Articles by UN

We found 3896 results.


(Português) Breve reflexão sobre o especismo para o Dia Mundial Vegano
Bruno Müller - ANDA Agência de Notícias de Direitos Animais, 6 Nov 2017

1 nov 2017 – Tenho constatado com preocupação a crescente onda de veganos se autoproclamando “antiespecistas”. Por que isso seria preocupante? Porque me parece um princípio equivocado sobre o qual apoiar a nossa causa. Explico-me:

→ read full article

(Italiano) Frattanto, nel mondo…
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Oct 2017

18 ottobre 2017 -C’è stato quello che può risultare il più violento massacro bianco USA di sempre: 59 uccisi dal 32° piano di un albergo di Las Vegas. L’assassino viene ora criminalizzato, psichiatrizzato, individualizzato, caratterizzato. Ma il massacro è stato sistematico; con potenti forze per la competizione e per la violenza; ne consegue come la competizione USA sia la più violenta.

→ read full article

Statement by Ms. Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Oct 2017

25 Oct 2017 – What is undeniable is that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from northern Rakhine and that hundreds of their villages have been torched and burnt down. Yet Myanmar’s State Counsellor asked us to consider the 50 per cent of Muslim villages that have not been destroyed. The Commander-in-Chief then suggested the number of those who have fled has been exaggerated. And the Minister responsible for the safe return of those who have fled speculated that the hundreds of thousands of people who fled did so as a ploy to give an appearance of ethnic cleansing.

→ read full article

Myanmar Shows Off Its Israeli Weapons
Ali Abunimah | The Electronic Intifada – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Oct 2017

23 Oct 2017 – Myanmar has been showing off its new gunboats, confirming that Israel is supplying the country with weapons in spite of official secrecy. Amid ethnic cleansing of Rohingya, Israel envoy offers PR advice.

→ read full article

Mediation Culture for Conflict Transformation
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Oct 2017

Four important concepts: mediation, culture, conflict, transformation. What do they stand for and how do they relate to each other?

→ read full article

JFK Files: Cover-Up Continues of President’s Assassination
Finian Cunningham | Strategic Culture Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Oct 2017

28 Oct 2017 – The murder of President John F Kennedy 54 years ago has been described as the “crime of the century”. If US and Western news media cannot discuss this seminal event openly and honestly, let alone investigate it, then what does that say about their credibility? Among the many crucial witnesses recorded over the years, here below are a select few. Their testimonies show that the murder of Kennedy was a much darker “crime of the century” than the mainstream media would ever explore.

→ read full article

Myanmar Must Nurture Its People as Assets, Not Treat Them as ‘Threats’
Maung Zarni | Dainik Shiksha – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Oct 2017

22 Oct 2017 – “In society at large, Islamophobia, dating back to the colonial era and violent anti-Rohingya racism have poisoned the minds of a generally acquiescing and decent public.”

→ read full article

Crisis Deepens for Rohingya Refugees
Maryanne Murray Buechner | UNICEF USA – Forbes, 23 Oct 2017

20 Oct 2017 – A newly-released report from UNICEF entitled, Outcast and Desperate: Rohingya refugee children face a perilous future. The report details the deepening crisis that is unfolding in southeast Bangladesh: an influx of more than half a million Rohingya, fleeing horrific violence in neighboring Myanmar.

→ read full article

America’s Scramble for Africa
Finian Cunningham – Sputnik News, 23 Oct 2017

19 Oct 2017 – The ugly row over whether President Trump disrespected the young widow of a fallen American soldier has overshadowed a bigger issue. That is, the increasing number of US military operations across the African continent.

→ read full article

UN Special Advisers Statement on Crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Oct 2017

19 Oct 2017 – UN sources indicate that more than 530,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh. “Once again, our failure to stop atrocity crimes makes us complicit. When will we live up to our countless promises of ‘never again’?” the Special Advisers asked. The expression “atrocity crimes” refer to three crimes under international law: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

→ read full article

Internal Report Which the UN Head in Myanmar Did Not Want the World to See
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Oct 2017

GENEVA (11 Oct 2017) – Brutal attacks against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State have been well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning to their homes, a new UN report based on interviews conducted in Bangladesh has found.

→ read full article

US Withdrawal from UNESCO ‘Loss for Multilateralism,’ Says Cultural Agency’s Chief
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Oct 2017

12 Oct 2017 – UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova voiced “profound regret” today over the United States’ decision to withdraw from the agency. “This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism,” she said in a statement.

→ read full article

Trump Moves towards War with Iran
Jan Oberg | Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Oct 2017

12 Oct 2017 – With his speech today–half an hour ago–U.S. President Trump has taken a huge step into uncharted territories. One that implies a 60-75% risk of leading to a US attack on Iran. Behind him stand the hardline militarists whom he has himself appointed. Indeed, God help America! Mostly from itself!

→ read full article

After Nuclear Disarmament – What?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Oct 2017

A timeless piece worth of reflection as the [im]morality and [il]legality of nuclear weaponry made it to the UNGA resulting in the approval of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons-ICAN.

