San Francisco Chronicle
July 2005

ENVIRONMENTALISTS were disappointed in the climate-change agreement that emerged out of last week’s Group of Eight summit, but the real progress came with President Bush’s words earlier in the week.

“I recognize that the surface of the Earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans is contributing to the problem,” Bush said.
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Gaza Will Be ‘Vacated But Still Occupied’
Ushani Agalawatta

JERUSALEM, Jul (IPS) - A growing number of Palestinians are beginning to believe that Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip will not mean the end of occupation.

“The Gaza Strip will still be occupied territory under international law,” says Renad Qubbaj of the Palestinian NGO Network based in Ramallah in the West Bank. “After implementation of the disengagement plan, the Israeli army will remain in effective control of all border crossings.”
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Emad Mekay

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) - The U.S. House of Representatives will decide the fate of the controversial Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) this week in what many analysts predict will be a very close vote, prompting a spate of intensified lobbying by opponents and advocates of the deal, including Pres. George W. Bush.
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By Derrick Z. Jackson | July 2005

PRESIDENT BUSH sure cared about Niger in 2003 when he said, ‘’The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” Vice President Dick Cheney sure cared about the yellowcake, so much that one of the reported reasons diplomat Joseph Wilson went to the African nation in 2002 was because of Cheney’s interest in checking out any possible links between Saddam and nuclear weapons. Wilson found no evidence of uranium sales.
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Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Jul (IPS) - The European Union unveiled new proposals Tuesday aimed at cutting off funding for terrorist networks.

Under the plans banks will be required to register the name, address and account number of everyone making money transfers in the European Union’s (EU) member states.
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“Open the eyes of your heart, and solve your problems in a new way. You
believe it will take years or lifetimes to solve things like hunger,
disease and violence. Is it possible that it is simple, and that your
need to see it as complicated has been the very thing that has kept you
from the answer?” -Marco, Bulgaria, age 10-
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Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) - Growing pessimism about averting civil war in Iraq, as well as mounting concerns that the U.S. military presence there may itself be fuelling the insurgency and Islamist extremism worldwide, has spurred a spate of new calls for the United States to withdraw its 140,000 troops sooner rather than later.
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By George Parker

Jose’ Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, heads for
the beaches of Portugal this week with warnings ringing in his ears to
start showing some leadership.
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Alejandro Kirk

MONTEVIDEO, Jul (IPS) - Sunday will be the first day of broadcasting for a new Latin America-wide TV network aimed at competing with U.S. and European international news stations.

Telesur, an initiative led by Venezuela, the majority shareholder, is also being financed by the governments of Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, and will gradually become available on local cable TV channels around the region and on the DirecTV satellite system, said Venezuelan Information Minister Andrés Izarra.
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By Damien Millet and Eric Toussaint

On 11 June 2005 the finance ministers of the G8 countries, i.e. the
eight most industrialised countries in the world[1][1], blaringly
announced an allegedly historic agreement: the cancellation of the debt
18 poor countries owe to the WB, the African Development Bank (AfDB),
and the IMF, i.e. some USD 40 billion. 20 other countries might in due
time also benefit from a similar generosity, taking the total amount to
USD 55 billion.
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Ushani Agalawatta

NABLUS, West Bank, Jul (IPS) - �Before the 2000 Al-Aqsa Intifadah I was very optimistic. I was ambitious and strong, but now I do not feel strong any more. We are all frustrated in our small prison,� says Sawsan Aishe, a 24-year-old graduate from An Najah National University in Nablus in the West Bank.
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By Colum Lynch, Washington Post Staff Writer
July 2005

UNITED NATIONS, – Christopher B. Burnham, the highest-ranking U.S. citizen working in the U.N. Secretariat, is a rare breed here: a Republican Party loyalist and an enthusiastic supporter of President Bush.
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The Progressive Response, a weekly issue provided by the FPIF think-thank, is another valuable proof of a growing reaction against the political fundamentalism expressed by the United States, especially in its foreign policy. The publication, whose latest number is available on this issue of “other news", is open to subscriptions, and we encourage anyone interested in the subjects on focus to follow and support their work by reading instructions below and subscribing.
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World Bank Policy, As Seen by the Deprived
Nabil Sultan

SANA,A, Jul (IPS) - That overnight hike in fuel price was more than any poor person could have taken in this impoverished country.

The Yemeni government lifted subsidies on all oil products Tuesday night. That led to a 100 percent rise in the price of oil, a 200 percent increase in diesel price and a 50 percent increase in the price of gas.
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By Rebecca Myles

United Press International
Published July 19, 2005

NEW YORK – The United Nations, at the opening of a conflict-resolution conference, is encouraging a greater role for women.

