IPS Pick of the week: May 17 2013

	Against Push for Peace Talks, Outposts Continue Israeli Land Grab  Jillian Kestler-D'Amours  Ibrahim Makhlouf reaches for two wooden planks lying in the hallway and places them expertly in an L-shape along the seams of his front door. "Open ," he beckons, knowing that doing so is nearly impossible. "Every night, we put this here," he explains. "For the settlers." Makhlouf's home sits ... MORE > >
	Fears of Rebel Infiltration of DR Congo Army  Taylor Toeka Kakala  The "blind and unrestricted" reintegration of M23 deserters into the Congolese army could harm the country, according to Thomas d'Aquin Mwiti, the chair of the North Kivu civil society platform, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, ... MORE > >
	At Political Rally, Serbian Church Crosses Sensitive Line  Vesna Peric Zimonjic  The influential Serbian Orthodox Church publicly crossed a line recently when two of its top clergymen took part in a Belgrade rally with messages amounting to direct threats against the lives of government officials. The rally last Friday was organised by opponents of Serbia's recent and ... MORE > >
	U.S. Retailers Holding Out on Bangladesh Safety Agreement  Katelyn Fossett  Labour groups here are stepping up pressure on U.S. firms to sign a binding building safety agreement for Bangladeshi factories after 10 major European garment companies signed onto the landmark agreement. H&M, a major European apparel chain, signed the agreement Monday, and Benetton, which ... MORE > >
	In Post-Revolution Egypt, Social Media Shows Dark Side  Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani  More than two years after social media networks helped Egyptian activists organise massive street protests that led to the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak, these networks are now playing a less positive role, often serving as a platform for incitement, rumour-mongering and downright ... MORE > >
	Mexico Reinvents Forced Disappearance  Diana Cariboni  When people are forcibly disappeared in Mexico, it does not necessarily mean that the victims are immediately killed. In this country of entrenched violence, forced disappearance is also a method used to feed the markets for sexual exploitation and slave labour. Mexico has regressed "to the ... MORE > >
	Giving Paraplegic Women a New Lease on Life  Ashfaq Yusufzai  Gul Shada thought it was the end of the road for her when she and her husband met with a road accident last year in the Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Not only did the mishap leave Shada widowed at the relatively young age of 37, she also sustained ... MORE > >
	In Trinidad, Causes Debated as Flooding Worsens  Peter Richards  Officially, the Caribbean's rainy season begins in June, coinciding with the start of the hurricane season. But recently, heavy rains have signalled an early start to the rainy season, flooding streets, swelling rivers and causing widespread damage to crops. "With global warming, you have to ... MORE > >
	Drug Dealers Trade Crime for Peace in Rio de Janeiro  Fabiola Ortiz  Tuchinha was once a drug lord in Rio de Janeiro’s Mangueira favela. But today he is helping youngsters in this Brazilian city turn their lives around and leave behind crime, prison and the likelihood of an early death. Franciso Paulo Testas Monteiro, better known as Tuchinha, climbed to the ... MORE > >
	Skyping the Way to Victory, to Avoid Taliban  Ashfaq Yusufzai  If you can’t beat them, at least innovate. That seems to be the lesson that Pakistan’s Awami National Party (ANP) has drawn from its predicament. Exhausted of being at the receiving end of an endless barrage of bomb and suicide attacks by Taliban militants, the party has turned to technology for ... MORE > >