→ read full article

Meanwhile, Around the World
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Oct 2017

What a year, this 2017! 500 years ago Luther’s theses; 150 years ago Marx’ Das Kapital, 100 years ago Lenin’s Bolshevik Revolution; shaking Rome’s control of Europe, and Europe’s control of the world. Usually the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prizes are compliant with the foreign policy of Norway; this time not. The next step is to solve conflicts between nuclear powers, like USA vs N. Korea, West vs Russia.

→ read full article

(Português) Seminário: “Five Decades of Peace Research – Past and Future”
Escola de Economia e Gestão da Universidade do Minho [Braga, Portugal] – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Oct 2017

O Centro de Investigação em Ciência Política acolhe o seminário subordinado ao tema acima, o qual será proferido por Johan Galtung. Sexta-Feira, 20 outubro 2017 | Campus de Gualtar – CP II | Room B2, 10h00

→ read full article

The Key Issues to Consider Regarding Myanmar’s Official Proposal for Rohingya Repatriation
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Oct 2017

2 Oct 2017 – After periodic waves of genocidal attacks on Rohingyas over 39 years and the displacement of 1 million internationally, this repatriation proposal by Suu Kyi-Army regime needs to be treated with extreme caution and skepticism.
Rohingyas who remain trapped in N. Rakhine’s vast open prisons are facing reduced access to food and medicine on the ground. Armed Rakhine gangs roam in these areas intimidating, harassing and looting anything of value from Rohingya families.

→ read full article

“Beautiful Revolutionary”: Che Guevara Remembered
Dana Cook - CounterPunch, 9 Oct 2017

Fifty years ago—on October 8, 1967—the Argentine guerilla leader who played a key role in the Cuban Revolution was captured by the Bolivian military, with help from the CIA. He was executed the next day. In the following, Pablo Neruda, Maureen O’Hara, Jerry Rubin, I.F. Stone and others write about their encounters with the revolutionary icon who most know only from his image on tee-shirts. Susan Sontag and Jesse Ventura tell why he was their idol.

→ read full article

Nobel’s Peace Prize to ICAN: Thank You to the Nobel Committee!
Jan Oberg | Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research - TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Oct 2017

Our thanks to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for awarding its 2017 Prize to ICAN – the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

→ read full article

Myanmar Rohingya Abuses May Be Crimes against Humanity, UN Rights Experts Warn
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Oct 2017

4 Oct 2017 – “We are particularly worried about the fate of Rohingya women and children subject to serious violations of their human rights, including killings, rape and forced displacement. Such violations may amount to crimes against humanity,” the experts said in a joint statement issued today.

→ read full article

Perpetrators of Genocide Say They’re ‘Good People’
Jeff Grabmeier | Ohio State University News – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Oct 2017

5 Oct 2017 – Study Examined Testimony of Defendants in Rwandan Violence – The men who were tried for their role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed up to 1 million people want you to know that they’re actually very good people. Researchers found that an “appeal to good character” was used by defendants more than all other explanations combined to say why they weren’t guilty of the horrible crimes they were accused of committing.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Mondo, dove stai andando?
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Oct 2017

E’ morto Liu Xiaobo. Qual è la – non così occultata – verità su di lui?
Risposta: I suoi discorsi e scritti rivelano entusiasmo per i 100 anni di colonizzazione inglese di Hong Kong, auspicando 300 anni di colonizzazione della Cina, commemorando la guerra USA in Afghanistan, manifestando speranza nelle armi nucleari. Ha ottenuto il Premio Nobel per la Pace per la democratizzazione della Cina, ha avuto libertà di parola, ma il premio è stato inteso come una provocazione. Il premio avrebbe potuto essere assegnato fuor di dubbio alla loro Charta 08, non a Liu Xiaobo.

→ read full article

Mis-informed and Ignorant, Former US Ambassador Derek Mitchell Must Not “Educate” the West about Rohingyas
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Oct 2017

29 Sep 2017 – Silence is golden, especially when you don’t really know what you are talking about. A case in point is former US Ambassador to my country Derek Mitchell and the genocide of Rohingyas. He claimed that he understood genocide because he is of Jewish origin. Apparently, he still doesn’t get it.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Arrivederci, a… (chissà)!
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Oct 2017

29 settembre 2017 – Ce l’abbiam fatta! Per cinquecento lunedì [dal 3 Marzo 2008] Antonio del Brasile-Portogallo ha pubblicato un mio editoriale dalla Norvegia e dal mondo – talora con un coautore. Con il valido sostegno degli altri membri del nostro comitato editoriale, Malvin Gattinger della Germania, Naakow Grant-Hayford del Ghana ed Erika Degortes dell’Italia. GRAZIE!

→ read full article

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons – September 26
UN Office for Disarmament Affairs – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Oct 2017

26 Sep 2017 marked the fourth consecutive year the UN commemorated the date. Delegates took the floor to call on all States to sign and ratify both the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons, the latter of which opened for signature on 20 Sep of this year.

