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Monday, January 23, 2012 10:54 GMT

Latest News

Romanians Discover Street Protest
Analysis by Claudia Ciobanu
WARSAW, Jan 23 (IPS) - For more than a week, thousands have been demonstrating in cities across Romania. Participants from all walks of life bring to the fore the broadest array of demands in what looks like a celebratory discovery of street protest. The main call is against lack of transparency and accountability in decision-making.
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JAPAN: Tsunami Brings Sea Change to Tohoku
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
MINAMI-SANRIKU, Japan, Jan 23 (IPS) - Yumi Goto, 60, lives with her husband in a temporary shelter on a windy hill that overlooks vast stretches of tsunami-devastated seacoast where her home was once located.
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EGYPT: A Year On, Tiring of Demonstrations
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO, Jan 23 (IPS) - Several revolutionary groups are calling for mass demonstrations against military rule on Wednesday to coincide with the first anniversary of the January 25 uprising that ultimately toppled the Mubarak regime. But many express doubt the event will succeed in replicating last year's revolutionary fervour on the part of the masses, most of whom express a desire for stability and a smooth transition to democratic governance above all else.
MORE >>

CZECH REPUBLIC: Castration for Sex Offenders Triumphs
By Pavol Stracansky
PRAGUE, Jan 22 (IPS) - The Czech government has defied calls from international human rights groups to stop the "degrading" practice of surgically castrating sex offenders.
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MIDEAST: Into an Unsettled New Year
By Mya Guarnieri
HEBRON, Jan 22 (IPS) - An elderly Palestinian woman spent last week on hunger strike to protest violent attacks by Israeli settlers. Hana Abu Heikel went on the hunger strike on behalf of her family after settlers burned the family car during the previous weekend. Since Israeli settlers moved into the houses surrounding the Abu Heikel family home in Hebron in 1984, the Abu Heikels have seen eight cars burned. Six vehicles were also smashed by settlers.
MORE >>

U.S.: "Money Isn't Speech, Corporations Aren't People"
By Kanya D'Almeida
NEW YORK, Jan 21 (IPS) - In most mainstream media the words "corruption" and "election fraud" accompany images of makeshift polling stations manned by armed guards in Burma or burning tires beside tattered ballot boxes in South Sudan – the insidiousness of stolen elections and a crumbling democracy is very seldom associated with the United States.
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U.S.: A Credit Union to Bail Out People, Not Big Banks
By Judith Scherr
SAN FRANCISCO, California, Jan 21 (IPS) - Occupy activists from Wall Street to San Francisco's financial district have dramatised their anger with big financial institutions by blocking JP Morgan Chase Bank doorways, dancing atop Wells Fargo counters, pitching a tent in a Bank of America lobby, hanging banners across Citibank windows, and accompanying the actions with the now-familiar chant "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out."
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INDIA: Advancing Economy Reveals a Hungry Underbelly
By K.S. Harikrishnan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, Jan 21 (IPS) - Even a year after Rani, a three-year-old tribal girl in the backward Wayanad district of southern Kerala state, was treated in a government hospital for gastroenteritis she remains grossly underweight and suffers from frequent bouts of diarrhoea.
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RUSSIA: ‘Repression May Lead to Revolt’
By Claudia Ciobanu interviews Russian opposition leader SERGEY UDALTSOV
PRAGUE, Jan 21 (IPS) - The Russian opposition movement which has risen to prominence since the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections has not said its last word, says 35-year-old Sergey Udaltsov, one of its most visible figures.
MORE >>

MAURITIUS: The Decline of Consumer Cooperatives
By Nasseem Ackbarally
PORT-LOUIS, Jan 21 (IPS) - Amateurism, high prices, mismanagement, and a limited product range have discouraged Inderjeet Rajcoomarsingh, the former chairman of the Mauritius Agricultural Cooperative Federation, from shopping at cooperative stores.
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Global Affairs

