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Saturday, August 5, 2017
Friday, August 4, 2017
The Week with IPS 8/4/17
| 2017/8/4 |
Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
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Latin America Discusses How to Make Environmental Rights a Reality
Daniel Gutman
The final declaration of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992
stated that “Environmental issues are best handled with the
participation of all concerned citizens.” However, this rarely happens
in Latin America and the Caribbean.
That was acknowledged by most countries in the region, ...
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Gender Equality? It’s Still a Man’s World
Anna Shen
Gender inequality is the greatest moral and social issue of our time --
and the world’s most critical economic challenge. If half of the global
population cannot fulfill their human potential, the world’s economic
growth will falter.
Anna Shen
We are being robbed as we speak: if women ...
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Guyana’s Model Green Town Reflects Ambitious National Plan
Desmond Brown
At the head of Guyana’s Essequibo River, 50 miles inland from the
Atlantic Ocean, you will find the town of Bartica. Considered the
gateway to Guyana’s interior, the town has a population of about 15,000
and is the launching point for people who work in the forests mining
gold and ...
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UN Analytical Leadership in Addressing Global Economic Challenges
José Antonio Ocampo and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The United Nations recently released the 70th anniversary issue of its
flagship publication, the World Economic and Social Survey (WESS). First
published in January 1948 as the World Economic Report, it is the
oldest continuous publication analyzing international economic and
social challenges. The ...
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International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
IPS World Desk
Over the centuries, Indigenous peoples who have in-depth and locally
rooted knowledge of the natural world , have been increasingly
dispossessed of their lands, territories and resources and have lost
control over their own way of life.
Traditional indigenous lands and territories contain some ...
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Collectively Managing South Asia’s Stressed Water Resources
Rafiqul Islam
Experts and policymakers here say regional cooperation is a must to
resolve long-standing water problems in South Asian countries like
Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal, and to harness the full
value of water.
There are many transboundary rivers, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra
and ...
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Zaatari Camp Marks Fifth Year With 80,000 Refugees
Roshni Majumdar
Jordan’s Zaatari camp, which opened in 2012 as a makeshift camp to house
Syrian refugees fleeing the war, marked its fifth year on June 28.
The camp was opened by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the
United Nations (UN) to cope with the humanitarian crisis in Syria—which
has recorded ...
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Climate Change Brings Migration from the Dry Corridor to Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast
José Adán Silva
If the impact of drought and poverty in the municipalities of the
so-called Dry Corridor in Nicaragua continues pushing the agricultural
frontier towards the Caribbean coast, by the year 2050 this area will
have lost all its forests and nature reserves, experts predict.
Denis Meléndez, ...
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Central America Fights Climate Change with Minimal Foreign Aid
Diego Arguedas Ortiz
Despite the fact that Central America is one of the regions most
vulnerable to climate change, it has half-empty coffers when it comes to
funding efforts against the phenomenon, in part because it receives
mere crumbs in foreign aid to face the impacts of the rise in
temperatures.
According to a ...
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Last Mile Connectivity to Bangladesh’s Impoverished North
Mahfuzur Rahman
Life for Bangladesh’s rural people, particularly in its remote north, is
still miserable. Seasonal flooding, river erosion, and the low quality
of rural infrastructure and lack of connectivity have made things harder
for poor northerners.
Though the country has been elevated to the lower ...
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US Lags Far Behind in Banning Dental Health Hazard
Thalif Deen
The United States is lagging far behind its Western allies – and perhaps
most of the key developing countries – in refusing to act decisively to
end a longstanding health and environmental hazard: the use of mercury
in dentistry.
The 28-member European Union (EU), with an estimated population ...
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A Green Energy Shift in Barbados, One Streetlight at a Time
Desmond Brown
The ever-escalating and volatile price of oil, and the high cost of
importation, have left Barbados and other island nations in the
unenviable position of having the highest electricity prices in the
world.
But a new shift towards renewables is driving down greenhouse gas
emissions from ...
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Millions of Women and Children for Sale for Sex, Slavery, Organs...
Baher Kamal
It is happening now. Millions of humans are forced to flee armed
conflicts, climate change, inequalities, and extreme poverty. They fall
easy prey to traffickers lurking anyone who can be subjected to sexual
exploitation, forced labour and even sell their skin and organs.
