News headlines in May 2009, page 18
PERU: Talks Fall Flat; Indigenous Protests Rage On
- Inter Press Service

The Peruvian government resumed talks with indigenous groups after a violent crackdown on protests left 10 injured and around 20 under arrest. But the dialogue has not yet brought results, and the demonstrations against decrees that affect indigenous lands and the rainforest continue, while a state of emergency remains in place in several Amazon regions.
BRAZIL: Vigil Against Farming Offensive in Amazon
- Inter Press Service

Celebrities and environmental organisations held a vigil at the Brazilian Congress in an effort to block passage of a bill that they say could cause an even greater 'environmental disaster' in the Amazon jungle.
POLITICS-US: Rights Groups Slam Bid to Suppress Abuse Pics
- Inter Press Service

President Barack Obama’s decision Wednesday to object to the planned release of photos showing abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan has drawn quiet praise from the military and some in Congress and outspoken scorn from human rights advocates, a number of legal scholars and religious leaders, and many on the left of his Democratic Party.
MALAWI: Separating the ‘‘Ultra-Poor’’ from the Poor - Why?
- Inter Press Service

A group of civil society organisations in Malawi is pushing for changes to the country’s controversial social cash transfer scheme which have caused tension in communities as it attempts to separate the poor from the ‘‘very poor’’ in a country where some 65 percent of people live on less than a dollar a day.
SRI LANKA: Intl Condemnation Mounts, Along With Body Count
- Inter Press Service

As the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka takes a turn for the worse, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending one of his most senior officials to take stock of the situation in the war zone, where hundreds of civilians are being killed both by government and rebel forces.
BURMA: US Citizen Helps Junta to Further Torment Aung San Suu Kyi
- Inter Press Service

As if the torment she has endured at the hands of the country’s military regime were not bad enough, Burma’s pro-democracy icon may be condemned to more years of detention due to the foolhardy exploits of an oversized, middle-aged Vietnam War veteran from the United States.
RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Victims of State Crimes Speak Out
- Inter Press Service

In the midst of civil war and repression in San Vicente del Caguán, a municipality in southern Colombia, local communities and activists continue to hold forums to draw attention to human rights abuses. What keeps them going?
RIGHTS: Few Govts Serious About Human Trafficking, U.N. Finds
- Inter Press Service

The U.N. General Assembly discussed ways of taking stronger collective action to end human trafficking on Wednesday, with delegates debating the need for and form of a 'global plan of action' to end this form of modern slavery.
ZIMBABWE/SOUTH AFRICA: Protecting Migrant Farmworker Rights
- Inter Press Service

Migrant farm workers in South Africa are entitled to the same workplace rights as any other employee. But the reality across the country suggests the opposite.
MIDEAST: 'Hamas Against Zionist Ideology, Not Judaism'
- Inter Press Service

A founding member of Hamas says he hates all weapons and insists that his organisation is not anti-Jewish.
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