26/10/2012
Exclusive, by EurActiv* – Bioenergy production often increases greenhouse gas emissions in the short term even though the EU currently counts it as a carbon neutral technology, according to an unreleased EU report, which EurActiv has obtained.
Sugar/Ethanol Plant located in Piracicaba, São Paulo State, Brazil. Photo: Mariordo | Wikimedia Commons.
Bioenergy made up over two thirds of the EU’s primary renewable energy production in 2009, according to Eurostat, and will account for more than half of EU states emissions reductions planned for 2020 in their National Renewable Energy Action Plans.
But a literature review conducted by the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) concludes that, according to best known science, “the use of roundwood [trees] from forests for bioenergy purposes would cause an actual increase in GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions compared to fossil fuels in the short term”.
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25/10/2012
By Press TV* – China has rejected sanctions and the use of force against Iran over its nuclear energy program, warning that such coercive measures could have a negative impact on regional and global peace and stability.
**Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei (file photo) | Press TV
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks at a regular press briefing on Thursday [25 October 2012].
He added that the sanctions and use of force could not resolve the existing issue, calling for a peaceful settlement of the issue through dialogue and negotiations.
The Chinese official also expressed hope that a new round of talks between Iran the P5+1 group would resume at an early date.
Iran and the P5+1 group comprising Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany have held several rounds of talks over the Iranian nuclear energy issue.
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25/10/2012
By AI* – People demonstrating peacefully in European Union (EU) countries have been beaten, kicked, shot at and wounded with rubber bullets and sprayed with tear gas yet excessive use of force by police goes uninvestigated and unpunished.
**Photo: Guillaume DArribau
Through personal stories from Greece, Spain and Romania, Amnesty International’s briefing Policing demonstrations in the European Union exposes the excessive use of force against protesters and journalists, arbitrary detention and the obstruction of access to medical assistance and calls on governments to prevent and investigate these human rights violations.
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25/10/2012
Over 70 million people are forced migrants – more than one in every 100 of the world’s citizens – displaced by conflict, political upheaval, violence and disasters but also by climate change and development projects, according to the World Disasters Report 2012 of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Source: UNODC
Of these, some 50 million irregular migrants are believed to have used the services of smugglers at some stage of their journey, says the UN Development Programme.
This was the subject of a side event in Vienna last week during the Sixth Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported on 23 October 2012.
Forced migrants often confront life-threatening dangers in transit and exploitation and abuse upon reaching their destinations. They may be extorted, beaten or raped, which in turn can give rise to public health risks such as drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.
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25/10/2012
Corruption in judicial systems is threatening the protection of human rights, a United Nations independent expert said, urging governments to implement policies to strengthen the rule of law to combat this practice.
Credit: UN
“The pervasiveness of corruption in the judiciary and the legal profession, whether one off or endemic, is very worrying because it directly undermines the rule of law and the ability of the judiciary to guarantee the protection of human rights,” the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, told the General Assembly while presenting it with her latest annual report.
“A judiciary that is not independent can easily be corrupted or co-opted by interests other than those of applying the law in a fair and impartial manner,” she said on 24 October 2012.
“Strengthening the judiciary from within, as well as providing all the safeguards for its independence vis-à-vis other public officials and private actors, is essential in combating and preventing instances of judicial corruption.”
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25/10/2012
By Peter Symonds, WSWS*, 25 October 2102 – As the presidential campaign nears its end, preparations are proceeding apace for new US wars of aggression that are backed by both President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
**Benjamin Netanyahu | Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The largest-ever joint US-Israeli military exercise commenced on Sunday [21 Oct.], designed to test the integrated anti-missile systems of the Zionist state.
The three-week war games involve more than 3,500 US military personnel in Israel and Europe, 1,000 members of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), and the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries and a US warship equipped with the Aegis anti-ballistic missile system.
According to American and Israeli generals, the drills are designed to simulate a multi-front war with high-tempo salvos aimed at Israeli targets, including short- and long-range ballistic missiles as well as mortars and rockets.
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25/10/2012
By Renee Blanchard*, Greenpeace – The sad truth about the origins of the minerals inside our phones and computers is getting more attention these days. In August, a
Businessweek expose peeled back the curtain on the tiny island of Bangka in Indonesia, where a third of all global tin, a key ingredient for our gadgets, is mined in horrific, life-threatening conditions.
**Photo: The Enough Project | Source: Greenpeace
Other minerals used in our smartphones come from countries in Africa where mining for them can fuel war.
In the US, as part of a financial reform law, all companies must begin disclosing how “conflict-free” their devices really are by 2014.
That’s a great step, though the Securities and Exchange Council (SEC) in charge of the program recently came under scrutiny for taking too lax of a position for its rules governing companies.
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24/10/2012
Geneva, ILO* – Coring is a 59 year-old domestic worker from the Philippines living in the Netherlands. She recently lost her job because she wanted to take some days off and go on holidays.
**Photo: Iijjccoo | Wikimedia Commons
“My employers said: ‘We already pay you a salary and you do not pay any taxes, why should you go on holiday on top of that?’” she explains*.
Coring’s case is particularly difficult because she is an undocumented worker. But even domestic workers in a regular situation have problems being recognized as such.
While there are many laws covering domestic workers in Europe, there are still some gaps in the legislation and compliance tends to be weak.
Non-compliance has to do with the fact that domestic work is seldom seen as a real form of employment. On top of that, access to private homes is restricted and few domestic workers are willing to openly denounce their employers. As a result, most European labour inspectorates have not focussed on the domestic work sector.
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24/10/2012
Desert locust swarms are set to invade North Africa in the coming weeks, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today, as it highlighted ongoing efforts to raise almost $6 million still needed to cover regional control costs for the rest of the year.
Desert locusts eating vegetation. Photo: FAO/G.Diana
“Prevailing winds and historical precedents make it likely the swarms, once formed, will fly to Algeria, Libya, southern Morocco and north-western Mauritania,” said an FAO Senior Locust Forecasting Officer, Keith Cressman, in a press release.
“Once there, they could damage pastures and subsistence rain-fed crops. They could also pose a threat to harvests in Chad, Mali and Niger.”
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23/10/2012
Tokyo, October 2012. In March 1985, an activist of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) sect, used the garbage bins of the Tokyo underground to hide a lethal gas – Sarin – that killed 13 people and intoxicated a further 6,000. Today, there are practically no more garbage bins in Japan, but the streets, and the stations, are impeccably clean. People keep garbage in their pockets, and dispose of it at home or at work.
**Chinese People in Japan. Kanteibyou Temple in Yokohama Chinatown. Credit: Gorgo | Wikimedia Commons
China, the mother of Japanese culture, is on the other hand very dirty. There is nothing so different as a public toilet in Japan and one in China. Visitors to both countries may wonder why.
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
