Here are some of the most-read stories of the past week — and stories you shouldn’t go without reading:
IRAQ: In Tatters Beneath a Surge of Claims
Analysis by Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail*
BAGHDAD – What the U.S. has been calling the success of a “surge”, many Iraqis see as evidence of catastrophe. Where U.S. forces point to peace and calm, local Iraqis find an eerie silence.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41308
IRAQ: Unemployment Too Becomes Epidemic – By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41284
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CUBA: Raúl Shares His Seat with Fidel
Dalia Acosta
HAVANA – Raúl Castro, one of the leaders of the Cuban revolution and a lifelong communist, is Cuba?s new president as of Sunday. But he said he would listen to the views of Fidel, who he described as “not substitutable,” as long as his older brother is around.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41321
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KOSOVO: Challenged State Faces an Uncertain Future
Zoltán Dujisin
PRISTINA – As the euphoria over the proclamation of independence slowly dissipates, Kosovars will have to focus on the enormous political and economic challenges corruption, poverty and an angry Serbia will pose to statehood.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41313
TRADE-UGANDA: A two-part series by Aileen Kwa
Exposing “The African Green Revolution”
GENEVA – Uganda’s major trade partners are not only looking for food markets but also for seed markets. This has happened in a push that has been packaged as “the new green revolution” by corporations involved in biotechnology and chemicals. They have been supported by philanthropic organizations, notably the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41288
Privatisation of Seeds Moving Apace
GENEVA – The Ugandan parliament will soon have a hearing on the draft Plant Variety Protection Bill, approved by the cabinet early last year. If passed unmodified, the bill is likely to entrench the rights of plant breeders and companies while curtailing the rights of small farmers to exchange, save and breed new varieties using hybrid seeds.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41289
PERU: Survivors Come Face-to Face with Massacre Leader
Ángel Páez
LIMA – Teófila Ochoa and Cirila Pulido, survivors of a 1985 massacre in Peru, said that seeing retired Peruvian army officer Telmo Hurtado in prison-issue clothing and shackles was the closest they have come to seeing justice done.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41310
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INDIA-U.S.: Last Ditch Push For Nuclear Deal
Praful Bidwai
NEW DELHI – With the presidential race gathering momentum in the United States, a last ditch effort is being mounted to push through the controversial U.S.-India nuclear cooperation deal, before the window of political opportunity slams shut in Washington.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41309
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U.S.: Snake Oil Sellers of the Christian Right?
Khody Akhavi
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs came under heavy criticism earlier this month from Muslim and religious freedom advocacy groups after it invited to a conference three self-professed “former terrorists” with strong links to the Christian right.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41299
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Grudging Support For New Cluster Munitions Treaty
Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY – Six-year-old Umarvek Pulodov was playing in the dining room of his home in Shul village, Tajikistan, when a cluster bomb pierced through the roof, instantly killing his brother, cousin and another relative and severely injuring him, his sister and two younger brothers.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41285
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PERU: From Shantytown to Model for Urban Development
Clarinha Glock
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil – Peruvian activist María Elena Moyano became a liability in the eyes of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels on Feb. 13, 1992. That was the day she dared to flout the curfew imposed by the insurgents in order to lead a peace march in the streets.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41250
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SCIENCE: Deposing the Tyranny of English
Adrianne Appel
BOSTON – For scientists around the world, it is publish — in English — or perish. The English language has come to dominate science around the world, and millions of researchers who don’t speak and write English fluently are excluded from recognition, say a group of scientists who are calling for change.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41307 (Subscription)
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