→ read full article

London Peace Study Day & March Report
Alberto Portugheis | Humanity United for Universal Demilitarisation– TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Oct 2017

I would like to invite our TRANSCEND friends to look at some photos of the recent Peace Study Day and March organized by HUFUD in London. We consider it a success and thank all who participated in the event. To see photos & reports please click HERE

→ read full article

The Bloodstained Levelers: Disease and Destruction
Walter Scheidel | Princeton University Press/Aeon – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Oct 2017

The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century by Walter Scheidel, Princeton University Press – Throughout History, Plagues and Wars Have Left Greater Equality in Their Wake. Can We Get There Again without Violence?

→ read full article

UN Rights Experts Urge Member States to ‘Go Beyond Statements,’ Take Action to Help Rohingya
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Oct 2017

26 Sep 2017 – “No one chooses, especially not in the hundreds of thousands, to leave their homes and ancestral land, no matter how poor the conditions, to flee to a strange land to live under plastic sheets and in dire circumstances except in life-threatening situations,” stressed the experts. According to estimates, more than 430,000 people have crossed into Bangladesh since the violence erupted.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Occidente, dove stai andando?
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Sep 2017

L’Occidente ha convertito con successo la violenza diretta della guerra nella violenza strutturale dello sfruttamento, giustificata dalla violenza culturale, utilizzando, importando, rapinando risorse, lavorandole, esportando i prodotti derivati, intascandone il valore aggiunto, brevettando ciò che era stato appreso.

→ read full article

(Italiano) USA–Dove state andando?
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Sep 2017

12 settembre 2017 – “Pentagon Study Declares American Empire Is ‘Collapsing,” (Uno studio del Pentagono sostiene che l’impero americano sta crollando) è il titolo di un saggio di Nafeez Ahmed che fa un’analisi del suddetto studio. Sembra interessante. Sottotitolo: “Rapporto sollecita una massiccia espansione del complesso militare-industriale per garantire l’accesso globale alle risorse”. Suona famigliare.

→ read full article

Indictment of Burma/Myanmar for State Crimes
Permanent People’s Tribunal on Myanmar’s State Crimes – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Sep 2017

State sponsored and state led massacres, extrajudicial executions, murders, disappearances, drownings, rape and sexual violence, the destruction of homes and of whole villages, the wholesale denial of civil rights, in the context of state terror. Gross, widespread and systematic violations of the right to life, economic, social and cultural rights particularly the right to health and livelihood, the right to food and food sovereignty and the right to freedom from interference with the family and home

→ read full article

September Employee of the Month: [Nobel Peace Laureate] Aung San Suu Kyi
World Peace Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Sep 2017

September 2017’s “employee of the month” is Aung San Suu Kyi, awarded this month for her refusal to recognize the assault against the Rohingya population of Myanmar for what it is: a massive state-sponsored campaign of violence against a minority group. In lieu of a WPF explanation of the awardee, however, we re-post the below “Open Letter to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi” written by Burmese activists.

→ read full article

Turning Taboos into Constructive Discourses
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Sep 2017

Freedom of expression can be severely curtailed by taboo zones in any country, outruling, sometimes also outlawing the unspeakable… To see Hitler, not his ideas, as evil, is itself an evil idea. Kill Hitler or he kills himself and the ideas are still alive, blowing in the air so to speak, in search of new carriers. The ideas have to be confronted and overcome; only killing individual carriers is naive.

→ read full article

Iran Implementing Its Nuclear Commitments, UN Atomic Agency Chief Stresses
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Sep 2017

18 Sep 2017 – Iran is implementing its commitments under “the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime,” the United Nations atomic agency head said today, while at the same time voicing “grave concern” at the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear programme.

→ read full article

Good-Bye, See You Later
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Sep 2017

We made it! Five hundred Mondays [from 3 Mar 2008] has Antonio from Brazil-Portugal posted an editorial by me from Norway and the world–sometimes with a coauthor. With the good support of the other members of our editorial committee, Malvin Gattinger from Germany, Naakow Grant-Hayford from Ghana and Erika Degortes from Italy. THANKS!

→ read full article

Open Letter to [Nobel Peace Laureate] Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Sep 2017

As your fellow countrymen, with deep roots in our troubled birthplace, we are writing to you to share our sadness and concern about your personal legacy as the nation’s leader, the plight of our people, and the future of Myanmar as a nation. When you delivered your first speech in 1988, declaring that “as my father’s daughter I could no longer remain silent when the public remains subject to decades of oppression”, we were deeply moved and inspired by your determination and courage.

→ read full article

(Français) «L’Étreinte du Serpent»: Colonialisme et Destruction
Alex Anfruns | Investig’Action – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Sep 2017

Dans cette œuvre cinématographique qui a récolté une reconnaissance internationale unanime, le cinéaste colombien Ciro Guerra expose de manière saisissante ce que le phénomène de colonisation et le processus de domination ont toujours voulu réduire au silence. Il explique la rencontre entre les indigènes et les explorateurs européens, inversant les points de vue de ce qu’on appelle la « Découverte du Nouveau monde« , maintenant vue du côté des indigènes.

