IPS Inter Press Service - Globalisation - Is It Working for People?

MEXICO: Civil Society Divided Ahead of Climate Summit
MEXICO CITY, Jun 4 (IPS) - With less than six months before Mexico hosts the next global climate change summit, Mexican environmental organisations hosting the parallel civil society forum are divided on how to carry it out -- which some fear could ultimately weaken their role at the negotiating table.

POLITICS: Japan-U.S. Pact Crucial to Balance of Power in East Asia
TOKYO, June 2 (IPS) - A clumsy and failed attempt by Japan’s nine-month-old coalition government to change the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, a post World War II landmark in bilateral relations after the Japanese defeat and often referred to as the lynchpin in Asian regional defence, has shaken domestic politics and fueled East Asian anxiety.

Thai, Argentine Textile Workers Unite Against Slave Labour
BUENOS AIRES, May 23 (IPS) - Textile cooperatives founded by former slave labourers from Argentina and Thailand will jointly launch a new brand of clothing in June to raise awareness about exploitation and promote decent jobs in the garment industry.

WORLD-ECONOMY: New Directions or Just New Directors?
CAPE TOWN, Apr 15 (IPS) - The business and political leadership of the world's strongest emerging economies meet this week in Brazil. Are these gatherings of the champions of a new and fairer global economy, or of new pretenders to the old throne?

ECONOMY: Get the Cab From Shanghai to London
BEIJING/LONDON, Apr 15 (IPS) - The black, curvy London cab is so much more than just a taxi. It is an icon without which the picture of London can never be complete.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Asian Delegates Want ‘Political Accord’, For Now
COPENHAGEN, Dec 12 (IPS/TerraViva) - Asian delegations to the ongoing global negotiations on climate change are insisting that a political agreement must be reached to pave the way for a legally binding treaty in the near future.

Q&A: ‘Nuclear Energy Is Not a Solution to Climate Change’
MELBOURNE, Dec 9 (IPS) - As the threat of nuclear weapons looms large over the very existence of life on earth, Dr Sue Wareham, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons’ (ICAN) Australian board member, is calling for a speedy abolition of these weapons and the rejection of nuclear power as a solution to climate change.

POLITICS: Defiant China Asserts Role in Global Affairs
BEIJING, Oct 12 (IPS) - The symbolism of Beijing dispatching its second top leader for celebrations with the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il almost at the same time as Washington was deciding to break a tradition by refusing the Dalai Lama a meeting with the U.S. President last week has not been lost on observers here — keen to glimpse ever more signs of China's rise.

POLITICS: China Resists U.S.’s ‘Covert' Trade Agenda
BEIJING, Oct 7 (IPS) - As the United States talks about rebalancing global growth, China sees a covert agenda of trade protectionism. And while Beijing seems to agree that there is a price to pay for its new ascent as a global power, it bristles at suggestions that it needs to let its export powerhouse fade from prominence by allowing its currency, the yuan, to appreciate faster.

POLITICS: China Swaggers On, Yet Future Looks Uncertain
BEIJING, Oct 2 (IPS) - Showing off China’s new wealth and national might on the anniversary of the birth of the People’s Republic, the country’s leaders attributed its rise as a rejuvenated world power to the 60 years of communist rule.

PAKISTAN: Local Residents Tacitly Approve of Swat Killings
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 1 (IPS) - Widespread reports of extrajudicial killings of suspected Taliban by the military do not seem to have raised alarm bells among a people that have been deeply traumatized by the militant group's atrocities.

POLITICS: China, Burma Bust Up Over Border Unrest
BANGKOK, Sep 30 (IPS) - The border dispute between two close allies, China and Burma, has now been compounded by concerns over the junta’s future relations with the United States.

SRI LANKA: Coastal Village Rises Up from Ravages of War, Disaster
VAKARAI, Sri Lanka, Sep 25 (IPS) - Vakarai is a dust bowl of a village, right at the edge of the coast in Sri Lanka’s east. The last three decades have not been too good for this fishing village — located about 300 kilometres east of the capital Colombo — and its inhabitants, mostly from the minority Tamil community.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Win Some, Lose Some for Beleaguered Penan Tribe
KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 21 (IPS) - In wealthy Malaysia that employs over four million Asians to service its high- rolling lifestyle, a tiny indigenous tribe is fighting for its survival against state inaction and bureaucratic apathy, as well as marauding giant multinationals and timber loggers.

THAILAND: Licence to Arm Civilians against Muslim Insurgency
YALA, Thailand, Sep 18 (IPS) - With an insurgency threatening to worsen, Thailand’s military is turning to civilians like Nipa Waya to return fire in the three southern provinces close to the Malaysian border.

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