20 October 2022 (openDemocracy)* — Prime minister Rishi Sunak – reportedly the richest MP in Parliament – would be a boon for the financial lobby, tax justice campaigners have warned.
As talk turns to the next Conservative leader, the man trounced by Liz Truss just weeks ago is now the favourite to replace her.
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 14 2022 (IPS)* – The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has resulted in a never-ending flow of arms to the battle-scarred country— elevating the besieged nation to the ranks of one of the major recipients of US weapons and American security assistance.
A school destroyed during a Russian air strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine. September 2022. Credit: UNICEF/Ashley Gilbertson
As of last week, the US has provided a hefty $17.5 billion in arms and military assistance to Ukraine.
The five biggest arms buyers from the US during 2017-2021 were Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 23.4 percent of all US arms exports –followed by Australia 9.4 percent, South Korea 6.8 percent, Japan 6.7 percent and Qatar 5.4 percent.
The figure for Ukraine during the same period was 0.1 percent, according to the latest statistics released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Ever since the Ukraine War started on 24 Feb 2022, the NATO response, mainly articulated and materially implemented by the U.S., has been to pour vast quantities of oil on the flames of conflict, increasing the scale of violence, the magnitude of human suffering, and dangerously increasing the risk of a disastrous outcome.
Not only did Washington mobilize the world to denounce Russia’s ‘aggression,’ but supplied advanced weaponry in great quantities to the Ukrainians to resist the Russian attack, and did all it could at the UN and elsewhere to build a punitive coalition hostile to Russia but coupled this with a variety of sanctions and the demonization of Putin as a notorious war criminal unfit to govern.
This perspective of state propaganda was faithfully conveyed by a self-censoring Western media filter that graphically portrayed on a daily basis the horrors of the war experienced by the Ukrainian civilian population and a newly West-oriented enthusiasm for the ICC gathering as much evidence as possible of Russian war crimes. Continue reading →
MADRID, Oct 17 2022 (IPS)*– Make no mistake. Violence against women has been perpetuated, specially when it comes to those who have already been deprived of their basic human rights, as it is the case of rural women in over two-thirds of the world.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti,13 October 2022 (UNFPA)* – As protection, health-care and essential services break down, the violence and volatile political and economic crisis engulfing Haiti has rapidly deteriorated into what the UN has described as a humanitarian catastrophe.
MADRID, Oct 13 2022 (IPS)* – A common feature to religions – including the monotheistic ones – is that groups of males have self-proclaimed themselves as the source for interpreting the “Word of God,” shaping them, and spreading them among the peoples of good faith.
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Girls are primarily victims of sexual exploitation (72% of detected girl victims), while boys are mainly subjected to forced labour (66% of detected boy victims).
Consequently, any given “god” has been historically presented as a man. And some say that God created the first woman (Eve) from the rib of a man (Adam). According to this, women are just a “sub-product.”
(UN News)* — African States are on the front line of the climate crisis, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday [], but far more action is needed to turn the tide on rising emissions, and reduce global warming.
UN Photo/WFP/Phil Behan | A local man in Niger takes advantage of a food-and-cash for work programme in the village of Dan Kada, Maradi Region.
During a debate on strengthening the response to the impacts of climate change on peace and security in Africa, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, said that “our response today does not match the magnitude of the challenge we are facing”.“
To support the African continent…we must act on multiple fronts”, she said, calling for “ambitious climate action”, and accelerated implementation of the Paris Agreement.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the concept of the absolutely sovereign nation-state is a dangerous anachronism in a world of thermonuclear weapons, instantaneous communication, and economic interdependence.
Probably our best hope for the future lies in developing the United Nations into a World Federation. The strengthened United Nations should have a legislature with the power to make laws that are binding on individuals, and the ability to arrest and try individual political leaders for violations of these laws.
The world federation should also have the power of taxation, and the military and legal powers necessary to guarantee the human rights of ethnic minorities within nations.
MADRID, Oct 10 2022 (IPS)* – Africa. The birthplace of “Homo Sapiens.” The land of plenty. The origin of farming. The richest region in terms of natural resources. And human capital. Home to over 1.3 billion humans, continues to be looted.
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Mineral supply chains are often linked to child abuse, human trafficking, forced labour and other human rights violations. Credit: Tommy Trenchard/IPS
With 500 million plus people living in extreme poverty, Africa has also been transformed in a sort of grave for half of the world’s victims of terror. The continent is also the land with the highest suicide rate on Earth. Why? Continue reading →
(New York) – The authorities in India are increasingly using summary and abusive punishments against Muslims deemed to have broken the law, Human Rights Watch said today [7 October 2022].
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 