IPS correspondents bring you independent perspectives on what is happening in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East.

BRAZIL-IRAN: New Boost to South-South Diplomacy
Analysis by Beatriz Bissio
RIO DE JANEIRO (IPS) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial visit to Brazil further underscored the independence of this country's diplomacy, and gave Tehran a chance to defend its points of view on the construction of a lasting peace in the Middle East.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49403

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YEMEN: U.S. Urged to Increase Aid and Involvement
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – As President Barack Obama ponders escalating Washington's military and political investment in Afghanistan, a think tank close to his administration is urging Washington to ramp up U.S. aid and involvement in strife-torn Yemen, as well.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49399

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MIDEAST: Palestinian Children Face Daily Settler Attacks Getting to School
By Mel Frykberg
AT TUWANI (IPS) – Being able to travel to school in relative safety is something children all over the world take for granted. But, for Palestinian children living in the shadow of the ubiquitous and illegal Israeli settlements dotting the West Bank, simply walking to school can be a terrifying experience.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49378

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MIDEAST: Threat Rises From Within
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – Israelis were perturbed when new recruits at a recent passing-out parade at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the remains of Judaism's holiest site, suddenly unfurled banners reading, 'Our Sons Do Not Evacuate Jews'.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49376

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Q&A: Glass Half-full 15 Years After ICPD – Part 2
Hilmi Toros interviews PURNIMA MANE, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA
ISTANBUL (IPS) – Fifteen years after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the glass is half full, according to Purnima Mane, deputy executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). And not much better for the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) after 30 years.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49375

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LEBANON: Migrant Women Dying on the Job
By Dalila Mahdawi
BEIRUT (IPS) – October and November have been bloody months for Lebanon's migrant domestic workers – over the last five weeks nine women have died. Most deaths have been reported as suicide.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49362

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U.S.: Obama Returns to Greater Middle East Mess
Analysis by Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – As Barack Obama arrives home from his weeklong tour of East Asia, he confronts a growing list of ever more urgent problems in the Greater Middle East that he inherited from George W. Bush's “global war on terror”.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49352

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Only about 22 percent of the voices you hear and read in the news are women?s. You can change your perspective – Read the new IPS Gender Wire.
ipsnews.net/_newsletter/genderwire.asp

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DON’T MISS IPS EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

U.S. President Barack Obama has inherited wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a tanking economy, and global crises like climate change. IPS reports on the implications of the new administration not just for U.S. citizens, but for the world.
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/us_elections2008/index.asp

EARTH ALERT: TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE FOR COPENHAGEN?

Read about the forces behind climate change – but also about growing citizen awareness and new climate policies towards sustainable development.

The 15th Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) is set to take place in Copenhagen from Dec. 7 to 18. World leaders are expected to try to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. IPS brings you the latest news from the 'frontline' of environment.
Webpage www.ipsnews.net/climate_change/index.asp
Newsletter ipsnews.net/_newsletter/environment.asp

For more IPS reporting on the Middle East – www.ipsnews.net/middle.asp

Iraq: Beyond the Green Zone – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iraq/

Iran: The Parthian Shot – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/

Holy Land/Unholy War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/israel_palestina/

Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/

Bush?s Legacy – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/

IPS coverage of terrorism – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/terrorism/

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