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EDITORIAL: Remembering Bikini Atoll
The World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia from July 25 to August 3 has placed the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall archipelago on the World Heritage List of UNESCO, the United Nations agency mandated to conserve the humankind's legacy. Bikini Atoll is among the 21 new sites inscribed on the List.
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RELIGION: Spirituality Tangos with Showbiz
Every Sunday morning thousands of young and old pour into Singapore's two convention centres -- Expo and Suntec -- packing into large halls with blinding stage-lights, camera crews on cranes transmitting pictures onto jumbo electronic screens with multimedia effects.
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VIEWPOINT: Children Suffer Most from Forced Return to Kosovo
Several thousand persons have been forcibly returned to Kosovo by west European states in the last few years, mainly from Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Among the returnees have been persons belonging to minorities, and in particular Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. For them these deportations have not had a happy ending.
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VIEWPOINT: Asia-Europe Bridges are Now Built by People
Times change. Foreign relations used to be the exclusive domain of governments. Foreign ministries operated behind closed doors. Diplomats met other government officials, attended receptions and once in a while hosted a "cultural event" showcasing national folk music and dance. Contrast that with the vast array of non-state actors which drive and influence relations among countries in today's globalised and inter-connected world.
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AFRICA: Western Sahara Back on Radar Screens
Western Sahara, one of the most thinly populated territories in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands, is drawing renewed focus after having been consigned to mainstream neglect for years.
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AFRICA: Bribery Will Eat into Gains of East African Integration
A new report has warned that unless bribery is banned, 126 million citizens of the East African Community will be deprived of the benefits that economic integration promises to bring in its wake. These words of caution stem from the East African Bribery Index 2010 (EABI 2010) released by Transparency International-Kenya within about three weeks of the East African Common Market Protocol coming into effect on July 1, 2010.
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AFRICA: South Africa Seen Not Doing Enough to Combat Bribery
Criticising South Africa for its failure to combat corruption in international business deals, a new report is asking the country to intensify its efforts to detect, investigate and prosecute cases of foreign bribery.
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GLOBAL GOVERNANCE: They Break Taboos But Don't Go the Whole Hog
A huge funding gap threatens to torpedo efforts by the international community to cope with critical global development and environmental challenges. At least $324 billion will be required each year between 2012 and 2017 -- a reason pressing enough for a Committee of Experts to break taboos and explore innovative financing sources.
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GLOBAL GOVERNANCE: Shaping the Post-Crisis Order without a Silver Bullet
During the summer of 2010, it would be understandable if interested observers of global affairs are swept up in summit fever. The twin G8/G20 summits in Canada late June and the meeting of the G20 proper which is to commence in South Korea in November 2010 have understandably turned the attention of international analysts to global summitry.
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PLANET EARTH: Developing Countries should be paid for Eco Disasters
The 20 billion U.S. dollar put aside by BP to pay for the effects of the Gulf oil spill contrasts with the lack of accountability of big firms that cause environmental harm in developing countries.
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PLANET EARTH: No Need to Despair on Biodiversity
Humankind will suffer annual losses of 'natural capital' valued at between 1.3 to 3.1 trillion Euros, if 'business as usual' deforestation and land use change continue, according to United Nations' latest estimates. These stupendous figures exceed the total financial capital lost to Wall Street and City banks during 2008, their worst year in history.
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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Overcoming Hazards - Striving for greater Safety
Nowadays they are trucking hazardous cargo. They carry fine chemicals and ethanols, imported by trading companies, to client factories in Tokyo and surrounding five prefectures, known as the Kanto area. But there is a long and exciting human story behind today's Gosho Transportation Company.
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DEVELOPMENT: China Borrows Money for Non-Mega Projects
The ongoing support of huge fiscal and monetary stimulus is expected to propel growth in China to 9.6 percent this year. But urban-rural inequality and inadequate infrastructure remain a source of concern, not the least because of paucity of funds. With this in view, China has turned to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that has agreed to extend two loans of 100 million U.S. dollar each.
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DEVELOPMENT: Kudos and Corrective Advice for British Aid
A new report has praised Britain to the skies for its profound commitment to helping countries in dire need of money and a wide range of resources vital for economic and social development, but cautioned that there is ample scope for doing things better for the benefit of the taxpayer at home and the poor abroad.
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STRAY THOUGHTS: Israel Seems to Have the Divine Right to Impunity
One anecdote being repeatedly told these days is that some 20 years ago, the then U.S. foreign minister James Baker, angry with the Israeli government of the time for the lack of progress in the Middle East peace talks, gave his direct telephone number to his colleague in Tel Aviv, and urged him to call. "But you only call me when you are serious about peace," Baker reportedly said.
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