HONDURAS
Pressed by the U.S., Lobo Amends Extradition Laws
By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA - Following a surprise meeting between President Porfirio Lobo and U.S. government officials, Honduran lawmakers voted to amend the constitution to allow extradition of its nationals.
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U.N. Predicts One Billionth Tourist Arrival in 2012
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations, which commemorated the birth of the world's seven billionth baby last October, is predicting the arrival of the one billionth tourist later this year - perhaps in Europe, the United States, South America or Asia.
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CHINA
Dragon Drags the World In
By Antoaneta Becker
LONDON - Chinese fengshui masters have been busy advising edgy followers how to optimise their luck in the auspicious but volatile Year of the Dragon, which according to the lunar calendar begins on Jan.23. In the West though, Chinese superstitions about the precarious nature of Dragon years don’t hold court, and 2012 will arguably mark the largest by far Chinese New Year celebrations in many world capitals and major cities.
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Money Is All That's Green in Biodiesel
By Stephen Leahy
UXBRIDGE, Canada - The only green in biodiesel fuel is the money producers make from it, new research has revealed.
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Half of All Abortions Now Unsafe, Study Finds
By Mathilde Bagneres
UNITED NATIONS - The proportion of abortions deemed unsafe rose from 44 percent in 1995 to almost half (49 percent) in 2008, according to a new study released Thursday.
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MDGs

INDIA
Advancing Economy Reveals a Hungry Underbelly
By K.S. Harikrishnan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India - Even a year after Rani, a three-year-old tribal girl in the backward Wayanad district of southern Kerala state, was treated in a government hospital for gastroenteritis she remains grossly underweight and suffers from frequent bouts of diarrhoea.
MORE >>

MAURITIUS
The Decline of Consumer Cooperatives
By Nasseem Ackbarally
PORT-LOUIS - Amateurism, high prices, mismanagement, and a limited product range have discouraged Inderjeet Rajcoomarsingh, the former chairman of the Mauritius Agricultural Cooperative Federation, from shopping at cooperative stores.
MORE >>

Progress Towards a Food-Secure Africa
By Miriam Gathigah
NAIROBI - A growing number of African countries are making significant progress towards eradicating extreme hunger and poverty. Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and South Africa are some of the countries that have made tremendous achievements towards achieving these goals.
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ZIMBABWE
Street Vendors’ Protest Sparking a Revolution
By Stanley Kwenda
HARARE - There are some unlikely comparisons between the work lives of Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit seller who sparked the Arab revolution, and Francis Tachirev, a fruit seller in Zimbabwe.
MORE >>

Environment

JAPAN
Tsunami Brings Sea Change to Tohoku
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
MINAMI-SANRIKU, Japan - Yumi Goto, 60, lives with her husband in a temporary shelter on a windy hill that overlooks vast stretches of tsunami-devastated seacoast where her home was once located.
MORE >>

GERMANY
While Some Waste, Others Feast
By Julio Godoy
HAMBURG - Shortly before midnight last Saturday, Alexander, a 24-year-old law student, stepped out of his small apartment in Hamburg and set off for a jaunt around the local supermarkets to pilfer their garbage containers.
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The Green Economy, Boon or Menace?
By Emilio Godoy*
MEXICO CITY - The development of the green economy is the subject of pitched debate among specialists. While some believe it will deepen social inequalities and increase corporate control over natural and biological resources, others highlight its potential role in protecting the environment and creating employment.
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Money Is All That's Green in Biodiesel
By Stephen Leahy
UXBRIDGE, Canada - The only green in biodiesel fuel is the money producers make from it, new research has revealed.
MORE >>

BALKANS
The Dark Side of Serbia's Oil Shale Fairy Tale
By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE - According to an old Serbian fairy tale, God tells a poor man who enters a gold mine that no matter what he chooses to do inside, he'll be sorry when he leaves. If he takes some gold, he'll be sorry for not taking more; if he doesn't, he'll be sorry for not taking any at all.
MORE >>

