24/05/2013
By Russia Today (RT)* – The US war on terror is in fact the most massive terror campaign ever, and the invasion of Iraq was the worst crime in recent history, prominent liberal thinker Noam Chomsky told RT*, adding that he wants to see Bush, Blair and Obama tried at the ICC [International Criminal Court].
**Photo: President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office of the White House Monday, November 10, 2008. Author: White House photo by Eric Draper
The ‘father of modern linguistics, Chomsky reflects on the language of the war on terror, coming to the conclusion that the freer the society, the more sophisticated its propaganda.
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24/05/2013
By Maung Zarni*, TRANSCEND - Is Burma’s Aung Suu Kyi herself complicit in this Rohingya ethnnocide? is a valid, empirical question that needs to be raised.
**Aung San Suu Kyi | Photo credit: Htoo Tay Zar | Wikimedia Commons.
Aung San Suu Kyi has firmly exhorted the public that is opposed to the Chinese Arms-industry-owned copper mine at Letpadaung in central Dry Zone of Burma that the people must honor commercial contacts signed between the previous Than Shwe dictatorship and China. Or else there will be no investor confidence in the country.
Consequently, she has earned a new iconic title, “Copper Lady”, who, as Chair of the official pro-mining report of the government, has advanced the commercial and strategic interests of both China and Burmese military conglomerate vis-a-vis the economically dispossessed Burmese farmers – in the thousands – whose land and livelihoods have been ruined, thanks to the land grabs by the mining joint venture there.
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24/05/2013
By Bill Van Auken, WSWS*, 23 May 2013 - While ostensibly touring the Middle East to discuss a joint US-Russian proposal for peace talks between the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and Western-backed “rebels,” Secretary of State John Kerry met with US allies to prepare for region-wide war.
**Demonstration in Homs against Assad | Photo: Bo yaser | Wikimedia Commons.
Stopping first in Oman, Kerry held talks with the ruling Sultan, one of the string of monarchical dictators that constitute, together with Israel, the foundation of US influence in the Middle East.
The secretary of state’s visit coincided with the signing of a $2.1 billion deal between the absolute monarchy and Raytheon Corp. for the sale of advanced weapons systems, including Avenger fire units, Stinger missiles, and Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, part of a ring of steel that Washington has sought to erect around Iran.
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24/05/2013
By EurActiv*, 24 May 2013 - Progress on energy efficiency was blocked at an EU summit on Wednesday (22 May) by a cocktail of myopic business interests and timid leadership, according to Hans Nilsson, a board member of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE).
Source: EurActiv
Background briefing documents for the European Council were heavily skewed towards an agenda of energy price differentials and the promotion of unconventional fuels such as shale gas.
In this context, the three references to energy efficiency – and eight to energy costs – in the conclusions represented a significant result for supporters of energy use reductions.
“Clearly it is a repetition of the ‘nice words’ but at least it shows that energy efficiency – ‘the shale gas of Europe’ – is on the agenda [even if] the ministers in Council were not very action-oriented,” Nilsson said. “It was more like they were walking around in the fog, trying to find their way.”
The text that EU leaders signed off on praised the “significant contribution” that efficiency could make to reducing industry costs and said that implementation of directives on energy efficiency and the energy performance of buildings was crucial.
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24/05/2013
New York – Global economic growth will continue to be “below potential” this year, according to a report released on 23 May 2013 by the United Nations that adds that job creation will be vital to spur recovery*.
A government unemployment office with job listings, Berlin, Germany, 1982. | Source: German Federal Archive | Wikimedia Commons
The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2013 mid-year update notes that, since late 2012, new policy initiatives in major developed economies have reduced systemic risks and helped stabilize consumer, business and investor confidence, but with very limited improvement in economic growth.
“The main priority for policymakers worldwide should be to support a robust and balanced global recovery, with a focus on promoting job creation,” said Shamshad Akhtar, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development.