Just as tragically, ...
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Value of Water Is on the Rise
Rafiqul Islam
In the wake of recent water-related disasters in Bangladesh, including
water-logging and floods that displaced thousands of families, a
high-level consultation in the capital Dhaka on valuing water will look
at ways to optimize water use and solutions to water-related problems
facing South ...
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Holy See Makes ‘Urgent’ Appeals for Venezuela to Avoid Violence, Guarantee Rights
Holy See Makes ‘Urgent’ Appeals for Venezuela to Avoid Violence, Guarantee Rights
Noting Pope Francis’ Profound Concern, Calls on South American Nation to Suspend Constitutional Assemblyhttps://zenit.org/articles/holy-see-makes-urgent-appeals-for-venezuela-to-avoid-violence-guarantee-rights/
The Military Options for North Korea
The Military Options for North Korea
by John R. Bolton • August 3, 2017 at 10:00 am
The
U.S. and South Korean militaries fire missiles into the East Sea during
a South Korea-U.S. joint missile drill aimed to counter North Korea's
ICBM test on July 29, 2017. (Photo by South Korean Defense Ministry)
North Korea test-launched on Friday
its first ballistic missile potentially capable of hitting America's
East Coast. It thereby proved the failure of 25 years of U.S.
nonproliferation policy. A single-minded rogue state can pocket
diplomatic concessions and withstand sustained economic sanctions to
build deliverable nuclear weapons. It is past time for Washington to
bury this ineffective "carrots and sticks" approach.
America's
policy makers, especially those who still support the 2015 Iran nuclear
deal, should take careful note. If Tehran's long collusion with
Pyongyang on ballistic missiles is even partly mirrored in the nuclear
field, the Iranian threat is nearly as imminent as North Korea's.
Whatever the extent of their collaboration thus far, Iran could
undoubtedly use its now-unfrozen assets and cash from oil-investment
deals to buy nuclear hardware from North Korea, one of the world's
poorest nations.
Continue Reading Article
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10767/north-korea-military-options#continued
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10767/north-korea-military-options#continuedThe Foreign Press Association's Unlimited Bias
The Foreign Press Association's Unlimited Bias
by Bassam Tawil • August 4, 2017 at 5:00 am
- The truth is that in nearly most Arab and Muslim countries, there is no such thing as a "Foreign Press Association." That is because Arab and Islamic dictatorships do not allow such organizations to operate in their countries.
- The second question that comes to mind in light of the Foreign Press Association's opposition to Israel's security measures is: What exactly are the foreign journalists demanding from Israel? That Israeli authorities allow them to run around freely while Palestinian rioters are hurling stones and firebombs at police officers? Are the journalists saying that Israelis have no right to safeguard their own lives?
- Outrageously, the FPA is nearly stone-deaf when it comes to wrongdoing by Palestinians. Where is the outcry of the organization when a Palestinian journalist is arrested or assaulted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank or Hamas in the Gaza Strip? Where is the outcry over PA President Mahmoud Abbas's recent decision to block more than 20 news websites?
The
Foreign Press Association in Israel, which has often served as a
platform for airing anti-Israeli sentiments, this week filed a petition
to Israel's High Court of Justice (pictured) challenging the actions and
behavior of Israeli security forces toward journalists during
Palestinian riots. (Image source: Almog/Wikimedia Commons)
The Foreign Press
Association (FPA), an organization representing hundreds of foreign
journalists who work for various media outlets in Israel, is upset. What
seems to be the problem? In their view, recent Israeli security
measures in Jerusalem are preventing reporters from doing their jobs.
The FPA's position, expressed in at least two statements during the past
three weeks, came in response to Israeli security measures enforced in
the city after Muslim terrorists murdered two police officers at the
Temple Mount on July 14.
Continue Reading Article
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10768/foreign-press-association#continued
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10768/foreign-press-association#continuedIs Trump’s Russia Policy Being Hijacked?
3 August 2017 
http://buchanan.org/blog/trumps-russia-policy-hijacked-127432
Is Trump’s Russia Policy Being Hijacked?
http://buchanan.org/blog/trumps-russia-policy-hijacked-127432
Thursday, August 3, 2017
We’ve Seen This Movie Before. In Russia.
