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

SPECIAL COVERAGE: IPS and TerraViva from Copenhagen

Will the climate change summit taking place Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen make deals that are fair, ambitious and binding? IPS news agency has mobilised a team of 15 journalists, drawn largely from Africa, Asia and Latin America, to go to Copenhagen and find out. IPS' independent TerraViva newspaper will produce the latest news on the conference every day in English, Spanish and French, complete with photos, videos and other multimedia content.
www.ips.org/TV/copenhagen/

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Carbon Projects Waiting to Exhale
By Cam McGrath*
CAIRO (IPS/IFEJ) – Initiatives to reduce Egypt's greenhouse gas emissions could get a big push if world leaders and environment officials meeting in Copenhagen for climate talks that start Monday agree to maintain or enhance the carbon trading framework.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49566

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ECONOMY-LEBANON: Skewed Policies Widen Urban-Rural Divide
By Mona Alami
BEIRUT (IPS) – The luxury brands and fashion powerhouses that line the streets of the Lebanese capital seem to suggest that this country is enjoying an hour of glory as the world is in the throes of a severe recession.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49471

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MIDEAST: Europe Steps In to Pressure Israel
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyad have both been scrambling earnestly to win the backing of European leaders in advance of what could be a major EU policy shift that aims at creating new impetus for Palestinian-Israeli peace prospects.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49580

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AFGHANISTAN: Gov?t and Donors Fail to Protect Women?s Rights
By Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON (IPS) – Attention over the past week has focused on United States President Barack Obama?s decision to “surge” troop levels in Afghanistan to 30,000 and begin a drawdown in 18-months, but a new report calls attention to the failure of the Afghanistan government and international donors to protect women?s rights.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49578

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RIGHTS-TURKEY: Jailing Kurdish Children to Undermine Dissent
By Daan Bauwens
DIYARBAKIR, Southeastern Turkey (IPS) – Turkey is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, but that does not stop minors in the country's Kurdish dominated eastern and southeastern regions from ending up with stiff jail sentences.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49558

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MIDEAST: Palestinians Say No to Crumbs
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH (IPS) – The Palestinian Authority (PA) appears to be successfully countering the Israeli government's refusal to work towards a two-state solution to end the decades- long conflict.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49521

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BOOKS-US: Hawkish “Israel Lobby” More Bark Than Bite?
By Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON (IPS) – The Nov. 25 announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a “moratorium” on settlement construction brought very different responses from the Jewish American “pro-Israel” groups J-Street and the heavyweight American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), calling attention to the increasing divide within the American Jewish community.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49493

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MIDEAST: The Man Who Would Move a Hill
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) – In this city of fraternal faiths and conflicting political aspirations, dreams need to be made of sterner stuff.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49456

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TURKEY: NGOs Unite to Demand Say in Human Rights Bill
By Daan Bauwens
ANKARA (IPS) – Turkey?s new human rights bill has a flaw ? not a single rights group was consulted in the drafting.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49426

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MIDEAST: Settlements “Moratorium” Still Short of Freeze
By Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON (IPS) – U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed an announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday that Israel will impose a 10-month “moratorium” on settlements, but warned that the move falls short of a freeze on settlement building – a condition that has been a mainstay of U.S. policy towards Israel.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49421

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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. 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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