Archive for November 17th, 2018

  |  
17/11/2018

Dissecting International Concerns about Iran’s Missiles

Human Wrongs Watch

By Dr Tytti Erästö*

— While trying to save the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, some European leaders have stepped up pressure on Iran’s ballistic missile programme, simultaneously demanding talks and threatening sanctions. Iran—which sees ballistic missiles as crucial to the country’s defence—has responded by saying that its missile programme is non-negotiable.

.

Dissecting international concerns about Iran’s missiles

The UN Security Council Adopts Resolution on Iran Nuclear Deal (Resolution 2231), taken on 20 July 2015. Photo: Flickr/UN Photo/Loey Felipe.
.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Asia, Climate Crisis, Market Lords, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

17/11/2018

Video: What It Means to Be Kidnapped Bride–Kyial’s Story, Kyrgyzstan

This video story is part of a series titled, “A true story, my story” produced by UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office for the 16 Days of Activism campaign.

.

.

16 November 2018 (UN Women)* –– Kyrgyzstan has the highest prevalence of bride kidnapping in the world—a traditional practice that allows Kyrgyzstani men to pick a bride whom he wants to marry and arrange her kidnapping. The bride in question has no say in the matter.

Although the practice has been declared illegal for years, bride kidnapping remains a widespread, socially accepted practice.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

17/11/2018

Fighting for the Last Eden: Saving Madagascar’s Unique Species

Life hangs in the balance in Tsitongambarika, Madagascar’s anti-extinction frontline

GEF-Madagascar4017

UN Environment / Lisa Murray

14 November 2018 (UN Environment)* – It’s nearing midnight, when our guide, Andry, darts into the undergrowth.

In the velvet dark of the forest, lit only by the sharp stabs of our torches and the gentle glow of the waning moon filtering through the canopy, it’s hard to see what the excitement is all about until he crouches down, pointing.

“Chameleon,” he says, barely louder than a whisper

Only four centimetres long, and the mottled light brown of a fallen leaf, it’s only the deep green of a seedling pushing through the leaf litter beside it that lets us see it—tiny and immobile except for a single eye swivelling back to observe us.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | 1 Comment »

17/11/2018

The Last Beekeepers of San Antonio Tecómitl, Mexico

Human Wrongs Watch

To beekeep or not to beekeep, that is the question

index

More than 75 percent of the world’s grown food relies to some extent on pollination. Yet, the world’s bee population is threatened by climate change, intensive farming, changes in land use, pesticides, diseases, pests and alien invasive species. ©FAO/Fernando Reyes Pantoja

16 November 2018 (FAO)* — What does William Shakespeare have in common with Mexican beekeeper Francisco Lenin Bartolo Reyes? Both men understand the importance of the honey bee, a small but invaluable ally of the human race.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

17/11/2018

Venezuelan Asylum-Seekers Strengthen Brazil’s Workforce

Human Wrongs Watch

By Miguel Pachioni in São Paulo and Victoria Hugueney in Brasilia*  

An innovative voluntary relocation programme helps Venezuelans and their hosts thrive in cities like São Paulo and Brasilia.

5beeeb9d3.jpg

Angel, an asylum-seeker from Venezuela, working as a tinsmith at General Motors in São Paulo.© UNHCR/Miguel Pachioni

16 November 2018 (UNHCR)* – The city of Boa Vista in northern Brazil, near the border with Venezuela, was different from what 18-year-old Jefferson* expected after leaving his home country due to the lack of food and job opportunities.

Since 2015, 2.3 million people have left Venezuela. Over 150,000 Venezuelans have entered Brazil through the remote northern state of Roraima, and more than 65,000 requested asylum thus far.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Migrants and Refugees, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

17/11/2018

South Sudan’s Women ‘Caught Up in a Futile Man’s War in Which They Are All Victims of Sexual Assault, Their Families Are Killed, Their Livelihoods Destroyed’

Human Wrongs Watch

The women of South Sudan are leading calls for political and militia leaders to honour the recent revitalized peace agreement, and end what they regard as a “futile man’s war”, the head of the UN gender equality agency, UN Women, told the Security Council on 16 November 2018.

UNMISS/Isaac Billy | A high-level delegation from the United Nations and African Union meets Nyamile Malual Jiech (far right) who walked with her children through violent clashes to reach the safety of the United Nations protection site in Bentiu in the north of South Sudan.

Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, told the 15-member Council that following September’s agreement between President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar, who is due to be reinstated as Vice President, fighting was continuing.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Market Lords, Middle East, Migrants and Refugees, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

17/11/2018

Artificial Intelligence Brings Benefits, But Also Raises Concerns “Ranging from Security to Human Rights Abuses”

Human Wrongs Watch

16 November 2018 – Digital solutions are transforming lives: Think of robots that help the elderly, a mobile phone app that identifies crop pests, or surgical robots in hospitals. These advances are all due to Artificial Intelligence and an extraordinary new era of machine learning.

UN Photo/Manuel Elias | Sophia the Robot speaking to UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed at UN Headquarters in 2017.

While these bring tremendous benefits, AI also raises concerns, ranging from security, to human rights abuses. Speaking in Paris last weekend, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised AI but cautioned that “technology should empower not overpower us” and that the world needs to set policies that contain unintended consequences or malicious use of frontier technologies.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

  |