Milagros Salazar LIMA, Oct 9 2007 (IPS) – Social organisations in Peru have joined forces to save the Mantaro river, which is being killed by pesticides, untreated sewage, and the waste products dumped by the mining industry. The river, which runs through the Andes mountain range in central Peru at between 3,400 and 4,300 metres…

Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1 2007 (IPS) – When the Israeli Air Force destroyed a slew of oil storage tanks and a key power station in Lebanon in July 2006, the environmental damage was described as devastating. A holiday beach near Jbeil, which was heaviliy polluted by oil as a result of the Israeli…

Zoltán Dujisin PRAGUE, Nov 30 2007 (IPS) – The Czech government has begun an 890,000-dollar information campaign supporting the U.S. plan to set up a radar station in the Czech Republic. Opponents of the plan led by the Social Democrats want some of that money to fund alternative information campaigns so as to create an…

Mohammed Omer GAZA CITY, Jan 21 2008 (IPS) – Seventy-six-year-old Mustapha al-Jamal goes door to door, looking for help in finding medicines for his son. At home, the 53-year-old son Yahya al-Jamal lies back, staring at the ceiling. By his side, an oxygen cylinder keeps him going for now. A Plea from Mustapha al-Jamal Credit:…

Aimable Twahirwa KIGALI, Feb 21 2008 (IPS) – Certain medical workers in Rwanda have expressed concern about the country s campaign to promote male circumcision as a means of curbing the spread of HIV. They fear that in a country with low levels of knowledge about sexual health, people could mistakenly believe the procedure offers…

Am Johal VANCOUVER, Mar 28 2008 (IPS) – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has doubled its use of Taser stun guns since 2005, according to an investigation by CBC and the Canadian Press. The RCMP has also been found to be less than forthright in producing information related to Taser incidents. The use of…

Arlene Chang UNITED NATIONS, May 9 2008 (IPS) – As the first U.N. relief planes landed in Yangon early on Thursday, humanitarian officials complained that the aid flowing into cyclone-devastated Burma (Myanmar) is still encountering bureaucratic obstacles that are threatening the lives of desperate survivors. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes holds press conference on…

Claudia Ciobanu BUCHAREST, Jun 12 2008 (IPS) – Romania used to be infamous for its nightmarish orphanages. Since 2001, however, the national system of care for vulnerable children has been undergoing a successful reform process. Authorities in the county Brasov in central Romania bring children found begging on the streets, youths who have been abused,…

Jonathan Springston and Matthew Cardinale ATLANTA, Georgia, Jul 14 2008 (IPS) – A coalition of over 100 national and local organisations representing labour unions, doctors, nurses, women, small businesses, religious groups, racial minorities, and think tanks has launched a new campaign in 53 U.S. cities to demand quality, affordable health care for every United States…

Zofeen Ebrahim MEXICO CITY, Aug 8 2008 (IPS) – I m a survivor, and if I can live through all that has happened to me, so can other women, said Floride Nyiraneza, 42, who is HIV positive and a widowed mother of four. She was among the 250,000 women who were systematically raped in 1994,…