IPS Inter Press Service

Helda Martínez

BOGOTÁ - "There are alarming links between increased reports of extrajudicial executions of civilians by the Colombian army and units that receive U.S. military financing," John Lindsay-Poland, lead author of a two-year study on the question, told IPS.

COLOMBIA: Future Holds More of the Same

COLOMBIA: Secret Documents Show US Aware of Army Killings in 1990s - 2009

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Extrajudicial Killings Under Scrutiny - 2008

GREECE
Society Begins to Crack Under Harsh Measures
Apostolis Fotiadis
ATHENS - Every working day, more than a hundred people crowd around the entrance of the merchant and passenger boats' reconstruction industry, well known as 'The Zone', in the southern suburb of Attiki.

As Sanctions Rise, China Steps Deeper Into Iran
Analysis by Antoaneta Becker
LONDON - The European Union's new sanctions against Iran appear to open a new space for eager Chinese companies to expand their investments in a country viewed as a rogue player by much of the western world.

Long-Awaited Cluster Bomb Ban Enters Into Force
	Thirty-eight countries will start observing the Convention on Cluster Munitions this Sunday, Aug. 1, after a rapid entry into force since the treaty was announced two years ago in Oslo.

U.N. Declares Water and Sanitation a Basic Human Right

MIGRATION-PORTUGAL: On the Football Pitch, Everyone Is Equal

MALAWI: Innovative Campaigning by Women Candidates
	You will find Beauty Kasonda on her campaign trail at funerals, weddings, church functions or just about any local gathering in her community. Kasonda does not have the sort of funding her male counterparts have for campaigning in the country's November 2010 elections but she is not letting that stop her.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Realising Trade in Virtual Water

KENYA: Claim Disputed that Trade Measures "Aid" Counterfeiters

JAPAN-SOUTH KOREA: 100 Years Later, Mistrust far From Gone
	Economies ties between Japan and South Korea are becoming stronger by the day, and the neighbouring countries have also been collaborating more frequently on the cultural front.

As Sanctions Rise, China Steps Deeper Into Iran

AUSTRALIA: Marine Biodiversity Threatened by Oil, Gas Exploration

GREECE: Society Begins to Crack Under Harsh Measures
	Every working day, more than a hundred people crowd around the entrance of the merchant and passenger boats' reconstruction industry, well known as 'The Zone', in the southern suburb of Attiki.

BULGARIA: Refuge Can Get Worse Than Rejection

BALKANS: Yugoslavia Tribunal Faces Uncertain Legacy

BRAZIL: Young Indigenous Hero Teaches History in Video Game
	Computer game technology can have an impact on the way we view the world. In a new video game developed in Brazil, a young indigenous boy named Jeró helps break down the stereotypes of the worldwide video game industry while teaching about the history of colonialism.

HUMAN RIGHTS-CHILE: Unfinished Business

PERU: Families of Victims of Biggest Shining Path Massacre Seek Justice

Dutch Christian Group Backs Settlements
	Sandwiched between giant car and furniture stores on a motorway stop-off, a blue-and-white Star of David flag droops nonchalantly on a stifling summer's day. The factory-like building beside it could easily be missed by a traveller who blinks too soon, yet the work undertaken here in the Israel Centre is far from commonplace.

Rape, Deception, or Racism

Egypt Punishes Gaza More

COLOMBIA: Report Suggests "Correlation" between U.S. Aid and Army Killings
	"There are alarming links between increased reports of extrajudicial executions of civilians by the Colombian army and units that receive U.S. military financing," John Lindsay-Poland, lead author of a two-year study on the question, told IPS.

Haiti Gears Up for Polls - Again, Sans Lavalas

HONDURAS: Rights Situation Deteriorates

AUSTRALIA: Marine Biodiversity Threatened by Oil, Gas Exploration
	In early July, whales from the world's largest population of humpbacks began arriving in the warm, subtropical waters off Australia's north-west coast to breed and nurse their young.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Thailand Faces Flak for Backing Mekong Dams

PERU: Adios, Doe Run

HUMAN RIGHTS-CHILE: Unfinished Business
	The controversial proposal to pardon some convicts in Chile for humanitarian reasons, which was put forward by the Catholic Church and partially taken up by President Sebastián Piñera, has revived the debate on the country's human rights situation, both past and present.

PERU: Families of Victims of Biggest Shining Path Massacre Seek Justice

MALAWI: Innovative Campaigning by Women Candidates

KENYA: Claim Disputed that Trade Measures "Aid" Counterfeiters
	A major pharmaceutical company in Kenya alleges that special trade measures to make medicines available in poor countries create "loopholes" for counterfeit medicines to enter the market – a claim that health rights advocates refute.

HEALTH: Uganda Authority Finding Less Counterfeit Drugs

PERU: Adios, Doe Run

Long-Awaited Cluster Bomb Ban Enters Into Force
	Thirty-eight countries will start observing the Convention on Cluster Munitions this Sunday, Aug. 1, after a rapid entry into force since the treaty was announced two years ago in Oslo.

HONDURAS: Rights Situation Deteriorates

IRAN: Poll Finds Dwindling Support for Govt