We’ve Seen This Movie Before. In Russia.
http://carnegieendowment.org/2017/08/02/we-ve-seen-this-movie-before.-in-russia-pub-72711?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTURKaU5tTm1ZbU0yWVRaaCIsInQiOiJRTlpNOHVRUXJnaXJXME9uMmlzXC9uSWpwRFRwMjdaV1pVeXRNYm03cUxJcjBsQzhwK2NnRnFnbUd5SXJ4VUt3QmxmVnNubEM3SFVER2d3WVpcL1dNWThVTXgxZ25MMzUwalZXQmdKQW5Dek5hclh0MU55VVlVa0diMG0zem13cTdaIn0=
Jared Kushner’s Family Business Has Been Subpoenaed
Jared Kushner’s Family Business Has Been Subpoenaed
Investigators are reportedly probing the company’s use of an investment-for-visa program.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/08/jared-kushner-family-business-subpoenaed/amp
Addressing Iranian Influence in Iraq
Addressing Iranian Influence in Iraq
http://lobelog.com/addressing-iranian-influence-in-iraq/#more-40525Wednesday, August 2, 2017
The State Department's Report on Terrorism Should Be Discredited
The State Department's Report on Terrorism Should Be Discredited
by A. Z. Mohamed • August 2, 2017 at 4:30 am
- At the top of the list of supposed "continued drivers of violence" in the Palestinian Authority (PA) is an assertion even more fabricated: "a lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood..."
- It is not "lack of hope" that drives Palestinian violence. On the contrary, it is precisely the propping up of hope -- that intimidation and terrorism work and deliver concessions, such as UNESCO's fraudulent rulings that try to strip the Jews of their history, or Israel's recent removal of metal detectors and cameras from the Temple Mount -- that keeps the Palestinians on the offensive.
- The report's allegations are perceptibly false. The PA has absolute control over the content of school books, print and broadcast media pieces, and sermons in mosques, all of which are rife with blatant anti-Semitism and glorification of terrorism and terrorists. This means that the incitement to spill Jewish blood is approved by the PA leadership, when not directly planted by it.
In
March 2106, West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force,
while visiting Israel, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist.
Since that time, the family of the terrorist who murdered Force receives
a monthly salary from the Palestinian Authority Martyr's Fund. The
amount is several times greater than the average Palestinian wage.
(Image source: United States Military Academy)
A newly-released report on
terrorism by the US State Department so completely distorts the
situation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority -- the areas it refers
to as "the West Bank and Gaza, and Jerusalem" -- that one can assume
the rest of its findings are equally inaccurate.
To
set the stage for its unfounded and biased claim that Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been engaged in a serious effort
to combat terrorism, the report equates "extremist" Palestinians, who
"continued to conduct acts of violence and terrorism in the West Bank
and Jerusalem," with "[e]xtremist Israelis, including settlers, [who]
continued to conduct acts of violence as well as 'price tag' attacks
(property crimes and violent acts by extremist Jewish individuals and
groups in retaliation for activity they deemed anti-settlement) in the
West Bank and Jerusalem."
Continue Reading Articlehttps://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10762/state-department-terrorism-report
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10762/state-department-terrorism-reportEurope's Cities Absorb Sharia Law
Europe's Cities Absorb Sharia Law
by Giulio Meotti • August 2, 2017 at 5:00 am
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan banned advertisements that promote "unrealistic expectations of women's body image and health". Now Berlin is planning to ban images in which women are portrayed as "beautiful but weak, hysterical, dumb, crazy, naive, or ruled by their emotions". Tagesspiegel's Harald Martenstein said the policy "could have been adopted from the Taliban manifesto".
- The irony is that this wave of morality and "virtue" is coming from cities governed by uninhibited leftist politicians, who for years campaigned for sexual liberation. It is now a "feminist" talking point to advocate sharia policy.
- To paraphrase the American writer Daniel Greenfield, the irony of women celebrating their own suppression is both heartbreaking and stupefying.
