G8: A Mountain Of Wishes Waits
By Ramesh Jaura
TOYAKO, Japan - When the leaders of seven western industrial democracies and Russia gather for their meetings Jul. 7-9 in Toyako on the northern island of Hokkaido, a mountain of wishes tabled by a multitude of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from around the world would have piled up before them.
MORE >>

HONDURAS: The Data You Seek Will Be Available - in 2018
By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA - In a highly controversial decision, the Honduran Institute for Access to Public Information (IAIP) has decided to keep from public scrutiny for 10 years key documents from the Finance Ministry and the tax collection authority.
MORE >>

POLITICS-AFRICA: Mixed Reviews From Civil Society
By Aya Batrawy
CAIRO - Civil society organisations (CSOs) have mixed feelings about the outcomes of the latest African Union Summit, which concluded in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh earlier this week. The summit meeting of African heads of state and officials was largely dominated by debate – or lack thereof – over the crisis in Zimbabwe and the participation of the controversial president, Robert Mugabe.
MORE >>

AUSTRALIA: Food At Risk From Bee Pest
By Stephen de Tarczynski
MELBOURNE - Australia’s food security is under threat from a tiny parasite with the potential to devastate the nation’s bee and pollination industries.
MORE >>

G8: Japan Showcases its Environmental Policy
By Keya Acharya
TOKYO - Japan has one of the world’s most aggressive environmental policies, set both to meet 2012 emission reduction targets and to make the country -- which has no natural resources of its own -- less dependent on imports, according to experts meeting here. At a meeting of influential parliamentarians of GLOBE (global legislators for a balanced environment) ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in Hokkaido, Jul. 7-9, several high-profile Japanese politicians spoke of Prime Minister Fukuda’s low-carbon initiatives.
MORE >>

PERU: Montesinos Defends Fujimori, Then Clams Up
By Ángel Páez
LIMA - Vladimiro Montesinos, the second most powerful person in the regime of former President Alberto Fujimori in Peru (1990-2000), has admitted in court that crimes were committed during intelligence operations he directed.
MORE >>

G8: Trying to Move Beyond Debate on Emission Targets
By Keya Acharya
TOKYO - Approximately 133 parliamentarians from 23 countries along with prominent politicians under a caucus called GLOBE (global legislators for a balanced environment) have gathered here ahead of the Jul. 7-9 G8 meetings in Hokkaido. They hope to influence the G8 -- the world’s most industrialised countries -- to adopt a policy for tacking climate change post-2012 when the current Kyoto Protocol ends.
MORE >>

NICARAGUA: "The Women’s Movement Is in Opposition"
Interview with Sofía Montenegro of the Nicaraguan Autonomous Women’s Movement
MONTEVIDEO - The action taken on abortion by the governing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in Nicaragua is "a betrayal" of women, who were "key allies" of the 1979 revolution. Therefore there has been a "radicalisation of the women’s movement," which is declaring itself in opposition, activist Sofía Montenegro told IPS.
MORE >>

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Making the ‘Disappeared’ Reappear
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA - "When they bring in (heads that still have) eyes, we close them, because it’s sad to see that look of terror, as if the killers were reflected in their glassy eyes. Those armed men stuck in the depth of the eyes of the dead scare us; they look like they want to kill us too.
MORE >>

POLITICS-BANGLADESH: Govt Plans Local Polls Amid Strong Opposition
By Farid Ahmed
DHAKA - Bangladesh is lurching into crisis again as its military-backed interim government insists on holding local government polls amid the strong opposition of all major political parties.
MORE >>

Next >>