Climate, AIDS and Efforts Towards Peace

The Week with IPS

=================

Here are some of the most-read stories of the past week — and stories you shouldn’t go without reading:

===========================================================================

MIDEAST: Olmert Walks Razor’s Edge in Peace Talks

Analysis by Peter Hirschberg

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has issued a dire warning to his people. Failure to reach a negotiated two-state settlement with the Palestinians, he has declared, will mean the end of the State of Israel.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40322

========================================================

CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE - Dec 3-14

====================================

JAPAN: Looking to Play a Key Role in Bali

Catherine Makino

TOKYO - Japan expects to play a key role at the 11-day conference which begins Monday on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, under the aegis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCC). “Climate change and environmental issues are opportunities for Japan to promote positive ‘trans-border’ relations with its neighbors.”

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40320

*****

Latin America Wants Rich Nations to Foot the Bill

Mario Osava - Tierramérica

RIO DE JANEIRO - At the global conference in Bali starting this week, Latin American governments will call for greater commitments from industrialised countries to curb climate change and to provide financial support for developing countries to deal with its effects.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40312

*****

Q&A: ‘Emissions Trading Can Raise Billions To Combat Climate Change’

Interview with German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul

BERLIN - Developed countries have a “moral duty” to help the world’s poorest countries combat the consequences of climate change to which they have contributed the least, says German Development Cooperation Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40289

Confronting Climate Change - More IPS News

http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/kyoto/index.asp

========================================================

WORLD AIDS DAY

=================

KENYA: Many Firms Still Ignoring the Bottom Line on HIV

Kwamboka Oyaro

NAIROBI - HIV/AIDS cuts workers down in their prime, taking to the grave a wealth of training and experience that companies can ill afford to lose. Lower productivity, absenteeism from work and increased medical bills exact a further toll on the private sector — all of which begs the question: are employers being sufficiently active in helping to fight AIDS?

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40310

*****

Racism, Gov’t Apathy Fuel U.S. Epidemic

Adrianne Appel

BOSTON - The United States has slashed the AIDS death rate among white and wealthy U.S. citizens, but the disease continues to ravage the black community at full force, leaders say.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40267

More IPS News on HIV/AIDS http://www.ipsnews.net/hivaids.asp

========================================================

PERU: President Brandishes His Own Terror Threat

Ángel Páez

LIMA - Fear has struck again, chilling the hearts of hundreds of Peruvians who were sent to prison on false charges of belonging to the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas or the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) during Peru’s 1980-2000 civil war.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40299

*****

U.S.: Civil Libertarians Warn of “Patriot Act Lite”

William Fisher

NEW YORK - Civil libertarians are worried that a little-known anti-terrorism bill now making its way through the U.S. Congress with virtually no debate could be planting the seeds of another USA Patriot Act, which was hurriedly enacted into law after the al Qaeda attacks of Sep. 11, 2001.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40237

*****

PHILIPPINES: Aerial Spraying Issue Turns Seesaw Court Battle

Brad Miller*

DAVAO CITY - The villagers in the mountains surrounding Davao city are bracing for the day the crop-dusting planes resume dropping fungicide on the banana plantations — and the wind blowing toxic fog over their houses, water supply and children.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40264

*****

HELSINKI PROCESS: Farewell to a Unique Forum for Dialogue

Analysis by Alejandro Kirk

DAR ES SALAAM - The Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy was launched five years ago by Finland and Tanzania with the aim of addressing international divisions, to achieve an inclusive globalisation process based on human and environmental security. However, at a conference held here to review the second phase of the process, it was sentenced to die young.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40282

=============================================================================

And much more global news at: http://www.ipsnews.net/

============================================================================

Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS), the world’s leading provider of information on global issues, is backed by a network of journalists in more than 100 countries. Its clients include more than 3,000 media organisations and tens of thousands of civil society groups, academics, and other users.

IPS focuses its news coverage on the events and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations.

=============================================================================

Visit Inter Press Service at http://www.ipsnews.net