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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
News and Views from the Global South
SPAIN: One Month into Hunger Strike, “Sahrawi Gandhi” in ICU
Aminatou Haidar, the Western Sahara independence activist who has been on a hunger strike in a Spanish airport for 32 days demanding to be allowed to return to her homeland, was taken to the hospital just after midnight Wednesday, and is in intensive care.WESTERN SAHARA: Activist Badly Weakened by Hunger Strike
The firm stance taken by Western Sahara independence activist Aminatou Haidar, in her third week of a hunger strike in an airport in Spain's Canary Islands, contrasts with the weak position of the Spanish government vis-à-vis the Moroccan government, which it has failed to pressure to allow the activist to return to her homeland.ENERGY-SPAIN: Windfall for the Grid
Wind energy notched up a new record in Spain on Sunday, when it generated 53 percent of total electricity demand nationwide for part of the day, according to official figures announced Monday.ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: Improving Garbage Management
The 60,000 tonnes of rubbish collected daily in Spain, equivalent to 1.3 kilos per person, is being managed by more green-friendly methods of recovery and treatment.SPAIN: A Princely Prize for Creators of Email, Cell-Phones
U.S. engineers Martin Cooper and Raymond Tomlinson, considered the fathers of the mobile phone and email, respectively, received Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research from Crown Prince Felipe on Friday.POLITICS: Marching Round the World for Peace
Activists from many nations will set out from New Zealand Saturday on a march for peace and non-violence that will cover more than 90 countries on five continents, winding up on Jan. 2 at the foot of Mount Aconcagua, in western Argentina.SPAIN: Debt Write-Off, Development Funds for Bolivia
Bolivian President Evo Morales wound up a three-day official visit to Spain Tuesday with a financial aid commitment from the Spanish government - in the form of a debt-for-development swap - and a reciprocal agreement to allow Bolivians and Spaniards resident in each other's countries to vote in local elections.RIGHTS-SPAIN: Conditions Getting Tougher for Immigrants
Immigrants in Spain are getting a raw deal from state institutions and at the same time from small and medium business owners, who not only take unfair advantage of them, but sometimes also physically ill-treat them.SPAIN-EQUATORIAL GUINEA: More Trade, Little Pressure
Trade between Spain and Equatorial Guinea is flourishing, amidst calls by activists for the government of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to push for democracy in this tiny country on the Atlantic coast of Africa, still under the yoke of dictatorship.RIGHTS-SPAIN: ‘Universal Justice’ Threatened
Spain, considered a pioneer in the area of universal justice and especially legal action in human rights cases, is about to take a step backwards in that regard. On Tuesday, activists and legal experts criticised a draft law that would limit the Spanish courts’ ability to investigate human rights abuses committed in other countries.POLITICS-LATIN AMERICA: Gender Equality Requires Quotas
Laws stipulating a minimum number of women in public posts are essential for achieving gender equality, according to a meeting of women legislators from Latin America and the Caribbean, held this week in Madrid.
Q&A: Fighting "the Dark Side of Globalised Society" *
Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, known for prosecuting alleged tyrants, terrorists and perpetrators of corruption, believes that progress toward a global justice system began in 1996, with the trials in Madrid of Argentine and Chilean torturers, and especially with the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in October 1998.DEVELOPMENT: Food Summit – Concern Yes, Concrete Steps No
A "High Level Meeting on Food Security for All" convened by the United Nations and the Spanish government ended Tuesday without approving concrete measures but with a commitment to redoubling efforts to bolster official development aid (ODA).RIGHTS-SPAIN: Human Traffickers’ Assets to Be Seized
The Spanish government announced a new plan Friday to combat human trafficking, which includes a measure for the immediate seizure of the assets of anyone convicted of involvement in such activities, in particular, those who force foreign women into prostitution.RIGHTS-SPAIN: Digging Up Past Atrocities
When it seemed that the atrocities committed during the 1936-1939 Spanish civil war and the 1939-1975 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco were buried once and for all, the debate has been reopened.SPAIN: Elderly Rights on Track, But Still Long Way to Go
On the International Day of Older Persons, celebrated Wednesday, elderly people in Spain can look back and say that their situation has improved significantly over the last few years, but that measures still need to be taken to attain full respect for their rights.RIGHTS-SPAIN: Debate Over Investigation of Civil War Victims
Internationally renowned Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón unleashed a heated debate in Spain by ordering the authorities to provide information on human rights crimes committed in the 1936-1939 civil war and the subsequent 36-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: Number Two in Wind Energy
Spain is the world’s second producer of wind energy, after Germany and ahead of the United States, and plans to continue expanding its infrastructure so as to double its current output by 2012. But new regulations may slow this development.SPAIN: ETA on the Brink
Police in Spain brought the Basque separatist group ETA to the brink of total collapse Tuesday after dismantling what was described as its most active cell, and perhaps the only one left after a string of major blows dealt to the group in the past few years.RELIGION: UN Invited to Create Interfaith Council
The participants at the World Conference on Dialogue in Madrid have proposed that the United Nations create an interreligious council.MIGRATION: Dying to Reach the EU
The only positive way to deal with illegal immigration is to fight poverty, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said upon learning of the deaths of 15 Africans who had been trying to reach Europe by sea.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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