What’s New July 1999

Date of Update

Description

July 25, 1999

1. The environmental damage in Kosovo will still take a long time to asses. Bombed oil refineries, for example have left a lot of toxic chemicals on the ground and in the surrounding areas. Go There!
2. A new sources of information on the conflicts in Africa have been added. They include a campaign from Human Rights Watch about Sierra Leone, a link to the Organization for African Unity, BBC Special Reports on the Horn of Africa and Afronet, an organization dedicated to human rights in the region. Go There!
3. A UN report says that debt is killing children. As countries have to repay debt, often those who suffer the most from the resulting cutbacks in social provisions, are the poor, especially women and children. Go There!
4. Over half a year since the worst hurricane in centuries hit Central America, debt burden is still making an impact. Go There!
5. New links to more information on poverty have been added. The links include the UN World Food Programme, a hunger site that will donate food for free when you click a link and a BBC special report on the Burden of Debt. Go There!
6. Human rights record in Cuba comes under criticism once more. A detailed Human Rights Watch report criticized the repression of rights. Go There!
7. The GE Food section has been completely restructured. Feedback is appreciated! Go There!
8. GE Food debates hit Africa and Mexico too. All over the world people are debating whether GE Food should be accepted or not and how to do more research to ensure it is safe, rather than rushing it through. Go There!
9. The population of the planet may have reached 6 billion. In some ways, this can be seen as a success story, but in other ways it can also be seen as part of a larger problem -- sustainability for an increasing population. Go There!
10. There are numerous conflicts either already happening or predicted to start due to population related problems. As population increases, many areas will feel more tension and competition for resources. Go There!
11. Forests could face additional threats. In an upcoming WTO meeting, opening markets will be an important aim. Some believe that this will affect forests even more. Go There!

July 18, 1999

1. There were possibly a number of political factors for intervening in Kosovo. For example, access to new markets, long term thoughts about Caspian oil etc. A new link regarding the Kosovo crisis, from the UN, has also been added. Go There!
2. Severe drought in Ethiopia threatens a huge famine. The UN have said that this could be as serious as the one in 1984. Go There!
3. Human Rights is also applicable to the Internet. While the Internet is perhaps the best way to promote awareness, democracy and the like, censorship and freedom of expression can also be controlled on the Net. Human Rights Watch and an increasing number of other organizations are reporting on this issue. Go There!
4. A new source of information on human rights has been added. This one is from an organization called the Digital Freedom Network, that uses the internet to advance human rights. Go There!
5. More links to Noam Chomsky information have been added. Professor Noam Chomsky is one of the most well known intellectuals and a fierce political dissident, especially of US foreign policy. Go There!
6. While many people around the world are protesting the way genetically engineered food is being rushed to market, the World Trade Organization could prove to be a big obstacle. The WTO has the ability to tell a nation that it cannot label GE food, for example. Nevertheless, a huge wave of protests in many nations is helping raise awareness and question current processes. Go There!
7. Links to more information on Population issues have been added. They include the United Nations Population Information Network, and OneWorld On-line guide to Population. Go There!

July 11, 1999

1. Thousands in Kosovo have protested against Milosevic. People are still coming to terms with what the result of the bombing campaign means for them. Go There!
2. The UN-brokered peace deal in Sierra Leone could give the rebel forces amnesty from gross human rights abuses. The UN have brokered a questionable peace deal with criticism from Human Rights Watch and others. Go There!
3. A new source of information on Children and the military has been added. This one is from the Children and Armed Conflict Unit of Essex University. It has a lot of information and links to many further sources. Go There!
4. A new source of information on poverty has been added. This one is from the Comic Relief campaign in UK. They have a pretty interesting web site too! Go There!
5. The UN has done much to try and help developing nations, despite efforts by some nations to undermine it. The UN isn't perfect. It's budget is just a fraction of what the world spends on military budgets, yet it is the premier world body for peace. The undemocratic nature of the permanent members of the Security Council, the serious arrears in payment by key nations are leading to problems -- and then these key nations criticize the UN for being inefficient! Go There!
6. GM or GE Food is claimed to solve world hunger. While that may be a noble sounding reason to promote such food, current practices do not suggest that is the reason. Also, more importantly, hunger around the world is more of a political issue where poor people cannot always afford to buy food, not because it is always unavailable. GE Food is also expensive. Go There!
7. France is being pressured by the European Commission on its decision to have a two year moratorium on the introduction of genetically engineered crops. France and many other European countries have applied such measures. Go There!
8. The UN has called for a partnership with the arms industry. The idea being that the UN can provide the ability to help curb illicit arms trafficking and help ensure legitimate use etc. Time will tell how practical and acceptable this will be for the arms dealers. Go There!
9. Women were given the right to vote in Kuwait. Hopefully, this can put pressure on other Gulf nations to follow suit. Go There!
10. Some great new quotes have been added. From Abraham Lincoln, about friends and enemies, from Woodrow Wilson on the link between commercial interests and most modern wars, from Noam Chomsky on overcoming the problems we face. Go There!

July 5, 1999

1.  There are over 7.3 million refugees in Africa. Hundreds of thousands have been killed in numerous conflicts. In fact, so many conflicts, that if this happened in Europe, people would call it World War III. a new section introducing the conflicts in Africa has been added. It starts off looking at what is going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. more will be added as time goes on about the other regions. Go There!
2. A UN agency reports that the environmental damage in Kosovo and Yugoslavia, from NATO air strikes, has been immense. Land, public health, water, agriculture are all affected. An environmental group has also said that it could be possible that KFOR troops and civilians alike, will face Gulf War Syndrome due to the depleted Uranium that has been used. Go There!
3. J. Brian Atwood, the head of the US foreign aid assistance programme steps down criticizing the various policies of the US towards developing countries. A link to the speech given by Atwood is provided. The US has the smallest percentage of GDP going to foreign aid assistance and its trade-not-aid policies have not seen much substance to date. Go There!
4. The MAI is making a come back -- in other forms. While there was a successful derailing of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, it is still being pushed in other forms. Local versions like NAFTA and FTAA, future global versions like the Millennium Round and the Transatlantic Economic Partnerships are such examples. Go There!
5. Documentary evidence has emerged that Indonesia is backing paramilitaries and running campaigns to dissuade people to vote for independence in the coming referendum. Indonesia has oppressed, and killed many East Timorese since it invaded the island in 1975 and has been supported by US and UK since. Go There!
6. Kurdish Leader sentenced to death. This has been met by protest around Europe. The Kurdish people still suffer. Go There!
7. A new source of information on the media has been added. This one is from a group called Project Censored. For over twenty years they have been reporting and researching those important news stories that should have made it into mainstream media, but didn't, for whatever reasons. Go There!
8. Some religious groups oppose family planning funds because they equate family planning with abortion. Which is not the case. The US for example, has reduced such spending because of right wing Christian groups opposed to it. Many believe that various conflicts in the future will be partly due to tensions arising from population increase. Family planning and improving access to information is a major way to help tackle population related issues. Go There!
9. A source of more information on population issues has been added. This one is a special report from the BBC. Go There!
10. France is also looking to see if it can try Pinochet. In UK there was a mixture of rulings on whether or not the former Chilean dictator can be extradited to Spain. The French magistrate is also tackling a similar question. Go There!
11. It has emerged that a Monsanto lobby firm in the UK is paying key members of parliament. Monsanto has been strongly criticized all over the world for its various corporate practices and the questionable motives behind its various drives to promote genetically engineered food. Go There!
12. Another quote has been added. This one is from Gandhi, about greed and need. Go There!