Political and Economic Turmoil Threaten Women’s Progress
By Mathilde Bagneres
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2, 2012 (IPS) – As UN Women celebrated its first birthday, its executive director Michelle Bachelet stressed that political upheveal and shrinking budgets are no excuse to push back the hard-won gains made by the women’s movement globally.
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Trade: From bicycle to snowball approach to policy
Chakravarthi Raghavan*
This year “Davos doesn’t deliver”, declared a headline over an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal Monday authored by the Journal’s money and investment editor.
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2011 – A Year of Weather Extremes, with More to Come
Analysis by Janet Larsen and Sara Rasmussen*
WASHINGTON, Feb 1, 2012 (IPS) – The global average temperature in 2011 was 14.52 degrees Celsius (58.14 degrees Fahrenheit). According to NASA scientists, this was the ninth warmest year in 132 years of recordkeeping, despite the cooling influence of the La Niña atmospheric and oceanic circulation pattern and relatively low solar irradiance.
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UN shenanigans on Syria
By Aisling Byrne* – Asia Times
“Viscous nasty business” … “aggressive pressure … by US diplomats”, “ferocious pressure on weaker non-permanent members”, the “type of pressure [that] is very, very difficult for weaker countries … to resist.”
That’s how a former British diplomat at the United Nations, Carne Ross, described last September’s UN showdown over the Palestinian Authority’s bid for recognition for statehood. [1] “This is how power works.” he said.
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After Durban: All Talked Out?
By Oscar Reyes* – ZSpace Page
If a lexicon of international climate conferences is ever written, Durban will be listed right after the words debacle, delusion, disaster and disillusionment. Even the disappointments were not surprising at the 17th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in South Africa last December. Instead, they followed the usual script: two weeks of ineffectual jargon-filled bickering followed by an agreement to delay action on climate change beyond the political lifespan of most of the governments present.
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Rights Groups Denounce Duvalier Ruling, U.S. Urges Appeal
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON, Jan 31, 2012 (IPS) – International and local human rights groups Tuesday strongly denounced the ruling by an investigating judge in Haiti that former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier should not face charges for massive human rights abuses committed during his 15-year reign, from 1971 to 1986.
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IS CHINA STILL A DEVELOPING COUNTRY?
By Martin Khor (*)
GENEVA, Jan (IPS/South Centre) Is China still a developing country or has it joined the ranks of the advanced developed countries?
This has become a pressing question, especially after the US President Barack Obama reportedly told President Hu Jintao that China had to act more responsibly now that it has grown up.
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Nuke Free Middle East Meet ‘A Priority Issue’
By Ramesh Jaura
Interview with UN General Assembly President Al-Nasser
BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser is committed to convening a conference directed at establishing a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.
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Anschluss Economics – The Germans Launch a Blitzkrieg on the Greek Debt Negotiations
By Marshall Auerback – Naked capitalism
News stories continue to suggest that Greece once again appears on the verge of reaching a deal with its private sector creditors on how much of a loss they would be willing to accept on their bond holdings. The latest numbers suggest a 70% write-down. A pretty striking comedown for what is supposed to be a “voluntary default” and, hence, not subject to the triggers of a credit default swap on Greek debt.
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WSF: Working Towards a Never-Ending Democracy
By Antonio Martins
PORTO ALEGRE, Jan 27, 2012 (IPS) – For five centuries, Europe has taken it upon itself to enlighten the world, teaching it ways to address and overcome crises, from ideas and wars to missionary work and genocides.
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Dismantling a Dictatorship – Peacefully
Analysis by Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Jan 23, 2012 (IPS) – As he dismantles a 50-year military dictatorship without a shot being fired, Burmese President Thein Sein is resorting to the political art of compromise.
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Suicidal mood
By: Patricio Navia*
And the challenges Romney faces in coming weeks
The unexpectedly weak second place for Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primaries has brought uncertainty back to the Republican presidential nomination race.
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Why We Went Black
By Tim Karr – ZSpace Page
Wikipedia and Google blacked out? Redditers in an uproar? Thousands of geeks abandoning their cubicles to take to the streets?
What’s happening here?
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Opportunity beckons for Iran’s Guards
By Brian M Downing* – Asia Times
The United States and other powers are seeking to change the government of Iran from the present mullah-centered authoritarianism to a representative government, or at least to a government more acceptable to regional powers. This objective is being pursued amid a program of sanctions and violent attacks including assassinations and bombings. Strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and perhaps even a protracted air campaign may be in the offing.
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Time is Right for the Human Right to Peace’
By Anwarul K. Chowdhury*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
No time is more appropriate than now to build the culture of peace. No social responsibility is greater nor task more significant than that of securing peace on our planet on a sustainable foundation. Today’s world with its complexities and challenges is becoming increasingly more interdependent and interconnected. The sheer magnitude of these requires all of us to work together. Recognition of the human right to peace by the international community, particularly the United Nations, will surely generate the inspiration in creating the much-needed culture of peace in each one of us.
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Alan Greenspan’s ship of fools
Dean Baker – guardian.co.uk
The Fed’s FOMC is supposed to steer the US economy to prosperity. As we now see, it was completely rudderless in 2006
In keeping with its policy of releasing transcripts with a five-year lag, the Federal Reserve Board recently released the transcripts from its 2006 Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. There is much there to cause pain and amusement.
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Unrest Spread Eastwards
Analysis by Zoltan Dujisin
BUDAPEST, Jan 20, 2012 (IPS) – Protests in Hungary and Romania are the first signs of anti-systemic mobilisation in the Eastern half of the continent. While protests in both countries indicate dissatisfaction with their governments’ authoritarian turn, their origins differ, as does the European Union’s reaction to them.
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Taxes at the Top
By PAUL KRUGMAN -The New York Times
Call me peculiar, but I’m actually enjoying the spectacle of Mitt Romney doing the Dance of the Seven Veils — partly out of voyeurism, of course, but also because it’s about time that we had this discussion.
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How the U.S. Manipulates Key U.N. Appointments
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 19, 2012 (IPS) – When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announces his new team of senior officials shortly, his appointments will be based not only on merit but also on demands made by the five big powers – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – as well as key donors who sustain U.N. agencies through voluntary contributions.
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Islamist Parties to Abide by Camp David – For Now
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO, Jan 19, 2012 (IPS) – The Islamist landslide in recently concluded parliamentary polls has led to fears in some quarters of an impending paradigm shift in Egyptian foreign policy. Most local analysts, however, dismiss the likelihood of any sea changes, especially when it comes to the sensitive issues of Palestine and the Camp David peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
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