Siriel-Media

RELIGION-BRAZIL: Intolerance Denounced at UN	more
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul 3 (IPS) - "Ialorix�" Gilda died of a massive heart attack in 1999 after members of a pentecostal church swarmed into her temple and hit her over the head with a Bible. Her death drew attention to the growing religious intolerance in Brazil, which was denounced this week at the United Nations.
PERU: Petroleum Sullies the Amazon	more
BAGUA, Peru, Jul 3 (IPS/IFEJ) - "Now the fish are going to disappear," said Luis Umpunchi, an Awaj�n Indian, one of about 20 people gathered around a broken oil pipeline in the Jayais community, in the northern Peruvian province of Amazonas.
RIGHTS-AFRICA: AU Heeds Perpetrators Not Victims	more
Sirte, LIBYA, Jul 3 (IPS) - The final day of the African Union summit has been dedicated to the issue of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, charged with seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture.
CUBA-US: Frosty Relations No Bar to Communication	more
HAVANA, Jul 3 (IPS) - Cuba and the United States are poised to resume talks on migration issues any time now, although the five Cuban agents imprisoned in the U.S. remain "a formidable obstacle" to normalising bilateral relations, according to Cuban parliament president Ricardo Alarc�n.
RIGHTS-INDIA: India's Historic Gay Ruling	more
KOLKATA, Jul 3 (IPS) - A day after the Delhi High Court's landmark judgment to overturn a colonial law that criminalised homosexuality, Indians expressed mixed reactions to the verdict.
Q&A: "The Elites Are Like a Huge Elephant Sitting on Haiti"	more
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jul 3 (IPS) - Haitian Prime Minister Mich�le Pierre-Louis assumed office in September 2008. Born in the southern city of J�r�mie in 1947, she left Haiti with her family in 1964 following a pogrom by dictator Fran�ois Duvalier against his perceived enemies in her town.
KENYA: A Role For Men in Gender Equality	more
NAIROBI, Jul 3 (IPS) - The recent Gender Festival in Kenya has underlined the important role that male activism can play in achieving gender equality and women?s empowerment.
IRAN: Picnicking Outside Evin Prison	more
TEHRAN, Jul 2 (IPS) - Outside the gates of Tehran's notorious Evin prison, hundreds wait impatiently ? some with blankets spread out in the parking lot on the street below, making time for dinner.
US-AFGHANISTAN: Four Thousand Marines to "Drink Lots of Tea"	more
WASHINGTON, Jul 2 (IPS) - After months of planning and putting pieces in order, aspects of the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan are beginning to be concretely implemented ? including a surge of troops and attempts to curtail the poppy trade that allegedly funds insurgents.
HONDURAS: Activists Decry Suspension of Fundamental Rights	more
TEGUCIGALPA, Jul 2 (IPS) - Local and international human rights organisations and left-wing legislators condemned the suspension of constitutional rights in Honduras during the night-time curfew, which tightened the state of siege in effect since President Manuel Zelaya was ousted Sunday.
DR-CONGO: U.N.-Backed Troops Abusing Civilians, HRW Says	more
WASHINGTON, Jul 2 (IPS) - United Nations-backed Congolese armed forces conducting intensified military operations in eastern and northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have failed to protect civilians from brutal rebel retaliatory attacks and instead are themselves attacking and raping Congolese civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday.
COLOMBIA: "We Will Never Recover Our Standard of Living"	more
CARACAS, Jul 2 (IPS) - "It never crossed my mind that I would have to leave my country and leave behind our farms, work, people and lifestyle. It was a life or death decision we had to take in a matter of hours," said Amalia*, a 42-year-old married Colombian woman with two children, who for the past seven years has lived on the outskirts of the Venezuelan capital.
RUSSIA: Chechen Civilians Face Collective Punishment	more
WASHINGTON, Jul 2 (IPS) - Russian federal and Chechen authorities should immediately put a stop to home burnings and other collective punishment practices against families of alleged insurgents in Chechnya, said a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Thursday.
MIDEAST: Future of Fatah in Doubt	more
RAMALLAH, Jul 2 (IPS) - The future of Palestinian unity talks is far more complex than the bitter rivalry, bloodshed and division which represent the yawning chasm separating Palestine's two main political factions, Hamas and Fatah.
MEDIA-CHINA: Government Attempts to Block "Harmful Content" Thwarted	more
BEIJING, Jul 2 (IPS) - Beijing?s last minute climb-down on its latest Internet-censorship effort this week highlights the possibility that Chinese communist mandarins? main challenge in the future lies not in quelling political dissent, but reigning in its tech-savvy educated elite.
