Articles by Inter Press Service
We found 334 results.
Japan and South Africa Try to Block Proposed Ban on Domestic Ivory Trade
Guy Dinmore – Inter Press Service-IPS,
19 Sep 2016
8 Sep 2016 – Japan and South Africa have ignited a furore at a major conservation congress by coming out against a proposed appeal to all governments to ban domestic trade in elephant ivory.
→ read full articleMyanmar Turns to Nobel Peace Laureate Kofi Annan for Help on Festering Rohingya Crisis
Sara Perria – Inter Press Service-IPS,
29 Aug 2016
“The Myanmar government wants to find a sustainable solution to the complicated issues in Rakhine State, that’s why it has formed an advisory commission,” the office of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto head of government, said in a statement announcing Annan’s appointment on Aug. 24.
→ read full articleOne Humanity? Millions of Children Tortured, Smuggled, Abused, Enslaved
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Aug 2016
Children are being smuggled, sexually abused, maimed, killed for their vital organs, recruited as soldiers or otherwise enslaved. And 750 million women will have been married as children by 2030. These are just some of the dramatic figures that UNICEF and other UN and international bodies released few weeks ahead of the World Humanitarian Day marked every year on August 19.
→ read full articleIran: Children at the Gallows
Rose Delaney – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Aug 2016
12 Aug 2016 – Iran currently executes the highest number of juvenile offenders in the world. Rights groups have reported it executed at least 230 people since the beginning of 2016. At least 160 youths under the age of 18 currently await execution.
→ read full articleAfrican Farmers Can Feed the World, If Only…
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Aug 2016
Can African farmers feed the world?. Apparently the answer is “yes.” Bold as it may sound, this statement is based on specific facts.
→ read full articleOlympic Games – More Media Show than Sports Event
Mario Osava – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Aug 2016
Brazil’s first gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics gave it a new multipurpose heroine, Rafaela Silva, whose defeat of the favourites in judo has made her a strong voice against racism and homophobia. Not only is she black and poor, but she just came out as gay. Colourful figures like Silva or Jamaican runner Usain Bolt, or unbeatable U.S. swimming legend Michael Phelps, are crucial in the Olympics, which have become a huge global media event, more than the leading international sports competition.
→ read full articleWar on Climate Terror (I): Deserts Bury Two Thirds of African Lands
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
15 Aug 2016
9 Aug 2016 – Two-thirds of the African continent is already desert or dry-lands. But while this vast extension of the second largest continent on Earth after Asia is “vital” for agriculture and food production, nearly three-fourths of it is estimated to be degraded to varying degrees.
→ read full articleThe Historic Reversal of Populations
Joseph Chamie – Inter Press Service-IPS,
15 Aug 2016
It first happened in Italy in 1995. Five years later, it happened in six additional countries, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Japan, Portugal and Spain. Today the total number of countries where it has occurred stands at 30, including most members of the European Union. In fifteen years that number is expected to nearly double and include Australia, Canada, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
→ read full articleThe UN Steps Up Efforts to End Child Marriage
Babatunde Osotimehin – Inter Press Service-IPS,
15 Aug 2016
This year, more than 60 million 10 year-old girls worldwide will have started their journey through adolescence. Sadly, millions of them will be forced into adult responsibilities. Puberty brings a whole host of risks to girls’ lives and their bodies, including child marriage and all its consequences.
→ read full articleWar on Climate Terror (II): Fleeing Disasters, Escaping Drought, Migrating
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
15 Aug 2016
11 Aug 2016 – “No one can deny the terrible similarities between those running from the threat of guns and those fleeing creeping desertification, water shortages, floods and hurricanes.”
→ read full articleColombia Includes Gender Focus for a Stable, Lasting Peace
Patricia Grogg – Inter Press Service-IPS,
8 Aug 2016
29 Jul 2016 – The novel inclusion of a gender perspective in the peace talks that led to a historic ceasefire between the Colombian government and left-wing guerrillas is a landmark and an inspiration for efforts to solve other armed conflicts in the world, according to the director of U.N.-Women in Colombia, Belén Sanz.
→ read full articleThe UN Human Rights Council Adopts the Declaration on the Right to Peace
Christian Guillermet Fernández and David Fernández Puyana – Inter Press Service-IPS,
1 Aug 2016
On 1 July 2016, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the Declaration on the Right to Peace by a majority of its Member States. It is the result of three years of work with all stakeholders led by Costa Rica, through its Ambassador Christian Guillermet-Fernández.
→ read full articleRights of Indigenous Peoples ‘Critical’ to Combat Climate Change
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
1 Aug 2016
25 Jul 2016 – No longer it is about restoring the legitimate rights of over 370 indigenous peoples spread across 70 countries worldwide, many of them living in dire situation, but now about their central, critical role in combating climate change.
→ read full articleUS Government Report Exposes Exaggerated TPPA Growth Claims
Jomo Kwame Sundaram – Inter Press Service-IPS,
1 Aug 2016
28 Jul 2016 – The 2016 report by the US International Trade Commission acknowledges that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will not deliver many economic benefits promised by its cheerleaders. Implementing the TPP will greatly profit some large corporations, especially those getting IPR and financial rents.
