One in three children in the UK live in poverty. A recent report published by British NGO Campaign to End Child Poverty says this amounts to 3.9 million children. The UK has one of the highest poverty rates in the industrialized world. The same NGO claims a boy living in Manchester can expect to live […]
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs released last week a public opinion poll about Americans’ views on foreign policy issues. The findings show the American public's number one foreign policy worry is the country's standing in the world. The Financial Times reported on the findings: “The… survey found that 83 per cent of respondents thought […]
Apparently, the world should now choose between freedom of expression or the freedom to practice religious belief without being insulted. Egypt's Foreign Minister told the General Assembly a few days ago that speech is “being used to incite hatred based on religion.” His full statement before the 63rd session of the General Assembly can be […]
We noted a few months aggo the ground-breaking indictment of Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. Unfortunately, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is facing pressure to withdraw the indictment; the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports Moreno-Ocampo will stand firm, but it appears the ICC lacks support in Africa, with […]
It would appear that Russia has recently changed course rather dramatically and has left the U.S. looking for the proper response. In the latest example, Russia has embarked on a program to modernize the armed forces (Times Online – Russia to build missile defence shield and renew nuclear deterrence): In a sharp escalation of […]
A presumed car bomb detonated in Tripoli, Lebanon today killing at least 4 and injuring over 30. The attack, similar to those of August 13, targeted Lebanese soldiers as they traveled on a bus towards Beirut. The blast occurred in the Bahsas region, where local officials claim the bomb was concealed in a parked car […]
I've mentioned the question of the renewable energy tax credits any number of times at this blog, most recently on September 21 and 24 below. Well, the House, not surprisingly, did not embrace the Senate's bill from September 23. For one thing, the Senate bill, somewhat out of left field and only to placate Republican […]
The fiasco of the 2001 Durban conference against racism is set to extend into Durban II slated for next year in Geneva. Two weeks ago the current mayor of Durban asked the UN Rights chief Navi Pillay to “rescue” the city's name from the now discredited UN ant-racism conference. UN Watch is calling on certain […]
The Shiite-led government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki allegedly influenced the Iraqi High Tribunal by shifting justices out of the system who opposed the death penalty for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, officials said. These same officials contend that the rush to execute the former leader came at a time when the perception of […]
There is more news about religion, politics, and the United Nations. This past Thursday, Religions for Peace launched a new partnership with UNIFEM (the UN Development Fund for Women) “to engage communities of faith around the world to lead efforts to end violence against women.” Part of this cooperation entailed signing on to the “Say […]
Two members of the Macedonian parliament were charged with war crimes related to the country's brief 2001 civil war between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians. The cases could destabilize the country, as Balkan Insight reports a significant number of ethnic Albanian politicians will be charged. Indeed, the leader of the largest Albanian party, the Democratic […]
Today's car bombing in Damascus was the first of its kind in Syria since the 1980s. This circumstance, in conjunction with the recent deployment of Syrian troops to the country's border with Lebanon and the alleged involvement of an extremist group in the attack, may have some conspiracy theorists wondering if the incident will be […]
A while back I addressed a popular reaction to Senator Barack Obama's broad popularity outside the US: why does it matter what the world thinks? Here are two perspectives from foreign Obama-supporters themselves. British columnist Jonathan Freeland sent Americans an ominous warning in an opinion piece published by the UK's Guardian newspaper, titled: “The world's verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it […]
NEPAL: Stronger child protection needed for flood-displaced As the numbers of people displaced by floods living in camps in eastern Nepal grow, aid workers are calling for stronger child protection measures. More than 60,000 people are displaced after the Koshi River , Nepal's largest , burst its banks last month, flooding the Sunsari and Saptari […]
I sat in on some of the exciting sessions of the FPA's annual World Leadership Forum (WLF) this week. If you're interested in the recent developments in the financial industry and the bigger picture of the "geoeconomy," there were two panels of experts discussing some of the ins and outs of those issues which you […]