The problem facing the Palestinian leadership, as they strive to bring the millions living in the occupied territories some small relief from their collective suffering, reduces to a matter of a few words. Like a naughty child who has only to say "sorry" to be released from his room, the Hamas government need only say "We recognize Israel" and supposedly aid and international goodwill will wash over the West Bank and Gaza.
"The Tehran conference was touted by participants and organizers as an exercise in academic freedom and a chance to openly consider whether 6 million Jews really died in the Holocaust, away from Western taboos and the restrictions imposed on scholars in Europe, where some countries have made it a crime to deny the Nazi genocide during World War II."
"The economies of all of the countries are oriented towards exporting to the United States and Europe and towards competing with each other, which stands in the way of true integration," said Lander.
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (IPS) - The second summit of the South American Community of Nations is facing several major challenges: the integration of physical and energy infrastructure for the development of the region, overcoming the high levels of inequality and poverty, and recognising and encouraging the diverse cultural identities of the region's population.
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 3 - President Hugo Chávez was re-elected in a landslide on Sunday night, as voting tallies poured in from throughout the country. But representatives of the opposition candidate contended that the results were tainted by irregularities.
With 78 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Chávez was ahead with 61 percent, compared with 38 percent for Manuel Rosales, the governor of Zulia State, Venezuela's electoral council said late Sunday night as it declared Mr. Chávez the winner. Thousands of supporters filed into the streets around Miraflores, the president palace downtown, to hear Mr. Chávez deliver a victory speech in the rain.
"Long live the socialist revolution!" Mr. Chávez yelled to the crowd, pumping his fist in the air. His supporters, many of them dancing, reacted by chanting, "Ooh-ah, Chávez isn't leaving!"
"Before voting earlier Sunday in the coastal city of Guayaquil, [billionaire] Noboa read a passage from the Bible in the midst of a mob of supporters pushing to touch him. He then fell to his knees, asking God for his support and saying all he wanted was "to serve, to serve, to serve" the poor."
