News stories by IPS Correspondents, page 44

UNITED NATIONS, Dic 16 (IPS) - The U.N. Security Council Friday unanimously approved the establishment of the world body's 17th current peacekeeping force, in Tajikistan.

LONDON, Dic 16 (IPS) - Coffee continued its nose dive until mid- week when talk that Brazil is to recommend that export retention be re-introduced and a feeling that the commodity had hit its floor reversed the slide.

HONG KONG, Dic 16 (IPS) - Mr O, a Hong Kong resident, was seized by Chinese authorities in June. He did nothing wrong, but his son owes money to a company in China.

MOSCOW, Dic 16 (IPS) - Hundreds of thousands of Russian convicts are held in over-crowded, and unsanitary cells in which ill-health and crime fester as the country's prison system collapses because of lack of funds.

BUJUMBURA, Dic 16 (IPS) - THOUSANDS OF DESPARATE PARENTS ARE PLACING THEIR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE TO ESCAPE THE HIGH COST OF LIVING IN BURUNDI.

DAR ES SALAAM, Dic 16 (IPS) - THE NETHERLANDS FRIDAY SUSPENDED 17.64 MILLION DOLLARS IN DEVELOPMENT AID TO TANZANIA IN PROTEST AGAINST ALLEGATIONS OF RAMPANT TAX EVASION IN THE EAST AFRICAN COUNTRY.

ABU DHABI, Dic 15 (IPS) - WOMEN IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ARE SLOWLY CASTING ASIDE TRADITIONAL ROLES TO MAKE INROADS INTO THE COUNTRY'S WORKFORCE AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, ACCORDING TO A RECENT NATIONAL SURVEY.

SARAJEVO, Dic 15 (IPS) - On most days Izet Kurtovic can be found shivering with cold and fear on the frontline that weaves between the high-rise apartment buildings around the besieged Bosnia- Hercegovina capital of Sarajevo.

SEATTLE, Dic 15 (IPS) - The first ruling on a labour dispute under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sent a reassuring message to transnational businesses and the Mexican government: the United States will not pressure Mexico to enforce its labour laws.

OURO PRETO, Brazil, Dic 15 (IPS) - The Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), to be inaugurated on Jan. 1, will be imperfect at first, according to the Common Market Group, which met in Ouro Preto, Brazil to prepare for an upcoming ministers' summit.