IPS Inter Press Service

Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK - An unprecedented show of force by men and women from Thailand’s rural hinterland was on display over the weekend as they poured into Bangkok in the tens of thousands to stake a claim on having a voice in shaping this South-east Asian kingdom’s national agenda.

THAILAND: Media Caught in Red-or-Yellow Divide Too

THAILAND: Rural Protesters Prepare to Paint Bangkok Red

THAILAND: Community Radio Stirs Political Passions in Villages

THAILAND: Anti-gov’t Movement Opens Rural Minds through ‘Schools’

MIDEAST: Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
Mel Frykberg
JERSUSALEM - Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50.

RIGHTS-MALAWI: Country Not Safe for Homosexuals
Claire Ngozo
LILONGWE - Malawi is quickly becoming unsafe for homosexuals as the country’s police service recently launched a campaign to hunt down and arrest prominent people who are suspected of being gay.

HEALTH: U.S. AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain
	The debate between those who favour investment in AIDS treatment and those who favour investment in its prevention came to the forefront Thursday at a U.S House of Representatives hearing on U.S. investments in HIV/AIDS in Africa.

RIGHTS: Gender Confab Marked by Political Uncertainties

BIODIVERSITY: Lucrative Shark Trade Under Scrutiny

RIGHTS-MALAWI: Country Not Safe for Homosexuals
	Malawi is quickly becoming unsafe for homosexuals as the country’s police service recently launched a campaign to hunt down and arrest prominent people who are suspected of being gay.

POLITICS-NIGERIA : In the Shadows of Men: Women’s Political Marginalisation

DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Are Women the Magic Bullet for "Electoral Apathy"?

THAILAND: In Convoys of Red, Rural Masses Stage Historic Protest
	An unprecedented show of force by men and women from Thailand’s rural hinterland was on display over the weekend as they poured into Bangkok in the tens of thousands to stake a claim on having a voice in shaping this South-east Asian kingdom’s national agenda.

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Law on Forest Rights Fails to Deliver

PHILIPPINES: Reproductive Health Tests Candidates’ Political Guts

Q&A: 'Israeli Siege Causing De-development of Gaza'
	For the first time since September 2006, Mahmoud Abu Rahma, a leading figure in the Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan, has been granted permission to travel outside Gaza.

EUROPE: Green Finance Wise, or Otherwise

US-TURKEY: Armenian Genocide Vote Threatens Ties at Key Moment

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: 'Our Lives Are Cut Short at a Stroke'
	"This is a time of great tension because we know that at any moment, when we least expect it, our lives can be cut short at a stroke," Tito Gálvez, a leader in the Resistance Front for the Defence of Natural Resources and Rights of the Guatemalan Peoples (FRENA), told IPS.

MEXICO: Consumers on the Offensive

RIGHTS: Guatemala, El Salvador Ordered to Heed Rulings

MIDEAST: Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
	Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50.

US-ISRAEL: Tiff or Tipping Point?

IRAQ: Women Miss Saddam

US-ISRAEL: Tiff or Tipping Point?
	"Condemn" is not a word that rolls trippingly off the tongue of a U.S. politician addressing anything having to do with actions, however objectionable, by Israel.

HEALTH: U.S. AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain

BIODIVERSITY: Lucrative Shark Trade Under Scrutiny

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Law on Forest Rights Fails to Deliver
	A four-year-old landmark law that was supposed to bring profound changes in the lives of India’s tribal and forest-dwelling peoples has failed to deliver on that promise.

BIODIVERSITY: Lucrative Shark Trade Under Scrutiny

INDONESIA: Waste Composting Project Blazes Cleaner Path

MIDEAST: Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
	Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50.

THAILAND: In Convoys of Red, Rural Masses Stage Historic Protest

RIGHTS-MALAWI: Country Not Safe for Homosexuals

HEALTH: U.S. AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain
	The debate between those who favour investment in AIDS treatment and those who favour investment in its prevention came to the forefront Thursday at a U.S House of Representatives hearing on U.S. investments in HIV/AIDS in Africa.

PHILIPPINES: Reproductive Health Tests Candidates’ Political Guts

CHINA: Binge-drinking Culture Turning from Fun to Lethal

MIDEAST: Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
	Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: 'Our Lives Are Cut Short at a Stroke'

MEXICO: Consumers on the Offensive