→ read full article

The Other 9/11: Unremembered and Unatoned
Steve Brown - CounterPunch, 18 Sep 2017

Not that such memorials aren’t appropriate. They are simply insufficient. They fail to commemorate another 9/11 tragedy, one that took place 28 years earlier, in 1973 — not in America, but in Chile — and which caused the death – not of thousands, but of tens of thousands — while torturing and exiling 200,000 more. I refer to the brutal coup d’état that overthrew the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, and replaced it with nearly two decades of murderous dictatorship under Generalissimo Augusto Pinochet.

→ read full article

UN Human Rights Chief Points to ‘Textbook Example of Ethnic Cleansing’ in Myanmar
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Sep 2017

11 Sep 2017 – He lashed out at the treatment of the Rohingya in Myanmar which has led to more than 300,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh in the past three weeks, as security forces and local militia reportedly burn villages and shoot civilians.

→ read full article

The World–Where Are You Heading?
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Sep 2017

Jurisprudence and the legal model; why not, and the alternatives? Answer: A deeply rooted model seeing social reality as actors, individual or collective, responsible for their acts, answerable to the law. An indispensable perspective to be enriched with a systemic perspective: action is not only conditioned by actor intention and capability, but also by good and bad structures; hence changing bad structures, not only punishing illegal actors, or restoring them.

→ read full article

Hostage to Myopic Self-Interest: Climate Science Is Watered Down Under Political Scrutiny
Ian Dunlop – The Guardian, 18 Sep 2017

Scientific reticence allows politicians to neglect the real dangers we face. But waiting for perfect information means it will be too late to act.

→ read full article

South-South Cooperation Key to Overcoming Inequalities, Says UN Deputy Chief
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Sep 2017

12 Sep 2017 – “South-South cooperation should not be seen as a substitute for North-South cooperation but as complementary, and we invite all countries and organizations to engage in supporting triangular cooperation initiatives,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said today, urging all developed nations to fulfill their Official Development Assistance commitments.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Pace-Sviluppo-Ambiente: integrati?
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Sep 2017

Questi sono gli obiettivi delle Nazioni Unite; l’Accademia di Hardanger li ha resi tre centri d’interesse. È sorto il problema: che cos’hanno in comune? Sono tre aspetti della stessa cosa? Se così, quale “cosa”? Si sono individuati ed esplorati quattro modi per cercare di rispondere. Sono quattro per via dei quattro modi di affrontare la realtà sociale.

→ read full article

Myanmar, Moderate Your Genocide!
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Sep 2017

My country is committing pogroms
Pogroms against Rohingyas.
I knew this day would come. And it did come sooner!
Wait! Rohingyas don’t exist.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Nel mentre – In giro per il mondo
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Sep 2017

Sembra esserci un nuovo sistema europeo per calcolare il PIL. Non solo vengono inclusi gli armamenti ma pure i fondi che vanno a ricerca e sviluppo finalizzati alla guerra. Inclusi sono pure prostituzione e droghe, sotto la voce “servizi”. E’ compresa qualunque cosa che viene offerta e richiesta per denaro. Come ci fa sentire questa novità sulla crescita economica? Di essere tra i “valori pro-capite” secondo i quali viene diviso questo mostro uscito da menti economicistiche malate?

→ read full article

What the Media Isn’t Telling You about North Korea’s Missile Tests
Mike Whitney - CounterPunch, 11 Sep 2017

What the media failed to mention was that, for the last three weeks, Japan, South Korea and the US have been engaged in large-scale joint-military drills on Hokkaido Island and in South Korea. These needlessly provocative war games are designed to simulate an invasion of North Korea and a “decapitation” operation to remove (Re: Kill) the regime.

→ read full article

World Needs to Move beyond ‘Conceptual Debate’ and Improve Protection from Atrocities, Urges Guterres
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Sep 2017

6 Sep 2017 – “All of us are well aware of the grim human reality that lies behind the words, ‘war crimes’, ‘crimes against humanity’, ‘ethnic cleansing’, and ‘genocide’,” Mr. Guterres said. “It is time to move beyond the conceptual debate towards improved protection of people from atrocity crimes.”

→ read full article

The West–Where Are You Heading?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Sep 2017

There are no chosen individuals, with promised status. We are all chosen as humans by the precious gift of life, with guaranteed survival, wellness, freedom of options, identity. In a nature with guaranteed diversity and symbiosis; not vicious human attacks on both.

→ read full article

Making Peace
Denise Levertov | Poetry Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Sep 2017

A voice from the dark called out,
‘The poets must give us
imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar
imagination of disaster. Peace, not only
the absence of war.’

