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

MIDEAST: Gaza Locked In Despite Truce
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – Despite a torrent of mutual recriminations, the fragile truce between Israel and Palestinian resistance faction Hamas survived into its third week. Israel, however, has been slow to fulfil its pledge — as laid down in an Egypt-brokered ceasefire agreement — to allow desperately-needed humanitarian supplies into the outdoor prison that is the Gaza Strip.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43092

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INDIA-U.S.: Deceptions Surface in Nuclear Deal
Analysis by Praful Bidwai
NEW DELHI, Jul 11 (IPS) – The Indian government has taken a major step towards completing its controversial nuclear cooperation deal with the United States by moving the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency for approving an inspections (safeguards) agreement it signed last year with the IAEA secretariat pertaining to civilian nuclear reactors.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43153

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COLOMBIA: Did the Army ‘Steal’ FARC’s Hostage Release?
Kintto Lucas
QUITO, Ecuador – A source close to the insurgent Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) told IPS that the Jul. 2 rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages by the Colombian military “intercepted their liberation, planned for this weekend (Jul. 5-6) or the next,” by the FARC rebels.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43111

Questions Surround Foreign Role in Hostage Rescue – By Constanza Vieira
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43103

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GLOBALISATION: You’re Not on Their Speed Dial
Abra Pollock
WASHINGTON – Amidst the rise of multinational corporations, technology that unites people across borders, and new waves of international migration, globalisation has also ushered in the formation of a powerful network of elites who have access to unprecedented resources and influence — and whose decision-making impacts the lives of millions across the globe.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43124

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Q&A: Family Planning In Its Infancy in South Sudan
Interview with Makur Kariom, Director of Reproductive Health
JUBA – With few roads and almost no health and education infrastructure for the estimated 10 million people of South Sudan — an April census has yet to release any results — health care workers have an enormous task ahead of them.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43149

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Israel Fears the Womb More Than the Bomb
Peter Hirschberg
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has laid it out in the starkest possible terms for his fellow Israelis. If they do not relinquish control of the occupied territories, he has warned them, Israel will ultimately cease to exist as a Jewish and democratic state.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43136

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BIODIVERSITY: A Third of Corals Face Extinction
Stephen Leahy
FORT LAUDERDALE, U.S. – One third of reef-building corals already face extinction because of climate change, the first-ever global assessment has found. Reefs are made up of hundreds of coral species, and a two-year study to determine the current status of corals has discovered that 231 of the 704 species assessed will be “red-listed”.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43141

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ETHIOPIA: New Media Law, New Threat to Press Freedom
Najum Mushtaq
NAIROBI – The preamble to Ethiopia’s new media law declares that it “removes all obstacles that were impediments to the operation of the media in Ethiopia.” But an analysis by Ethiopian journalists finds it actually clears the way for government to continue to harass and persecute the messenger when the message is not in line with the whims of the rulers.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43112

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INDIA: One-Child Ideal Catching On
Soma Basu
MADURAI, Tamil Nadu – Ponni, 27, lay quiet on a missionary hospital bed in this small town, groggy from the anaesthetic administered to her for a caesarean delivery a couple of hours earlier.
She and her husband are government employees, leading ordinary lives in this conservative town famous for its Hindu temples. What sets them apart from the thousands of other couples was their rather unusual decision to limit the size of their family to one child — even if that child was a girl.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43145

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Q&A: “With the Right Methods, You Can Be Self-Sufficient”
Interview with Boubacar Amadou, volunteer manager with UNHCR in Chad
GORE – The U.N. High Commission for Refugees says that in the five years since camps were established in Southern Chad for Central African refugees, U.N.-administered agriculture programs have reduced external food assistance to a minimum.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43162

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