→ read full articleForests: To Farm or Not to Farm? This Is the Question!
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
1 Aug 2016
19 Jul 2016 – The dilemma is critical: on the one hand, there is an absolute need to produce more food for the world’s steadily growing population; on the other, there is pressing urgency to halt -and further revert- the increasing trend to deplete the forests, which are as necessary for human survival as it is for ensuring their dietary needs. So what is at stake ?
→ read full article400 Million People Live with Hepatitis but They Do Not Know
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
1 Aug 2016
26 Jul 2016 – With some 400 million people around the world infected with hepatitis B or C, mostly without being aware, the United Nations top health agency encourages countries to boost testing and access to services and medicines for people in need to combat the ‘ignored perils’ of this disease.
→ read full article‘Monster’ El Niño Subsides, La Niña Hitting Soon
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Jul 2016
Now that the 2015-2016 El Niño –one of the strongest on record– has subsided, La Niña – El Niño’s ‘counterpart’– could strike soon, further exacerbating a severe humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions of people in the most vulnerable communities in tens of countries worldwide, especially in Africa and Asia Pacific.
→ read full articleWe Ignore Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Livestock Industry at Our Own Peril
Risto Isomaki – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Jul 2016
According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, the production of meat and other animal-based products is responsible for around 18 to 20 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. If FAO’s assessment is correct, animal waste and the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers to grow fodder annually create about 6 million tons of nitrous oxide–65-70 percent of our total emissions.
→ read full articleInternational Trade Favours Multinational Corporations
Roberto Azevêdo – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Jul 2016
The reality of international trading is often harder and more expensive for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The smaller the business, the bigger the barriers can seem. MSMEs are responsible for the largest share of employment opportunities in most economies, up to 90% in some countries; this is especially true when looking at equal opportunities for young workers and women.
→ read full articleHuman Security a Must in a Chaotic, Confused World – Japan
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
18 Jul 2016
“Human security” is strongly linked to food and nutrition security. In fact, on-going man-made disasters—such as armed conflicts and climate change—are the very direct cause of the current, unprecedented levels of human suffering. The United Nations estimates that the number of refugees, migrants and forcibly displaced at home has now hit all-high record: 160 million worldwide.
→ read full articleFirst UN Independent Expert to Tackle LGBTI Discrimination: “Historic Victory”
Phillip Kaeding – Inter Press Service-IPS,
11 Jul 2016
Human rights groups have described the UN Human Rights Council’s decision on Thursday [30 Jun] to appoint an independent expert to target the ongoing discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people all over the world as a “historic victory.”
→ read full articleXenophobic Rhetoric, Now Socially and Politically ‘Acceptable’ ?
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
4 Jul 2016
“Xenophobic and racist rhetoric seems not only to be on the rise, but also becoming more socially and politically acceptable,” warns Mogens Lykketoft, president of the UN General Assembly. On World Refugee Day, June 20, he reacted to the just announced new record number of people displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution.
→ read full articleSuspend Saudi Arabia from Human Rights Council, Human Rights Groups Say
Tharanga Yakupitiyage – Inter Press Service-IPS,
4 Jul 2016
Saudi Arabia’s membership in the Human Rights Council should be suspended by members of the UN General Assembly, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said on Wednesday [29 Jun]. They joined forces to make the exceptional call for action, noting that it is based on Saudi Arabia’s “gross and systematic violations of human rights” in Yemen and domestically.
→ read full articleXenophobia: ‘Hate Is Mainstreamed, Walls Are Back, Suspicion Kills’
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
27 Jun 2016
“The roll-back of violent extremism calls for an in-depth approach informed by the genesis and evolution of radicalisation, its link with citizenship and possible tipping point into violence… There also needs to be a better understanding of short-cuts to violent extremism that do not transit through radicalisation.” — UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
→ read full articleChildren of a Lesser God: Human Trafficking Soars in India
Neeta Lal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
27 Jun 2016
The Global Slavery Index released recently by the human rights organisation Walk Free Foundation states that globally, India has the largest population of modern slaves. Over 18 million people are trapped as bonded labourers, forced beggars, sex workers and child soldiers across the country. They constitute 1.4 percent of India’s total population.
→ read full articleWhat If Turkey Drops Its “Human Bomb” on Europe?
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
27 Jun 2016
The question is anything but trivial—it is rather a source of deep concern among the many non-governmental humanitarian organisations and the United Nations, which are making relentless efforts to fill the huge relief gaps caused by the apparent indifference of those powers who greatly contributed to creating this unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
→ read full articleWorld’s Nuclear Arsenal Declines but Multi-Billion Dollar Modernization Continues
Thalif Deen – Inter Press Service-IPS,
20 Jun 2016
The bad news is the continued modernization of nuclear weapons both by the US and Russia. Although details of the Russian program are not public, the US plans to spend $348 billion during 2015–24 on maintaining and comprehensively updating its nuclear forces. Some estimates suggest that the US nuclear weapon modernization program may cost up to $1 trillion over the next 30 years, according to SIPRI. Russia and the US together account for more than 93 per cent of all nuclear weapons on the planet.
