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A New York Times column from early July provided an unusual if cynical insight into the “a la carte” corporate lobby influence on American legislation. While the United States is among the world’s strongest proponents of ever-increasing intellectual property protections and their worldwide (…)

Jacob Zuma’s rise to power has unleashed a torrent of rash, boorish, misogynistic and inciteful speech from politicians and commentators. In this regard, the utterances of ANC Youth League’s Julius Malema and ex-columnist Eric Miyeni come to mind. Why has public discourse plumbed to such depths (…)

The recent nuclear scare in Japan has reinforced pressure in China to raise its awareness of the risks of new technologies.
Like many other countries, China is currently reviewing the safety of its nuclear power programme following the damage caused by Japan’s tsunami to the Fukushima nuclear (…)

Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith and Aric McBay call for new strategy to stave off environmental catastrophe.
Environmental groups are trying to build a critical mass around issues like global warming to inspire public action and encourage legislators to get their heads out of the sand. The Sierra (…)

The riot has been a feature of English life for a lot longer than William Shakespeare, village cricket matches or, for that matter, The Clash. The English have rioted against the enclosure of common land, fences, press gangs, factories, prisons, bread prices, tolls and banks. Arson, tearing down (…)

Consider Targeted Sanctions, Arms Embargo, Commission of Inquiry
The United Nations Security Council should press Syria to comply with the council’s demand to end attacks against peaceful protesters, Human Rights Watch said today. Syria should comply with the Security Council’s August 3, 2011 (…)

Corporate America & obesity: why Americans can’t Live on food stamps
America is gaining weight and the most vulnerable populations are those with low levels of education and income, as well as those with black or Hispanic heritage. The most obese state in the country, Mississippi, also (…)

What do you do if you want to build a pipeline to move 300 million barrels of oil but an "uncontacted" tribe is in the way? Employing consultants who claim they don’t exist certainly helps.
On July 22, Peru’s Energy Ministry gave the green light to Anglo-French company Perenco to build a (…)

Ting does not know exactly how the proposed Xayaburi hydropower dam will change his life, but he knows he will be forced to leave his village if it goes ahead.
"I don’t have any power over this decision," said Ting, 50, who like other Lao villagers, goes by only one name. He earns a living (…)

WWF’s flagship scheme to promote sustainable timber – the Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN) – is allowing companies to reap the benefits of association with WWF and its iconic panda brand, while they continue to destroy forests and trade in illegally sourced timber, a new briefing by Global (…)

Interviewed by Frank Barat, Coordinator of the Russel Tribunal on Palestine, Noam Chomsky answers a series of six questions regarding the major current international issues such as the role of intellectuals in challenging the established order, the Arab Revolutions or corporate power. He ends up (…)

In a campaign almost as frenzied as the effort to get Barack Obama into the White House, liberal groups are now mobilizing against the White House and reported deals that would cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. They accuse President Obama of being weak and willing to “cave” (…)

The media will always be a contested space. Some insist there should be no controls over the amorphous beast that is the media; others insist we cannot have a free-for-all. In South Africa we presently walk an uneasy middle road between a free press, a powerful public broadcaster as well as (…)

As the U.S. suffers through catastrophic tornadoes, heat waves, and other climate extremes - no doubt just a small taste of what the climate crisis will bring in the future - polluting industries and the politicians that serve them want to convince you that excess carbon dioxide in the (…)

There are important lessons for India in the murderous violence in Norway: lessons it can ignore only at risk to its own survival.
In 2008, Hindutva leader B.L. Sharma ‘Prem’ held a secret meeting with key members of a terrorist group responsible for a nationwide bombing campaign targeting (…)

The European Patent Office awarded Syngenta a patent on melons „with a pleasant taste“, after an opposition filed by another seed company to revoke the patent had been rejected. According to a poll among Swiss consumers a majority of respondents reject such patents as well as the food products (…)

Worries about contagion; Brazil now a U.S. creditor
After three decades spent battling their own debt crises and getting constantly lectured about them by Uncle Sam, many Latin Americans are watching the countdown to a possible default in Washington with a mix of schadenfraude and fear of what (…)

The carefully constructed decision to disband the untrained force of young Special Police Officers in Chhattisgarh holds important lessons for the exercise of executive power.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Nandini Sundar and Ors. v. State of Chhattisgarh is no ordinary one and, (…)

Mathematical errors in the classroom or on tests usually don’t carry a whole lot of consequences besides a blot on your grade and maybe a deflated sense of self-esteem.
But what happens when the mathematical error occurs in a major government energy agency? The ramifications could be huge, (…)

Notwithstanding the indifference of most Russians, the Orthodox Church, with active support from the state, has effectively established itself as state religion.
[...]
After the collapse of the atheist Soviet Union, state persecution of religion came to an end in Russia. The new law on (…)