News stories by Frank Mulder

SKOPJE, Apr 18 (IPS) - The political crisis in Macedonia is deepening. With the president and former coalition preventing the formation of a new government, the state threatens to disintegrate in a climate of corruption and nationalism.

KAMPALA, Dec 25 (IPS) - The heavily criticized legal mechanism, known as ISDS, is an important tool for European companies to pressurize developing countries. This year Uganda joins the rank of developing nations asking themselves: "Why have we ever signed this?"

UTRECHT, The Netherlands, Jul 03 (IPS) - Growing numbers of asylum seekers are being denied refugee status by the Dutch authorities, but cannot go back to their own country either. Forced removals are doing little to better the situation.

The share of organic cotton is increasing in an unstable cotton market, thanks to big European retailers like H&M and C&A who've jumped on the bandwagon of offering organic clothing at a low price. But whether this benefits the farmer is another matter.

Many people are appalled by the anti-Polish website established recently by the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV). The site encourages complaints against migrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe, particularly from Poland. The Poles are hitting back with their own hotlines, and humour.

Although politicians seem to have put the peace process on ice, there are many different groups in Israel and the Palestinian territories that still believe in reconciliation. They call on the world not to believe in stereotypes. 'The minute you choose sides, you become part of the conflict.'

The entry of a Swedish-led oil consortium into southern Sudan in 1997 triggered civil war and crimes against humanity, claims a European coalition of aid agencies.