→ read full article

Are the Rohingya Militants Responsible for Derailing Kofi Annan Commission’s Recommendations?
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

“Who is terrorising whom”” is the question that needs to be confronted head on. There is something else that needs to be called out: the mass media’s misframing of Rohingya militants as “jihadists”. Both the realities on the ground and the media narrative covering the realities are quite skewered in favour of the perpetrating Burmese regime’s framing.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Spagna: dove stai andando?
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

Per gli spagnoli è abituale aggiungere la parola “crisi” al nome del paese. Non sono i soli in ciò, può essere una consuetudine occidentale, uno di quei termini che sospingono avanti l’Occidente.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Superare la paranoia verso la Russia
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

È ora di aprire una porta positiva alla Russia con uno scambio a reciproco e uguale beneficio. Scambi di merci lavorate e di servizi, cooperazione nel sopprimere la speculazione e l’intossicazione da droghe. Soprattutto: rispetto reciproco, non solo vantaggi. Stima, simpatia. Affetto. RUSSIA: ja tjebjà ljubljù. Ti amo.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Israele si avvia verso una soluzione?
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

Il mondo vuole messaggi di pace da queste grandi, antiche fedi, non guerra perpetua. Questi messaggi potrebbero venire da Gerusalemme, mettendo in evidenza le tradizioni di solidarietà e tolleranza piuttosto che il contrario: le fedi abramitiche, che rinnegano la speranza del genere umano nella pace. Il mondo è in attesa. E’ tempo che accada, ora.

→ read full article

El Salvador’s Durable Disorder: Low Intensity Postwar Democracy
Norbert Ross and Antonia Ross Sanchez - CounterPunch, 4 Sep 2017

In El Salvador violence has become a big industry. For 2015 and 2016, The Economist featured the country as the most violent country (not at war), with its capital, San Salvador, holding the dubious title of “most murderous city.” It is not surprising then, that even with a left leaning government in power prosecution of minors for gang related crimes has increased by 50%. The right-wing ARENA party even proposed reforms to the Juvenile Penal Law, seeking to try minors linked to gang activity as adult terrorists.

→ read full article

Peace Study Day & March
Alberto Portugheis | Humanity United for Universal Demilitarization – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

Sat 16 Sep 2017 at The Elizabeth Fry Room, Westminster Quaker Meeting House, London, England. Speakers: John Leech, Alicia Cabezudo, Alberto Portugheis, Stefan G. Ziegler and Azadeh Chahvie. If you would like to participate only in our Peace March, please meet us at 6pm at Hop Gardens. You are also welcome to join us at any of our stopping points along the way.

→ read full article

Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly Now Endorsed by over 1,500 Current and Former Lawmakers from 120 Countries
Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly | Culture of Peace Network – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

The campaign’s appeal calls for “a gradual implementation of democratic participation and representation on the global level to ensure international cooperation, secure the acceptance and enhance the legitimacy of the UN strengthening its capacity to act. People must be more effectively and directly included into the activities of the United Nations and its international organizations.”

→ read full article

USA–Where Are You Heading?
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

Declare the end of the empire and explore cooperation for mutual and equal benefit with all. Make them friends, not military “allies”. USA: you are so innovative; you have so incredibly much to offer.

→ read full article

The Universalism of Imam Moussa Sadr: A Relevant Approach to Contemporary Uncertainty
Raed H. Charafeddine | The Yale University Council on Middle East Studies - TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Sep 2017

The Arab world is the geographic, historic and cultural point of convergence of the Muslim World. Islam was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the Arabic language in the Arabian Peninsula and, from there, the message spread across the world. The abodes of Islam remain platforms for debate and incubators for tensions and conflicting ideologies despite the passing of fourteen centuries since the Revelation. Certain issues of contention date back to the earliest years of Islam and have, remarkably, gone unresolved to this day. Such issues include succession (the Caliphate) and alternation in power, the separation of religion and State, innovation (Ijtihad) and imitation (Taqlid), and much more. Exploring these issues is no mere intellectual luxury. Even today these are still pressing matters as current political situation is mired in turmoil, uncertainty, and lack of vision.

→ read full article

(Português) Amazonas: Situação Legal dos Direitos Minerários da Reserva Nacional do Cobre (RENCA)
WWF-World Wildlife Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Aug 2017

Relatório Técnico 2017 – Desde 2015 estão sendo veiculadas diversas notícias a respeito da extinção da RENCA como forma de atração de investimentos para o setor mineral. Criada em 1984, essa área de bloqueio está situada no limite dos estados do Pará e Amapá e apresenta área de 47 mil km2, equivalente ao estado do Espírito Santo.

→ read full article

Peace-Development-Environment: Integrated?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Aug 2017

These are the goals of the United Nations; the Hardanger Academy made them three foci. The problem arose: what do they have in common? Are they three aspects of the same thing? If so, what is that “thing”? Four ways of trying to answer have been identified and explored. Four because of four ways of approaching social reality.

→ read full article

Landmark UN-Backed Treaty on Mercury Takes Effect
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Aug 2017

16 Aug 2017 – A ground-breaking global convention on mercury today goes into effect, the United Nations environment wing said, protecting millions of children and infants from possible neurological and health damage.

→ read full article

Myanmar/Burma: UN Welcomes Final Assessment of Independent Advisory Panel on Rakhine State
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Aug 2017

24 Aug 2017 – The United Nations today welcomed the release of the final report of an independent advisory body looking into the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric acknowledged its endorsement “to address the root causes of violence and reduce inter-communal violence.”

