Articles by UN
We found 3962 results.
US Ally Uganda Attacks Congo’s Beni Territory
Ann Garrison interviews Boniface Musavuli - CounterPunch,
15 Jan 2018
The Congo crisis is now one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies in the world and the most underreported. An average of 5,500 people a day flees violence and insecurity, even more than in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Unlike Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, however, the Congo wars are undeclared and there’s no front line.
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Wrongs of Rights Activism around Rohingyas
Maung Zarni – Prothom Alo [Bangladesh],
15 Jan 2018
I do not believe in Knights in shining armour or the White Saviours. The survivors have no rescuers. They need to struggle for their own survival and beyond. I am only a supporter who offers them my uncompromising solidarity as a fellow human. This piece, I wrote based on my 30-years of non-stop activism since I joined proudly the Amnesty International campus chapter at the University of California as a youngish graduate student in early 20’s. Now I am almost 54.
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Trump, Kim Need to Grasp Reality of Famed Photo’s ‘Fruit of War’
Vox Populi, Vox Dei - The Asahi Shimbun,
8 Jan 2018
5 Jan 2018 – A barefoot boy, probably around 10 years old, waits in line at a crematorium. Strapped to his back is his dead baby brother. Staring straight ahead, the boy utters no words. This photo, titled “The boy standing by the crematory,” was taken in Nagasaki at the end of World War II by U.S. Marine photographer Joe O’Donnell (1922-2007).
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After 1,000 Days of Conflict, Yemen Sliding into ‘Deepening Catastrophe,’ UN Agencies Warn
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jan 2018
30 Dec 2017 – As the conflict in Yemen passes the grim 1,000-day milestone, the United Nations is warning that if humanitarian workers cannot gain greater access and the violence does not subside, the cost in lives will be incalculable.
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(Português) Dia Mundial da Paz: Um momento para expandir a consciência
Bruna Araújo - ANDA Agência de Notícias de Direitos Animais,
8 Jan 2018
O Dia Mundial da Paz é celebrado anualmente no dia 1 de janeiro em todo o planeta. A data foi criada pelo papa Paulo VI em 1967 tendo como proposta unir todas as religiões com o objetivo único de criar um mundo pacífico e harmonioso. Saiba mais sobre esta importante data e repense antigos hábitos.
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Putin Foresaw Death of US Global Power
Finian Cunningham | Strategic Culture Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jan 2018
Like a good wine, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s famous speech delivered in Munich 10 years ago regarding global security has been rewarded with time. A decade on, the many facets contained in that address have only become all the more enhanced and tangible.
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Meet Antonio C. S. Rosa: Pioneer in Peace Journalism
Sebastian Eck, Antonio C. S. Rosa | Galtung Institut – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jan 2018
“TMS HAS INTEGRITY”: Meet the man behind TRANSCEND Media Service-TMS
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2018 Brings No End to Violence against Rohingya as Refugees Continue to Flee to Bangladesh
UN International Organization for Migration – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jan 2018
5 Jan 2018 – This week, Rohingya refugees were still arriving in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh – the New Year bringing no end to the reports of violence and fears, which forced them to flee their homes in Myanmar.
→ read full articleAmerican Diplomacy with North Korea and Vietnam
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Jan 2018
There seems to be a stalemate, with 8 million or so in and around Seoul being as hostages to North Korean artillery should there be a US attack. North Korea will not launch a first strike, but they want to show USA-Japan-the World that they are equal to USA in offensive capability with an invulnerability of force and value–people–unmatched in human history. Mantra: “1952” NEVER AGAIN!
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Ghosts in the Propaganda Machine
Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank - CounterPunch,
8 Jan 2018
5 Jan 2018 – Is this what online journalism looks like in the era of Russiagate fever? A fake writer catfishes CounterPunch and a dozen other online websites. A handful of her articles are published over a two-year period. Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank expose an entire network of internet trolls.
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An Appeal to the TRANSCEND Membership by TMS Editor Antonio C. S. Rosa
Sebastian Eck, Antonio C. S. Rosa | Galtung Institut – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
“Dear colleagues, dear friends, dear TRANSCEND members, let’s grow younger. Let us bring together competent young people from across the world for Nonviolence, Mediation, and Peace Journalism.”