“There is more international awareness of women as peace makers.” Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, East and Horn of Africa regional director for UNIFEM, the Development Fund for Women, said Monday. She spoke on the eve of a four-day Global Conference on conflict prevention and peace-building at U.N. World Headquarters in New York. The conference, “From Reaction to Prevention: Civil Society Forging Partnerships to Prevent Conflict and Build Peace,” will launch a new international movement to prevent armed conflict.
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Mario Osava*

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul 20 (Tierramérica) - Operation Curupira looked like a spectacular triumph in defence of the Amazon forests. It dismantled corruption and fraud network that had helped make the central-western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso the nation’s leader in deforestation.
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Amantha Perera

WALAHANDUWA, Jul 19 (IPS) - The rows of wooden houses, 12 kms from the coastal town of Galle seem out of place inside this state-owned rubber plantation and so do the people who once lived along the beach.

Outwardly it is a picture of harmony. Young children play indefatigably while a group of middle-aged women gossip near the only shop selling sundry goods.
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The US named four Gulf allies as among the worst at combating human trafficking.

By Jamie Etheridge | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

KUWAIT CITY - When Judy left her home on the southern coast of the Philippines this spring, it was her first trip abroad and her first time on an airplane. She was excited, nervous, and sad all at once.

Like many young Filipina women before her, awaiting her in Kuwait was the promise of a good job and enough money to support her family and save for school. She was to become a nanny and tutor to a young boy.
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William Fisher*

NEW YORK, Jul 18 (IPS) - For the past few years, U.S. citizens have lived with an increasingly secretive government.

More official documents are being classified than ever before – at least 16 million last year alone – while the declassification process, which made millions of historical documents available annually in the 1990s, has slowed to a relative crawl.
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
NEWS
July 17, 2005
Posted to the web July 17, 2005
Maputo

Former US President Bill Clinton on Sunday visited Maputo Central Hospital, on the first leg of a tour of six African countries where the Clinton Foundation is assisting governments in the struggle against AIDS.

Accompanied by Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido, and Irish Minister of State for Development, Conor Lenihan, Clinton visited the paediatric day hospital, set up to care for HIV- positive children.
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Anja Tranovich

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 15 (IPS) - A new U.N. report calls for urgent action to combat the dual crises of poverty and AIDS in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The report, �Hoping and Coping, The Capacity Challenge of HIV/AIDS in Least Developed Countries�, issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) on Jul. 12, details the effects of AIDS on LDC economies.
(more…)

By John Helmer

MOSCOW - In his most detailed statement to date, President Vladimir Putin has spelled out Russia’s priorities for transporting crude oil to Asian markets in the next decade. In diplomatic but unambiguous language, Putin rejected Japanese proposals, in favor of China.
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By Nicholas AuYeung and Daniel Buccino
July 2005 - Baltimore Sun

AS AMERICA’S appetite for power increases at four times the rate of energy production, and as expensive and risky “alternative” energy sources such as nuclear power, fuel cell technology and more oil drilling continue to be debated, there is a true alternative already in the pipeline. Yet it is relatively unknown and underfunded.
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Ferry Biedermann

BEIRUT, Jul (IPS) - Lebanon has not really had the occasion yet to enjoy the departure of Syrian troops and the victory of anti-Syrian groups in the parliamentary elections last month. The country is facing a period of political and economic upheaval almost unparalleled since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.
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Vesna Peric Zimonjic

SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jul (IPS) - Hands on their eyes, bending slowly towards the ground, in accordance with the Islamic funeral tradition known as janazah, hundreds of relatives of the men and boys executed ten years ago in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica said a last farewell to their loved ones.
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By Charles Babington and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writers

John R. Bolton’s nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations was the hottest issue in Congress a few months ago. But it has virtually evaporated this summer, eclipsed by speculation over a Supreme Court nominee and the fate of the president’s top political adviser.
(more…)

Julio Godoy

PARIS, Jul 12 (IPS) - The euphoria over a decision to base the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France seems to be evaporating. What remains is a growing doubt over the feasibility and cost of the project.

