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Here are some of IPS’s most-read stories of the past week — and stories you shouldn’t go without reading:

THAILAND: In Convoys of Red, Rural Masses Stage Historic Protest
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK (IPS) – An unprecedented show of force by men and women from Thailand’s rural hinterland was on display over the weekend as they poured into Bangkok in the tens of thousands to stake a claim on having a voice in shaping this South-east Asian kingdom?s national agenda.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50656

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HAITI: The Camp That Vanished
By Ansel Herz*
PORT-AU-PRINCE (IPS) – Perched near the top of a steep hill, the fractured pink walls of Villa Manrese overlook the rest of the capital city. Both ends of the three-story compound have collapsed, spilling into mounds of rubble. The first floor was pulverised into a layer of dust. There are still bodies inside.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50606

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: We Will Demonstrate, As They Celebrate
By Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi
KAMPALA (IPS) – ‘Equal rights; equal opportunities’ may be the theme for this year’s International Women?s Day, but while women around the world celebrate, a group of Ugandan women are protesting against the suppression of their rights.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50595

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RIGHTS: This Eerie Economic Calm
By Sanjay Suri and Marguerite A. Suozzi
NEW YORK (IPS) – The problem now, almost, is to find a way to relive the peak of that economic crisis of September 2008. The current move back to business of old — on the face of it anyhow — could well turn out to be a longer-running difficulty than the crisis it supposedly left behind. A difficulty far greater for women than for men.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50592

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RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: ‘Our Lives Are Cut Short at a Stroke’
By Danilo Valladares
GUATEMALA CITY (IPS) – “This is a time of great tension because we know that at any moment, when we least expect it, our lives can be cut short at a stroke,” Tito Gálvez, a leader in the Resistance Front for the Defence of Natural Resources and Rights of the Guatemalan Peoples (FRENA), told IPS.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50653

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IRAQ: Women Miss Saddam
By Abdu Rahman and Dahr Jamail*
BAGHDAD (IPS) – Under Saddam Hussein, women in government got a year’s maternity leave; that is now cut to six months. Under the Personal Status Law in force since Jul. 14, 1958, when Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy, Iraqi women had most of the rights that Western women do.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50642

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LATIN AMERICA: Abortion – Still Illegal, Still Killing, Despite Growing Awareness
By Estrella Gutiérrez
CARACAS (IPS) – Although most of the governments in Latin America today are described as progressive, abortion is only legal in one country, while in five countries it is banned under all circumstances, even when the mother’s life is at risk.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50621

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KENYA: New Bill to Improve State Witness Protection, If Passed
By Mary Kiio
NAIROBI (IPS) – Kenyans affected by the violence that erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections in 2007 may soon be able to speak out without fear. A new bill will offer better protection to state witnesses.
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=50624

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EGYPT: Population Growth Overtakes Literacy Rise
By Cam McGrath
LUXOR (IPS) – Literacy programmes are teaching millions of Egyptians to read, but are struggling to keep up with the country’s high population growth.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50641

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PERU: Suspension of Mining Operation Merely a Placebo
By Milagros Salazar
LIMA (IPS) – Although the Peruvian government reported that it had suspended the exploration activities of the Afrodita mining company in the country’s northern Amazon jungle region to avoid further protests by local indigenous people, officials took no actual steps to bring the firm’s work to a halt.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50608

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ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Law on Forest Rights Fails to Deliver
By Manipadma Jena
BHUBANESWAR, India (IPS) – A four-year-old landmark law that was supposed to bring profound changes in the lives of India?s tribal and forest-dwelling peoples has failed to deliver on that promise.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50652

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IPS SPECIAL COVERAGE: IPS TERRAVIVA BEIJING +15
http://www.ips.org/TV/beijing15/

Fifteen years after the Beijing World Conference on Women, IPS remains committed to in-depth reporting on progress achieved and challenges facing women and girls. IPS has a long-standing editorial commitment to mainstreaming gender, which it has realised through training, editorial guidelines and targeted projects.

On the occasion of the 54th session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, an international team of journalists provided special coverage from New York through the IPS TerraViva Beijing+15 website.
http://www.ips.org/TV/beijing15/

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