BBC
By Hilary Andersson BBC Panorama
Marange could represent as much as a fifth of the world's diamonds deposits
A torture camp run by Zimbabwe’s security forces is operating in the country’s rich Marange diamond fields, BBC Panorama has found.
The programme heard from recent victims who told of severe beatings and sexual assault. Continue reading
Common Dreams
Naoto Kan says country should aim to end dependence on atomic power, as Fukushima crisis prompts anti-nuclear rallies.
People pray after releasing paper lanterns on a river facing the gutted Atomic Bomb Dome in remembrance of atomic bomb victims on the 66th anniversary of the bombing in Hiroshima on August 6th, 2011. (Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)
JAPAN – Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan has renewed his pledge to work towards a nuclear-free Japan as Hiroshima marked the 66th anniversary of the US atomic bombing.
Speaking at a ceremony on Saturday, devoted to the victims of the bomb that killed more than 100,000 people, Kan said the meltdowns at the Fukushima plant after a March earthquake had convinced him Japan should aim to end its dependence on nuclear power.
“The large-scale, long-running nuclear accident has triggered radiation leakage, causing serious concerns not only in Japan but also in the world,” Kan said. Continue reading
Eye on the Amazon
Gregor MacLennan
Peru’s Ombudsman has reiterated the urgent need for the approval of the Consultation Law in Peru. The Ombudsman highlighted the shared responsibilities of the legislative and executive branches to promote and prioritize the approval of the Consultation Law. Continue reading
Daily Nation – By AFP
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has entrusted a Canadian company with managing a vast section of its forest, including containing deforestration, the environment ministry has announced. Continue reading
By Mario Osava*
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 4, 2011 (IPS) – Default, insolvency, fiscal irresponsibility, debt crisis and similar terms form part of the vocabulary used to describe countries in the developing South in the 1980s and 1990s. A decade later, the world seems to have turned upside down. Continue reading
BBC
Oil giant faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars following class action suit brought on behalf of communities in Bodo, Ogoniland
John Vidal in Bodo
The impact of an oil spill near Ikarama in the Niger delta. Photograph: Amnesty International UK
Shell faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars after accepting full liability for two massive oil spills that have devastated a Nigerian community of 69,000 people and may take at least 20 years to clean up.
Oil spill experts who have studied video footage of the spills at Bodo in Ogoniland say the spills could together be as large as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disater in Alaska when 10m gallons of oil was spilt. Until now, Shell has claimed that less than 40,000 gallons were spilt. Continue reading
