CT - International adoptions grow more difficult. Higher standards and costs play a role.

From my archive of press clippings:

Chicago Tribune

International adoptions grow more difficult

Higher standards and costs play a role


By Bonnie Miller Rubin, Tribune reporter


February 15, 2010


For years, Americans hoping to build families through adoption looked overseas because the path was more predictable and less complicated than domestic adoption.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Three of the most popular countries — China, Guatemala and Russia — have scaled back, tightened rules or temporarily halted adoptions as they struggle to establish more transparency and accountability.

Countries also have raised the eligibility bar, excluding more prospective parents based on income, marital status and even — in the case of China — body mass index.

Finally, even if a couple manage to slice through all the bureaucracy, there's the price — which can hit $40,000 in some countries, double what it was 10 years ago and a deal breaker for many families."

&

"A major shift came in 2008 with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

The treaty — signed by 70 countries, including the United States — has been widely supported by accredited agencies as an important step in eliminating concerns of baby-selling and coercion. Such allegations were common in Guatemala and Vietnam."

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brubin@tribune.com

CT - Pall lifts along with AIDS travel ban

From my archive of press clippings:

Chicago Tribune

Pall lifts along with AIDS travel ban


Patients, families cheer lifting of U.S. AIDS travel ban

By Bonnie Miller Rubin Tribune reporter

December 1, 2009

Senora Desiree cries when she talks about her only son, who is HIV-positive. The fact that the 18-year-old has been barred from visiting Chicago only heaps humiliation on top of her pain.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):"

"President Barack Obama recently announced that the 22-year-old ban on entry into the United States for anyone infected with HIV/AIDS will be lifted in January, making life a bit easier for mothers such as Desiree, who did not want her full name used because of the stigma of having an HIV-positive relative."

"(T)he Immigration and Nationality Act denied visas to anyone with a "communicable disease of public health significance," adding HIV to the list, alongside other travel-restricted conditions, such as tuberculosis and leprosy."

"The ban meant those with HIV and AIDS were not allowed to enter the U.S. and noncitizens already here could not stay, dividing families and upending lives.

While Immigration officials have granted special waivers to some people with the illness, the process is complicated and expensive, attorneys say.

Only about a dozen countries -- including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Libya -- have similar HIV travel restrictions."

"The CDC, however, was required by statute to uphold the ban, said Cetron, director of the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine."

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"The process started during the Clinton administration, but picked up momentum under George W. Bush, eager to build a legacy around his HIV work. As a candidate, Obama pledged to keep up the fight, culminating in the White House ceremony a month ago when it was announced the ban would end Jan. 4."

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brubin@tribune.com

CT - State Department wary about safety in Columbia

From my archive of press clippings:

Chicago Tribune

State Department wary about safety in Columbia

January 25, 2009


BY ALEXIA ELEJALDE-RUIZ

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The U.S. government continues to issue travel warnings for Colombia, citing violence from narco-terrorist groups, including the threat of kidnapping. In its most recent warning in August, the State Department said that violence remains high in some small towns and rural areas and the port city of Buenaventura.
But since 2005, the U.S. advisories have noted a marked decrease in violence in many urban areas, including Cartagena, Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla.


Read the whole article here.


Snippet(s):

"Two leftist revolutionary groups were responsible for most of the kidnappings. Those groups claim to represent the rural poor against Colombia's wealthy classes and fund their activities with ransoms and the drug trade."

&

"Although the vast majority of kidnapping victims have been Colombian, 324 foreigners were kidnapped from 1996 through 2007, 32 of them North Americans, according to the Free Country Foundation. In July, the Colombian government rescued 15 hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans, who had been held for more than five years."

CT - Aon adds policy to insure against attacks by pirates

From my archive of press clippings:

Chicago Tribune

Aon adds policy to insure against attacks by pirates


By Becky Yerak

Tribune reporter

January 14, 2009

Believing that piracy will be a continuing problem in 2009, Chicago-based insurance broker Aon Corp. has hoisted a new policy for charterers, shipowners and cargo owners to cover the losses of earnings from ships detained by scurvy dogs.

Read the whole article here.