The project seeks to introduce new nuclear technology. It will seek a nuclear fusion of two hydrogen isotopes (deuterium which exists abundantly in nature, and tritium, a synthetic isotope) to produce helium with massive release of energy to produce electricity.
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BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhuanet) – China has called for empowering women to ensure that they have equal access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment information and services, as the number of female infections has kept on rising at an alarming pace.
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Leonardo Boff

Theologian

«Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.» That phrase, from Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (1843-1902), is always quoted when speaking of corruption. From an aristocratic Anglo-Italo-German family, he taught History at Cambridge. A liberal Catholic, he strongly opposed the reactionary Pope Pius IX. He wrote a letter on April 5, 1887 to his colleague Mandell Creighton, who had published five volumes about the history of the Popes of the times of the Protestant Reformation. He showed in that work how the Popes, contrary to Christian principles, abused their position of power and justified their immoral actions by appealing to their religious function, because, in the words of Dalberg-Acton, «function sanctifies the bearer». This fact led him to affirm that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul 8 (IPS) - Thursday’s London bombings that killed at least 49 people have rekindled a familiar debate in this country on the question first posed after the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon: ‘’Why do they hate us?'’

As then, neo-conservative and right-wing hawks who led the drive to war in Iraq 18 months later are insisting that Islamist radicals hate the West and the United States for �what they are�, its freedoms and democracy and other Enlightenment ideals.
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Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) - As an unexpected resurgence of fighting by Taliban and allied forces against the U.S.-backed government of Pres. Hamid Karzai is raising new concerns over Afghanistan’s stability, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has repeated its call for the prosecution of past atrocities by key warlords, a number of whom continue to hold senior posts under Karzai.
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By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

GLENEAGLES, Scotland - Vowing not to be sidetracked by the deadly London bombings, world leaders unveiled a $50 billion package Friday to help lift Africa from poverty and proposed up to $9 billion to help the Palestinians achieve peace with Israel.
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Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) - Thursday’s terror attacks against London’s public transportation system, which reportedly killed at least 37 people, came amid indications of growing scepticism here about the effectiveness of U.S. President George W. Bush’s â€?war on terrorism,â€? the policy initiative that has earned him his highest public-approval ratings since September 2001.
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by Vittorio Agnoletto

Published on Italian newspaper “Il Manifesto�

“Accords de Paupérisation Economique” (Economic Pauperisation Agreements), this is the way French speaking African movements and associations define the “Economic Partnership Agreements” ("EPA") recently discussed at the ACP-EU joint assembly held in Bamako (Mali) from 16 to on 21 April 2005. The ACP-EU assembly is a parliamentary joint assembly is composed of Members of the European Parliament and Members of Parliaments of 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. 26 of the former belong to the group of the poorest countries of the world. (more…)

Analysis by Sanjay Suri

GLENEAGLES, Scotland, Jul (IPS) - Every now and then helicopters have been flying towards the Gleneagles Hotel, carrying one or another of the G8 leaders whose three-day summit begins Wednesday.

But through the three days of talks little agreement is looking likely. And just as unlikely is any sweet agreement to agree to disagree. The stakes raised by all sides have been too high after the huge build-up to an expectation that the G8 summit will deliver on development of Africa and on action to contain climate change, the two main issues for the summit flagged by host Britain.
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By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has announced the creation of a fund to promote democratric institutions and practices around the world - an idea first proposed by the United States.
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By Debayani Kar and Neil Watkins | June 2005
Editor:Emily Schwartz Greco, Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)

Jubilee campaigns and debt cancellation advocates can be proud of their efforts. The Finance Ministers of the eight rich country governments as represented at the Group of 8 (G-8) have announced a deal on 100% debt cancellation of International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and African Development Fund debt for some impoverished nations.
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Mario Osava*

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul (IPS) - Rather than granting veto power to a greater number of countries, the United Nations Security Council needs �qualitative� reforms that would strip its five permanent members of that authority, if true multilateralism is to be achieved, say analysts in Latin America.
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Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Jul (IPS) - A leading campaign group has called for a substantial part of increased aid to Africa to be channelled directly to people, rather than governments.
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By Saul Landau | June 2005
Editor:Emily Schwartz Greco, Institute for Policy Studies, (IPS)

A century ago, U.S. policy planners looked to a then weak and divided China as the answer to the country’s future trade and economic problems. Anxious exporters implored President William McKinley to act because “the Chinese market rightfully belongs to us,� a member of the Riverside ( New York) Republican Club told Secretary of State William Hay.
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Humanitarian workers welcomed President Bush’s promise Thursday to double aid to Africa over the next five years, but analysts cautioned that money alone won’t solve the continent’s woes.

Good governance by African leaders and fair trade policies with the impoverished continent are also key, analysts said.
(more…)

By Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Jul (IPS) - As world leaders prepare for the Group of 8 (G8) summit next week, a leading global consumer body is warning that genetically modified food is not the ‘’miracle solution'’ to world hunger and malnutrition.
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