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Religion – A Source of Conflict or the Path to Peace? Its Role in Preventing Violence
Abbas Aroua | Cordoba Foundation of Geneva – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
A constant and widespread communication process on religious reflection, inclusion and participation should prevail as a showpiece for conflict prevention, resolution and resilience. Doing good and promoting peaceful behaviour is not enough. Extensive inclusive participation and communication on the subject matter must be undertaken in order to provide a counter-weight to toxic conversations, the spreading of violence and extremism.
→ read full articleTwo Ways of Being Western: Christianity and Science
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
Two basic institutions in Western history and individual lives: Christianity offering Salvation to those following Laws, Commandments, and Science offering Truth to those who believe in scientific laws. After Enlightenment ushered in a godless world, one is waning and the other vexing, seen as antithetical to each other.
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Suspected Cholera Cases in Yemen Surpass One Million, Reports UN Health Agency
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
22 Dec 2017 – The total number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has crossed one million, the World Health Organization reported today. “If we cannot bring in medicines and medical supplies, we cannot save lives.”
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(Português) Síndrome das Pernas Inquietas: Doença causa “alfinetadas” a noite inteira e não tem cura
Nuno de Noronha | SAPO – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
27 Dez 2017 – A Síndrome das Pernas Inquietas é uma doença crónica e progressiva com impacto importante na qualidade de vida das pessoas. Alguns descrevem-na como uma espécie de “agonia nas pernas”, “comichão nos ossos” ou “alfinetadas”, explica o médico pneumologista Bruno Santos.
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Alternative Dispute Resolution or Legalism? Conflict Transformation!
Theresa Sing | Galtung Institut — Transcend Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
Under the umbrella term Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), discourses around mediation and other non-judicial approaches to conflict resolution have been constrained by a predominantly legal narrative ultimately founded on an ‘either-or’ dichotomy between status quos instead of allowing a third way resting on a ‘both-and’ approach.
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Lamenting Venezuela’s “Humanitarian Crisis” while Blocking Its Resolution
Roger Harris – CounterPunch,
1 Jan 2018
29 Dec 2017 – A New York Times headline screams “As Venezuela collapses, children are dying of hunger.” Lurid pictures show dead infants. The key to understanding the wellspring of the Times’ indignation about humanitarian issues confronting Venezuela is hinted at in the by-line to the article: “Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.” The stakes are high for the US empire.
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Galtung on Trauma, Drama: What Does North Korea Really Want?
Sebastian Eck | Galtung Institut – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Dec 2017
Prof. Johan Galtung, founder of Peace Studies, offers actionable nonviolent and dialogical solutions.
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Mediation Perspectives: Peace, Conflict and Mediation in Islam
Abbas Aroua | Cordoba Foundation of Geneva – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Dec 2017
Religions promote peace and provide moral guidance and legal injunctions to restrict and moderate the use of violence. Followers of a religion can comply with these guidelines or transgress against them as such followers are neither angels nor devils. Instead, they are human beings with all the complex aspirations to peace and temptations to violence that the human condition entails. In that respect, Islam is no exception.
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An Irreverent Activist and His Year’s End Gift to Himself
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Dec 2017
‘I can’t be taken down.
For my feet have always been firmly on the ground.
My career can’t be destroyed.
For I have never pursued one.
Aung San Suu Kyi for Democracy or Buddhist Fascism?
Maung Zarni - Prothom Alo [Bangladesh],
25 Dec 2017
22 Dec 2017 – Truths and totalitarianism are irreconcilable. They have never co-existed, they do not coexist, and they never will. In this sordid political climate in Myanmar, the formerly pro-human rights public, peaceful Buddhist Order and pro-human rights dissidents, from Aung San Suu Kyi and former student leaders of the Great Uprising of 8.8.88, have closed ranks with their former military jailors and torturers.
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UN Rights Expert ‘Disappointed’ by Myanmar’s Decision to Refuse Visit
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Dec 2017
20 Dec 2017 – The UN expert on the human rights situation in Myanmar today expressed disappointment at the government’s decision to deny her all access to the country. “This declaration of non-cooperation with my mandate can only be viewed as a strong indication that there must be something terribly awful happening in Rakhine, as well as in the rest of the country.”
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In 2017, the World Let another ‘Genocide’ Unfold
Ishaan Tharoor | The Washington Post – Chicago Tribune,
25 Dec 2017
18 Dec 2017 – The volume of utterly horrifying stories emerging from Myanmar can feel overwhelming. Since late August, more than 626,000 ethnic Rohingya have fled a systematic campaign of attacks by the Burmese military and local militias— the most rapid exodus of a community since the Rwandan genocide.
