KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jul 26 2021 (IPS)* – Undoubtedly, the world needs to reform existing food systems to better serve humanity and sustainable development. But the United Nations World Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) must be consistent with UN-led multilateralism.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
For the first time ever, the World Economic Forum (WEF), a partnership of some of the world’s most powerful corporations, is partnering the UN in launching the Summit, now scheduled for September, with its ‘Pre-Summit’ beginning today.
Food insecurity is primarily due to inequalities and deprivations as victims lack the means to obtain the food they need.
The UN should not serve those who cynically use hunger, starvation and deprivation to advance private commercial interests.
Opening ceremony features refugee athletes marching out under the Olympic flag, showcasing the power of sport and sending a message of hope to 82 million displaced people worldwide.| Français | عربي
One is a marathon runner who as a child fled fighting by crossing a desert on foot. Another is a swimmer escaping conflict who helped steer a boatful of people to safety when its motor broke down by jumping into the water.
Space travel was once about collective efforts to go beyond the limits of one’s imagination. Now it’s an exhibition of extreme entitlement
Billionaire Jeff Bezos is launched into space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket on 20 July 2021 | Joe Skipper/Reuters/Alamy
24 July 2021 (openDemocracy)* — On 20 July, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the second billionaire in a matter of weeks to take a flashy joyride into space. The date was significant, marking 52 years since the first moon landing in 1969.
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 26 2021 (IPS)* – As a wisecracking cynic once remarked: “The sun would never set on the British empire because God wouldn’t trust an Englishman in the dark“. Perhaps it was an uncharitable remark because most of the British colonies have long gone.
Trusteeship Council. Credit: UN Photo/CCOI
But when I quoted this witticism to a British journalist, he countered: “I am sure it was told by a Scotsman.“
Since Scotland is not a colony, its demand for independence is not a matter of decolonization, which is virtually dead on the UN’s political agenda.
23 July 2021 (openDemocrcay)* — Iraq in 2021 is still a state afflicted by poverty, injustice, the trauma of great loss of life, and daily fear. Iraqis still suffer from a sense of powerlessness, defeat and humiliation.
– Devastating floods in Europe. Temperatures soaring to 45ºC in Canada. Mudslides in Japan. Cloud bursts in India. Floods in New York subways, central China and Uganda, and a sweltering heatwave in Morocco.
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A woman is trying to move in a flooded street following heavy rains in Liege, on July 15, 2021. Illustration shows the scene in Liege after heavy rainfall, Thursday 15 July 2021. – The provincial disaster plan has been declared in Liege, Luxembourg and Namur provinces after large amounts of rainfall. Water in several rivers has reached alarming levels. – Belgium OUT (Photo by BRUNO FAHY / Belga / AFP)
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 