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

IRAQ: U.S. Diplomatic Adviser’s Troubling Role in Oil Politics
Analysis by Helena Cobban*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – In 2003, U.S. diplomatist Peter Galbraith resigned at the end of a distinguished, 24-year government career. Over the years that followed, he worked as a contract-based adviser to leaders in Iraq’s Kurdish community, while also arguing passionately in public media that Iraq’s Kurds should be given maximum independence from Baghdad – including full control over any new sources of oil.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48904

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DEVELOPMENT-SOUTH ASIA: Women?s Peace Offensive
Analysis by Beena Sarwar
KABUL (IPS) – ?Give peace a chance? may just be another cliché
for many, but for women who have suffered the ravages of war, endless
strife and other forms of conflict, joining hands to find meaningful
solutions to their collective aspiration lends it a whole new meaning.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48905

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POLITICS: U.S. Berated for Shielding Israel on Gaza Killings
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – A U.S. decision to stall Security Council action against Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for war crimes during the 22-day conflict in Gaza last December has come under heavy fire both from inside and outside the United Nations.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48864

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GUATEMALA: Only 10 Agents to Fight Human Trafficking Nationwide
By Danilo Valladares
GUATEMALA CITY (IPS) – In spite of a new law against human trafficking in effect since March, little has been done in Guatemala to fight the trafficking of children, and child sex tourism has begun to flourish, experts warn.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48850

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AFRICA: Government on Collision Course with Civil Society
By Kelvin Kachingwe
LUSAKA (IPS) – The acquittal of former President Frederick Chiluba on charges of theft after a seven-year long landmark case, and the refusal by the Zambian government to appeal, has put government and civil society on a collision course.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48855

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SWITZERLAND: Undocumented Migrants Run Their Own School
By Ray Smith
ZURICH (IPS) – Switzerland is a tough place for asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants. In Zurich, they have been running a remarkable campaign for the past year, challenging the canton’s asylum policy. Now, they have opened their own school.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48829

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URUGUAY: Prison Without Bars Offers True Rehabilitation
By Pablo Alfano
MONTEVIDEO (IPS) – Fabián Rodríguez has two years to go on a long sentence for robbery. After spending time in three overcrowded maximum security prisons in Uruguay, he finally landed in a rehabilitation centre where work and respect are central pillars. Now he runs a bakery which supplies 200 inmates as well as the guards.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48876

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DEVELOPMENT: UNESCAP Steps in to Help Burma?s Debt-ridden Farmers
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK (IPS) – A regional United Nations body dubbed by its
critics as a “talk shop” and with limited concrete achievements to its
name appears set to change that image by striking a deal with one of
Asia?s recalcitrant regimes ? the Burmese military government.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48866

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MIDEAST: Gaza Gets Ambitious With Mud
By Eva Bartlett
SHEIKH ZAYED, Gaza (IPS) – On a searing summer morning, workers are adding layers to the mud-brick police station being constructed in Sheikh Zayed, northern Gaza.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48828

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UGANDA: Wanted: New Messengers on Women’s Rights
By Evelyn Kiapi
ENTEBBE, Uganda (IPS) – Activists have spent decades trying to get new laws passed to secure the rights of Ugandan women in the private sphere. As a fresh set of gender-related laws comes before parliament, activists are this time seeking to enlist male legislators as partners in advocating their passage.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48823

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