANA, Dec. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - Cuba’s reintegration into Latin America means that the government of Raúl Castro will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Revolution in a wholly different regional context than the one that prevailed in the 1960s, when this Caribbean island nation was marginalized by practically all of Latin America.
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RIGHTS-CHILE: SOME DETAINED-DISAPPEARED IN DIRTY WAR ARE FOUND
SANTIAGO, Dec. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - A debate is brewing here over whether to reopen the truth commissions that documented the victims of the 1973-1990 dictatorship, after four cases of false disappearances were confirmed.
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MIDEAST: U.S. JEWISH GROUPS SPLIT OVER GAZA BOMBINGS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 2008 (IPS/GIN) - With a fresh outbreak of violence between Israel and Palestine, a battle of a different sort is being waged in Washington between various interests in Mid-East policy circles.
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VENEZUELA: WORLD’S CHEAPEST GASOLINE COSTS A LOT, EXPERTS SAY
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The world’s most inexpensive gasoline is sold in Venezuela, through a longstanding subsidy program that benefits car owners while depriving the oil industry of a large source of funds for reinvesting.
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MIDEAST: ISRAELI ATTACK TANGLES OBAMA’S PLANS, ANALYSTS SAY
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Israel’s massive three-day aerial assault on Gaza is likely to complicate President-elect Barack Obama’s hopes of aggressively pursuing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, and risk inflicting greater damage to Washington’s standing in the Arab world, according to most analysts here.
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RIGHTS-PERU: ADVOCATES OF MILITARY IMPUNITY RETAIN JUDGESHIPS
LIMA, Peru, Dec. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Members of the military and one police officer who sat on military tribunals have been reappointed as military judges by Peruvian President Alan García.
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ANALYSIS-POLITICS: U.N. COUNCIL MILDLY REBUKES ISRAEL ON GAZA
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- After an emergency closed-door session Sunday night, the 15-member Security Council issued a politically bland statement expressing "serious concern" over the devastating Israeli air strikes on Gaza and calling for an "immediate halt to all violence."
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SOUTH AFRICA: COMMUNITY GARDENS FEED SENSE OF FOOD SECURITY
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Dec. 29, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- With help from government programs, community gardens are putting food on tables and money in pockets.
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BANGLADESH: ELECTION DAY NEARS WITH CLEANER VOTER ROLLS
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Bangladesh goes to polls on Monday after a military-backed interim government spent two years trying to cleanse the country's electoral system of fraud and get rid of rampant corruption in public life.
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MIDEAST: CARNAGE IN GAZA SETS WEST BANK AFLAME
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Anger, shock and revulsion at the continuing carnage in Gaza has ignited spontaneous demonstrations and riots across the West Bank and Israel.
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MIDEAST: ISRAEL LAUNCHES MASSIVE AIR ATTACKS ON GAZA
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec. 28, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- At least 300 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 wounded as Israel continues to carry out its severest military attack on Gaza since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
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ZIMBABWE: HOLY WATER BLESSES ITS PURVEYORS WITH PROFITS
HARARE, Dec. 27, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The collapse of formal economic structures has pushed many Zimbabweans to find new ways of making money, and one of those ways mixes faith with water.
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PAKISTAN: SUSPECTED TERROR GROUP WILL CHALLENGE U.N. BAN
KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec. 26, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), the Pakistani organization on which the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions two weeks ago said it will challenge the ban at the International Court of Justice.
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Q&A: ISRAEL BARS CREDIBLE OBSERVERS FROM GAZA, U.N. ENVOY SAYS
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 26, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay last week lambasted the Israeli government for expelling a human rights expert, Richard Falk, who was on a U.N.-mandated inquiry into the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
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CLIMATE CHANGE: ARCTIC PEOPLE CLAIM RIGHT TO STAY COLD
QUEBEC CITY, Quebec, Dec. 24, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- "Terrifying" is the word that best describes the situation, Canadian indigenous leader Mary Simon said when asked about the effects of global warming on the Inuit people.
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ENVIRONMENT: WORLD READY TO WELCOME U.S. BACK INTO THE FOLD
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 24, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- After nearly a decade of defiance by Washington toward international efforts to protect the environment, there are high hopes the United States will soon play a leading role in addressing what U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called "the defining challenge of our era."
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KENYA: CRITICS FEAR EROSION OF PRESS FREEDOM IF LAW ENACTED
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec. 24, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Dark clouds are forming against freedom of expression in Kenya, following parliament’s recent passing of a controversial bill.
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ENVIRONMENT-AUSTRALIA: E-WASTE CRISIS BLOOMING, GROUP WARNS
MELBOURNE, Australia, Dec. 24, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A new report is calling on the government to ensure that manufacturers collect and recycle unwanted computers and mobile phones to protect environmental and human health.
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PERU: SHINING PATH LEADER SAYS REBELS AT WAR FOR PEACE TALKS
LIMA, Peru, Dec. 24, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A column of Maoist Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrillas operating in the northeastern coca-growing valleys of the Upper Huallaga River in Peru appears to be carrying out attacks in pursuit of a peace agreement.
