IPS Pick of Week 2013,12,20

	Caring for Water Is a Must for Brazil’s Energy Industry  Mario Osava  As they build huge hydropower dams, the Brazilian government and companies have run into resistance from environmentalists, indigenous groups and social movements. But the binational Itaipú plant is an exception, where cooperation is the name of the game. Involved in a total of 65 environmental, ... MORE >>
	And Now This Filthy Flood  Mohammed Omer  Wearing tattered shoes and hopping between dirty puddles, 14-year-old Sabeh manages to find his way to the market at the Al Shati refugee camp, one of Gaza’s most heavily populated and poor areas. He asks a man selling socks if he can buy a pair for one shekel (29 cents). Sabeh looks despondent ... MORE >>
	Cameroonians Flee Atrocities in Central African Republic  Ngala Killian Chimtom  “We couldn’t stand the violence anymore,” said 27-year-old Baba Hamadou shortly after alighting from a chartered flight at the Douala International Airport earlier this week. Hamadou is one of 202 Cameroonians repatriated from the Central African Republic (CAR) on Tuesday, bringing the total ... MORE >>
	Q&A: “Libyan Women Were Handed Over as Spoils of War”  Karlos Zurutuza  Unless immediate changes are enforced, Libya is heading towards an "Afghan" model regarding women´s rights, Aicha Almagrabi, a Libyan writer and senior women rights activist, told IPS from her residence in Tripoli. Women who fight for their rights in Libya “are constantly insulted, harassed and ... MORE >>
	U.N. Advice to Aid Worker: Write Last Will Before Leaving Home  Thalif Deen  When Anoja Wijeyesekera, an aid worker with the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, received her new assignment in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan back in 1997, her appointment letter arrived with a "survival manual" and chilling instructions: write your last will before leaving home. "It was an exercise ...MORE >>
	When NATO Leaves Afghanistan  Giuliano Battiston  Afghanistan’s 30 million people are deeply divided over whether President Hamid Karzai should sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Washington that will allow U.S. military operations to continue in the conflict-ravaged country after NATO forces leave in 2014. Some believe the BSA is ...MORE >>
	Bicycle Use Booming in Latin America  Estrella Gutiérrez  “I ride 43 km a day and I love it,” said Carlos Cantor in Bogotá, Colombia. “Five years ago I switched my car for a bike,” explained Tomás Fuenzalida from Santiago, Chile. They are both part of the burgeoning growth of cycling as a transport solution in Latin America. But in the second-most ... MORE >>
	Food Security Can Come in Tiny, Wiggly Packages  Amy Fallon  It is known as the land of copper to the outside world, but there’s another c-word that does a roaring trade in Zambia, albeit locally - caterpillars. On a street corner in the capital Lusaka on a scorching hot day, Dorothy Chisa, 49, is selling the insects, a popular high-protein delicacy in ... MORE >>
	Dam the Fish  Michelle Tolson  “I prefer the dam to the fish,” says middle-aged farmer Ton Noun, when asked his opinion on a proposed 400 megawatt dam on Sesan river near his home in northeastern Cambodia. Then he chuckles and asks, “What fish?” That’s because there are few fish in the brown, murky waters of the river, and he ... MORE >>
	U.S. Wind Industry Buffeted by Uncertainty  Carey L. Biron  The U.S. wind industry looks set to enter a period of uncertainty, with an important government subsidy expiring at the end of the month and no clear plan for lawmakers to work towards an extension. Because of the way the subsidy, known as the wind production tax credit (PTC), was extended in ...MORE >>
	An Argentine Town that ‘Celebrates’ Garbage  Fabiana Frayssinet  Towns traditionally celebrate their most characteristic aspect. So the town of Bouwer in central Argentina decided to “celebrate” garbage. But the “first provincial festival of pollution and against discrimination” is not a reason for pride, but a mechanism of resistance by a town that wants to ... MORE >>
	Doctor Abductions Leave Patients Helpless  Ashfaq Yusufzai  Doctors in the Pakistani frontier provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are running scared after nearly 45 consultants were kidnapped for ransom this year. Police suspect that gangs enjoying the Taliban’s patronage are behind the abductions that are just a symptom of the many challenges ... MORE >>
	Refugees Struggle in Ruined Camp  Rebecca Murray  As the Syrian war intensifies sectarian clashes in Lebanon’s northern coastal city Tripoli, Palestinians in the area worriedly watch the violence from the sidelines. In the summer of 2007, the Palestinian refugees of Nahr el Bared, just 16 kilometers north of Tripoli, paid a devastating price in ...MORE >>
	Kremlin Tightens Grip on Media  Pavol Stracansky  Russia is set to lose one of its few relatively objective news outlets as the Kremlin moves to tighten its grip on the country’s media. In an unexpected move earlier this week President Vladimir Putin ordered the closure of the RIA Novosti news agency and the creation of a new global news agency ...MORE >>
	Zero Garbage Plan Tied to Fate of Ousted Bogotá Mayor  Constanza Vieira  The ousted left-wing mayor of the Colombian capital, Gustavo Petro, is a casualty of the battle over the introduction of a Zero Garbage programme, which had included thousands of informal recyclers in the waste disposal business. “His removal was arbitrary,” said Nelson Rojas, one of the workers ... MORE >>
Indian Gays Prepare to Fight Again  Ranjita Biswas  Human rights have taken a step back in India, activists say after the Supreme Court overturned a ruling of the High Court that had earlier lifted the ban on gay sex. The Delhi High Court ruling had in effect suspended application of Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The article, which ... MORE >>
	Climate Makes Refugees Out of Young Ghanaians  Albert Oppong-Ansah  It was 20-year-old Fizer Boa who first migrated south to Ghana’s capital, Accra, to work in the local Abobloshie market as a porter or “Kayayei”. “I agreed with my mother when she advised me to go join my friend who was working as a Kayayei in Accra. I did not object to the idea because … we ...MORE >>