IMF: Global Economy in 'Severe Recession'
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday warned that the global economy was in 'a severe recession' and the world output is projected to decline 1.3 percent this year, the deepest global recession since the Great Depression in 1930s.
UN Racism Conference Opens Amid Concerns
A major United Nations anti-racism conference opened Monday in Geneva despite a boycott from the United States and several western countries owing to concern over a possible criticism on Israel.
Real Men Don’t Cry – or Do They?
RIO DE JANEIRO, 20 April 2009 (PlusNews) - Men don't cry. Men take risks. Men don't ask for help. Men are strong. Men have many sexual partners. These stereotypes of masculinity are contributing to the spread of HIV throughout the world, experts warned at a recent symposium on men and boys.
The Abuses in Iraq were Learned in Operation Condor
In a report presented last February in Geneva by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) called upon President Barack Obama to put an end to the violations of human rights that have been a part of United States policy since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Plight of the Orangutan
A 2007 assessment by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) predicts that orangutans will be virtually eliminated in the wild within two decades if current deforestation trends continue.
US-Korea Free Trade Deal Sparks Controversy
In April 2007, South Korea and the US reached a controversial free trade arrangement after fourteen months of negotiations. Unions and other organizations representing South Korean workers and farmers, supported by the local social democrats, consider the deal a threat to South Korean jobs, and their industries as a whole.
Climate Change: Money a Key Element in Bonn Adaptation Talks
At the first round of climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, a delegate from the Philippines noted that the Christmas bonus of a Wall Street banker was higher than the amount of money allocated to the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF).
Obama Speech Gives Momentum to Calling for Nuclear-free World
The monthly anti-nuclear weapons action on April 6 was special as it took place immediately after U.S. President Barack Obama's statement that 'the United States has a moral responsibility' to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
US Economic Policy Faces a Defiant Planet
As President Obama begins his first European tour this week, starting with the G20 economic summit, he's finding that much of the rest of the world has suddenly become quite uppity.
Space Race Raises Risk of Nuclear War
An unchecked race to militarize space is underway that is “increasing the risk of an accidental nuclear war while shortening the time for sanity and diplomacy to come into play to halt crises,” an authority on space warfare says.