→ read full article

Quantitative Easing for Wealth Redistribution
Jomo Kwame Sundaram – Inter Press Service-IPS, 28 Aug 2017

22 Aug 2017 – Following the 2007-2008 global financial crisis and the Great Recession in its wake, the ‘new normal’ in monetary policy has been abnormal. At the heart of the unconventional monetary policies adopted have been ‘asset purchase’ or ‘quantitative easing’ (QE) programmes. Ostensibly needed for economic revival, QE has redistributed wealth – regressively, in favour of the rich.

→ read full article

Meanwhile, Around the World
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Aug 2017

There seems to be a new European system for calculating the GNP. Not only is armament included, but also the money that goes into research and development for war. Also included are prostitution and drugs, as “services.” Anything offered and demanded in return for money is in. How does that make us feel about economic growth? To be among the “per capita” by which this monster coming out of sickening economistic minds is divided?

→ read full article

You’re Invited to the Nuclear Denial Party!
Jan Oberg | Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Aug 2017

6 Aug 2017 – Since marketing, omitted and fake news have – to a worrying extent – replaced knowledge and ethics, why not celebrate that the media have omitted every mention of Hiroshima Day today? Welcome to the Nuclear Denial Party!!

→ read full article

It’s High Time For Stopping The Slow-Burning Genocide In Myanmar
Habib Siddiqui – Asian Tribune, 14 Aug 2017

6 Aug 2017 – As noted by Dr. Maung Zarni and Alice Cowley in their seminal work “The slow-burning genocide of Myanmar’s Rohingya”, both the State in Myanmar and the local community have committed four out of five acts of genocide as spelled out by the 1948 Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.

→ read full article

Spain–Where Are You Heading?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Aug 2017

It is customary for Spaniards to add the word “crisis” to the name of the country. They are not alone in that, it may be a Western habit, one of those words driving the West on.

→ read full article

Why It’s Hard to Understand What’s Happening in Venezuela
Susan Babbitt - CounterPunch, 14 Aug 2017

8 Aug 2017 – We hear about violence in Venezuela but not about politically motivated deaths in Mexico, Colombia and Honduras. Einstein said that “mere thinking” doesn’t produce great science. He knew something Marx knew, namely, that facts always depend upon a particular perspective. Knowledge is not power. If we don’t know what knowledge explains, or might, it’s useless.

→ read full article

When Washington Decides Democracy Is Dangerous: Stoking Opposition in Venezuela and Syria
Ramiro S. Fúnez – MintPress News, 14 Aug 2017

The opposition “movements” in Venezuela and Syria have a great deal in common: both are seeking the demise of democratically-elected governments; both resort to violence and acts of terrorism; both are tools of U.S. and Western imperialism, and both are failing.

→ read full article

Student Activism Is Vital to Burma’s Future
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Aug 2017

In the Burmese society today so violently fractured by the regressive politics of racism, bigotry and exclusion it is these idealistic and principled students who are best positioned to serve as the moral compass. Their activism needs to be cherished and nurtured – not trampled on and repressed.

→ read full article

The Corruption of Modern Academic Medicine — How Your Doctor Was Bought
Dr. Jason Fung | Medium – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Aug 2017

27 Jul 2017 – Many doctors are genuinely puzzled why the general public does not trust what they say. They blame ignorance and the media but this is simply a patronizing attitude. The truth is: the answer is $$$$. Simply, the public does not trust doctors because they know that many doctors are on the take. A terrific study from Dr. Vinay Prasad illustrates the problem precisely.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Grande Storia dalla Norvegia
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Aug 2017

Un ratto norvegese sicuro di sé, che abbandona una nave per costruirsi la propria: difesa difensiva, neutrale tra l’Occidente e il Resto; con posti di lavoro concreti, non solo lavori finalizzati a una minore disuguaglianza; vedere il buono in tutto, per progetti che connettono buono con buono. Una Svizzera, attenta anche a una pace positiva.

→ read full article

Is Irrawaddy News Group Leading the Genocide Propaganda in Burma/Myanmar?
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Aug 2017

6 Aug 2017 – Myanmar Groups whipping up Genocidal Racism against Rohingyas (& Muslims). Irrawaddy News Group has joined the likes of ex-Chief of Military Intelligence, Wirathu, & Rakhine Racist Groups.

→ read full article

What Are the Essential Differences between Communism and Capitalism?
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Aug 2017

Communism treats the notion of Private Property as a major obstacle to building its classless heaven on earth attempts to make Saints out of humans. In the process the Beasts inside fought back and destroyed the Communist Mission and devoured its Missionaries. In sharp contrast, Capitalism rests on the Inalienably Holy Idea of Private Property attempts to pursue its Sacred Mission of Wealth Accumulation by unleashing the Beasts in humans, thereby triggering the unstoppable process of all around destruction.

→ read full article

Enough Nonsense! The Left Does Not Collaborate with Fascists
Eric Draitser - CounterPunch, 7 Aug 2017

Where I draw the line is in calling for the Left to openly embrace the very forces of fascist reaction that the Left fights against. Doing so is not only an extremely dangerous proposition given the political and organizational weakness of the Left such as it is, it would be an act of self-immolation. “Come my fellow hens, let us not be timid! We must throw open the doors to the foxes who, at times, share a common enemy.”

