Languages
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
DEVELOPMENT: New Africa Commission Report Reiterates Basic Goals
Africa's arduous path to development could be eased if governments took elementary measures to improve infrastructure, coordinate regional trade policies, capacitate customs personnel to speed up the regional exchange of goods and services and facilitate access of small and medium enterprises to financial resources.GERMANY: Back From War, Shattered Survivors
Quickly after the idyllic scenes presented in the film, the story changes. The group of vigorous young men are home, greeted at the airport with flowers, hugs, kisses by loved ones and girlfriends. And then you find that the main character of the film 'Willkommen zu hause' ('Welcome Home') is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).AFRICA: Yet Another Case of Graft Involving French Arms Trade
Three days ago, Jean-Charles Marchiani, a former member of the French secret services, was released from the Paris prison of La Santé where he had been serving time since May 2008. Last year, a tribunal in Paris found Marchiani guilty of influence peddling and other corruption charges involving African countries.FRANCE: New Claims About Corrupt Relations with African Dictators
The possibility that French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner might have misused his public position in France to boost his profitable private business with prominent African dictators arises at a time when the local authorities are dealing with numerous corruption affairs.ECONOMY: Germany Helping South Africa With 2010 Soccer World Cup?
As the building of new soccer stadiums and transport infrastructure in South Africa steams ahead, little seems to have come of the agreed assistance by the host of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germany, to the 2010 FIFA World Cup host, South Africa.RIGHTS: Call to Try Bush
Now that former U.S. president George W. Bush is an ordinary citizen again, many legal and human rights activists in Europe are demanding that he and high-ranking members of his government be brought before justice for crimes against humanity committed in the so-called war on terror.CLIMATE CHANGE: Don’t Be Fooled by Europe’s Arctic Winter
"Where is global warming, now that we need it?" a comedian asked on German public television ARD. And across Europe people have been asking the same question: if the globe is getting warmer, why is Europe freezing?ECONOMY: More Than a Businessman’s Suicide
The suicide of Adolf Merckle, a leading German businessman over the last 30 years, is being seen by many as an allegorical story of the end of a brand of reckless capitalism.CORRUPTION: Little Movement Against Tax Havens
As many feared, little action has resulted from the latest attempt to move against tax havens.
WORLD: More Questions About Fair Trade Practices
So-called fair trade is booming in Germany but it is facing strong criticism from activists against neoliberal globalisation on the grounds that companies taking part in ‘‘fair trade’’ do not live up to its humanitarian and developmental principles.EUROPE: Criticising Bush, And Copying Him
Outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush has been unpopular in Europe, but his policies in fighting the 'war on terror' have found many takers.ECONOMY: Turning the Pages Back to Marx and Keynes
Among the few things whose sales are picking up in these recessionary times are the works of Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. Both, in their own way, argue a central role for the state in managing the economy.
ENVIRONMENT: Global Financial Crisis a Bad Sign for Andean Biodiversity
The crisis affecting the financial sector and stock markets around the world could fuel the expansion of extractive industries in South America's Andean region, warn experts.
Global Financial Crisis a Bad Sign for Andean Biodiversity
The global financial shake-up could intensify oil and gas exploitation in biodiverse areas of the South American Andes, already a source of environmental and social conflicts.ENVIRONMENT: Because Oil Is Not Green
Several environmental organisations have asked the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to stop accepting funding from Shell, the giant international oil company.ENVIRONMENT: ‘Fertilising’ the Ocean Could be a Cure That Kills
Environmentalists are challenging dubious new proposals to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.ENVIRONMENT: To Build a School, Save the Hippo
As the Wechiau community living along the banks of the Black Volta river in Ghana discovered, looking after the hippopotamus can build schools and bring electricity.ENVIRONMENT: Twisted As Unnaturally as the Banks
The financial meltdown in most of the industrialised world presents an opportunity for a new economic model that would end short-sighted search for high returns, according to leading economists attending the IUCN World Conservation Congress here.RIGHTS: Fighting the ‘War on Terror’
The "war on terror" in the aftermath of the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001 has undermined human rights globally, according to activists and experts who attended a UN conference in Paris.RIGHTS-EUROPE: The Dalai Lama, Now the Once Welcomed
EU leaders speak repeatedly of tying increasing Chinese investment in Africa to respect for human rights. But no such considerations come in the way of the EU's own dealings with China.ENVIRONMENT-GERMANY: Fleeing Famine, Bees Seek Asylum in Cities
For German bees, the countryside is no longer what it used to be. They are fleeing insecticides and genetically modified crops to take refuge in cities.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
