August 2019 (Wall Street International)* — What can we learn from the present ecological, economic, social crisis? I believe we need to revise some deep assumptions which are constitutive of our Western culture and through the process of globalization have become part of our world culture. We need to think in a new way, a new way that actually recovers (on a new level) a very old way.
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The circulation of money on the globe is estimated at four trillion dollars a day | Image from Wall Street International.
The word sacrifice is bandied about by both sides of the debate on climate action. Shall we unpack this loaded shuttlecock?
The Sacrifice of Isaac by Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin. | Image: LACMA, CC0
You who build these altars now To sacrifice these children, You must not do it anymore. -Leonard Cohen
15 August 2019 (openDemocracy)* — Raising the spectre of sacrifice is the all the vogue in current climate denier and delayer circles: it is representative of our current moment in time.
16 August 2019 (FAO)* — Many people equate FAO to a knowledge centre or technical agency, the provider of statistics and world reports on issues such as food insecurity, biodiversity and deforestation.
So it can come as a surprise when they learn that when conflict, extreme weather events, natural disasters, plants pests, animal diseases or other threats devastate livelihoods and push people into hunger, FAO is on the ground to help — from the earliest days of the response.
By providing seeds, fishing gear, animal vaccines or other assets, FAO works to rebuild livelihoods and local food systems to support the self-reliance of those affected and boost their resilience against future threats.
The UN environment agency and human rights office (OHCHR) signed a landmark new agreement on Friday [16 August 2019] aimed at better protecting vulnerable human and environmental rights defenders and their families, while increasing protection for people and the places where they live, across the world.
UN Colombia | A wide range of human rights activists have been targeted in Colombia, especially those living in rural areas.Human and environmental rights campaigners are one focus of a new UNEP/OHCHR agreement signed 16 August, 2019.
When the Federal Reserve cut interest rates on July 31st for the first time in more than a decade, commentators were asking why.
Ellen Brown
According to official data, the economy was rebounding, unemployment was below 4%, and GDP growth was above 3%. If anything, by the Fed’s own reasoning, it should have been raising rates.
The explanation of market pundits was that we’re in a trade war and a currency war.
Other central banks were cutting their rates and the Fed had to follow suit, in order to prevent the dollar from becoming overvalued relative to other currencies.
The theory is that a cheaper dollar will make American products more attractive on foreign markets, helping our manufacturing and labor bases.
15 August 2019 — To mark next week’s International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, UN News travelled to Chad and the Far North region of Cameroon in West Africa earlier in the year, to interview people who have personal stories to tell about how terrorism has shattered their lives.*
UN News/Daniel Dickinson | 25-year old Kedra Abakar was abducted from his home on the the island of Ngomiron Doumou in Lake Chad by extremists from the Boko Haram terrorist group. (9 February 2019)
In 2015, the island of Ngomiron Doumou in Lake Chad was attacked by armed extremists who said they belonged to the outlawed Boko Haram group. The island is home to some 5,750 people.
GENEVA, 15 August 2019 (UNICEF)* – “It is unconscionable that once again politics have been prioritized over saving the lives of children who are stranded on the Mediterranean Sea.
UNICEF/UN020020/Gilbertson VII Photo | FILE Photo: Gambian boys walk past a graveyard of ships used by Libyan Smugglers to transport migrants and refugees to Italy, at port next to a government Hot Spot – a reception center that doubles as a lodging station for unaccompanied minors in Pozzallo, Sicily, on May 17, 2016. In the past boats were captured and sent to these grave yards, but due to the high numbers, today they are burned at sea by the coast guard.
13 August 2019 (UNHCR)* — UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on 13 August 2019 called on European governments to allow the immediate disembarkation of 507 people recently rescued on the Central Mediterranean who remain stranded at sea. |Español | Français | عربي
Many are reportedly survivors of appalling abuses in Libya and are from refugee-producing countries. They are in need of humanitarian assistance and some have already expressed an intention to seek international protection.