→ read full article

Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Atomic Heritage Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Aug 2017

By the end of 1945, the atomic bombings of Japan had killed an estimated 140,000 people at Hiroshima and 74,000 at Nagasaki, including those who died from radiation poisoning. Often lost in those numbers are the experiences of the survivors, known as hibakusha (literally “atomic bomb-affected people”).

→ read full article

Israel Heading for a Solution?
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Aug 2017

The world wants messages of peace from these great, old faiths [Judaism, Christianity, Islam], not everlasting belligerence. That could emanate from Jerusalem, by highlighting the traditions of togetherness and tolerance rather than the opposite: the Abrahamic faiths betraying the human hope of peace. The world is waiting. Time for this to happen is now.

→ read full article

Deadly Combination of Cholera, Hunger and Conflict Pushes Yemen to ‘Edge of a Cliff’ – Senior UN Official
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Aug 2017

1 Aug 2017 – Describing the situation in Yemen as “very bleak,” with “no end in sight,” a senior United Nations official envoy today said the war-torn country, already reeling from malnutrition and dwindling health care, is plummeting into further distress amid a deadly cholera outbreak and looming famine.

→ read full article

Overcoming Paranoia about Russia
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Jul 2017

Time to open the positive door to Russia with exchange for mutual and equal benefit. Trade in processed goods, and in services, cooperation in killing speculation and drug-poisoning. Above all, mutual respect not only benefit. Admiration, sympathy. Love. RUSSIA: ja tjebja ljubljo. I love you.

→ read full article

Plastic Chokes the Seas
Robert Hunziker – CounterPunch, 31 Jul 2017

28 Jul 2017 – One of the great myths of modern-day society is that people recycle in earnest… saving the environment. Au contraire! Check out the ocean. In the 1960s plastic was found in the stomachs of fewer than 5% of seabirds. By 1980 it jumped to 80%, now 90%. What’s left? National Geographic says that seabird populations dropped 67% between 1950 and 2010.

→ read full article

(Português) Novos métodos substituem o uso de animais vivos nas aulas de veterinária
USP Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Jul 2017

Na Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, a professora Julia Matera foi pioneira no uso de técnicas substitutivas para ensino de cirurgia, projeto pelo qual foi recentemente premiada.

→ read full article

The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics
World Economic Forum | Ellen MacArthur Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Jul 2017

Applying circular economy principles to global plastic packaging flows could transform the plastics economy and drastically reduce negative externalities such as leakage into oceans, according to this new report.

→ read full article

There Is Still Time to Prevent Civil War in Venezuela
Eva Golinger – CounterPunch, 31 Jul 2017

28 Jul 2017 – There is no way out of Venezuela’s crisis if all parties to the conflict don’t recognize and respect each other’s right to exist. This has been one of the principal obstacles the country has faced since the opposition attempted to undermine the Chavez administration through the U.S.-backed coup d’etat in 2002. The opposition must accept the legitimacy of President Maduro and his administration and allow him to fulfill his presidential term, which ends in 2019.

→ read full article

(Italiano) La rivoluzione delle sessualità
Johan Galtung & Antonio C. S. Rosa | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jul 2017

Kinsey ha avuto un ruolo importante. Molto solido, molto empirico, vasto, esauriente, avversato da qualche chiesa e senz’altro da qualche patriarca. Ma ha prevalso la scienza… Purtroppo si confonde generalmente il sesso con l’amore, sia in letteratura sia nella realtà. Il sesso è un piacere effimero dei genitali — di qualunque specie. L’amore è emozione, energia, sinergia fra due esseri umani. Amore e sesso sono complemento reciproco ma non si sostituiscono l’un l’altro, essendo di natura squisitamente differente.

→ read full article

End of Mission Statement by Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar
UN Information Center – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jul 2017

21 Jul 2017 – UN Special Rapp. Prof. Yanghee Lee: ‘astonished’ ‘disappointed’ ‘dismayed’ ‘delayed’ ‘denied access.’ “As ever, I stand ready to help in any way I can, to make Myanmar the rights respecting country I know it can be — to make Myanmar a country where the rights of all people are respected, upheld, and protected.”

→ read full article

Peace Study Day & March
Alberto Portugheis | HUFUD Humanity United for Universal Demilitarisation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jul 2017

TRANSCEND Members, Peace Study Teachers, Students: A few slots – forty minutes to one hour – are still available, for lecturers and workshop leaders. During the March to Whitehall, Downing Street and Parliament we’ll be carrying banners. Bring your own and publicize the peace organization or movement you represent.

→ read full article

Macro-History from Norway
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jul 2017

The US Trump ship is sinking and does not serve Norway’s interests. Time for the Norwegian rat to jump ship boarding increasingly accepted EU to build its own ship: defensive defense, neutral between West and Rest; with positions, not only jobs for less inequality; seeing the good in all, for projects linking good with good.

