The Week With IPS 1/23

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	Forced Disappearances Are Humanitarian Crisis in Mexico Emilio Godoy The Mexican government will face close scrutiny from the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances – a phenomenon that made international headlines after 43 students from a rural teachers college were killed in September in Iguala, in a case that has not yet been fully ... MORE > >
	Africa Needs to Move Forward on Renewable Energy Wambi Michael Diversification of Africa’s electricity sources by embarking on renewable energy solutions – such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydro power – is being heralded as a solution to the continent’s energy poverty. But although a number of countries are already reaping benefits from investment in ... MORE > >
	Prosecutor’s Death a Test for Argentine Democracy Fabiana Frayssinet The death of a special prosecutor investigating one of the biggest unresolved mysteries in the history of Argentina, the bombing of a Jewish community centre over 20 years ago, has put to the test an immature democracy that is caught up in a web of conspiracy theories and promiscuity between the ... MORE > >
	The Bahamas' New Motto: "Sand, Surf and Solar" Kenton X. Chance When it comes to tourism in the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), The Bahamas -- 700 islands sprinkled over 100,000 square miles of ocean starting just 50 miles off Florida -- is a heavyweight. With a gross domestic product of eight billion dollars, the Bahamian economy is almost twice ... MORE > >
	Fighting Extremism with Schools, Not Guns Zofeen Ebrahim As a wave of outrage, crossing Pakistan’s national borders, continues a month after the Dec. 16 attack on a school in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, some citizens are turning away from collective expressions of anger, and beginning the hard work of building grassroots alternatives to ... MORE > >
	OPINION-CUBA/US: Catching a Glimpse of the Possible Future Leonardo Padura All Cubans, on either side of the Florida Straits, but in places like Spain, France or Greenland – where there must be a couple of Cubans - as well felt it was a historic moment that included each and every one of us, when U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Dec. 17 the normalisation of ... MORE > >
	Final Push to Launch U.N. Negotiations on High Seas Treaty Thalif Deen The United Nations will make its third - and perhaps final - attempt at reaching an agreement to launch negotiations for an international biodiversity treaty governing the high seas. A four-day meeting of a U.N. Ad Hoc Working Group is expected to take a decision by Friday against a September ... MORE > >
	From Bullets to Ballots: The Face of Sri Lanka’s Former War Zone Amantha Perera In four months’ time, Sri Lanka will mark the sixth anniversary of the end of its bloody civil conflict. Ever since government armed forces declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on May 19, 2009, the country has savored peace after a generation of war. Suffocating ... MORE > >
	Cuban Diplomacy Looks Towards Both Brussels and Washington Patricia Grogg Cuba has decided to move ahead in its talks with the European Union towards an agreement on cooperation parallel to the negotiations aimed at normalising relations with the United States after more than half a century of hostility. As everyone’s attention is focused on the start of talks this ... MORE > >
	Pacific Islands Call for New Thinking to Implement Post-2015 Development Goals Catherine Wilson As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of poverty-alleviation targets set by the United Nations, come to a close this year, countries around the world are taking stock of their successes and failures in tackling key developmental issues. The Pacific Islands have made impressive ... MORE > >
	Escape Route Towards Social Inclusion for War-Disabled Gazan Youth Khaled Alashqar The Israeli attacks that the Gaza Strip has suffered in recent years have left in their wake a large number of young people who have come up against a further barrier to their creative energies – physical disability caused by military aggression. Institutions here are increasingly facing the ... MORE > >
	Battle Heats Up Over Legalisation of Sex Work in India Neeta Lal Thirty-six-year-old Chameli Devi, a sex worker operating out of New Delhi's G.B. Road - Asia's largest red-light district, housing an estimated 12,000 of India’s three million sex workers – is an unhappy woman these days. A contentious debate over the sex trade in India, following a call for ... MORE > >