The Week with IPS 8/15

	Brazil’s “Dalai Lama of the Rainforest” Faces Death Threats Fabiola Ortiz Davi Kopenawa, the leader of the Yanomami people in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, who is internationally renowned for his struggle against encroachment on indigenous land by landowners and illegal miners, is now fighting a new battle - this time against death threats received by him and his ... MORE > >
	Adaptation Gaps Mean African Farmers Fork Out More Money for Reduced Harvests Monde Kingsley Nfor In Cameroon's Northwest Region, Judith Muma walks 9km from her home to her 300-square-metre farm. The vegetables she grows here are flourishing thanks to the money she has borrowed from her njangi (thrift group) and a local credit union to finance a small artisanal irrigation scheme. “I spend ... MORE > >
	No Victors or Vanquished in Brutal Gaza Conflict Thalif Deen As the dust - and the gunpowder - settles after the month-long devastating conflict in Gaza, there were apparently no victors or vanquished. Israel, despite its high-tech military force and so-called "pinpoint bombings", failed to achieve its ultimate objective: annihilate the militant group ... MORE > >
	What’s More Important, the War on AIDS or Just War? Kanya D'Almeida and Mercedes Sayagues They say there is a war on and its target is the deadly human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This war runs worldwide but its main battleground is sub-Saharan Africa, where seven out of 10 HIV positive persons in the world live – 24.7 million in 2013. The region suffered up to 1.3 million ... MORE > >
	Eco-Friendly Agriculture Puts Down Roots in Spain Inés Benítez José María Gómez squats and pulls up a bunch of carrots from the soil as well as a few leeks. This farmer from southern Spain believes organic farming is more than just not using pesticides and other chemicals – it’s a way of life, he says, which requires creativity and respect for ... MORE > >
	Zimbabwe’s 'Casualisation of Labour' Leads to a New Form of Exploitation Michelle Chifamba Ethel Maziriri, 27, holds an Honours Degree in Social Work from the University of Zimbabwe, but instead of working in her chosen profession, she works as a cashier in one of the country’s leading clothing retail company. And it’s not by choice. Maziriri, who graduated in 2010, has been ... MORE > >
	Gabriel García Márquez – the Last Visit Ignacio Ramonet I had been told he was in Havana but that, because he was sick, he didn’t want to see anyone. I knew where he usually stayed: in a magnificent country house far from the city centre. I called on the phone and Mercedes, his wife, eased my doubts. She said, warmly: “Not at all, that’s to keep the ... MORE > >
	Nepal’s Poor Live in the Shadow of Natural Disasters Naresh Newar Barely 100 km north of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, the settlement of Jure, which forms part of the village of Mankha, has become a tragic example of how the country’s poorest rural communities are the first and worst victims of natural disasters. Barely a week ago, on Aug. 2, a slope of land ... MORE > >
	Minimum Wage, Minimum Cost Peter Costantini In 1958, when New York State was considering raising its minimum wage, merchants complained that their profit margins were so small that they would have to cut their work forces or go out of business. In 2014 in Seattle at hearings on a proposed minimum wage increase, some businesses voiced the ... MORE > >
	Guido, the Grandson in the DNA of All Argentinians Fabiana Frayssinet The recovery of “grandchild number 114” – one of the sons and daughters of those who were “disappeared” during the Argentine dictatorship – caused a commotion that many compared to the excitement of making it to the final match of the World Cup a month ago. A degree of compensation for the wound ... MORE > >