→ read full article

God Exists, the Rest Is Speculation
Kevin Barrett – Unz Review, 24 Jul 2017

God Exists but Gawd Does Not is important precisely because it can cut through biases and convince open-minded atheists and agnostics that, based on the best available logic and evidence, God’s existence is far more likely than not. And while spreading not just belief, but knowledge of God’s existence might or might not save the world, Griffin ends the book with a postscript featuring convincing arguments that it could be helpful.

→ read full article

The Truth about Soy – What Does the Science Actually Say?
Joey Bruno | Thrive Cuisine – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jul 2017

26 Jun 2017 – Soy has quickly gone from a relatively unknown in Western culture to a highly debated and controversial food. Of course, soy has not been embraced by communities that have been advocating against grain and legume consumption for decades. Even people who eat predominately plant-based diets will campaign against this humble legume. The question is: are these harsh criticisms warranted or does the scientific literature say otherwise?

→ read full article

The Sexualities Revolution
Johan Galtung and Antonio C. S. Rosa – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Jul 2017

Kinsey played a major role. Very solid, very empirical, vast, comprehensive, fought by some churches and no doubt by some patriarchs. But science prevailed… Unfortunately sex is generally confused with love both in literature and in reality. Sex is ephemeral pleasure of the genitalia—any genitalia. Love is emotion, energy, synergy between two human beings. Love and sex complement but do not replace each other, being of utterly different natures.

→ read full article

Bestselling Revisionist Historian: Germany Was Just a Patsy!
Kevin Barrett – The Unz Review, 17 Jul 2017

Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads: A New History of the World shows why we need to re-vision history. The word revisionist derives from roots meaning “to look again.” And since history is an ongoing project, whose main purpose is to help us understand where we have come from and where we are going, we obviously need to keep taking fresh looks at the past as we propose new visions of the future.

→ read full article

Draft Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
UN General Assembly - TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Jul 2017

6 Jul 2017 – Negotiations, pursuant to paragraph 8 of General Assembly resolution 71/258 of 23 December 2016, on a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination

→ read full article

(Italiano) Freud-Einstein sulla Pace
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Jul 2017

“Perché la guerra?” era il titolo della corrispondenza tra Sigmund Freud e Albert Einstein, 1932. Tra poco saranno trascorsi 85 anni. Che cosa possiamo ancora imparare da questi giganti, e che cosa avrebbero potuto essi stessi imparare in questo lasso di tempo.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Società pacifiche: dove si trovano?
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis, 10 Jul 2017

Possiamo tentare di stabilire le caratteristiche del loro essere pacifiche. O possiamo cominciare con l’identificare le società bellicose e poi considerare le società pacifiche come loro negazione. Proviamo intanto questa.

→ read full article

Myanmar to Humanitarian Groups: THOU SHALL NOT FEED THE MUSLIMS – without Gov Knowledge & Monitor
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Jul 2017

4 Jul 2017 – Thou shall not feed the Muslims without approval from NLD-Gov (and police). All food supplies to Muslims in Meikhtila and Ramadan month food donations must be distributed only under the monitoring mechanisms and with the prior knowledge of local authorities.

→ read full article

Myanmar Leaders Must Nurture the Country’s Many Potential ‘Aung La Nsangs’
Maung Zarni - Coconuts Yangon, 10 Jul 2017

3 Jul 2017 – On Friday [30 Jun], in Yangon, something extraordinary happened to lift the spirit of all Myanmar’s peoples. Mixed martial arts fighter Aung La Nsang made history by becoming the first-ever world champion from Myanmar in any sport. In our long-running civil wars and waves of racial and religious violence, how many Aung La Nsangs have we killed, maimed or otherwise destroyed?

→ read full article

“Modern” Business Owns You
Johan Galtung and Malvin Gattinger – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Jul 2017

The housing market used to be a way for people to organize themselves and share costs and risks. Now in bigger cities it seems to be mainly about selling people to housing corporations. The online markets used to be extensions of “real” ones, selling goods and services. Now the central market is ‘attention,’ essentially selling people to advertisement companies.

→ read full article

UN Conference Adopts Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Jul 2017

7 Jul 2017 – The treaty – adopted by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands), with one abstention (Singapore) – prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Povertà rurale? Cooperative!
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 3 Jul 2017

Lo scopo primario delle cooperative rurali è garantire il sostentamento degli associati condividendo i rischi, e i proventi. Ne sono membri sia agricoltori sia lavoranti con capacità di assumersi rischi e di condivisione. Possono aderire poveri o disoccupati urbani, quanto meno ottenendo cibo in cambio di lavoro.

→ read full article

(Italiano) Il genere umano nel 2050 – Un ambiente per sviluppare la pace
Johan Galtung | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service, 3 Jul 2017

Il 2050 è soltanto 33 anni avanti; 33 anni indietro sta il 1984 di Orwell. Sono successe tante cose. Il muro di Berlino è caduto nel 1989; hanno fatto seguito l’Impero Sovietico, l’Unione Sovietica e il Comunismo. L’Impero Usa è decaduto, vecchi clienti si sono rifiutati di combattere le guerre degli Stati Uniti ma non quelle dell’Unione Europea, incrinando la NATO.

→ read full article