Italian voters cast ballots Sunday and yesterday in referenda on four questions: two on privatization of water services, one on criminal procedure (which would exempt the prime minister from prosecution) and one on a return to using nuclear power. More than 57% voted, surpassing the 50% +1 needed for the referenda to be binding. Of […]
The continued use of sexual violence to terrorize women and girls in many countries across the globe, has continued despite many efforts in recent years to bring light to these horrendous gender-based crimes. Therefore women and girls remain trapped living in daily fear, as the numbers of rape victims continuously rises, becoming a common feature […]
I wrote last week about some of the ins and outs of food insecurity relative to climate change. (Forgive me, not incidentally, for not writing so much or so often in recent weeks. I’ve been finishing up a big writing project and I’ve been pretty focused on that. It’s done, finally, as of this past […]
As children across the United States begin to break from school for summer vacations, others across the globe have yet to see a classroom and their is no ‘break’ for them this summer as they are forced to work. The term “child labor” is most often defined as work which deprives children of their childhood, […]
OPEC’s meeting in Vienna a couple days ago ended without the cartel agreeing on a production level. This hasn’t happened in years (if memory serves, the last time was during the Iran-Iraq War), and it has left many questioning the organization’s future. After 5 hours of talks, the Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said, […]
Last month 6 countries announced new commitments to dramatically reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality, as part of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. “The commitments build on the momentum of recent months, and prove that saving the lives of the most vulnerable can attract support at the highest levels,” says Ban Ki-moon, […]
Both children and adults in the United States seem to do their best to avoid eating as many fruits and vegetables as they should, and the recent deadly E. Coli outbreak in Europe gave them an added excuse to leave these items off of their plate. Against these odds, the USDA released its new nutrition […]
Read recent posts from the Foreign Policy Blog network that also relate to food security issues. Food Insecurity in East Africa from the Africa blog Changing Climate Driving Food Shortages from the Climate Change blog Enjoy!
In the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, an idea once confined to the conservative ‘wingnut’ fringe of the Republican party has morphed into the party’s mainstream – the belief that intentionally allowing a Federal default on paying the National debt might be an acceptable price to pay to make a political point by forcing the Obama administration to assume ownership of a fiscal mess created by the previous Republican president.
Bean sprouts have had a roller coaster week in the ongoing investigation into the source of E. Coli contamination which has claimed 31 lives and sickened 3,000 around the world. After being identified as the source for contamination earlier in the week and then being exonerated, German officials have once again tapped bean sprouts as […]
Last weekend, the Arab Spring came to India. Swami Ramdev, yoga guru and television celebrity, staged a massive hunger strike designed to protest government corruption. The event, which involved thousands of his followers, was ended by a police raid. This isn’t something new for India though. Thousands of people in multiple cities in India protested […]
It looks like Cynthia and I had the same idea this week. So instead of a traditional post, I’d like to do a little link-mailing today. As she wrote earlier this week, there are a lot of interesting things to share. First, the wonderful “In Focus with Alan Taylor” photography blog at The Atlantic says […]
Beware CTBT Cheaters! We have a Garmin and we know how to use it! In addition to finding your way home and locating enemy targets, researchers at The Ohio State University have found another use for our little Garmin: detecting clandestine nuclear tests. The Global Security Newswire reports today on the work of Ralph Von […]
Two of my FPA blogger colleagues offer differing assessments of the war in Afghanistan. In the optimistic camp is Gail Harris of the FPA U.S. Defense blog. She participated in several Bloggers Roundtables sponsored by the U.S. Defense Department and blogged about it in three parts (here, here, and here). She notes that NATO is […]
In the context of all the Iranian nuke news, Reuters has run a couple of basic, layperson-accessible FAQs, or “Factboxes”, on uranium enrichment and how uranium ore becomes civilian nuke fuel. They are reasonably accurate.