News stories by IPS Correspondents, page 23

MOSCOW, Dic 30 (IPS) - The costs of Russia's military intervention in the breakaway republic of Chechnya are mounting each day with warnings that the war may prove to be too expensive.

BOGOTA, Dic 30 (IPS) - A year's-end exchange of messages between the Colombian government and insurgent forces indicates that the two parts are interested in moving towards conversations in 1995.

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Dic 30 (IPS) - Life in the Southern Mexican state of Chiapas changed dramatically this year after the emergence of a popularly based insurgence movement last Jan.1.

LONDON, Dic 29 (IPS) - The meeting Thursday between the leaders of Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the secretary general of the Arab League, reflects growing concern at the way Israel has managed to undermine a once common Arab policy towards the Jewish state.

DUBLIN, Dic 29 (IPS) - The peace process in Northern Ireland has taken another step forward after a party formed by former political prisoners issued a request for a meeting with the SDLP -- the main party representing the Catholic nationalist minority in the region.

BELIZE CITY, Dic 29 (IPS) - When Belizeans leave home to visit Trinidad or Barbados or any of the islands in the region, they say they are going to the Caribbean.

NAIROBI, Dic 29 (IPS) - THE BURUNDI GOVERNMENT THURSDAY BOWED TO OPPOSITION DEMANDS TO SACK THE SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND OFFERED THE EMBATTLED JAN MINANE A COMPROMISE POST.

WASHINGTON, Dic 29 (IPS) - The United States is considering billions of dollars in investments to help Mexico out of the financial crisis unleashed by the plummeting value of the peso under the recently liberalised exchange rate.

ROME, Dic 29 (IPS) - Small and medium-sized businesses will be encouraged to establish themselves in developing countries, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Martino said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, Dic 29 (IPS) - The resignation of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director James Woolsey is seen by many as the most recent symptom of the agency's chronic ailments in the post-cold war period.