Archive for April 8th, 2019

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08/04/2019

Thousands Flee Fighting in Libya; UN Renews Call for Halt to Military Escalation to Rescue Trapped Civilians

Human Wrongs Watch

More than 3,400 people have fled fighting near the Libyan capital Tripoli in recent days, the UN warned on Monday [8 April 2019], in a call to warring parties to halt military activities so that emergency services can rescue trapped civilians.

UNOCHA/Giles Clarke | Children are the most vulnerable victims of conflicts. The UN and the Government of National Accord in Libya launched the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan seeking, $202 million to provide health support and protection for some 550,000 vulnerable Libyans.

The UN chief António Guterres, in a short statement issued to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, by his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said that he was continuing to follow the situation in Libya “with grave concern”, after urging an end to troop movements last week during a visit to the country.

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

08/04/2019

Why Is the Fed Paying So Much Interest to Banks?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Ellen Brown | Web of Debt – TRANSCEND Media Service*

“If you invest your tuppence wisely in the bank, safe and sound,
Soon that tuppence safely invested in the bank will compound,

“And you’ll achieve that sense of conquest as your affluence expands
In the hands of the directors who invest as propriety demands.”

— Mary Poppins, 1964

EllenBrown-e1537094200592

Ellen Brown

When Mary Poppins was made into a movie in 1964, Mr. Banks’ advice to his son was sound. Banks were then paying more than 5% interest on deposits, enough to double young Michael’s investment every 14 years.

Now, however, the average savings account pays only 0.10% annually – that’s 1/10th of 1% – and many of the country’s biggest banks pay less than that. If you were to put $5,000 in a regular Bank of America savings account (paying 0.01%) today, in a year you would have collected only 50 cents in interest.

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08/04/2019

We’re Gobbling Up the Earth’s Resources at an Unsustainable Rate

Human Wrongs Watch

3 April 2019 (UN Environment)* — George Monbiot, a correspondent for Britain’s The Guardian newspaper and known for his environmental and political activism, has made a surprising call for people in the United Kingdom to cut the use of cars by 90 per cent over the next decade.

 

Monbio 3 resized Oil_platform_P-51_(Brazil)

Photo by Wikimedia Commons

Many will balk at this idea but it is perhaps sounding somewhat less bizarre after the release by the United Nations of a new report which paints a scary picture of the rate at which we are gobbling up the Earth’s resources.

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08/04/2019

NGOs Blast US for Undermining Criminal Court

Human Wrongs Watch

By Thalif Deen*

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 8 2019 (IPS)* – As it paves a destructive path against international institutions and multilateralism, the Trump administration is slowly but steadily undermining the United Nations and its affiliated agencies.

icc_

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The US has already withdrawn both from the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris while, at the same time, it has either cut off, or drastically reduced, funding for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and for UN peacekeeping operations (by a hefty $500 million).

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08/04/2019

Latin American Humanist Forum – ‘The Small Media Dispute Is a Cultural Dispute’

Human Wrongs Watch

By Juana Pérez Montero*

Pía Figueroa, co-director of Pressenza and member of the organizing team of the Latin American Humanist Forum that will take place in Santiago de Chile from 10 to 12 May, answers our questions about the meaning of the Forum and of the Network on Communication and Nonviolent Media that she coordinates together with other colleagues. | Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Greek

LHF2019: ‘The small media dispute is a cultural dispute’, according to Pía Figueroa

Pía Figueroa

MADRID, 6 April 2019 (Pressenza)* — “We seek to give form -in process- to a social fabric empowered by the strength of the whole,’ according to Figueroa.

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08/04/2019

For a Radical Progressivism

Human Wrongs Watch

By Adam Lent and Anthony Painter*

In an age of extremes, liberal progressives are naturally inclined towards moderation and gradualism. But it’s time for bolder ideas to address injustice and shift power.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn | PA Images | Images from openDemocracy.

6 April 2019 (openDemocracy)* — We are in a radical moment. The planet is burning. Inequality is biting. Nationalism is on the rise.

Resurgent but nostalgic ideologies, from statist socialism to the nationalist right, will fail to meet these challenges. The former saps freedom and innovation; the latter is obsessed by vilifying ‘enemies’ rather than providing real answers. At their extreme edges, they both pose a serious threat to democratic norms and practices.

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