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RIGHTS-EUROPE: The Dalai Lama, Now the Once Welcomed
29 08 2008 PARIS, Aug 29 (IPS) - EU leaders speak repeatedly of tying increasing Chinese investment in Africa to respect for human rights. But no such considerations come in the way of the EU's own dealings with China.
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POLITICS: S. Ossetia and Abkhazia Seek Voice in Security Council
29 08 2008 UNITED NATIONS, Aug 28 (IPS) - Russia wants the U.N. Security Council to allow the leadership of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to take part in ongoing international talks over the future of their territories.
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ICELAND: Filling Up on Hydrogen
28 08 2008 REYKJAVIK, Aug 28 (IPS) - Earlier this year, the Icelandic whale-watching boat Elding was fitted with a hydrogen-powered generator that fuels its lighting system, electric equipment and navigation machinery. It is the first of its kind in the world.
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ICELAND: Filling Up on Hydrogen
28 08 2008 REYKJAVIK, Aug 28 (IPS) - Earlier this year, the Icelandic whale-watching boat Elding was fitted with a hydrogen-powered generator that fuels its lighting system, electric equipment and navigation machinery. It is the first of its kind in the world.
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RIGHTS: Accused Terrorist Sues Norway
27 08 2008 OSLO, Aug 27 (IPS) - The co-founder of a suspected al-Qaeda linked militant group in Iraq who lived a double life as a refugee in Norway's capital Oslo is suing Norway for violating his rights.
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EUROPE: Russia Triggers A New Cold War Threat
27 08 2008 BERLIN, Aug 26 (IPS) - A spectre is haunting Europe, the spectre of a new Cold War in the wake of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signing a decree Tuesday formally recognising the breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
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POLITICS: Caucasus Crisis Raises Tensions at U.N.
27 08 2008 UNITED NATIONS, Aug 26 (IPS) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday that Russia's recognition of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia "may have wider implications for security and stability in the Caucasus."
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SERBIA: Uneasy Over the Kosovo Parallel With Georgia
26 08 2008 BELGRADE, Aug 26 (IPS) - Serbia was remarkably quiet in the days following the conflict in South Ossetia that began Aug. 8. Speculation by international politicians and in media of a parallel with Kosovo simply could not fit into a simple picture.
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TRADE-KENYA: British Imports Losing Their Appeal
26 08 2008 NAIROBI, Aug 26 (IPS) - When Kenya purchased Toyota vehicles for its military forces, instead of the all-pervasive Land Rover, it signalled a seismic change -- in effect ending the most favoured status enjoyed by imports sourced from its erstwhile colonial master the United Kingdom.
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: Free Trade Deal Full of Potential - And Danger
25 08 2008 CAPE TOWN, Aug 25 (IPS) - The launch of a free trade area (FTA) within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has brought the region one step closer to a regional customs union by 2010. But the launch of the FTA at the recent SADC heads of state summit was met with mixed reaction.
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TRADE-CARIBBEAN: EU Pact Hit by Last-Minute Revolt
25 08 2008 PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Aug 25 (IPS) - Eight months after congratulating themselves for having become the first region within the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) grouping to conclude negotiations with the European Union on a new trade and economic pact, Caribbean leaders are getting cold feet as the time draws near to affix their signatures to the document.
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: Free Trade Deal Full of Potential - And Danger
25 08 2008 CAPE TOWN, Aug 25 (IPS) - The launch of a free trade area (FTA) within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has brought the region one step closer to a regional customs union by 2010. But the launch of the FTA at the recent SADC heads of state summit was met with mixed reaction.
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RIGHTS-SIBERIA: Young Ready to Change Mind On Death Penalty
25 08 2008 MOSCOW, Aug 25 (IPS) - Young people in Siberia, the vast Russian region once notorious for its Soviet penal colonies, have shown readiness to give up their support for the death penalty as soon as they are exposed to views of opponents to capital punishment.
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EUROPE: Georgia War Steps Up Support for U.S. Missile Bases
25 08 2008 BUDAPEST, Aug 25 (IPS) - Following tough negotiations, the U.S. and Poland have signed a deal on extension of the U.S. missile defence system to Eastern Europe, weeks after the outbreak of the Georgian-Russian conflict.
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CHINA: The Air Hasn't Quite Cleared
25 08 2008 OSLO, Aug 25 (IPS) - While China's dramatic last-minute measures to cut pollution during the Beijing Olympics grabbed headlines, a little publicised Norwegian project in Guizhou province shows just how difficult it will be to make lasting changes.
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CZECH REPUBLIC: Georgia Sets Off an Old Debate
24 08 2008 PRAGUE, Aug 23 (IPS) - The coinciding of military confrontation between Russia and Georgia and the 40th anniversary of the brutal crushing of the 'Prague Spring' in 1968 in what was Czechoslovakia has triggered a debate on whether a comparison between the two events is justified.
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POLITICS: Georgia War Rooted in U.S. Self-Deceit on NATO
24 08 2008 WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (IPS) - The U.S. policy of absorbing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO, which was enthusiastically embraced by Barack Obama and his running mate Joseph Biden, has undoubtedly been given a major boost by the Russian military operation in Georgia.
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CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: Crafts That Steal Hearts All Over the World
21 08 2008 CAPE TOWN, Aug 21 (IPS) - It is early on a Monday morning and Margret Woermann is late for her interview with IPS. The owner and creative force behind the Heartworks shops is at a meeting discussing a project with a clothing designer.
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PORTUGAL: Easing Food Safety Standards for Traditional Products
21 08 2008 LISBON, Aug 20 (IPS) - As the only alternative for preventing the disappearance of small-scale farming, farmers’ markets, rural slaughterhouses, taverns and traditional food products, Portugal has decided to interpret the strict European Union regulations on food safety with a domestic slant.
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POLITICS: Kosovo Casts Shadow on South Ossetian Standoff
20 08 2008 WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (IPS) - With the conflict between Georgia and Russia lowered to a simmer after the signing of a ceasefire agreement, questions still remain about the U.S. role and positions on the start of the conflict as well as where it stands moving forward towards a resolution.
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Q&A: 'If You Feed the Land, It Will Feed You Back'
19 08 2008 BONN, Aug 19 (IPS) - Luc Gnacadja, who took over as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) last October, is a man with a mission -- a mission that goes beyond explaining that his job is not to battle deserts.
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Q&A: 'If You Feed the Land, It Will Feed You Back'
19 08 2008 BONN, Aug 19 (IPS) - Luc Gnacadja, who took over as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) last October, is a man with a mission -- a mission that goes beyond explaining that his job is not to battle deserts.
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EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Human Rights Drowning in Oil
19 08 2008 LISBON, Aug 18 (IPS) - The oil interests of Angola, Brazil and Portugal could pave the way for former Spanish colony Equatorial Guinea to become the ninth member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) two years from now, despite the country’s poor human rights record.
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TRADE-AFRICA: ‘‘An Injury To One Market Is an Injury to All’’
18 08 2008 JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18 (IPS) - Southern African non-governmental organisations have put forward demands to their governments in resistance to the continuing talks on economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.
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TRADE-AFRICA: ‘‘An Injury To One Market Is an Injury to All’’
18 08 2008 JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18 (IPS) - Southern African non-governmental organisations have put forward demands to their governments in resistance to the continuing talks on economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific states.
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