IRAN: Rights Group Seeks Release of Mistreated and Ill Detainee	more
WASHINGTON, Jul 1 (IPS) - Iranian authorities should release a prominent reformist detained during recent post-election unrest to a medical facility because he has suffered harsh interrogations and inadequate medical care that could have life-threatening consequences, said a prominent human rights group Wednesday.
LIBERIA: Controversial Mayor is Talk of the Town	more
MONROVIA, Jul 1 (IPS) - Myaha Johnson sits with her family beneath a flimsy shelter of black plastic, looking with despair at the charred remains of what used to be their home. Mary Broh, Monrovia?s controversial mayor-designate, had just swept through the neighbourhood with her task force, vigorously tearing down residential structures along the back road, including their own.
RIGHTS: U.N. Revisits U.S. Policies on Racial Profiling	more
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 1 (IPS) - Millions of U.S. citizens continue to face discrimination at the hands of police and other law enforcement agencies just because they are not white, although the country's new leader in the White House is himself of African descent on his father's side.
ECONOMY: Migrant Miseries Will Trickle Down Worldwide, U.N. Warns	more
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 1 (IPS) - At least 150 million migrant workers - out of an estimated total of 200 million in the world today - fit the "demographic characteristics of workers who are the most vulnerable" during the current global financial crisis, the U.N. says.
RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: An Uphill Battle Against Abuse And Torture	more
KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 1 (IPS) - Domestic helper Siti Hajar, 33, from Garut district, Indonesia is a picture of calm as she leans against the wall at a shelter for abused maids and dreams of returning to her village.
MIDEAST: Nobel Laureate 'Abducted' by Israeli Navy	more
RAMALLAH, Jul 1 (IPS) - Twenty-one international peace activists were seized by Israeli naval frigates in international waters Tuesday as their boat 'The Spirit of Humanity' tried to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza.
US-HONDURAS: Dictatorships and Double Standards Revisited	more
WASHINGTON, Jul 1 (IPS) - When the Honduran military deposed President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday, in an incident that stirred memories of Cold War military coups in Latin America, it also seems to have caused at least some foreign policy commentators here to revert to positions reminiscent of the Cold War.
AUSTRALIA: Attacks Expose Ills Of A Much-Touted Education System	more
SYDNEY, Jul 1 (IPS) - The modern fa�ade of its cities, cost-effectiveness and its high standards of education make Australia an attractive destination for foreign students. But the recent spate of attacks on Indian students has exposed the many ills afflicting the Australian education system, threatening its lucrative markets.
AUSTRIA: Racism on a Sharp Rise	more
VIENNA, Jul 1 (IPS) - Mainstream political parties in Austria must change their approach if a growing anti-immigrant sentiment stoked by far-right politicians is to be curbed, racism watchdogs and political analysts say.
MIDEAST: Finding Fish, But Israelis Too	more
GAZA CITY, Jul 1 (IPS) - "They told us 'go west or we will shoot you'," says Ashraf Sadallah. "Initially, we refused, so they began shooting very close all around our boat."
BURMA: U.N. Chief Comes Calling with Politics on His Mind	more
BANGKOK, Jul 1 (IPS) - The return this week of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to military-ruled Burma gives the mission an air of a high-stakes gamble. On the line is the world body?s credibility to make headway in a country where outside pressure to break a political deadlock is frequently ignored by the military junta.
HONDURAS: Regime Faces International Isolation	more
TEGUCIGALPA, Jun 30 (IPS) - In the midst of the international isolation faced by the new government named by the Honduran Congress to replace President Manuel Zelaya who was ousted Sunday, the courts issued an arrest warrant for the leader Tuesday.
IRAN: Anger and Despair Linger After Govt Confirms Poll	more
TEHRAN, Jun 30 (IPS) - On Monday, after a televised counting of the 10 percent of the ballot boxes, the body that oversees Iranian elections upheld the results of the disputed presidential elections.
POLITICS: Deposed Honduran President Speaks at U.N.	more
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 30 (IPS) - Just a few days after being expelled from Honduras, the country that he was democratically elected to lead, Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales addressed the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, witnessing the unanimous passage of resolution that demands his reinstatement.
AFRICA: Maternal Mortality, A Human Rights Catastrophe	more
BRUSSELS and CAPE TOWN, Jun 30 (IPS) - The right to the highest attainable standard of health: not the most fashionable of human rights, but the limits on people's enjoyment of their right to health often coincide with continuing inequalities behind claims of economic growth or political reform.