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ANGOLA: SMALL POLITICAL PARTIES ON THEIR WAY TO EXTINCTION
LISBON, Portugal, Dec. 23, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Angola’s vast, confusing party landscape is about to undergo a major transformation: As of January, 22 parties and coalitions will simply vanish from the political map.
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PERU: PRISON MASSACRE IN ’86 TO RETURN TO INTER-AMERICAN COURT
LIMA, Peru, Dec. 23, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A ruling by Peru’s Constitutional Court that makes it impossible to bring the case of a 1986 massacre of 118 prisoners to trial will be taken to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
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CHILE-RIGHTS: NATION FINDING A PLACE FOR MEMORY OF DARK TIMES
SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec. 23, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Socialist President Michelle Bachelet recently laid the cornerstone for the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, thus coming a step closer to carrying out one of the projects she has put a priority on.
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RIGHTS-U.S.: CALL GROWS FOR INQUIRY INTO DETAINEES’ TREATMENT
NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Many of the world's most-respected civil libertarians are calling for an independent commission to investigate the George W. Bush Administration’s alleged abuse of detainees captured in the “global war on terror.”
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AFRICA
Jan 2
HEALTH-AFRICA: STUDY URGES MAXIMIZING BENEFITS OF AIDS FUNDING
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Dec 22
AIDS-SOUTH AFRICA: RIGHTS VS. PUBLIC HEALTH RAISES BIG QUESTIONS
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Dec 19
DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: NATIONS IN SLOW TRANSITION ON SANITATION
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ASIA
Dec 31
BURMA: JUNTA LOCKING UP OPPOSITION IN ADVANCE OF ELECTIONS
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Dec 30
BURMA: NEW THAI POLICIES NOT JUNTA-FRIENDLY
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Dec 30
ENVIRONMENT-AUSTRALIA: EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGET ‘WEAK’
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Dec 29
THAILAND: LAW TAKES PERCEIVED INSULTS TO ROYALTY SERIOUSLY
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Dec 29
LABOR-PHILIPPINES: MIGRANT WORKERS FORESEE A BLEAK NEW YEAR
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Dec 21
HEALTH-ASIA: SPORADIC BIRD FLU OUTBREAKS KEEP OFFICIALS ON EDGE
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MIDDLE EAST
Dec 31
CONFLICT: ISRAEL DEMANDS ONE-SIDED CEASEFIRE
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Dec 30
MIDEAST: ‘CIVILIANS ARE PAYING THE PRICE IN GAZA,’ AID GROUPS SAY
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Dec 30
MIDEAST: GAZA BECOMES A CHESSBOARD FOR ISRAELI LEADERS
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Dec 19
ECONOMY-IRAN: AHMADINEJAD PLANS BUDGET CUT AS OIL PRICE FALLS
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LATIN AMERICA
Jan 2
RIGHTS-EL SALVADOR: MURDER CASE HAS DEATH SQUAD MARKINGS
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Dec 29
AIDS-LATIN AMERICA: NEGLECT, AGEISM PUT OLDER PEOPLE AT RISK
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Dec 26
PERU: UNDOCUMENTED WAR SURVIVORS TO REGAIN I.D. CARDS
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Dec 24
CHILE: HOUSE, BUILT BY NEW FRIENDS, IS MOM’S BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT
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Dec 22
BOLIVIA-TRADE: BUSINESSES FRET OVER DIPLOMATIC CLASH WITH U.S.
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Dec 20
Q&A: PARAGUAYAN INDIGENOUS OFFICIAL CALLS FOR PATIENCE
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Dec 19
CUBA: RESIDENTS DESCRIBE TOO-CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH HURRICANE
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Dec 19
ARGENTINA: COURT ORDER TO RELEASE RIGHTS ABUSERS STIRS CRITICS
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US & CANADA
Dec 26
BOOKS-U.S.: AUTHOR PORTRAYS DICK CHENEY AS MASTER BUREAUCRAT
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Dec 23
MIDEAST: ACTIVISTS SEEK NEW VANTAGE POINT FOR VIEW OF PEACE
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EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA
Dec 30
ROMANIA: GRAND COALITIONS, LITTLE HOPE
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Dec 30
ECONOMY-BALKANS: THE OLD WAYS MAY BE RECESSION-PROOF
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Dec 30
PORTUGAL: MEGA SOLAR POWER PLANT BEGINS TO OPERATE
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Dec 29
EUROPE: FEAR AMID FALTERING ECONOMY FUELS ANTI-ROMA BIASES
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Dec 19
EUROPE: EU OBSERVES DECEMBER TRADITION: A FIGHT OVER FISH
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GLOBAL / UNITED NATIONS
Dec 21
MEDIA: INTER PRESS SERVICE WINS SOUTH-SOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD
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Dec 19
POLITICS: RENEWED ANTI-SEMITISM CASTS PALL ON ANTI-RACISM TALKS
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INDIA / PAKISTAN
Dec 31
INDIA-PAKISTAN: PRISONER REPATRIATIONS RAISE HOPES FOR PEACE
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Dec 27
RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: CHRISTMAS IN WAR ZONE JUST ANOTHER HARD DAY
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Dec 22
INDIA: CHINA’S DELUGE RIPPING ANCIENT HANDLOOM SILK INDUSTRY
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