News stories by Ingrid Srinath

SUVA, Fiji, Dec 05 (IPS) - A cursory glance at international funding of the social sector in India reveals that it has grown at over 25% annually over the past three years.

Assassinations, intimidation and disappearances were the manifestations of civil society repression in Africa, but this may be changing as the crackdown on civil society is becoming more formally accepted and increasingly 'by the book', according to Ingrid Srinath, secretary general of the global civil society network, CIVICUS.

European powers appear set on perpetuating their arbitrary "entitlement" to the position of Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund in the wake of the controversy that precipitated the resignation of Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Despite claims from the IMF that the selection this time around would "take place in an open, merit-based, and transparent manner" as well as a longstanding commitment to open the position to nationals of all member states, most developed country representatives had expressed clear preferences for European candidates even before nominations opened on May 23, writes Ingrid Srinath, Secretary General, CIVICUS:World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

You would have to be living in a cave in Tora Bora or North Waziristan to avoid the news of the killing of Osama bin Laden that dominated virtually all media this week. Reactions ranged from juvenile triumphalism through conspiracy theories to the scoring of cheap political points, writes Ingrid Srinath, Secretary General of CIVICUS: World Alliance of Citizen Participation.