'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
A “peaceful and just solution” to the Israel-Palestine conflict can “only be achieved” through two States “living side-by-side in peace and security”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated on Friday [15 February 2019].
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An estimated 24 million people – close to 80 per cent of the population – need assistance and protection in Yemen, the UN warned on Thursday [14 February 2019]. With famine threatening hundreds of thousands of lives, humanitarian aid is increasingly becoming the only lifeline for millions across the country.
14 February 2019 — United Nations agencies are calling on States and regional organizations across Europe to take urgent action to ensure that thousands of currently stateless children are given the support and protection they deserve.*
With more than 500,000 people in Europe estimated to be unrecognized as a citizen of any country, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) underscored that children without a nationality have limited access to basic rights and services, like education or healthcare, and can face life-long discrimination.
A projected near-doubling of measles infections has been identified amid rising severe and protracted outbreaks all over the planet, in poor and rich countries alike, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday [14 February 2019].
Catherine McKenna, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change
And 83 of the 193 member states remained collectively focused on one of the greatest impending dangers to humanity: the devastation that could be triggered by climate change.
LEBANON: These are wedding dresses from Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. Here, almost no one celebrates Valentine’s Day. It’s been unofficially cancelled. Here, Syrian refugee girls right down to the age of 13 are married off. Parents want what is best for their girls, but the outcome is often the opposite. Child marriage is a global phenomenon, but when families are forced to flee their homes, many young girls are forced to marry at a young age. Photo: AP/Reem Saad/NTB Scanpix | Photo from the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Wednesday [13 February 2019] that is has the jurisdiction to hear part of a case brought by Iran against the United States, aimed at unfreezing close to $2 billion in Iranian assets being held there.
Radio is the mass medium reaching the widest audience in the world. It is also recognized as a powerful communication tool and a low cost medium.
Radio is specifically suited to reach remote communities and vulnerable people: the illiterate, the disabled, women, youth and the poor, while offering a platform to intervene in the public debate, irrespective of people’s educational level.
For this World Radio Day, we celebrate the unique, far-reaching power of radio to broaden our horizons and build more harmonious societies.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO
Radio stations from major international networks to community broadcasters today remember the importance of radio in stimulating public debate, increasing civic engagement and inspiring mutual understanding, under the theme “Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace”.
Since its invention – over a hundred years ago – radio has sparked new conversations and broadcast new ideas into people’s homes, villages, universities, hospitals and workplaces.
To this day, dialogue across the airwaves can offer an antidote to the negativity that sometimes seem to predominate online, which is why UNESCO works across the world to improve the plurality and diversity of radio stations.
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is getting significant media attention these days, after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview that it should “be a larger part of our conversation” when it comes to funding the “Green New Deal.” According to MMT, the government can spend what it needs without worrying about deficits.
Ellen Brown
MMT expert and Bernie Sanders adviser professor Stephanie Kelton says the government actually creates money when it spends.
The real limit on spending is not an artificially imposed debt ceiling but a lack of labor and materials to do the work, leading to generalized price inflation.
Only when that real ceiling is hit does the money need to be taxed back, but even then it’s not to fund government spending. Instead, it’s needed to shrink the money supply in an economy that has run out of resources to put the extra money to work.