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2018, America’s New Corporate Tax Cuts, and Future of the World
Irwin Jerome | Countercurrents – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Dec 2017
23 Dec 2017 – It doesn’t take a mystic to look into a crystal ball. As all the corks of the champagne bottles continue to pop for the prospects of what the new year holds for the ultra-rich .01% and the rest of us, what no doubt now will follow will be a rush amongst the world’s corporate/financial structure to either implement similar corporate tax cuts within their own countries or inspire a new “offshore rush” of the world’s corporate infrastructure to re-locate within the borders of the United States to stick their heads in the pig trough along with all the other greedy ones to partake in the financial feeding frenzy that will ensue.
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Galtung on Trump’s USA: Demoralization, Destructuration, Deculturation
Sebastian Eck | Galtung Institut – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Dec 2017
Prof. Johan Galtung on the U.S. Empire’s Disintegration
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Rohingyas Are Survivors, Not Security Threat
Maung Zarni | Prothom Alo – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Dec 2017
13 Dec 2017 – Can you imagine BBC, Chatham House, Rand Corporation portraying as potential “Jewish terrorists” the survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbruick, Dachau and other world infamous death and labour camps? Of course not! But that is precisely what is now happening to the survivors of my Buddhist country’s genocide, whose name even the entire Catholic Church in Myanmar, and by extension, Pope Francis, have dared not pronounce.
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A Religion Called Economy
Michele Migliorino | Countercurrents – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
4 Dec 2017 – You can see how the Economy Religion destroys everything: forest, seas, living species, ourselves and our infinite cultures existing over the whole planet. By now, realism would tell us that it is time to throw the Economy GOd into the wastebasket history and try to create a society which won’t imply such a despicable waste of energy and resources.
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Conservation Goal for the Amazon Exceeded: More than 60 Million Hectares Protected
World Wildlife Fund | EcoWatch – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
1 Dec 2017 – The World Wildlife Fund announced today that the Program for Protected Areas of the Amazon, a joint venture with the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, has reached the goal of protecting at least 60 million hectares. This effort represents the conservation of 15 percent of the biome’s territory in Brazil.
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Johan Galtung’s Acceptance Speech of the People’s Nobel in Sweden
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
2 Dec 2017 – The People’s Peace Prize According to Nobel’s Will
Celebration-Seminar-Banquet, Orust Peace Movement at Svanvik, Sweden
Palestinians Recognize Texas as Part of Mexico
Alex Huntley | The Beaverton – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
6 Dec 2017 – In response to Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that he will recognize Texas as a state of Mexico, since it was violently annexed by the United States in the 1840s. He says that this is a new approach to Mexican-US relations, and hopes it will help ease the tension between the two countries over security and immigration.
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A Message from Johan Galtung to the TRANSCEND Network
Sebastian Eck | Galtung Institut – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
A New Year’s Message
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Both Parties Pushed Trump toward Reckless Action on Jerusalem
Stephen Zunes | The Progressive – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
6 Dec 2017 – President Trump announced today that the United States will formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and that the U.S. embassy would be moved to that multi-ethnic and multi-faith city… In the Senate, the bill was cosponsored by such prominent Senate Democrats as Joe Biden and John Kerry and only one Democrat (the late Robert Byrd) voted no. On the House side, just thirty out of 204 Democrats voted no, along with the independent then-Congressman Bernie Sanders.
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Careless Disposal of Antibiotics Could Produce ‘Ferocious Superbugs,’ UN Environment Experts Warn
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
5 Dec 2017 – Growing antimicrobial resistance linked to the discharge of drugs and some chemicals into the environment is one of the most worrying health threats today. “The warning here is truly frightening: we could be spurring the development of ferocious superbugs through ignorance and carelessness.”
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Special Session on the Human Rights of the Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar
UH Human Rights Council – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
5 Dec 2017 – The Council condemned the alleged systematic and gross violations of human rights and abuses committed against persons belonging to the Rohingya Muslim community and other minorities in Myanmar.
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Issue of Jerusalem Must Be Resolved through Direct Negotiations between Parties, UN Chief Stresses
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
6 Dec 2017 – “In this moment of great anxiety, I want to make it clear: there is no alternative to the two-state solution. There is no Plan B,” said Mr. Guterres. In his remarks, the UN chief noted that it is only by realizing the vision of two states “living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition, with Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Palestine, and all final status issues resolved permanently through negotiations,” that the legitimate aspirations of both peoples will be achieved.