→ read full articleWorld Oceans Day, 8 Jun – A Death Sea Called Mediterranean
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
13 Jun 2016
It is also a huge salty lake, being a semi-enclosed sea with only two tiny points of contact with open oceans-the Suez Canal in the East and the Gibraltar Straits in the West. Its waters need between 80 and 150 years to be renewed in contact with open oceans. In other words, a drop of polluted water remains there, circulating for a whole century on average.
→ read full articleHumanitarian Aid – Business as Unusual?
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
13 Jun 2016
9 Jun 2016 – Big business is most often seen by human rights defenders and civil society organisations as “bad news,” as those huge heartless, soulless corporations whose exclusive goal is to make the biggest profits possible. Too often and in too many cases this is a proven fact.
→ read full articleWildlife Trafficking Needs to Be a Policy Priority in Asia Pacific before It Is Too Late
Isabelle Louis and Jeremy Douglas – Inter Press Service-IPS,
6 Jun 2016
5 Jun 2016 – – This year’s World Environment Day on June 5 puts the spotlight on the illegal trade in wildlife. The problem has particular significance in Asia, which is the destination for most of the ivory taken from 20,000 to 25,000 elephants and the horns of more than 1,200 rhinos killed in Africa every year. Demand in the region is driven by fast growing middle and upper classes with an appetite for exotic pets, décor, food and fashion.
→ read full articleClosing the Gaps in Fight against Wildlife Trafficking in Latin America
Emilio Godoy – Inter Press Service-IPS,
6 Jun 2016
Despite the magnitude of the damage to biodiversity, Latin America and the Caribbean have made scant progress in fighting wildlife trafficking. The theme of this year’s World Environment Day, celebrated on Jun. 5, is Go Wild for Life.
→ read full articleHumanitarian Summit, the Big Fiasco
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
30 May 2016
The World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul on May 23-24 failed to achieve the objective of attracting the massive funds needed to alleviate the humanitarian drama, as neither the leaders of the Group-of-7 richest countries nor of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council attended, with the exception of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
→ read full article‘We Cannot Keep Jumping from Crisis to Crisis’
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
23 May 2016
20 May 2016 – “We cannot keep jumping from crisis to crisis. We have to invest in long-term development that helps people cope with shocks so that they can continue to grow enough food for their communities and not require emergency aid.” — Josefina Stubbs, Chief Strategist of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development message to the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.
→ read full articleMiddle East – The Mother of All Humanitarian Crises
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
23 May 2016
The Istanbul World Humanitarian Summit will focus on five key areas: to prevent and end conflict; to respect the rules of war; to leave no one behind; to work differently to end need, and to invest in humanity.
→ read full article‘Human Suffering Has Reached Staggering Levels’: UN Ban Ki-moon
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
23 May 2016
17 May 2016 – “Human suffering from the impacts of armed conflicts and disasters has reached staggering levels.” With these one dozen or few words, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, briefly but sharply portrayed the current humanitarian drama, explaining why the UN has decided to hold the first ever World Humanitarian Summit on May 23-24 this year in Istanbul, Turkey.
→ read full articleGreece, the Punching Ball of Germany
Roberto Savio – Inter Press Service-IPS,
16 May 2016
11 May 2016 – Greece is again in the media, because a new negotiation is due between the embattled country and its creditors. The North-South divide of Europe is coming back with force (while the East-West relationship is increasingly looking as beyond repair).
→ read full articleHow Can We Keep Press Freedom from Withering Away?
Farhana Haque Rahman – Inter Press Service-IPS,
2 May 2016
While a free press means that a journalist has rights, it does not mean that she or he is right.
→ read full articleClimate Change: Will the Middle East Become ‘Uninhabitable’? (I)
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Apr 2016
This is the first of a two-part series of reports focusing on the impact of climate change on the Middle East & North of Africa region, ahead of the signing ceremony of the Paris climate agreement, on 22 April 2016 in New York.
→ read full articleClimate Change and the Middle East: No Water in the Kingdom of the Two Seas—Nor Elsewhere (II)
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Apr 2016
This is part II of a two-part series of reports focusing on the impact of climate change on the Middle East & North of Africa region, ahead of the signing ceremony of the Paris climate agreement, on 22 April 2016 in New York.
→ read full articleClimate: Africa’s Human Existence Is at Severe Risk
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Apr 2016
This is how clear the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is when it comes to assessing the negative impact of climate change on this continent of 54 countries with a combined population of over 1,200 billion inhabitants. “No continent will be struck as severely by the impacts of climate change as Africa.”
