THE 2010 WORLD CUP: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR CIVIL SOCIETY?

The past 30 days of World Cup euphoria and patriotism have been a chance to distract ourselves from the unemployment rate, the HIV rate, worsening income disparities, and corruption in the ranks that rule South Africa. But it's time now to put away our yellow and green Bafana Bafana (South Africa's soccer team) jerseys and contemplate just what sort of legacy the World Cup has brought us.

CUBA: TIME TO MOVE AHEAD

A year and a half ago when democrat Barack Obama became president of the United States, Raul Castro was already president of Cuba. On both sides of the Florida Straits, the winds of renewal seemed to blow, for domestic and international matters, in both style and policy. Both leaders spoke of the need for change. One area thought to be a likely focus was Cuban-American relations. The most optimistic spoke of loosening and even eliminating the embargo, given its failure to achieve its goal of toppling the regime in Havana and its repudiation by the international community. Moreover, the new Cuban president spoke of his openness to dialogue on any issue with the sole condition being respect for the independence and sovereignty of the island.

WRONG TIME FOR DRC DEBT FORGIVENESS

Within the next few days, the World Bank Board and International Monetary Fund Board of Directors will decide whether to forgive a significant portion of the "odious" debt of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accumulated to a large degree during the autocratic and kleptocratic regime of President Mobutu. Bilateral donors owed significant sums will probably follow suit.

THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM AND A NEW POLITICS

The World Social Form (WSF), which turned ten in January, is holding a series of forums throughout the year inspired by its well-known motto, "Another World is Possible".

EUROPE-LATIN AMERICA: CLOSE IN TRADE, WORLDS APART IN NEWS COVERAGE

While a considerable portion of economic and trade data shows that relations between Europe and Latin America are positive, reinforcing their historic cultural closeness, for some time now news about Latin America has been a low priority for the European media, which is effecting the thinking of the leaders and citizens of the old continent and pushing Latin America in a direction that runs contratry to European interests.

ADVICE FOR BILL GATES, WARREN BUFFET ON GIVING MONEY

I join with many in applauding the leadership of Microsoft's Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in challenging their fellow philanthropists to pledge 50% or more of their fortunes to charity in their lifetimes. In their secret "first supper" in May 2009, they invited David Rockefeller to co-host a group of billionaire peers, George Soros, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Bloomberg, Peter Peterson, Julian Robertson, Charles Feeney, California couples Eli and Edythe Broad, John and Tashia Morgridge and David Rockefeller, Jr. The Gates and Buffett are already on the right track with the focus of their grants in Africa and other developing countries and on education. They can help steer their billionaire friends to go beyond funding "vanity" buildings at elite western universities. This type of self-serving philanthropy is embarrassingly passé. Also passé is coziness with existing elites who made their fortunes from the legacy companies and technologies of the fossilized sectors: coal, oil, petrochemicals, steel, gas-guzzling autos, massive-scaled industrial agriculture, big pharmaceuticals, all still subsidized as is nuclear power. Bill Gates can drop the self-serving American Energy Innovation Council lobbying the US Congress for $16 billion of additional subsidies for unnecessary research on "clean coal," carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and more nuclear power. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobelist physicist, must know that such "investments" are misguided and waste more taxpayers' money. Coal can now be phased out with abundant US natural gas and combinations of wind and solar installations. Nuclear energy, heavily subsidized since its inception, is still the most inefficient, expensive and hazardous way that humans have ever devised to boil water (what all power stations do to drive their turbines). Special interest pleaders, like the American Energy Innovations Council that recruited Bill Gates, are part of the incumbent industries lobbying to prevent the great transition from the fossil-fueled Industrial Era to the information-rich, cleaner, greener Solar Age.

THE BLUE ECONOMY

The world is in need of a new economic model. Who doubts this while the debate on climate change decelerates and the temperature of the earth rises, along with unemployment and poverty levels. We have to search for solutions beyond the obvious and make quantum leaps.

A MORE BALANCED AND INCLUSIVE GLOBAL ECONOMY

This time last year, the global economy had reached the nadir of the financial and economic crisis. Since then, a succession of optimistic commentators, media reporters, economists and others has been pointing to the strength of the recovery: the resurgence in stock markets, the restoration of bank balances, and the reversals in growth rates. At the same time, data have emerged describing the full impact and cost of the crisis, particularly for developing countries, including an increase in unemployment, an additional 53 million people falling below the poverty line and over 100 million more going hungry.

GULF COAST: THE HUMAN COST OF BP TOXIC TSUNAMI

When Gulf Coast resident Louise Bosarge heard President Obama refer to her community as "resilient," her response was poetic: "We bounce back. We always bounce back. Bouncing hurts."

