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

CHILE: Native Community in Desert Oasis Threatened by Mines
Daniela Estrada
ALTO DEL CARMEN – The Diaguita indigenous community in Huasco Alto, surrounded by rich gold, silver and copper deposits in the northern Chilean region of Atacama, are engaged in a struggle to prevent mining projects from infringing on their territory and destroying their way of life and ancestral identity
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44193

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COLOMBIA: Sugar Workers Strike for Basic Rights
Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA – “We sugar cane cutters are neither delinquents nor terrorists; we are honest workers demanding respect for our rights,” say Colombia’s cane harvesters, who have been on strike since Sept. 15, demanding basic rights.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44164

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KENYA: Predicting Weather With Science and Spider Webs
Kathryn Strachan
JOHANNESBURG – When the magungu bird flies higher in the sky than usual and seems to float in the air in its passage from south to north, the Abasuba people living on the islands of Kenya’s Lake Victoria and on the highlands near the lake know the rains are on their way and that it is time to plant.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44202

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ZIMBABWE: Jury Still Out On Power Sharing
Tonderai Kwidini
HARARE – One would have thought the signing of the power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe would mean it was safe for 25 Movement Democratic Change supporters to gather in celebration at a shopping centre in Buhera.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44155

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SRI LANKA: ‘Rice Paddies More Valuable Than Int’l Airport’
Feizal Samath
HAMBANTOTA – Sri Lankan rice farmers who fought against President Mahinda Rajapakse and his powerful brothers, trying to construct an international airport on their paddies, say they won because their cause was just and enjoyed popular support.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44187

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CHINA: Nothing Confucian About Toxic Milk
Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING – For a country with an enduring tradition of Confucian ethics, the poisoned milk scandal — possibly the worst crisis of its type in Chinese modern history — has had a devastating blow on the public’s trust in its government’s benevolence.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44208

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US: Shelters and Soup Kitchens Hold Crisis Front Lines
Heike Barkawitz
NEW YORK – Wall Street may be in the throes of agony, but business is booming at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen a bit farther north in the Manhattan neighbourhood of Chelsea.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44198

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: A High-Tech Garden of Eden
Elizabeth Eames Roebling
CONSTANZA – Traffic crews on the switchback road signal drivers down to one lane as workers spray concrete on the mountain barrier to prevent landslides. The posted speed limit on the road to the 1,300-metre-high valley of Constanza, three hours north of the capital of Santo Domingo, often drops to 20 km an hour as the road winds along the high mountain ridges.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44180

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ENVIRONMENT: Iceland Finds New Ways to Trap Carbon
Lowana Veal
REYKJAVIK – At the Hellisheidi geothermal power station, located about 30 km east of Reykjavik, Icelanders are developing novel ways of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) that are emitted from the plant.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44189

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EU: Defiant Guyana to be Punished
David Cronin
BRUSSELS – The European Union is preparing to impose swingeing taxes on goods imported from Guyana as punishment for the Caribbean island’s refusal to accept a free trade accord.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44222

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