IRIN-humanitarian news and analysis FREETOWN, 20 December 2007 (IRIN) – The Sierra Leone government has called for an inquiry into unrest over diamond-mining operations in the east of the country after residents were killed in protests last week. The government… Continue Reading
Interview with Tetteh Hormeku of Third World Network Africa ACCRA, Dec 20 (IPS) – A lively debate has been taking place in Ghana for some time now over the likely effects that an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European… Continue Reading
Interview with social movements expert Dieter Rucht BERLIN, Dec 20 (IPS) – Social movements are responsible for some of the most important transformations taking place lately in our societies and minds, says Prof. Dieter Rucht from the Berlin Centre for… Continue Reading
From The Economist print edition Dec 19th 2007 What the Lisbon and Brussels summits say about today’s Europe IN THESE carbon-conscious times, there was much carping because European Union leaders held a party in Portugal to sign their new treaty,… Continue Reading
Por Amy Goodman Diciembre de 2007 El Premio Nobel de la Paz fue otorgado el fin de semana pasado en Oslo, Noruega. Al Gore compartió el premio con el Panel Intergubernamental sobre el Cambio Climático de la ONU (IPCC, por… Continue Reading
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 (IPS) – When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid his first official visit to East Timor (Timor-Leste) last week, he was conscious of the growing demands for accountability for crimes committed during Indonesia’s invasion… Continue Reading
By Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor The council takes up the issue Wednesday after 18 months of lower-level negotiations failed. PARIS After some 18 months of talks, countless missions, painstaking mapmaking, hand-holding, and hand-wringing – the… Continue Reading
By CHERIE BLAIR London LIKE many people nowadays, I’m the product of a single-parent family. My sister and I were brought up by my mother after my father deserted us when we were young. It must have been very tough… Continue Reading
Interview with Katrina Pacey, social justice attorney VANCOUVER, Canada, Dec 18 (IPS) – Katrina Pacey is a lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society in Vancouver. Pivot is engaged in social justice work through legal reform in the inner city of… Continue Reading
By THOMAS FULLER and ANDREW C. REVKIN December 16, 2007 NUSA DUA, Indonesia — The world’s faltering effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions got a new lease on life on Saturday, as delegates from 187 countries agreed to negotiate a… Continue Reading
Interview with Mariela Castro HAVANA, Dec 13 (IPS) – Cuban sexologist Mariela Castro shocked the world, and a good number of people in Cuba, this year when she announced a proposed legal reform in this socialist Caribbean island nation which… Continue Reading
By Michael Heath Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) — United Nations troops will need to remain in East Timor for “several” more years to prevent a resumption of violence in the Southeast Asian nation, the head of UN peacekeeping said. Violence erupted… Continue Reading
Interview with author and activist Maude Barlow HALIFAX, Canada, Dec 14 (IPS) – Imagine a planet where nuclear-powered desalination plants ring the world’s oceans; corporate nanotechnology cleans up sewage water so private utilities can sell it back to consumers in… Continue Reading
By Marwaan Macan-Markar NUSA DUA, Bali, Indonesia , Dec 13 (IPS) – Green groups hoping that the social and environmental cost of biofuels would get an airing at the United Nations climate change conference here are a disappointed lot. The… Continue Reading
Mark Lattimer Guardian – Thursday December 13, 2007 After the invasion of Iraq, the US government claimed that women there had ‘new rights and new hopes’. In fact their lives have become immeasurably worse, with rapes, burnings and murders now… Continue Reading
By Eric Lemus NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Dec 12 (IPS) – Representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) called for greater accountability on the part of industrialised countries and a firmer stance by developing nations in order to avert failure at the current… Continue Reading
Editorial – The New York Times December 12, 2007 The Soviet-style guessing game over Russia’s presidential succession seemed all but decided this week when President Vladimir Putin endorsed the candidacy of his loyal protégé, Dmitri Medvedev, and then Mr. Medvedev… Continue Reading
Antonio Guterres * December 11, 2007 The ideal is for people not to have to move, and to care for them if they do. THE 21st century will be defined by the movement of people from one country and continent… Continue Reading
By Eric Lemus* NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Dec 11 (IPS/IFEJ) – The multitudinous United Nations Conference on Climate Change under way since Dec. 3 on the tropical Indonesian island of Bali has oscillated between optimism and quiet reserve. The 12-day event… Continue Reading
Interview with Peter Schatzer, International Organisation for Migration VENICE, Dec 10 (IPS) – With waves of opposition to tides of immigrants in Europe, Peter Schatzer has his job cut out. And seeing that the Mediterranean is the favoured route for… Continue Reading
