Here are some of IPS’s most-read stories of the past week — and stories you shouldn’t go without reading:

AIDS 2008
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Q&A: “The Momentum of AIDS Prevention Is Waning”
Interview with Luis Soto Ramírez, co-chair of AIDS 2008
MEXICO CITY – Mexican virologist Dr. Luis Soto Ramírez, co-chair of the 17th International AIDS Conference, this week in the Mexican capital, says that ramping up prevention efforts is the most urgent step to be taken in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“Prevention is the most important thing. We have many problems with medical attention and treatment, because of economic reasons, and if we do not begin, or step up, prevention efforts, things will reach the point where countries, continents and humanity as a whole will be overwhelmed.”
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43419

March Sets Tone For AIDS Conference – By Zofeen Ebrahim
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43424

HIV/AIDS – More IPS News About the Conference and the Epidemic
www.ipsnews.net/hivaids.asp

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MIDEAST: Arabs Despair of U.S. Even More
Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – For decades, the U.S. has jealously guarded its role of sole arbiter of the Arab-Israeli dispute. In light of recent shows of support for Israel by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, however, many Arabs fear that Zionist influence on the U.S. body politic — across the political spectrum — has made the notion of ‘U.S. even-handedness’ a contradiction in terms.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43388

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ENERGY: Accidents Make N-Questions Bigger
Julio Godoy
PARIS – The recent proliferation of accidents at nuclear power plants in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia and elsewhere in Europe has made calls for greater reliance on nuclear energy questionable, experts say.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43390

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AUSTRALIA: Road to Olympic Success Paved With Gold
Stephen de Tarczynski
MELBOURNE – While Australia is expected to feature prominently during medal presentations at this month’s Beijing Olympics, success will have come at a price.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43411

Olympian Dreams – IPS News from the Beijing Games
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/olympian/index.asp

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VIETNAM: Coping With Skyrocketing Fuel Prices
Helen Clark
HANOI – Nguyen Van Minh has just delivered a consignment of apples from China in his modified Hyundai at Long Bien market where, each night, hundreds of trucks pull up laden with fruits and vegetables from distant provinces and neighbouring countries.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43410

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BRAZIL: Doha Failure a “Triumph of Protectionism”, Say Trade Sources
Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO – “Protectionism has triumphed,” said the vice president of Brazil’s Foreign Trade Association, José Augusto de Castro, referring to Tuesday’s collapse of the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks in Geneva.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43381

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GHANA: “You Have to Speak Up When Competition Destroys You”
Francis Kokutse
ACCRA – Business has been slow for many Ghanaian traders. They blame the situation on not only the influx of cheap Chinese products but also insufficient legal protection and corruption.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43396

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Q&A: Nuclear Arms Are No Longer “Necessary Evils”
Interview with Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, Pres. of Soka Gakkai International
UNITED NATIONS – As citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are painfully reminded of the horrors of atomic bombings that devastated the two Japanese cities in August 1945, one of the country’s most influential peace organisations is intensifying its longstanding efforts for nuclear disarmament.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43416

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U.N.’s Darfur Force Left Stranded, Critics Say
Omid Memarian
UNITED NATIONS – As the U.N. Security Council debated the wording of a resolution extending the peacekeeping force in Darfur, Sudan for another year, a coalition of human rights groups and NGOs criticised the world body and the international community for failing to back up the mission with basic equipment.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43407

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