Human Rights

EGYPT
A Year On, Tiring of Demonstrations
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO - Several revolutionary groups are calling for mass demonstrations against military rule on Wednesday to coincide with the first anniversary of the January 25 uprising that ultimately toppled the Mubarak regime. But many express doubt the event will succeed in replicating last year's revolutionary fervour on the part of the masses, most of whom express a desire for stability and a smooth transition to democratic governance above all else.
MORE >>

CZECH REPUBLIC
Castration for Sex Offenders Triumphs
By Pavol Stracansky
PRAGUE - The Czech government has defied calls from international human rights groups to stop the "degrading" practice of surgically castrating sex offenders.
MORE >>

MIDEAST
Into an Unsettled New Year
By Mya Guarnieri
HEBRON - An elderly Palestinian woman spent last week on hunger strike to protest violent attacks by Israeli settlers. Hana Abu Heikel went on the hunger strike on behalf of her family after settlers burned the family car during the previous weekend. Since Israeli settlers moved into the houses surrounding the Abu Heikel family home in Hebron in 1984, the Abu Heikels have seen eight cars burned. Six vehicles were also smashed by settlers.
MORE >>

U.S.
"Money Isn't Speech, Corporations Aren't People"
By Kanya D'Almeida
NEW YORK - In most mainstream media the words "corruption" and "election fraud" accompany images of makeshift polling stations manned by armed guards in Burma or burning tires beside tattered ballot boxes in South Sudan – the insidiousness of stolen elections and a crumbling democracy is very seldom associated with the United States.
MORE >>

RUSSIA
‘Repression May Lead to Revolt’
By Claudia Ciobanu interviews Russian opposition leader SERGEY UDALTSOV
PRAGUE - The Russian opposition movement which has risen to prominence since the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections has not said its last word, says 35-year-old Sergey Udaltsov, one of its most visible figures.
MORE >>

Health

EUROPE
Unrest Spreads Eastwards
Analysis by Zoltan Dujisin
BUDAPEST - Protests in Hungary and Romania are the first signs of anti-systemic mobilisation in the Eastern half of the continent. While protests in both countries indicate dissatisfaction with their governments’ authoritarian turn, their origins differ, as does the European Union’s reaction to them.
MORE >>

Climate South: Developing Countries Coping With Climate Change

KENYA
Thirsty Eucalyptus Good for Absorbing Carbon
By Isaiah Esipisu*
NAIROBI - On a steep slope of land in Thangathi village in Central Province, Kenya, Peter Nyaga surveys his four-year-old eucalyptus woodlot. He calculates the value of every tree on his two-hectare piece of land at maturity in three years.
MORE >>

JAMAICA
Waking Up to Urgency of a National Climate Policy
By Zadie Neufville*
KINGSTON - As increasingly extreme and erratic weather driven by the earth's changing climate exacts a heavy toll on Jamaica's population, economy and infrastructure, a consensus has emerged among scientists and policy makers here that adaptation measures must include hazard mitigation.
MORE >>

Saving the Forests with Indigenous Knowledge
By Isaiah Esipisu*
DURBAN, South Africa - For the Laibon community, a sub-tribe of Kenya’s Maasai ethnic group, the 33,000-hectare Loita Forest in the country’s Rift Valley Province is more than just a forest. It is a shrine.
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NEPAL
Praying Against Climate Change
By Sudeshna Sarkar*
KAVRE, Nepal - There are gasps from the audience as a series of shocking images flash across the screen: human hands eaten away by arsenic, the carcass of a cow so emaciated that it looks two-dimensional, a starved child with matchstick legs grasping at the udder of an animal for sustenance.
MORE >>

OP-ED
Can Finance Provide the Crown Jewels of a Durban Climate Accord?
By Tim Ash Vie *
DURBAN, South Africa - As climate talks get underway in Durban, South Africa this week, progress on a Green Climate Fund is one of the hottest, most contentious tickets in town. It is also one of the great prizes to be won.
MORE >>