IPS Inter Press Service

Moe Yu May

PATHEIN - Shortly after sunrise on Saturday, a few men and women in this town on the banks of a river broke their morning routines to cast ballots -- an act unusual in the military-ruled country.

BURMA: UN Aid Arrives, But Many Doors Still Closed

BURMA: Junta Gives Referendum Priority Over Cyclone Relief

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: "Political Will" Needed To Address Food Crisis
Kwamboka Oyaro
NAIROBI - The need to give agriculture top billing on governmental "to do" lists has been highlighted at a telephone briefing to discuss the current food crisis as it affects Africa.

EUROPE: Stealth Lobbyists Creep In
David Cronin
BRUSSELS - The often cosy relationship between corporate lobbyists and the Brussels bureaucracy was illustrated in the past few weeks as several members of the European Parliament (MEPs) prepared to visit Peru.

ENERGY CRUNCH
	ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: Mekong Commission Fends Off Credibility Charges More >>

MIGRATION AND REFUGEES
	GREECE: Migrant Workers in Historic Strike More >>

BURMA: 'Junta Aid Blocks Could Multiply Cyclone Toll'
	Burma’s military regime may soon face charges of allowing tens of thousands of its own people to die through incompetence and bureaucratic red-tape placed in the way of international relief efforts for over one million cyclone victims in the country.

BURMA: Junta Holds Referendum in Cyclone Aftermath

BURMA: Junta Does U-Turn on Relief Aid

Q&A: "Literally, This Is Energy From Dirt"
	You've heard of solar power, and also wind power. Now, you might start hearing about soil power as well.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: "Political Will" Needed To Address Food Crisis

ENERGY-AFRICA: From Kerosene to the LED, O-HUB and O-BOX

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Broadcasters Break Hanging Secrecy Taboos
	The final seconds in the life of a Japanese death row inmate -- the rasping muffled last words, the trapdoor springing open, the whip of a noose and a Buddhist gong signalling the end -- has made radio history here, waking listeners up to what goes on in one of the most secretive execution systems in the world.

BURMA: 'Junta Aid Blocks Could Multiply Cyclone Toll'

ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: Mekong Commission Fends Off Credibility Charges

EUROPE: Stealth Lobbyists Creep In
	The often cosy relationship between corporate lobbyists and the Brussels bureaucracy was illustrated in the past few weeks as several members of the European Parliament (MEPs) prepared to visit Peru.

TURKEY: Ruling Party Challenges Closure

ICELAND: Road Threatens Heritage

CLIMATE CHANGE-CUBA: Prized Wetland in Danger
	If the worst outcomes predicted for climate change in Cuba become reality, a large portion of the Ciénaga de Zapata, the largest and best preserved wetland in the islands of the Caribbean Sea, could disappear by the second half of this century.

POLITICS-BOLIVIA: Morales Bets All or Nothing

PERU: All-Out War on Remnant of ‘Shining Path’ Guerrillas

LEBANON: Hezbollah, In Opposition, Takes Charge
	At least 11 people are dead and 30 injured during ferocious gun battles pitting opposition Shia Amal and Hezbollah fighters against members of the Sunni Future Movement, which is part of the majority March 14 alliance in government. As the opposition's militia men clamped down on government headquarters, the balance of power seems to have been shifted permanently in the Land of the Cedars.

IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?

IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat

BRAZIL: Sugarcane Alcohol Tarnished by U.S. Maize Ethanol
	Recent efforts by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to clearly mark the difference between Brazilian ethanol and the agrofuels produced by the United States are an admission that signing an agreement with Washington to promote a global bioethanol market was a serious political mistake, say analysts.

BIODIVERSITY-US: Loggers, Owls Not Out of the Woods Yet

POLITICS-US: Lawmakers Seek Probe of "Media Generals"

BURMA: 'Junta Aid Blocks Could Multiply Cyclone Toll'
	Burma’s military regime may soon face charges of allowing tens of thousands of its own people to die through incompetence and bureaucratic red-tape placed in the way of international relief efforts for over one million cyclone victims in the country.

ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: Mekong Commission Fends Off Credibility Charges

BURMA: Junta Holds Referendum in Cyclone Aftermath

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Broadcasters Break Hanging Secrecy Taboos
	The final seconds in the life of a Japanese death row inmate -- the rasping muffled last words, the trapdoor springing open, the whip of a noose and a Buddhist gong signalling the end -- has made radio history here, waking listeners up to what goes on in one of the most secretive execution systems in the world.

BURMA: 'Junta Aid Blocks Could Multiply Cyclone Toll'

BURMA: Junta Holds Referendum in Cyclone Aftermath

BURMA: Junta Does U-Turn on Relief Aid
	The military government of Burma (Myanmar), in a dramatic turnaround, has offered to cooperate with the United Nations in its massive relief efforts in the cyclone-devastated country where the death toll could exceed 100,000.

COLOMBIA: Therapeutic Abortion - A Right in Name Only?

BURMA: UN Aid Arrives, But Many Doors Still Closed

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Broadcasters Break Hanging Secrecy Taboos
	The final seconds in the life of a Japanese death row inmate -- the rasping muffled last words, the trapdoor springing open, the whip of a noose and a Buddhist gong signalling the end -- has made radio history here, waking listeners up to what goes on in one of the most secretive execution systems in the world.

BURMA: 'Junta Aid Blocks Could Multiply Cyclone Toll'

ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: Mekong Commission Fends Off Credibility Charges