→ read full articleJohan Galtung Is Awarded Peace Prize in Nobel’s Spirit
Jan Oberg | Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Dec 2017
On 2 December 2017 Johan Galtung is awarded the alternative peace prize, The People’s Peace Prize In Accordance With Nobel’s Will.
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Yemen: Today’s Guernica
Cesar Chelala - CounterPunch,
4 Dec 2017
On the market day of Apr 26, 1937, at the bequest of General Francisco Franco, a bombing of the Basque town of Guernica took place. The attack, under the code name Operation Rügen, in which hundreds of people died, became a rallying cry against the brutal killing of innocent civilians. 80 years later an even more criminal action is carried out against Yemeni civilians by Saudi Arabia with the complicity of the United States. World powers have not yet learned the lesson from Guernica.
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The Criminalization of War. Tun Dr. Mahathir’s Open Letter to Muslims in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Yemen
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad – Global Research,
4 Dec 2017
28 Nov 2017 – This message is also addressed to the U.S. and its indefectible British ally which have relentlessly supported Saudi Arabia’s war against the people of Yemen, a criminal act tantamount to genocide under international law.
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The Richest 1% Now Own More than 50% of the World’s Wealth
David Meyer – Fortune,
27 Nov 2017
14 Nov 2017 – The richest 1% now owns more than half of all the world’s household wealth, according to analysts at Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank released its latest Global Wealth Report today, together with a statement that contained the immortal phrase, “The outlook for the millionaire segment is more optimistic than for the bottom of the wealth pyramid.”
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Iran, Russia and Turkey Agree to Hold ‘Syrian People’s Congress’ to Bring Together All Warring Sides
Abdus Sattar Ghazali — Countercurrents,
27 Nov 2017
24 Nov 2017 – Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his Iranian and Turkish counterparts have supported a proposal to hold a “Syrian people’s congress” with opposition figures. On Nov 22 he hosted Hassan Rouhani and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just as some Syrian opposition groups met in Riyadh before UN-sponsored talks in Geneva.
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Why We Need to Take Animal Cruelty Much More Seriously
Wendy Wolfson and Ken Levy - CounterPunch,
27 Nov 2017
At first glance, this was just one more mass shooting that could not have been anticipated or prevented. But in addition to the assaults against his wife and child, there was another big warning sign: Kelley was cited for animal cruelty after he had viciously beaten a Husky puppy for running away and then dragged the puppy by his neck back to his camper. Kelley paid a $368 fine and the animal cruelty charge was dismissed.
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Fukushima Darkness
Robert Hunziker - CounterPunch,
27 Nov 2017
22 Nov 2017 – The radiation effects of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant triple meltdowns are felt worldwide, whether lodged in sea life or in humans, it cumulates over time. The growing problem of Fukushima’s radiation conundrum.
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What Makes Google’s Eric Schmidt so Afraid? And What Should He Be Afraid of?
Jan Oberg | Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Nov 2017
21 Nov 2017 – This very powerful corporate leader with an open political orientation has decided that the Internet and his hugely dominating search engine,
a) shall cave in to political pressure,
b) de-rank at least these two Russian media organizations because
c) he knows they are “propaganda outlets” (it isn’t discussed at all or compared with US or other countries’ media) and
d) in the name of political correctness it is OK to limit the freedom of opinion-formation.
Myanmar’s Myriad Challenges Don’t Excuse Toxic and Unfounded Racism against Rohingya
Khin Mai Aung | HuffPost – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Nov 2017
20 Nov 2017 – The Rohingya humanitarian crisis has shone a bright and unflattering light on the deep and ugly antipathy within Burma/Myanmar to the Rohingya people. The prevailing perception of the Rohingya as foreign and fundamentally not “Burmese” is misplaced.
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The TRANSCEND Method: Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means
Johan Galtung | Governance and Social Development Resource Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Nov 2017
The TRANSCEND Method is based on the central thesis that to prevent violence and develop the creative potential of a conflict, there has to be transformation. At the root of the method is the understanding of conflict as incompatible goals, meaning as a problem to be solved; not as incompatible parties (persons, countries etc.), meaning as one or more parties to be controlled (usually not oneself).
