STAND UP – SPEAK OUT against POVERTY – Oct. 17
Palestinians Stand Up for What Matters
Ramsey Ben-Achour
RAMALLAH – While the international community concentrates on negotiations between the Palestinian government and Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians take part in demonstrations on Oct. 17 highlighting poverty and inequality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This call to end poverty is especially relevant here, where 46 percent of the people do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, according to the United Nations Relief Works Agency.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39653
POVERTY: The World Speaks Up
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/poverty/index.asp
The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is asking all people around the world to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT, to say “No!” to extreme poverty on Wednesday, Oct. 17.
More IPS Middle East News:
TURKEY: Armenian Ghosts Refuse to Go Away
Analysis by Jacques N. Couvas
ANKARA – The decision last week by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations to adopt a resolution recognising as genocide the massive killings of Armenians in 1915 and 1916 by Ottoman military forces in eastern Anatolia has marked a decisive turn in the relationship between the legislative of the United States and the Turkish government.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39668
Turkey into Iraq? Easier Said Than Done – Analysis by Hilmi Toros
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39650
Another Mideast Envoy Fed Up With Quartet
Haider Rizvi
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations has come under strong criticism from one of its own top human rights officials for failing to take effective action to check the ongoing Israeli abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39662
IBSA: India, Brazil, South Africa – Emerging Giants
The three biggest democracies of the South? are holding their second summit, in Johannesburg. Will they be able to overcome challenges to serve as a motor for dialogue and South-South cooperation? www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/IBSA/index.asp
Heat Turns Up on Blackwater Inquiry
Khody Akhavi
WASHINGTON – As with most of the controversies that have embroiled the U.S. in Iraq, the activities of the Bush administration’s mercenary force remained murky and opaque. Enabled by the U.S. State Department, private security firms such as Blackwater USA seemingly occupied a state of legal limbo that allowed their guards to operate with impunity.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39600
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Q&A: ‘EU Needs to Do More for Palestinians’
Interview with Europarliament’s VP
ROME – The European Union has definite responsibilities in the Palestine crisis, and must now carry them out, says Luisa Morgantini, Vice-President of the European Parliament.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39629
EU Quiet over Israeli Moves – By David Cronin
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39598
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To Mourn or Celebrate – Afghans’ Dilemma
Aparna Srivastava Reddy
KABUL – Ismarai has recently refurbished his shop selling soft drinks on the newly tarred avenue of Deh Mazan in the Afghan capital. Next to it stands a bombed out cinema house with white chalk signs that warn of landmines.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39682
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LEBANON: What A ‘Safe’ Cluster Bomb Did
Rebecca Murray
TYRE – The explosion ripped through the tiny garden in rural south Lebanon, hurling Naemah Ghazi to the ground. The shrapnel from the bomb sliced through her legs, and she rapidly lost consciousness. “There was a lot of blood,” her mother Khadija recalls. “All her body was bleeding.”
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39652
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U.S.: Keeping the Muslim Faith – And a Low Profile
Omid Memarian*
OAKLAND – Ali Hanif is an African-American Muslim living in Oakland, California. On Fridays, his day off, he attends group prayers at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Northern California. But Hanif says that he never volunteers his religion to strangers.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39675
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AFGHANISTAN: Battling the Taliban With Soviet-Era Weapons
Fawzia Sheikh*
KANDAHAR – In the dry Afghan heat a small band of hopeful soldiers, vying to become elite commandos, swiftly falls into line as drill instructor Lt. Abdul Hussein barks orders during a physical fitness exam.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39647
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IPS Washington bureau chief Jim Lobe’s take on U.S. foreign policy and the story behind the story. www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/
For more IPS reporting on the Middle East – www.ipsnews.net/middle.asp
Iraq: Beyond the Green Zone – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iraq/index.asp
Iran: The Parthian Shot – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/index.asp
Holy Land/Unholy War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/israel_palestina/index.asp
Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/index.asp
View From the U.S.: Bush at War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/index.asp
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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – Oct. 17
POVERTY: The World Speaks Up
Read IPS Special Coverage: www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/poverty/index.asp
The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is asking all people around the world to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT against poverty on Wednesday, Oct. 17.
The Missing Piece of the Poverty Puzzle
Anita Petry
UNITED NATIONS – Women are seen as the key for ending global poverty and the issue of gender equality is receiving special attention at events marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Wednesday.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39670
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Q&A: ‘GCAP Is About Political Engagement’
Interview with Irfan Mufti, GCAP campaign manager
BAHAWALPUR – Rights activist Irfan Mufti, currently working as campaign manager for the Global Call to Action against Poverty, is confident that this year will see the movement influencing national budgets as well as the policies of institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39665
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Palestinians Stand Up for What Matters
Ramsey Ben-Achour
RAMALLAH – While the international community concentrates on final status negotiations between the Palestinian government and Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians take part in demonstrations on Oct. 17 highlighting poverty and inequality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This call to end poverty is especially relevant here, where 46 percent of the people do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, according to the United Nations Relief Works Agency.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39653
IBSA – India, Brazil, South Africa – Emerging Giants
The three biggest democracies of the South? are holding their second summit, in Johannesburg. Will they be able to overcome challenges to serve as a motor for dialogue and South-South cooperation? www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/IBSA/index.asp
SOUTH AMERICA: Call Against Poverty Takes Aim at Inequality
Fabiana Frayssinet*
RIO DE JANEIRO – More than two years after the launch of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, social movements in South America are putting the accent on the fight against social inequality and criticism of the neoliberal economic model, which they see as hindering development.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39657
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CENTRAL AMERICA: Little Enthusiasm Over Anti-Poverty Campaign
Diego Cevallos*
MEXICO CITY – The enthusiasm among social groups in Mexico and Central America for the Global Call to Action against Poverty is not reflected by the general public, which has displayed scant interest in this week’s event.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39661
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PAKISTAN: Monster Banner Against Poverty Coming Up
Aoun Abbas
OKARA – When Shareefan Bibi, who works as a labourer at a brick kiln in this town 70 km from Lahore city, heard of the monster banner against poverty being put together she wanted to sign it.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39583
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