NO WATERING DOWN OF A BETTER WORLD

Companies are becoming more aware of challenges such as climate change, water scarcity and dependency on finite resources. There is no disputing that our natural resources must be used wisely, with an emphasis on lightening our impact on the planet.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR, OR THYSELF: THE LOGIC OF TURKEY-IRAN RELATIONS

A major difference has emerged recently between the United States and Turkey regarding alleged Iranian aspirations to develop nuclear capability. By continuing to enrich uranium that could eventually be used for building nuclear weapons, Iran had continually defied the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which is responsible for monitoring nuclear activities of member states to insure that they are complying with provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

THE WORLD IS BLEEDING… WE CAN ALL HELP IT HEAL

Another day, another commute from work, another trip to the market, another evening at home. We go about our daily business, largely oblivious to the ravages being inflicted upon our planet. Sure, we know about climate change and we see the oil spills on the news. But few of us realize that we may have fished out our oceans by 2050. Or that for the first time since dinosaurs walked the Earth, species of plants and animals are becoming extinct faster than new ones are evolving. In our modern, sterile, comfortable 21st century, itÂ's easy to feel disconnected from the natural world. ItÂ's easy to think that “biodiversity doesnÂ't have anything to do with me.” The truth is, biodiversity has everything to do with every one of us. Biodiversity, the vast, rich and wondrous variety of life on Earth, is all around us. It touches every part of our lives –from the clothes we wear to the food we eat to the jobs we hold. But for as much as biodiversity gives us, we donÂ't seem to notice how much it is threatened, both in South America and around the world. Biodiversity loss has been greater and faster in the past 50 years than at any time before in human history. If we lose biodiversity, weÂ'll lose everything about life as we have known it. Unfortunately, the news is not good. Research suggests that the world has failed to meet its 2010 goals for reducing the rate of biodiversity loss. But there is hope. All around the world, enlightened policy-makers, business leaders, civil society organizations and community leaders are working together to launch projects that meet our human needs for development and commerce, while at the same time respecting and preserving biodiversity. A great example can be found right here in Uruguay, where a variety of stakeholders came together to develop an ecosystem-based approach to the countryÂ's coastal fisheries. The goal is to transform UruguayÂ's fisheries into truly sustainable businesses, by encouraging respect for and consideration of the environment, and finding ways to work in harmony with local ecosystems. This keeps fish on the table in the short term and strengthens the fisheries in the long term. It is a prime example of the kinds of projects that can and must be replicated elsewhere in South America and around the world. But projects like this donÂ't just happen. They require dedicated funding and technical support. Governments must know that investments like this are what the world needs and what their constituents demand. To help raise awareness about the value and importance of biodiversity, and how it impacts our day-to-day lives, the United Nations declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. In that spirit, let us each embrace our sense of connectedness to the web of life around us –and let our voices be heard by those with the power to effect change. We are not mere bystanders when it comes to biodiversity. Nor are we powerless to help preserve it. As citizens and voters, we can and we must ensure that our elected leaders and others in power know that biodiversity­just as much as poverty, hunger, literacy or healthcare­is an issue that desperately demands our immediate attention. We may not be able to see it, but the world is bleeding. Preserving biodiversity is a critical first step in helping it heal. Our lives, and the lives of everything around us, depend on it. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS) (*) Monique Barbut is CEO of the Global Environment Facility, the worldÂ's largest funder of projects to preserve biodiversity.

CUBA WITHOUT SUGAR

History is addicted to the creation of cliches, drawn generally from a more or less visible reality held up as typifying a society, an age, or a country. And so with Cuba, known in certain periods known as the "Key of the Gulf" (of Mexico) because of its geographical location, or the "Pearl of the Empire" (the Spanish empire of the Americas), has been identified for much of the last century with sugar above all else.

CRISIS OF THE EUROPEAN POLITICAL CLASS

It was sixty years ago this May that French foreign minister Robert Schumann made his appeal for a United Europe that would prevent the wars and traumas that had haunted European history. It would be hard to imagine a less auspicious time for celebration.

DOHA ROUND: AN ENDLESS TUG-OF-WAR

The World Trade OrganisationÂ's Doha Round appears to be stuck in a strategic deadlock, with no end in sight, and little hope for completion in the forseeable future. The latest bout of negotiations, a “stocktaking exercise” held in Geneva in the last week of March ended with no direction and without plans for a further meeting of senior officials from capitals, or for Trade Ministers. The target of finishing the Round by the end of this year was not even mentioned.

HOW TO OVERCOME THE KEY OBSTACLES TO NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

There are three major issues concerning nuclear weapons, all very difficult: disarmament-nonproliferation, military use, and theological significance. But there is a universal remedy: solve the underlying conflicts. Achieving disarmament through peace is much easier than achieving peace through disarmament.

RESPONSIBILITY IN THE AGE OF CATASTROPHE

Even Pangloss from Voltaire's Candide, with his incurable optimism, would find today's world hard going. Nature and humanity have let loose their respective demons and no one can rein them in. In many areas, the earth has battered us repeatedly with cyclones, tidal waves, earthquakes, floods, and most recently the eruption of a volcano in Iceland that shut down airports across northern and central Europe. It is a sad and unprecedented spectacle.

GARZON, JUSTICE, AND MEMORY

"For the dead man here abandoned, build him a tomb." Sophocles, Antigone (442 A.D.)

EUROPE AT 60, IN CRISIS

On Sunday May 9, the European Union (EU) turns 60. Decades ago, to become a sexagenarian meant to cross the line towards old age. Today it is simply to start a third act of a professional and personal life, in which one cannot afford to make a fool of one's self. At 60, one has to be serious and responsible. The EU has to honour its birthday.

NOW A GLOBAL PLAYER, THE SOUTH MUST DEVELOP ITS MEDIA

There is a striking asymmetry between the new political and economic world order that has been emerging from the South over the last five years and the relative immobility of the international system of information, which only partially reflects the major transformations of our age.

SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENTS VS. LORDS OF FINANCE

If governments don't work together and face down the bankers who operate the global casino, the dominoes will start falling, one by one.