News headlines in 2013, page 83

BRUSSELS, Aug 06 (IPS) - The world's largest international policing organisation Interpol is being used by governments to track down political opponents and human right campaigners, an IPS investigation reveals.

TAIPEI, Aug 06 (IPS) - A broad coalition of Taiwanese labour, human rights and other civil society organisations are campaigning to block legislative ratification of the controversial Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement signed Jun. 21 by representatives of Taiwan and China.

JERUSALEM, Aug 06 (IPS) - The fresh Palestinian-Israeli peace drive stems from the realisation by all parties involved in the process that diplomatic isolation constitutes a strategic threat to Israel. This isolation whip will be held above Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's back for as long as it takes for him to agree to the pre-1967 lines as basis for the end of the 46-year occupation.

SYDNEY, Aug 05 (IPS) - The Australian asylum policy of rejecting boat arrivals has been condemned by the United Nations Refugee Agency, Pacific island leaders, migration experts and human rights organisations.

NEW YORK, Aug 05 (IPS) - "First the bugs began to disappear," says Eriel Deranger, spokesperson for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

SANTIAGO, Aug 05 (IPS) - Nearly a quarter century after Chile's return to democracy, there is still a lack of political will to legalise therapeutic abortion, analysts say, even though Congress is debating several draft laws on the question.

HAVANA, Aug 05 (IPS) - For Cubans, baseball is not a sport, much less a game: it is almost a religion, and taken very seriously.

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, Aug 05 (IPS) - An accident in a flagship project threatens the future of geothermal energy in Switzerland. The mishap that was followed by earthquakes has come as a warning that geothermal deep drilling still has a long way to go.

El HAWAMDIA, Egypt, Aug 05 (IPS) - Each summer, wealthy male tourists from Gulf Arab states flock to Egypt to escape the oppressive heat of the Arabian Peninsula, taking residence at upscale hotels and rented flats in Cairo and Alexandria. Many come with their families and housekeeping staff, spending their days by the pool, shopping, and frequenting cafes and nightclubs. Others come for a more sinister purpose.

KWAZULU-NATAL MIDLANDS, South Africa, Aug 05 (IPS) - On a winter's afternoon in late July, potato farmer John Campbell and the Endangered Wildlife Trust's Tanya Smith surveyed the Umgeni Vlei Nature Reserve from a hilltop on Ivanhoe Farm in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.