→ read full articleStrange Spectacle: Nuclear Security Summit 2016
Dr. John Burroughs – Inter Press Service-IPS,
11 Apr 2016
Nuclear Security Summit Fails to Address Existing Nuclear Weapons
→ read full article(Castellano) Situación de los refugiados, peor que la Primera Guerra Mundial
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
21 Mar 2016
14 mar 2016 – Cuando los líderes de la Unión Europea disfruten el jueves 17 y el viernes 18 de sus vuelos exclusivos, sus suites de lujo y sus limusinas oficiales, en una nueva cumbre en Bruselas, para adoptar una decisión final sobre su propuesto plan de usar los refugiados como moneda de cambio, es probable que 20.000 sirios sigan aún en el campo de refugiados de Idomeni en Grecia, en una situación descrita como “peor que la Primera Guerra Mundial”.
→ read full article(Castellano) Europa a Turquía: Tome mis iraquíes y deme algunos sirios
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
14 Mar 2016
8 mar 2016 – En otra violación de las leyes internacionales y sus propios valores humanos, 28 países europeos acaban de acordar con Turquía abrir un nuevo “bazar” de refugiados, esta vez utilizando el viejo sistema de trueque: iraquíes y afganos a cambio de sirios y algo de dinero.
→ read full article(Castellano) Nueva Histeria Nuclear en Medio Oriente
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
7 Mar 2016
Ahora que el Organismo International de Energía Atómica anunció, el 18 de enero, que había verificado que Irán completó los pasos que aseguran que su programa nuclear será exclusivamente pacifico, una nueva ola de histeria nuclear parece haberse desatado ahora en la región. Véase de que se trata.
→ read full articleBig War Lords Playing Brinkmanship Game in Syria
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Feb 2016
The biggest “official” warlords on Earth—the Russian military apparatus and the US Pentagon and its “allies”–Europe, the US-led NATO, the Saudi Arabia-led Gulf countries, and Turkey, have just walked a step closer to the edge of the Middle East abyss over the weekend during their Munich Security Conference.
→ read full article(Castellano) Los grandes señores de la guerra, listos para invadir Siria
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Feb 2016
Los grandes señores de la guerra “oficiales”, es decir el aparato militar ruso y el Departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos y sus “aliados” -Europa, la OTAN, los países del Golfo liderados por Arabia Saudita, y Turquía- dieron el último fin de semana un paso más hacia el abismo de Medio Oriente durante su Conferencia de Seguridad de Múnich.
→ read full articleThe Trans-Pacific Partnership Fraud
Jomo Kwame Sundaram – Inter Press Service-IPS,
8 Feb 2016
The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement privileges foreign investors while imposing substantial costs on partner countries. The TPP has, in fact already been used to try to kill the Doha ‘Development’ Round of multilateral trade talks, but may well also undermine multilateralism more broadly in the near future.
→ read full articleCameron At Large: Want Not to Become a Terrorist? Speak Fluent English!
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
8 Feb 2016
4 Feb 2016 – “Do you speak English fluently? No? Then you risk becoming a terrorist.” IPS posed this dilemma to some young Muslim women living in Cairo, while explaining that this appears to be David Cameron’s formula to judge the level of Muslim women’s risk to fall, passively, into the horrific trap of extremism.
→ read full article(Castellano) África, ¿es noticia solo si sangra?
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service-IPS,
25 Jan 2016
Las raíces profundas que yacen debajo de la mayoría de los dramas africanos: largos siglos de colonialismo, esclavitud, empobrecimiento, dilapidación de los recursos naturales por corporaciones transnacionales, millonarias ventas de armas a las partes en conflicto, extendido acaparamiento de tierras y el grave impacto del cambio climático, causado lejos de África por los países industrializados, son solo algunos de ellos.
→ read full articleSeven Top Challenges Facing African Women
Baher Kamal – Inter Press Service,
25 Jan 2016
These challenges are now top on the agenda of the “8thAfrican Union Gender Pre-Summit on 2016 African Year of Human Rights,with Particular Focus on the Rights of Women” taking place in Addis Ababa on 17 – 21 January.
→ read full articlePacific Pact – a Minefield for Health Care
Emilio Godoy – Inter Press Service-IPS,
14 Oct 2013
The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), the negotiation of which is set to conclude this year, could drive research into new drugs and improve access to medicines. Except – it won’t.
→ read full articleEuropean Union at the Crossroads
Massimo D'Alema – Inter Press Service-IPS,
14 Oct 2013
“One of the fundamental contradictions: that whereas economic life has internationalism as a necessary premise, state life has developed in the direction of ‘nationalism,’ of ‘self-sufficiency’.” With global financial capitalism the crisis of democracy linked to the loss of sovereignty by nation states has reached breaking point.
→ read full articleBahrain Repression Continues Amid Sham Trials and Imprisonment
Emile Nakhleh – Inter Press Service-IPS,
14 Oct 2013
4 Oct 2013 – The lengthy prison sentences handed down to 50 Shia activists last week and the refusal of Bahraini courts to hear their allegations of torture once again confirm the regime’s continued repression of the opposition.
→ read full articleWTO: Stingy with the Poor, Generous with the Rich
Martin Khor – Inter Press Service-IPS,
7 Oct 2013
Martin Khor, the executive director of the South Centre, writes about how the WTO’s agriculture rules favour rich countries while punishing developing countries.
