IPS Pick of Week 2013.11.29

2013/11/29	Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
	Aiming at NATO, Hitting Afghans  Ashfaq Yusufzai  A blockade of NATO supplies to Afghanistan by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s party has ended up hitting Pakistan’s legal trade with its neighbour, say local traders and truckers. They say the agitation by Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) is hurting the common people of Afghanistan as the ... MORE > >
	Uganda’s First Female Funeral Director – From Taboo to Mainstream  Amy Fallon  Uganda may have the third-highest fertility rate in the world but where there is life, death is inevitable. And it is a certainty that Regina Mukiibi Mugongo made the most of when she became this East African nation’s first ever funeral director almost two decades ago. But in a country where a ... MORE > >
	GM Crop Could Migrate Dangerously  Ranjit Devraj  Food security activists who secured a moratorium on introducing genetically modified brinjal (aubergine) into India fear that their efforts are being undermined by the release of GM brinjal in neighbouring Bangladesh. "India and Bangladesh share a long and porous border and it is easy for GM ... MORE > >
	‘Business Is Business, Moses Is Moses’  Pierre Klochendler  As civil war paralyses Syria’s transit routes and political flux in Egypt may affect security at the Suez Canal, Israel is busy repositioning itself as a transhipment hub and trade gateway to the Middle East. With the government initiating massive infrastructure reform, Israeli businesses are ... MORE > >
	The Other Rearguard of Colombia’s FARC Rebels  Humberto Márquez  The presence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is evident in Venezuela’s Amazon region, where the guerrillas can be seen on speed boats, in camps, or interacting with local indigenous communities. “We see them once in a while passing by in a boat in the evening, dressed in ... MORE > >
	Spring Bursts Among the Toubou in Libya's Desert  Karlos Zurutuza  "Can there possibly be anything more satisfying than teaching your own language to your own people?" Abdel Salam Wahali remarked to IPS. He is a teacher of Tebu, an ancient language which is experiencing a boom in post-Gaddafi Libya. "Lessons start at 5:00 PM and finish at 7:30 PM because the ... MORE > >
	Almost 20 Years On - International Justice Still Fails Rwandans  Adam Bemma  "There is a saying that all Rwandans believe in. You can't forgive if you forget, but when you remember, you know what harmed you and you can forgive and move forward," Honore Gatera tells IPS as he walks through the grounds of the Kigali Memorial Centre in Rwanda’s capital. The museum was ... MORE > >
	Taking Efforts to Fight Prejudice in Cuba to the Barrios  Patricia Grogg  From a very young age, Irma Castañeda has braided her curly hair and cared for it with natural recipes inherited from her mother, ignoring the widespread conception that black women’s hair is “ugly” or “bad”. Gently, with skilful hands, she aims to chip away at something much more complex: the ... MORE > >
	Lebanon’s Splintered Law Wrecks Lives  Rebecca Murray  Married women in Lebanon who suffer abuse at home remain at the mercy of the country’s multitude of religious courts, because the hard-fought civil law against domestic violence has been stalled for a vote in parliament since the summer. One woman demanding a divorce and custody rights is Aisha, ... MORE > >
	A Google for India’s Poor  Keya Acharya  Deep in the forests of central India live the Gond tribals, an almost forgotten lot, neglected as much by the state as by mainstream media. Many cannot read or write. But thanks to a new technology, and the rapid spread of mobile phones through India, they are now picking up their cell phone and ... MORE > >
	Murders, ‘Protection Payments’ Mark Elections in Honduras  Thelma Mejía  The capital of Honduras, one of the world’s most violent countries, has turned into a huge cage, where people lock themselves into their homes behind barred windows and iron doors along the steep winding, narrow streets of the city. And in the poor areas of Tegucigalpa, a city of 1.6 million, ... MORE > >