10 March 2019 (Wall Street International)* — Lady Liberty has gotten herself into a huge mess. She has been in problematic relationships before, but nothing like this. Donald Trump has been so blatantly abusive to her that it has become almost impossible not to see it. As a psychologist working with trauma, I have seen this kind of relationship too many times to ignore it.
As a suitor, Mr. Trump began his pursuit with typical sociopathic trickery, with lies and deception. Many women have been taken in by this kind of performance and so were many Americans. His early presentation is as someone who just wants the best for her, but that is all smoke and mirrors.
11 March 2019 (UN Environment)* — If you’re sweltering in Delhi or shivering in Detroit and want affordable, environmentally friendly cooling or heating, district energy may be your best bet.
Photo by Foster and Partners | Photo from UN Environment.
A district energy system is a network of pipes that heat and cool buildings across a neighbourhood or entire city. Modern district energy systems connect renewables, waste heat, thermal storage, power grids, thermal grids and heat pumps—delivering up to 50 per cent less primary energy consumption for heating and cooling.
Visionary cities and countries have been able to decarbonize heating and cooling and achieve high efficiency, renewable energy, and CO2targets with modern district energy.
“As my daughters are getting educated, they don’t have to depend on others”
UNICEF India/2019/ RanjanRah
BIHAR, India, 8 March 2019(UNICEF)* -– Imagine. You are a parent of four and you live in Bihar, one of the lowest income states in East India. As a child, you were lucky enough to go to school. But your family could not afford to keep you learning, so you were married off in your teens and dropped out.
Now, imagine. Your daughter’s future looks dramatically different than yours as a child. She has a brilliant opportunity ahead of her. She can complete her studies and pursue higher education. She gets a chance you never got: choosing what she wants in life.
Spotlight on improving social protection, inadequate public services and gender-blind infrastructure; identifying policy actions critical to propel gender equality and transform women’s lives
New York, 8 March 2019 (UN Women)* – Against the backdrop of a volatile global economy, rising conflict and instability, rapid population ageing, shrinking democratic spaces and push-back on women’s rights, the UN Commission on the Status of Women is set to begin next week at the UN Headquarters in New York.
This is the UN’s largest gathering on gender equality and women’s rights, and the single largest forum for UN Member States, civil society organizations and other international actors to build consensus, renew commitment and agree on better policy solutions.
At the International Conference on Population and Development, governments agreed that countries must uphold each individual’s right to make free and informed choices over their own sexual and reproductive health.
These rights – which encompass the right to sexual health information, the right to the highest possible standard of reproductive health care, and the empowerment and autonomy of women – are a precondition for achieving gender equality.
Yet 25 years later, these rights have not been realized for all.
8 Mar 2019 — Ireland, Sweden and Denmark are set to maintain their opposition to the EU’s digital tax next Tuesday, forcing finance ministers to kill the European solution and focus instead on the OECD’s ongoing work to levy digital companies.
An activist wearing a mask depicting Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds a banner reading ‘Tax me’ at the start of an European Union Finance Ministers Meeting in front of the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, 04 December 2018. Activists ask for an EU tax on big digital firms. [EPA-EFE/STEPHANIE LECOCQ] | Photo from EurActiv.
Following a year and a half of intense discussions and various proposals, the EU’s digital tax will face its ultimate test next Tuesday [12 March 2019].
In 1883 P. J. Reuter, head of the news agency carrying his name, wrote the following memorandum:
To: Agents and Correspondents From: P. J. Reuter Date: 1883
Re: Please cover the following:
“…fires, explosions, floods, inundations, railway accidents, destructive storms, earthquakes, shipwrecks attended with loss of life, accidents to war vessels and to mail steamers, street riots of a grave character, disturbances arising from strikes, duels between and suicides of persons of note, social or political, and murders of a sensational or atrocious character.” (*)
Sounds familiar? Yes, it is called “news”.
It is all about action, nothing about structures generating them.
It is about persons high up, “of note, social or political”.
(People low down generate street riots and strike disturbances.)
9 March 2019 (UN Environment)* — From the fight against plastic pollution to the quest for more sustainable lifestyles, young innovators in Latin America are coming up with bold, groundbreaking ideas that could transform the way we live, and pave the way for a more sustainable planet.
Biofase straws made of avocado bone. Photo by Biofase | Photo from UN Environment.
Check out these four innovations “made in” Latin America, and the enthusiastic young leaders behind them.
A treasure inside avocados
Scott Munguía produces bioplastics from avocado seeds. This young Mexican chemical engineer discovered in 2011 that the avocado seed contains a biopolymer similar to the one present in corn, which is used to produce bioplastic.
Women refugees take up key roles as bloc leaders, teachers and even road workers in Bangladesh, where they have sought refuge.| Español | Français | عربي
8 March 2019 (UNHCR)* — In a packed meeting room at the Camp-in-Charge’s office, Rohingya refugee Tansima* raises her hand to speak up for her community.
“We need more street lights,” says Tansima, 28, who is an elected deputy bloc leader at the world’s largest refugee settlement, which is home to 620,000 people, more than half of them women or girls.
“It will make it easier to access latrines and shops will be able to stay open after dark,” she adds.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 