→ read full articleBrazil: Ninja Citizen Journalists Don’t Claim to Be Impartial
Fabiana Frayssinet – Inter Press Service-IPS,
7 Oct 2013
The citizen journalists of Midia Ninja who have covered the protests in Brazil are part of a new kind of reporting that is proud to be biased. The argument is that the big media outlets are not “impartial” either, but answer to their own interests or those of the economic powers they represent – although less transparently than the new citizen journalists.
→ read full articleThe Medicines Are Fake, the Illnesses Real
Catherine Wilson – Inter Press Service-IPS,
7 Oct 2013
Reports of fraudulent medicines in the south-west Pacific island states of Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea have drawn attention to the need for more public awareness of the lethal trade and its tragic consequences. The global trade in fake medicines is estimated to net international organised criminals about 75 billion dollars per year.
→ read full article“The Oil Is Ours” – But Its Secrets Are the NSA’s
Fabiana Frayssinet – Inter Press Service-IPS,
30 Sep 2013
The Brazilian government is the largest shareholder in Petrobras, a publicly traded company whose closely guarded secrets – such as the volume of reserves or the deep water exploration technology it has developed – may already be in the hands of the U.S. government and its allies.
→ read full articleIsrael Silent on Chemical Weapons
Pierre Klochendler – Inter Press Service-IPS,
30 Sep 2013
“While we cannot confirm whether the Israelis possess lethal chemical agents,” the CIA report said, “several indicators lead us to believe that they have available to them at least persistent and non-persistent nerve agents, a mustard agent, and several riot-control agents, marched with suitable delivery systems.” It’s been known since the early 1970s that chemical tests are conducted at the secretive Israel Institute for Biological Research located in the town of Ness Ziona, 20 km south of Tel Aviv.
→ read full articleU.S. Urged to Curb Militarisation in Latin America
Jim Lobe – Inter Press Service-IPS,
23 Sep 2013
Of particular interest is the increase in deployments to Latin America and the Caribbean by the Special Operations Forces – elite units like the Army’s Green Berets and Navy SEALS – due to the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and drawdown from Afghanistan. Over the past decade, SOF ranks have more than doubled to about 65,000, and command has been particularly aggressive in seeking new missions in new theatres.
→ read full articleDownsizing Finance: The Mother of All Bubbles
Hazel Henderson – Inter Press Service-IPS,
10 Sep 2013
Hazel Henderson, a futurist and economic iconoclast who is the president of Ethical Markets Media (USA and Brazil) and creator of the Green Transition Scoreboard, writes that economism must be defrocked as obsolete and a failed ideology.
→ read full articleU.N. Can Help Devalue Nukes as Geopolitical Currency
Thalif Deen – Inter Press Service-IPS,
2 Sep 2013
When the 193-member U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) holds is first-ever high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament in September [2013], there is little or no hope that any of the nuclear powers will make a firm commitment to gradually phase out or abandon their lethal arsenals.
→ read full articleEconomics and Population Policies Go Hand in Hand in Latin America
Fabiana Frayssinet – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Jul 2013
Nearly 20 years after the landmark U.N. conference on population and development, the countries of Latin America have an opportunity to make headway with a new agenda on these issues, thanks to the favourable economic context that has made it possible to reduce social inequalities.
→ read full articleChina Leads Battle Against Poverty, Says U.N.
Thalif Deen – Inter Press Service-IPS,
8 Jul 2013
The United Nations has singled out China – the world’s most populous country with over 1.3 billion people – as one of the key success stories in the longstanding battle against poverty.
→ read full articleShift in Latin America’s Approach to Drugs – from Security to Health Issue
Louisa Reynolds – Inter Press Service-IPS,
10 Jun 2013
The drug problem should be tackled not as a security issue but as a public health question, with policies for “prevention, treatment and rehabilitation,” the 34 countries participating in the 43rd General Assembly of the Organisation of American States agreed on Tuesday June 4 [2013] in the colonial Guatemalan city of Antigua.
→ read full articleAnti-LGBT Rampage in Georgia Exposes Frustrations with the West
Molly Corso – Inter Press Service-IPS,
10 Jun 2013
While most Georgians condemn the violent May 17 [2013] attack on an anti-homophobia rally, many do not see the core issue as having anything to do with a lack of tolerance, a right to freedom of assembly or respect for minority rights.
→ read full articleIn Vietnam, Rhino Horns Worth Their Weight in Gold
Marwaan Macan-Markar – Inter Press Service-IPS,
27 May 2013
Gold, once the favourite gift among the communist-ruled country’s expanding class of wealthy citizens, has been dethroned by rhino horns, which currently fetch 65,000 dollars per kilogramme. This is “more than gold, gram for gram.” Though the weight of rhino horns vary, an individual horn can fetch upto 150,000 dollars.
→ read full articleSmall and Large Steps towards Equality for Gays in Cuba
Ivet González – Inter Press Service-IPS,
27 May 2013
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Cuba has won advances on issues like the change of name of pre-operative transgender persons, while they continue to fight for the right to same-sex civil unions.