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22/05/2013
Rome – Poverty and food insecurity in Egypt have risen significantly over the last three years, according to a joint report released on 21 May 2013 by the United Nations food agency and partners*.
More than 40 per cent of the average household’s expenditure in Egypt goes towards food; for the poorest families its more than half their budgets. Photo: WFP/Marco Frattini
An estimated 13.7 million Egyptians or 17 per cent of the population suffered from food insecurity in 2011, compared to 14 per cent in 2009, according to the report by UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
“This increase in food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty rates has not happened overnight, during this year or even during the past year,” said WFP Egypt Representative and Country Director GianPietro Bordignon.
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17/05/2013
With dire warnings likely to match or exceed the worst fears about the effects of global warming, environment and development experts gathered on 16 May 2013 at United Nations Headquarters to debate the twin challenge of curbing climate change while sustaining economic growth*.
Sustainable water management brings economic, social and environmental benefits, say countries. Photo: UNEP
“The fundamental challenge of our time is to end extreme poverty in this generation and significantly narrow the global gap between rich and poor without ruing the environmental basis for our survival,” General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic said as he opened the Thematic Debate Sustainable Development and Climate Change: Practical Solutions in the Energy-Water Nexus.
The gathering featured UN officials, a host of environment and energy Ministers, as well as a diverse mix of experts that included Jeffrey Sachs, Director of Colombia University’s Earth Institute, and Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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16/05/2013
Geneva- Not all stupid things are equal. Some stupid things are far more concerning than others, says the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
“There are 19,000 nuclear weapons around the world. It takes only one to cause a humanitarian catastrophe on a horrific scale, ICAN warns.
“Yet we’ve talked ourselves into having 2,000 of them on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched within minutes.”
We are potentially only minutes away from the horror of seeing an entire city flattened in an instant, killing hundreds of thousands of people with no adequate humanitarian relief possible, ICAN stresses.
“Its effects would spread across borders and generations.”
“This is madness, not a security strategy.”
There is only one cure for this threat. We have to ban nuclear weapons.
You can read and sign the petition on the ICAN website.
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16/05/2013
Rome - Globally, millions of people depend on forests for their livelihoods – directly through the consumption and sale of foods harvested in forests, and indirectly through forest-related employment and income generation, forest ecosystem services, and forest biodiversity, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16 May 2013 said*.
Photo: UN Forum on Forests/Fendi Aspara | Source: UN
Forest foods, such as leaves, seeds, nuts, honey, fruits, mushrooms, insects and other forest animals, have been important components of rural diets for millennia. An estimated 2.6 billion people rely on fuelwood, including charcoal, for cooking their food, FAO added.
“Governments, civil society and the private sector should ensure and strengthen the contributions of forests, trees and agroforestry systems to food security and nutrition, participants in the first-ever International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition (13-15 May), organized by FAO,” said the organization.
The conference participants agreed that small-scale forest producers should be encouraged to strengthen their involvement in agroforestry, tree‐growing, small‐scale wood processing and the provision of ecosystem services.
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14/05/2013
Rome, 14 May 2013 – Forests, trees on farms and agroforestry are critical in the fight against hunger and should be better integrated into food security and land use policies, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said on 13 May 2013 at the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition in Rome (13-15 May).*
 A woman selling dried caterpillars in Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo | FAO “Forests contribute to the livelihoods of more than a billion people, including many of the world’s neediest. Forests provide food, fuel for cooking, fodder for animals and income to buy food,” Graziano da Silva said.
“Wild animals and insects are often the main protein source for people in forest areas, while leaves, seeds, mushrooms, honey and fruits provide minerals and vitamins, thus ensuring a nutritious diet,” he added. “But forests and agroforestry systems are rarely considered in food security and land use policies.”
“Often, rural people do not have secure access rights to forests and trees, putting their food security in danger. The important contributions forests can make to the food security and nutrition of rural people should be better recognized,” Graziano da Silva said.
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