If
the West keeps betraying the democratic value of individual freedom,
Islamic fundamentalists, like those who imposed burqas on Libyan women,
will do the same to Western women. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty
Images)
Within days after the
Islamic State conquered the city of Sirte in Libya two years ago,
enormous billboards appeared in the Islamist stronghold warning women
they must wear baggy robes that cover their entire bodies, and no
perfume. These "sharia stipulations for hijab" included wearing dense
material and a robe that does not "resemble the attire of unbelievers".
Two years later, Europe's three most important cities -- London, Paris and Berlin -- are adopting the same sharia trend.
Continue Reading Articlehttps://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10754/europe-sharia-law
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10754/europe-sharia-lawState Department dysfunction reaches new highs
State Department dysfunction reaches new highs
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/08/02/state-department-dysfunction-reaches-new-highs/?utm_term=.26eddbae6391
Believing in the ‘Cult of Statin Denial’ Could Be Deadly
Believing in the ‘Cult of Statin Denial’ Could Be Deadly
http://www.nextavenue.org/believing-cult-statin-denial-deadly/?hide_newsletter=true&utm_source=Next+Avenue+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3a4721e291-08_01_2017_Tues_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_056a405b5a-3a4721e291-165708781&mc_cid=3a4721e291&mc_eid=fd41435b1e
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Bishops in a bind with hands tied by “golden handcuffs”
Bishops in a bind with hands tied by “golden handcuffs”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/bishops-in-a-bind-with-hands-tied-by-golden-handcuffs
Charlie Gard was baptized, held St. Jude medal before death
Charlie Gard was baptized, held St. Jude medal before death
https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/08/01/charlie-gard-baptized-held-st-jude-medal-death/
Why the Wrecking of the State Department Matters
Why the Wrecking of the State Department Matters
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/why-the-wrecking-of-the-state-department-matters/"The Battle over Jerusalem Has Just Begun"
"The Battle over Jerusalem Has Just Begun"
by Bassam Tawil • August 1, 2017 at 5:00 am
- The Palestinians, feeling triumphant now that Israel has complied with their demand to remove the metal detectors and security cameras, have been clarifying that it is only the first step in their fight to eradicate any Israeli presence in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
- They admit that this is a battle over sovereignty on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. For the Palestinians, the real battle is over who controls Jerusalem and its holy sites. The real battle, in their eyes, is over the Jews' right to live in their own state in the Middle East. Many Palestinians have still not come to terms with Israel's right to exist, and that is what this battle is really about.
- The Palestinians have added it up just right. In their own words, they aim at an escalation of violence because they believe that what Israel did is the first step toward even more concessions and even further retreat.
Palestinian
Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki (pictured above in 2009) said
last week in a speech: "The issue is not metal detectors or cameras, but
who is in charge and who has sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque... The
battle over Jerusalem has just begun." (Image source: Mario Tama/Getty
Images)
The Palestinian "victory"
celebrations that took place after Israel removed metal detectors and
surveillance cameras from the entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
bode badly for the future of stability and peace in the Middle East.
To
the Palestinians and many Arabs and Muslims, the Israeli move is viewed
as a sign of weakness. In their eyes, the removal of the security
cameras and metal detectors is capitulation, pure and simple.
How
do we know this? Easy: look at the Palestinian response. Rather than
acknowledging the conciliatory nature of the Israeli government's
decision, aimed at easing tensions and preventing bloodshed and
violence, the Palestinians are demanding more.
As
far as the Palestinians are concerned, the controversy over the Israeli
security measures at the Temple Mount, which came after three
terrorists murdered two Israeli police officers at the holy site on July
14, is part of a larger battle with Israel.
Continue Reading Articlehttps://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10758/battle-over-jerusalem
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10758/battle-over-jerusalemMajestic Voice: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Majestic Voice: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
https://secure-hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/1/a/9/1a9317f813fc8d71/Breaking_the_Bread_Transfiguration_Reflection.mp3?c_id=16195196&expiration=1501591939&hwt=f585f16ebbd69eec92f77fc87d86f8d1
https://secure-hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/1/a/9/1a9317f813fc8d71/Breaking_the_Bread_Transfiguration_Reflection.mp3?c_id=16195196&expiration=1501591939&hwt=f585f16ebbd69eec92f77fc87d86f8d1
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