→ read full articleThe Free Market Fundamentalists Are Now in Europe
Roberto Savio – Inter Press Service-IPS,
13 May 2013
For a long time it was a given that while Europe was based on defending a more just society, with social values and solidarity, the United States was based on the glory of individualism and competition, and anything public was considered “socialist”. Well, it’s time for an update – the defenders of market fundamentalism are now in Europe. Share traders [are] both more reckless and more manipulative than psychopaths.
→ read full article‘Tell Us about Jail – Just in Case’
Pierre Klochendler – Inter Press Service-IPS,
29 Apr 2013
Hebron, Occupied West Bank, Apr 22 2013 – “Three interrogators questioned me for three hours. I was handcuffed. They beat me, slapped me, kicked me, boxed me, accused me of throwing stones; played a video of a demonstration. I denied I was there. So again, they beat me up,” recounts Zein Abu-Mariya, 17, seated on a sofa next to dad.
→ read full articleHunger Strikes Put Guantanamo Back in the Spotlight
Joe Hitchon – Inter Press Service-IPS,
22 Apr 2013
Public debate here over the military prison at Guantanamo Bay heated up again following Monday’s [15 Apr 2013] surprise publication of a highly charged article by a hunger striking inmate at the prison. “The majority of people who are at Guantanamo right now have been cleared for release, and they have been cleared for up to six years.” — CCR’s Susan Hu
→ read full article“Merchants of Death” Fly under the Radar of U.N. Arms Trade Treaty
George Gao – Inter Press Service-IPS,
1 Apr 2013
They justify in the most compelling ways that what they do is actually good for the world, using phrases like ‘in defence of humanity’ and ‘arming people to keep the peace’. While Bout sits in a jail, the UN is concluding an Arms Trade Treaty that hopes to control a trillion-dollar industry and curtail the use of arms for human rights violations. But “arms brokering” in general was hardly brought up during ATT negotiations.
→ read full articleTourism Lies at the Heart of the BRICS
John Fraser – Inter Press Service-IPS,
4 Mar 2013
As tourism between the emerging nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa starts to increase, South Africa is determined to weld the iron while it is hot.
→ read full articleNew Development Bank To Be Key BRICS Building Block
John Fraser – Inter Press Service-IPS,
4 Mar 2013
Emerging market leaders want their Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa club to be taken seriously, and next month [Mar 2013] they are expected to make a decisive move towards setting up a development bank to give it real substance and credibility.
→ read full article24 Nails Dug Into Body, Luckily
Amantha Perera – Inter Press Service-IPS,
4 Mar 2013
Ariyawathie, 52, from Sri Lanka, left to work as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia in early 2011. She worked only five months and returned home with oozing wounds after burning iron rods were inserted into her skin by her employers. She has reason to feel lucky. On Jan 10 [2013] Rizana Nafeek, a 25-year-old maid jailed in Saudi Arabia for the accidental death of an infant was beheaded without notification to the family or Sri Lankan authorities.
→ read full article‘We Grow, They Bulldoze, We Re-Plant’
Eva Bartlett – Inter Press Service-IPS,
18 Feb 2013
“The Israeli army destroyed my house and my five dunums of land (a dunum is 1,000 square metres), as well as 20 other homes,” he says. With signs reading ‘Boycott Israeli Agricultural Products’ and ‘Support Palestinian Farmers’, Mandil and others protesting Israeli oppression of Palestinian farmers joined together Saturday [9 Feb 2013] to plant olive trees on Israeli-razed farmland and to implore international supporters to join the boycott of Israeli agricultural produce.
→ read full articleU.N.’s Water Agenda at Risk of Being Hijacked by Big Business
Thalif Deen – Inter Press Service-IPS,
18 Feb 2013
Amidst growing new threats of potential conflicts over fast-dwindling water resources in the world’s arid regions, the United Nations will commemorate 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC). But Maude Barlow, a former senior advisor on water to the president of the U.N. General Assembly in 2008-2009, warns the U.N.’s water agenda is in danger of being hijacked by big business and water conglomerates.
→ read full articleWaves of Resistance Never End at Nuclear Plant
K.S. Hari Krishnan – Inter Press Service-IPS,
11 Feb 2013
India, Feb 5 2013 – An indefinite struggle continues against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the southern Indian state Tamil Nadu despite a government crackdown on protests. Idinthakarai, in Tamil Nadu, has become the hub of a mass agitation which started on Aug. 16 in 2011. Hundreds of men, women and children from a group of 12 villages are leading a campaign to stall operation of the nuclear plant. The public agitation intensified after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.
→ read full article“Pregnant, Chained to a Wall and Starved”, One of 136 Terror War Stories
George Gao – Inter Press Service-IPS,
11 Feb 2013
Shedding new light on a chapter of the U.S. “war on terror” that has largely remained shrouded in secrecy, the Open Society Justice Initiative released a report Tuesday [5 Feb 2013] detailing the cases of 136 individuals who were extraordinarily rendered or secretly detained by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Entitled “Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition”, the report confirms the undisclosed prisons known as “black sites”.
