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

IPS LAUNCHES YEAR OF REPORTING ON THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

Ten years ago the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre burst onto the world stage giving social movements and civil society the space to challenge the orthodoxies symbolised by the World Economic Forum. Visit the IPS TerraViva World Social Forum 2010 site for independent news, analysis and commentary on up to 35 WSF events that will take place on every continent in 2010. What are the continuing challenges that drive social movements, and will the WSF stay relevant and innovative? Read IPS TerraViva to find out.
www.ips.org/TV/wsf2010/

HAITI: With Aid Slow to Arrive, Food Prices Skyrocket
By Garry Pierre-Pierre*
PORT-AU-PRINCE (IPS) – Last week, the price of a small can of rice was two dollars. On Tuesday, it cost Haitians 3.50 dollars. A gallon of cooking oil that cost 10 dollars only days ago now fetches 20 dollars.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50056

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WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Back Seat Driver of Social Change
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO (IPS) – The World Social Forum (WSF) is only “a tool” and must not be confused with the global movement for another world, says Chico Whitaker, one of the founders of this meeting which is celebrating its tenth year with a seminar to assess its track record Jan. 25-29, in its southern Brazilian place of origin, Porto Alegre.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50086

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MIDEAST: Civil Society Takes On Israeli Settlements
By Jerrold Kessell and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – Salam Fayyad turned civil society activist this week. In Salfit, on the West Bank, the Palestinian prime minister threw onto a giant bonfire goods made in Israeli settlements.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50060

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KENYA: Deportation Protest Leads to Widespread Arrests
By Susan Anyangu-Amu
NAIROBI (IPS) – Organisers of a protest march against the expulsion of Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah El Faisal say Kenyan police have arrested up to 400 people and are interrogating them to prove their nationality and try to uncover links to terrorism.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50038

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PERU: Victims of Military Rapists Wait for Justice 25 Years On
By Ángel Páez
LIMA (IPS) – “I want justice. That will be a kind of peace,” says Micaela, a 40-year-old woman from the Andean region of Peru who is a survivor of the sexual violence prevalent during the 1980-2000 civil war. Twenty-five years ago, soldiers assaulted her at a military base and in her own home.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50045

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INDIA: Stalled Korean Mining Operations Face Fresh Protests
By Keya Acharya
NEW DELHI (IPS) – The Indian government?s grant of the final environmental clearance to a Korean giant firm, allowing it to acquire 3,000 acres of ?forest lands? in the eastern state of Orissa, has prompted a fresh spate of protests from more than 4,000 families that will be affected by a proposed mining project.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50054

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SOUTH SUDAN: Tension Builds as Peace Agreement Marks Anniversary
Analysis by Moyiga Nduru
JUBA, South Sudan (IPS) – Sudan is at a crossroads. Its future looks grim. “Only a miracle can save it from disintegrating. The signs are already on the wall,” says Khamis Lako, a petty trader in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50024

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Small Islands Await Haitian-Type Disaster
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti last week has brought into sharp focus the threat of another natural disaster waiting to happen: a sea-level rise that could obliterate the world's small island states, triggering fears of mass migration.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50036

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RIGHTS:Expulsions From EU Rise Sharply
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS (IPS) – The number of asylum-seekers and other migrants expelled from the European` Union in joint operations between its governments has grown three times in as many years, IPS has learned.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50079

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RIGHTS-INDIA: Shelter for the Homeless amid Big Chill
By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI (IPS) – Happiness for Alok and Saddam is the bare canvas tent set up in the middle of a grassy traffic island close to Delhi Gate, the entrance to the old quarter of India?s capital.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50063

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