→ read full articleMeanwhile, Around the World
Johan Galtung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Nov 2017
Trump is trumping himself by making America Last, not in the sense of long-lasting, but in the sense of going down. There is something to learn for those receptive to learning, and Islam puts it forcefully: togetherness, and sharing. We would add: as equally as possible. But Trump politics is the opposite of that, and the price is increasing. And so is today also much of Muslim politics, to their detriment.
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(Français) Esclavage en Libye: merci l’OTAN!
Bruno Guigue | Investig’Action – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Nov 2017
Une découverte, les pratiques esclavagistes filmées par CNN ? On tombe vraiment des nues ? Certainement pas. Le 11 avril 2017, l’Office international des migrations publiait un rapport indiquant que des milliers de migrants transitant par la Libye étaient vendus comme du bétail sur des marchés aux esclaves, avant d’être soumis au travail forcé ou à l’exploitation sexuelle. Cette réalité, tout le monde la connaissait, et personne n’a rien fait.
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Waves of Genocidal Terror against Rohingyas by Myanmar and the Resultant Exodus Since 1978
Maung Zarni and Natalie Brinham | Middle East Institute – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
14 Nov 2017 – This essay aims to highlight the scope and rhythmic nature of Burma’s persecution of Rohingyas and the devastating impact on the Rohingya population. First, it sets out to describe and help readers understand the evolving pretexts given by the successive Burmese governments and the methods of group destruction and resultant waves — five in total — of the outflow of Rohingyas in large number. Then it attempts to offer an interpretive framework within which this cycle of violence-exodus-lull is best understood.
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Texas Shooting Shows Once again That Animal Cruelty and Human Cruelty Are Strongly Linked
Martha Rosenberg - CounterPunch,
20 Nov 2017
15 Nov 2017 – What do Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Devin Kelley the Texas church killer and a host of other killers have in common? They tortured animals and delighted in the pain they inflicted. Why the Texas shooting shows that animal cruelty and human cruelty are linked.
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (24 Nov 1864 – 9 Sep 1901)
Toulouse-Lautrec Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
At the age of 13 Henri fractured his left thigh bone, and at 14, the right. His legs ceased to grow, so that as an adult he was only 1.54m. tall, having developed an adult-sized torso, while retaining his child-sized legs. He is also reported to have had hypertrophied genitals. Physically unable to participate in most of the activities typically enjoyed by men of his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in his art. An alcoholic for most of his adult life, he was placed in a sanatorium shortly before his death.
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Blood Sport: Animal Welfare in Ireland
Pauline Murphy - CounterPunch,
20 Nov 2017
16 Nov 2017 – From January 2018 the use of wild animals in circuses will be forbidden by Irish law. New regulations have been introduced in the Irish Animal Welfare Act to come in line with modern day animal welfare standards. It will see the end of the likes of tethered elephants and caged tigers in circuses across Ireland.
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With UN Support, More Countries Confronting Threat of Drug-Resistant ‘Superbugs’
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
17 Nov 2017 – Antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals or antiparasitics are widely used in livestock, poultry and aquaculture to treat or prevent diseases. However, their over-use and misuse, such as for “promoting growth” is leading to the emergence of microbes resistant to these drugs, making the diseases they cause impossible to treat. Humans exposed to these antimicrobial resistant pathogens are also affected in the same way.
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An Escalating Afghan Crisis of ‘Profit’ over ‘Life’
Hakim Young, MD – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
13 Nov 2017 – If our ‘thinking as usual’ and ‘business as usual’ continue, we will leave no historical traces at Mes Aynak or Kabul except for mining and digging machines, in a parched desert of war ruins.
→ read full article
The Logic of Drug Legalization
Jeff Berg - CounterPunch,
20 Nov 2017
15 Nov 2017 – The Drug Lords of today exist because of the extraordinary profits resulting from criminalization. Estimates run in the half a trillion range globally per year. Why drugs ought to be legalized.
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UN Envoy Urges Greater Support for Rohingya Victims of Sexual Violence
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
16 Nov 2017 – “My observations point to a pattern of widespread atrocities, including rape, gang-rape by multiple soldiers, forced public nudity and humiliation, and sexual slavery in military captivity directed against Rohingya women and girls,” UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten said today.
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Afghanistan Opium Production Jumps 87 Per Cent to Record Level – UN Survey
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
15 Nov 2017 – A profoundly alarming trend in the cultivation and production of opium in Afghanistan reveals an 87 per cent production increase compared to 2016, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime said today.