→ read full articleSolar-Powered Water Pumps Struggle to See the Light
Manipadma Jena – Inter Press Service-IPS,
21 Jan 2013
When twenty-nine-year-old Kartik Wahi graduated from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, Illinois in 2010, he wasted no time in returning to India to self-finance a start-up company to market solar-powered irrigation pumps. Working on a shoestring budget together with two partners, the young entrepreneur was convinced that the benefits of this renewable energy initiative would make a huge difference in some of India’s largest agricultural regions.
→ read full articleVillagers Wail Against Nuclear Power
K. S. Harikrishnan – Inter Press Service-IPS,
14 Jan 2013
Talking to IPS, anti-nuclear activist K. Sahadevan said, “Radioactivity-related health hazards are a major concern for the people residing near the plant,” referring to a survey of houses very near to the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, which revealed a high prevalence of cancer and tumors. Dr. Binayak Sen, human rights activist and member of the Planning Commission’s Steering Committee on Health, said that the Kudankulam plant posed serious health consequences, not only for those residing in the immediate vicinity, but for inhabitants of the entire region.
→ read full article(Português) Portugal: O Êxodo dos Diplomados
Mario Queiroz – Inter Press Service-IPS,
14 Jan 2013
Desde a década de 1960, quando as saídas em massa de portugueses eram uma constante, este país não sofria uma emigração de tal magnitude como a atual, com a agravante de que pela primeira vez inclui profissionais altamente qualificados.
→ read full articleBRICS Tracking Where the Money Flows
John Fraser – Inter Press Service-IPS,
24 Dec 2012
The five leading developing nations grouped in the BRICS alliance – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are planning to intensify efforts to collect accurate trade data, so they can get a better picture of trade flows. The exercise will help with economic planning, and will give improved insight into the economic links between the five members of the club.
→ read full articleDoha Climate Summit Ends With No New CO2 Cuts or Funding
Stephen Leahy – Inter Press Service-IPS,
17 Dec 2012
The United Nations climate talks in Doha went a full extra 24 hours and ended without increased cuts in fossil fuel emissions and without financial commitments between 2013 and 2015. “This is an incredibly weak deal,” said Samantha Smith representing the Climate Action Network, a coalition of more than 700 civil society organisations.
→ read full articleGaza: Bombed, Wounded, and Celebrating
Mel Frykberg – Inter Press Service-IPS,
26 Nov 2012
As news of the Hudna or ceasefire spread, overjoyed Gazans took to the streets to celebrate. Women ululated, children waved flags and young men handed out sweets and punctured the night air with celebratory gunfire. What is undisputed is that Israel not only failed to break Hamas, but left the organisation politically stronger, still in possession of significant arms caches, and with growing regional support.
→ read full articleIndia Poised to Supply Free Drugs to 1.2 Billion People
Zofeen Ebrahim – Inter Press Service-IPS,
19 Nov 2012
With India moving towards universal health coverage (UHC) in the next two years, it has budgeted nearly 300 billion rupees (55.9 million dollars) to fund the programme. It hopes to be able to provide free drugs to 52 percent of the population by April 2017. The central government will fund 75 percent of the programme, with states doling out the rest. “It’s not just possible in India, it’s possible all over the world,” said Dr. Nirmal Kumar Gurbani.
→ read full articleIsrael Ranked World’s Most Militarised Nation
Jim Lobe – Inter Press Service-IPS,
19 Nov 2012
Israel tops the list of the world’s most militarised nations, according to the latest Global Militarisation Index released Tuesday [13 Nov 2012]. At number 34, Israel’s main regional rival, Iran, is far behind. In contrast, both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are relatively low on the Index. The research is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.
→ read full articleIndia Puts GM Food Crops under Microscope
Ranjit Devraj – Inter Press Service-IPS,
5 Nov 2012
Environmental activists are cautiously optimistic that a call by a court-appointed technical committee for a ten-year moratorium on open field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops will shelve plans to introduce bio-engineered foods in this largely agricultural country.
→ read full articleCooperatives Cushion the Blows of Hunger
Inter Press Service-IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Oct 2012
Millions of small-scale producers, particularly in the developing world, are responding to the triple crises of climate change, food price fluctuations and market instability by organising themselves into cooperatives to join forces. The Food and Agriculture Organizaton sees cooperatives as a major way to lift small-scale farmers out of poverty and hunger, and help them to access markets to sell their products, buy inputs at better prices and obtain financial services.
→ read full articleThe Brasilia Consensus, a Model for Latin America
Estrella Gutiérrez – Inter Press Service-IPS,
15 Oct 2012
Following the extreme neoliberalism of the Washington Consensus, which gave rise to a lost decade in social terms, Latin America is experimenting more successfully with a home-grown formula: the Brasilia Consensus, which combines the market economy and social inclusion.
