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

FINANCE: Tax Havens in Spotlight at G20 Meet
By Lucy Komisar*
NEW YORK (IPS) – This could be the moment when a fatal blow is delivered to the world’s tax havens. Or it could be another largely cosmetic change that allows offshore financial centres such as Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and Liechtenstein to deflect attacks on the system by sacrificing the few tax miscreants that governments catch in their nets.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46308

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MIDEAST: To be an Arab, and an Israeli
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
SAKHNIN, Israel (IPS) – The cluster of blue-and-white Stars of David – Israel’s national flag – had seen better days. In the wake of unseasonably heavy rain, they looked limp, anything but proud – in direct contrast to the mark their bearers hoped to make.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46275

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LATIN AMERICA: Half Century of Failed Development Policies – NGOs
By Humberto Márquez
CARACAS (IPS) – As it gets ready to commemorate its 50th anniversary at an assembly in Medellín, Colombia, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has come under heightened criticism from civil society groups which argue that its financing often goes against sustainable development and effective measures to overcome poverty.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46286

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RIGHTS-SOUTH AFRICA: Women Farmworkers Threaten Election Boycott
By Davison Makanga
CAPE TOWN (IPS) – Women from South Africa’s three Cape provinces have marched to parliament in Cape Town to denounce the country’s “slow and unbalanced” land redistribution programme. The protesters said if they are not given greater access to land, they will not vote in the country’s Apr. 22 general elections.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46302

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TRADE: EU Forges Ahead With EPAs Despite Global Crisis
By Hilaire Avril
PARIS (IPS) – Experts agree the current financial crisis is largely due to economic deregulation. But despite the downturn?s dramatic effects on developing countries, the European Union (EU) is still pushing for the trade liberalisation deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs) to be signed by African governments.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46280

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MIDEAST: Israel Under Pressure Over Divided Jerusalem
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH (IPS) – By late Saturday afternoon hundreds of heavily armed Israeli security forces on horseback and on foot had arrested over 20 Palestinians, assaulted a handful of people, and prevented numerous festivities from taking place.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46250

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LABOUR-US: The Daddy Dilemma
By Mirela Xanthaki
NEW YORK (IPS) – More men are taking advantage of paternity leave or even quitting their jobs entirely to raise small children while their wives go to work, but the social stigma attached to fathers who take on roles traditionally viewed as female has been far slower to diminish.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46283

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Q&A: “Fujimori Gave the Order”
Ángel Páez interviews Peruvian prosecutor AVELINO GUILLÉN
LIMA (IPS) – With a sentence set to be handed down shortly in the trial of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) for two notorious massacres of civilians ? known as the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta killings ? the prosecutor in the case, Avelino Guillén, said the defendant?s guilt has been amply proven.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46266

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JAPAN: Tensions Rise Over North Korean Rocket
By Catherine Makino
TOKYO (IPS) – Japan?s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) have been readied to shoot down a North Korean satellite-fitted rocket if it disintegrates or veers over its territories early next month.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46300

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POLITICS-MALAYSIA: New PM Must Overcome Credibility Deficit
Analysis by Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR (IPS) – Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi steps down this month, forced out by powerful factions in the ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) that feared his liberal policies and compromising ways with political opponents who wish to dismantle rule by an entrenched elite.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46276

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DON'T MISS IPS EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE LONDON G20 SUMMIT.

The G20 – comprising some of the world?s major economies, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – is meeting to discuss coordinated actions to revive the global economy, stimulate growth and employment, and reform the financial sector. Will they succeed? Are the voices of the most vulnerable, developing and poor countries being heard? What does the civil society say about it?
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/G20/index.asp

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