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Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution: Approaches to Understand the Current Issues and Future-Making
Countercurrents – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
The author initiates a courageous reasoned analysis of the current global affairs to unfold how few strategic and imaginative minds are enforcing new devices, weaponry and technological sophistication focusing on dehumanized fantasies of peace and human security to control the interests and priorities of One Humanity and endangering the futuristic stability.
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From Bangladesh: Bearing Witness to My Country’s Genocide & Meeting the Survivors
Dr. Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Nov 2017
My family and I spent a week in Bangladesh visiting Rohingya survivors of Myanmar genocide.
→ read full articleUN Security Council Calls on Myanmar to End Excessive Military Force in Rakhine State
UN News Centre – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Nov 2017
6 Nov 2017 – In a statement, the 15-member body also called on the Government “to restore civilian administration and apply the rule of law, and to take immediate steps in accordance with [the Government’s] obligations and commitments to respect human rights, including the rights of women, children, and persons belonging to vulnerable groups, without discrimination and regardless of ethnicity, religion, or citizenship status.”
→ read full articleOn Balfour’s 100th Anniversary, Time for a New Definition of Sovereignty, Independence and the Nation-State
Mark LeVine and Mathias Mossberg | Tikkun – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Nov 2017
November 2nd marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the letter from Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Lord Arthur James Balfour to British Jewish leader Walter Rothschild in which the British Government promised Jews a “national home” in Palestine should they win the war, while offering only to safeguard the “civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.”
→ read full articleFourth Industrial Revolution & Its Dramatic Impact on Society
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General – Inter Press Service-IPS,
13 Nov 2017
Based on an address on Web Summit Day, 6 Nov 2017, Lisbon, Portugal – I am an engineer and, for the time being, I am also Secretary-General of the UN and we are all here because we believe in the force of Science, Innovation and Technology. From my perspective, what is important is to combine innovation and technology, innovation and public policy to make sure that innovation works for the good of humankind.
→ read full articleThe CIA’s House of Horrors: Frank Olson’s Fatal Trip
Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn - CounterPunch,
13 Nov 2017
By the early 1950s the CIA’s relationship with drugs stretched from alliances with criminal smugglers of heroin to research in, and application of, lethal or mind-altering chemical agents… Unknown to those round the convivial table, the CIA’s Dr. Sidney Gottlieb had decided to spike the Cointreau with a heavy dose of LSD… Late that night Dr. Frank Olson, the army’s foremost expert on biological warfare, run across the room and jumped through a curtained and closed window, crashing down to the street from the tenth-floor room.
→ read full articlePermanent Peoples’ Tribunal: State Crimes Allegedly Committed in Myanmar against the Rohingyas, Kachins and Other Groups
University of Malaya, Faculty of Law – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Nov 2017
18-22 Sep 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The PPT moved to inquire into the situation consistent with its view that genocide prevention is also a matter for the peoples of the world to be aware of and thence to demand action.
→ read full articleMyanmar’s “Ethnic Cleansing” of Rohingyas and the Indifference of Aung San Suu Kyi and Her Western Supporters
Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Nov 2017
30 Oct 2017 – Feb 2006-dated Confidential Dispatch from Bangladesh High Commission in Myanmar
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Gandhian Strategy
Sunanda Sharma | Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal & Gandhi Research Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Nov 2017
The Gandhian strategy is the combination of truth, sacrifice, nonviolence, selfless service and cooperation. According to Gandhi one should be brave and not a coward and should present his views, suggestions and thoughts without being violent. One should fight a war with the weapons of truth and nonviolence. Gandhi said that “There is no god higher than truth.” According to his thoughts, nonviolence is ultimate solution of every kind of problem in the world.
→ read full article(Deutsch) Nach dem Ende des Dialogs – gegen den Bürgerkrieg
Mario Candeias | Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Nov 2017
Die Erklärung der Unabhängigkeit in Katalonien und Rajoys Reaktion
→ read full article(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 articleStatement 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 articleMyanmar 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 articleMediation 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 articleJFK 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 articleMyanmar 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 articleCrisis 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 articleAmerica’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 articleUN 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 articleInternal 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 articleUS 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 articleTrump 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 articleAfter 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 articleMeanwhile, 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 articleThe 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.
“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 articleNobel’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 articleMyanmar 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 articlePerpetrators 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.
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 articleInternational 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 articleLondon 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 articleThe 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 articleUN 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 articleIndictment 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 articleSeptember 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 articleTurning 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 articleIran 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