IPS: week ending March 22

	Little Hope for the Children Abducted in Mali’s War  Issa Sikiti da Silva  One of Amina Diallo’s sons, 14-year-old Salif, has been missing since August last year. She thinks Islamists kidnapped him while he was on his way to the market in their hometown of Gao, in northern Mali, and recruited him as a child soldier. “Wherever he is, he must know that I still pray for ...MORE > >
	Torture Victims in El Salvador Speak Out  Edgardo Ayala  A report containing the testimonies of victims of torture during El Salvador’s 1980-1992 civil war will be published 27 years after it was written, to help Salvadorans today learn more about that chapter in the country’s history. The 197-page book “La tortura en El Salvador" (Torture in El ... MORE > >
	Arrests, Intimidation and No New Zimbabwe  Nyarai Mudimu  Heightened political tension between the major rivals in Zimbabwe’s coalition government and increased clampdowns on civil society have left questions about the country’s readiness for a true democracy just days after people voted to adopt a new constitution. Just over three million Zimbabweans ... MORE > >
	Hawks Defend War on Low-Key 10th Anniversary of Iraq Invasion  Jim Lobe  Ten years after President George W. Bush launched his “shock and awe” campaign to overwhelm Iraq – and the rest of the world – with the futility of resisting Washington’s military might, the public and much of the foreign policy elite appear remarkably uninterested in marking the anniversary, let ...MORE > >
	Iraq Once More on the Brink of War  Karlos Zurutuza  Driving into the city of Kirkuk, one is greeted by the view of a huge sea of grey concrete houses from which laundry has been hung out to dry in the wind and be blackened by smoke rising from the surrounding oil wells. Only the turquoise flags fluttering from lampposts and balconies break the ... MORE > >
	Q&A "What Matters Isn’t Bergoglio and His Past, but Francis and His Future"  Fabiana Frayssinet  Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff, a leading exponent of liberation theology, the progressive current in the Latin American Catholic Church, does not believe reports that depict the new Pope Francis as collaborating with Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship. In this interview with IPS, Boff ... MORE > >
	Visions of a Sustainable, Pollution-Free New York by 2030  Stephen Leahy  As usual, midtown Manhattan is packed with whisper-quiet cars and trams while thousands walk the streets listening to the birds of spring sing amongst the gleaming, grime-free skyscrapers in the crystal-clear morning air. Welcome to New York City in April 2030.3 This is not a fantasy. It is a ...MORE > >
	Dependent on Venezuela’s Oil Diplomacy  Mario Osava  Venezuela’s economic challenges, more than the uncertainty over who will succeed late president Hugo Chávez, could threaten the oil diplomacy he practiced in the region. Cuba is the most obvious example. Oil imports from Venezuela cover half of the country’s energy needs, and have made Venezuela ... MORE > >
	Taliban Victims Seek Support  Ashfaq Yusufzai  People disabled through bomb and suicide attacks by the Taliban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the nearby Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are seeking support for themselves, and demanding strict action against the Taliban. “There’s an urgent need of a campaign against Taliban ... MORE > >
	Catholics in Argentina Protest Church’s Complicity in Dictatorship  Marcela Valente  Argentine archbishop Jorge Bergoglio was selected as pope at a time when the Roman Catholic Church in this South American country is facing a rebellion by priests and laypersons who reject the role of the church leadership during the 1976-1983 dictatorship and the lack of reparations for past ... MORE > >