→ read full articleCooperatives Hold Their Own in Free Market Jungle
Beatrice Paez – Inter Press Service-IPS,
15 Oct 2012
Cooperatives may face an immense challenge in garnering broader public recognition among consumers, but when it comes to chasing growth, they haven’t held back. They are growing a rate comparable to their corporate competitors, and are outpacing them in the food and agricultural sector, a study released by McKinsey & Company reveals.
→ read full articleGlobal Economy, Meet One Billion Co-op Members
Beatrice Paez – Inter Press Service-IPS,
15 Oct 2012
Quebec City, Canada – The international rally to take the global cooperative movement to the next level is in full swing at the International Summit of Cooperatives here, which kicked off on Monday [8 Oct 2012]. Under the banner “The Amazing Power of Cooperatives”, the summit seeks to demonstrate its contributions in proffering alternative, human-centred solutions for economic development across the world.
→ read full articleIsrael ‘Pillaging’ Palestinian Resources
Jillian Kestler-D'Amours – Inter Press Service-IPS,
10 Sep 2012
By mining natural resources from the occupied Palestinian territories for its own economic purposes, Israel is committing the war crime of pillage in the Dead Sea area, according to a report released Monday [3 Sep 2012] by Palestinian human rights group Al Haq.
→ read full articleDebate on Asbestos Safety Reaches Brazil’s Supreme Court
Fabiana Frayssinet – Inter Press Service-IPS,
10 Sep 2012
Brazil’s Supreme Court is assessing the level of risk posed by asbestos to human health, while industry defends its use under controlled conditions, and associations of people with asbestos-related diseases argue that it should not be used under any circumstances, even with regulations.
→ read full articleSmall Arms Trade Bigger Than Ever, Report Says
Coralie Tripier – Inter Press Service-IPS,
3 Sep 2012
The goal of curbing small arms proliferation appears more elusive than ever, according to a report released this morning [28 Aug 2012] by the independent research project Small Arms Survey. Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), which range from handguns to landmines or hand grenades, cause many deaths and injuries across the world. The United Nations (U.N.) has been trying to reduce SALW trade for years.
→ read full articleU.S. Foreign Weapons Sales Triple, Setting Record
Carey L. Biron – Inter Press Service-IPS,
3 Sep 2012
U.S. weapons sales around the world have massively expanded over the past year, setting several records. Agreements for foreign arms sales in 2011 totalled around 66.3 billion dollars – three times higher than the previous year and constituting an “extraordinary increase”, according to the Congressional Research Service. Over that same period, total weapons sales agreements around the world also spiked, nearly doubling to a total of around 85.3 billion dollars, the highest recorded since 2004.
→ read full articleHydropower Dam to Flood Sacred Amazon Indigenous Site
Fabiola Ortiz – Inter Press Service-IPS,
27 Aug 2012
The Sete Quedas or “seven waterfalls” on the Teles Pires River, which runs through the Amazon rainforest states of Mato Grosso and Pará in central Brazil, are a spiritual oasis venerated by several indigenous groups. But the 20-metre-high rocky falls are to be covered by a reservoir created by a hydroelectric dam that is to flood an area of 95 square km.
→ read full articleIndia: Children Treated as Lab Rats
K. S. Harikrishnan – Inter Press Service-IPS,
20 Aug 2012
Four-year-old Deepak Yadav, a mentally disabled boy, was being treated for stomach problems at a government hospital for children. But when repeated administration of the anti-ulcer drug Rabeprazole started to exacerbate his condition, his parents stopped treatment and sought help from the Clinical Trial Victims Association (CTVA), which discovered that the boy had been a lab rat for an untested drug. Deepak is now almost entirely reliant on his mother for survival. The family is poor, yet “doctors did not take any steps to get us compensation,” his father added.
→ read full articleInvestigation Exposes Cruelty at Foie Gras Farms
Carlota Cortes – Inter Press Service - IPS,
13 Aug 2012
Carter Dillard, director of litigation for the Animal Legal Defence Fund, told IPS, “They are literally willing to torture the animal just to make them taste better and that’s really barbaric. I think 50 years from now people will be horrified that we ever did this.”
→ read full articleBanksters Hijack Microfinance
Julio Godoy – Inter Press Service-IPS,
6 Aug 2012
New evidence suggests that even microcredit was not protected from the greed that characterises modern international finance. Two recent studies show that microfinance was simply another profit making scheme for global private finance corporations, such as the Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, and Standard Chartered, who started pouring money into microcredit initiatives. In his book, ‘Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic’, released Jul. 9 [2012], former investment banker Hugh Sinclair claims that such banks and funds use microcredit, through local operators, to charge usurious interest rates – of up to 200 percent – on even the smallest loans.
→ read full articleU.S., Russia and China Stick to Their Guns
Coralie Tripier – Inter Press Service-IPS,
6 Aug 2012
While 153 states have consistently voted in favour of what could have been a first-of-its-kind regulation on conventional weapons, Washington, Moscow and Beijing declared that they needed “more time”, thus postponing the finalisation of the treaty to next year. With 2,000 persons killed by arms every day, the delay came as a disappointment for many, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
→ read full article