IPS News
IPS Inter Press Service - Millennium Development Goals
IPS, civil society's leading news agency, is an independent voice from the South and for development, delving into globalisation for the stories underneath.

MEXICO: Conservatives Lose Key Battle Against Abortion
MEXICO CITY, Aug 27 (IPS) - The Mexican government, Catholic Church and conservative groups lost a crucial battle Wednesday in their fight against abortion, which was legalised in the capital in April 2007.
RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Women Challenge King Mswati
MBABANE, Aug 27 (IPS) - Hard on the heels of the signing of the Gender Protocol at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state summit, Swazi women have challenged King Mswati III on the monarchy's lavish lifestyle in the face of abject poverty and disease.
DEVELOPMENT: Nepal Scrutinises Spending to Cap Gender Gaps
KATHMANDU, Aug 27 (IPS) - The period between 2002 and 2007, was marked with various political and economic changes in Nepal. As the government and the Maoist rebels fought a bloody war in the hinterlands, exports plummeted due to internal and international factors, investments by government and private sectors dropped due to instability caused by the war and agriculture stagnated. During this period Nepal?s average growth dropped from 5 to 2.9 percent.
DEVELOPMENT: Africa Still Hampered by Lack of Geographical Data
CAPE TOWN, Aug 27 (IPS) - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) could play a vital role in improving agriculture and boosting food security in Africa. However, only a few African countries are capable of developing such systems, partly because of a lack of basic geographical data.
BRAZIL: Producing Guitars and Luthiers in the Rainforest
MANAUS, Brazil, Aug 26 (IPS) - Cuban instrument-maker or luthier Raúl Lage came for six months, but has already spent seven and a half years in Manaus, the city in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. "The project is really fantastic," he says, explaining why he plans to renew his work contract again in September.
TRADE-KENYA: British Imports Losing Their Appeal
NAIROBI, Aug 26 (IPS) - When Kenya purchased Toyota vehicles for its military forces, instead of the all-pervasive Land Rover, it signalled a seismic change -- in effect ending the most favoured status enjoyed by imports sourced from its erstwhile colonial master the United Kingdom.
ENVIRONMENT-ARGENTINA: Scarce Water Threatened by Gold Mine
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 25 (IPS) - For nearly a year and a half, local residents in the northwestern Argentine province of La Rioja have been blocking the road that climbs up to the Nevados de Famatina mountain to protest a gold mining project that they say will pollute the water in the country?s driest district.
ETHIOPIA: Choosing Among One's Own Amid Food Crisis
ADDIS ABABA, Aug 25 (IPS) - The global food crisis has forced families to make grievous choices. When Mulu Baboche travelled from the Ethiopian capital to visit her home town in the drought-stricken southern countryside, she found her brother weakened, his animals emaciated and his nine children wilting from hunger.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Free Trade Deal Full of Potential - And Danger
CAPE TOWN, Aug 25 (IPS) - The launch of a free trade area (FTA) within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has brought the region one step closer to a regional customs union by 2010. But the launch of the FTA at the recent SADC heads of state summit was met with mixed reaction.
TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: FTA Will ??Choke?? Small Business
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 25 (IPS) - The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that Southern African Development Community (SADC) governments agreed to will boost large South African companies? reach in the region at the expense of small-scale producers and shops.
PERU: Indigenous Groups Win Major Battle in Congress
LIMA, Aug 22 (IPS) - The Peruvian Congress voted Friday to repeal two decrees that opened up communally owned native lands to private investment and that triggered a wave of protests this month by indigenous people in Amazon jungle provinces.
DEVELOPMENT: Food, Fuel and Water Crises Converging
STOCKHOLM, Aug 22 (IPS) - A spectre is haunting the cities and villages of most developing nations, warns a senior official of a World Bank-affiliated organisation.
DEVELOPMENT: Wasted Food Is Also Wasted Water
STOCKHOLM, Aug 21 (IPS) - The world's growing food crisis -- which triggered riots and demonstrations in over 30 developing nations early this year -- is being aggravated primarily by wastage and overconsumption.
BRAZIL: Setting an Important Precedent for Indigenous Lands
BOA VISTA, Roraima, Brazil, Aug 21 (IPS) - An imminent decision by Brazil?s Supreme Court on the demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous reservation in the Amazon jungle region has the country?s native communities on edge, because of the precedent it will set.
CULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: Crafts That Steal Hearts All Over the World
CAPE TOWN, Aug 21 (IPS) - It is early on a Monday morning and Margret Woermann is late for her interview with IPS. The owner and creative force behind the Heartworks shops is at a meeting discussing a project with a clothing designer.