By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 6, 2012 (IPS) – Amidst much political fanfare, the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro concluded with the adoption of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the landmark Agenda 21 blueprint for a sustainable future in the 21st century. Continue reading
JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer among those who say bill is country’s first attack on democracy since apartheid ended
Stewart Maclean and David Smith in Johannesburg
Nadine Gordimer: ‘The intention of the bill is to aid the government in the cover up of corruption.’ Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images
Secrecy laws planned for South Africa fundamentally threaten free speech and investigative journalism, and could have a chilling effect on the rest of Africa, a united front of human rights lawyers, newspaper editors and Nobel prize-winning writers have warned in interviews with the Guardian. The protection of state information bill – dubbed the “secrecy bill” – envisages draconian penalties of up to 25 years in prison for whistleblowers and journalists who possess, leak or publish state secrets. It has been described as the first piece of legislation since the end of apartheid in 1994 to undermine South Africa’s democracy. Continue reading
by Joseph Stiglitz
America likes to think of itself as a land of opportunity, and others view it in much the same light. But, while we can all think of examples of Americans who rose to the top on their own, what really matters are the statistics: to what extent do an individual’s life chances depend on the income and education of his or her parents?
Nowadays, these numbers show that the American dream is a myth. There is less equality of opportunity in the United States today than there is in Europe – or, indeed, in any advanced industrial country for which there are data. This is one of the reasons that America has the highest level of inequality of any of the advanced countries – and its gap with the rest has been widening. Continue reading
LAURIE GOODSTEIN
In a spirited retort to the Vatican, a group of Roman Catholic nuns is planning a bus trip across nine states this month, stopping at homeless shelters, food pantries, schools and health care facilities run by nuns to highlight their work with the nation’s poor and disenfranchised. Continue reading
Andrew Wong with Inuit children at Cape Dorset, near the southern tip of Baffin Island. Credit:Courtesy of Andrew Wong
By Stephen Leahy *
Andrew Wong with Inuit children at Cape Dorset, near the southern tip of Baffin Island. Credit:Courtesy of Andrew Wong
UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jun 5, 2012 (Tierramérica) – The theme of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) is “The Future We Want”, but there is no official role for youth nor a spokesperson for future generations who will inherit that future. Continue reading
Church leaders in Nigeria have expressed their shock and sadness after what they describe as ‘Black Sunday’ – a day in which a plane crash in Lagos killed 153 people. This was followed a series of bomb attacks on churches which killed at least 18 people and injured a further 32. Continue reading
