The announcement of Elinor Ostrom as a co-winner, along with Berkeley economist Oliver Williamson, of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics came both as a surprise and a breath of fresh air. None of the participants of Harvard University’s (informal) annual betting pool for the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics staked their claim […]
Mined tin ore from the Eastern DRC Advocates against illegal mining and resource-fuelled conflict gained another small victory with a leading trader of tin on the London Metal Exchange announcing that it is suspending all purchases of tin ore from the Democratic Republic of the Congo until a certification scheme can be put in place […]
No one is really sure how many Roma there are in Europe. Estimates vary from 10 to 14 million. Dispersed throughout Europe, most face massive discrimination. Recently in Bulgaria, Roma families were forced into the streets as bulldozers plowed away at their homes. Last month, the Italy approved a measure of making Roma wear badges. […]
The very least that everyone can admit about the Nobel Committee’s pick for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was that it is a gutsy pick. However, that may be the only thing that everyone can agree on. News that Barack Obama will be this year’s recipient of the world’s most distinguished humanitarian award led to […]
Two years ago singer–songwriter and activist Bob Geldof was so excited about biofuels he even became the special advisor to biomass company Helius. At the time, Geldof visited jatropha curcas plantations in Swaziland run by UK biodiesel producer D1 Oils. Geldof was quoted as saying that these plantations had ‘life changing potential’. Since then, D1 […]
A few years ago I brought you the inspiring story of William Kamkwamba, who at the age of 14, used the inquisitive nature of his youth to change the lives of both his family and village. After being forced to drop out of school as his parents had no money,William sought refuge in a tiny […]
What would it be like to live near one of the world’s most treasured natural habitats? Some Ecuadorians who once inhabited the Galapagos can no longer respond to this question. Concerned about negative impact of human settlement, the Ecuadorian government has forced more than one thousand migrants to return to the mainland. Originally, they had […]
The battle over and banning of women’s clothing continues, this time in Egypt. The BBC is reporting that Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, dean of al-Azhar university, has announced that he will issue a religious edict banning the niqab. Egypt is comprised of 90% Muslims, many of whom wear religious head garments in their daily lives. While it […]
The Christian Science Monitor posted an interesting story regarding the Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association which is currently going on this week in Madrid. It raises the growing discontent of African states towards the International Criminal Court. At present, all four of the active situations being prosecuted by the court concern African conflicts: […]
Recently The Future of Children, which is a collaboration between the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, published the journal; Preventing Child Maltreatment, The Future of Children, vol. 19, no. 2, Fall 2009. The full journal can be found Here. The report begins with the question; […]
Next year the Obama administration will likely push for comprehensive immigration reform that legalizes millions who are currently in the United States without documentation. The US has an estimated 11 million “illegal immigrants”, representing approximately 3% of the total population. (Note: Please see a clarification on terminology below.) This is an astonishing number. Albeit the […]
Congrats to the people of Rio de Janeiro on their city’s winning bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. It’s exciting and just plain fair that the Games will finally come to South America. Chicago will get over it. So will Oprah Winfrey, who still wields the power to send the entire population of Chicago […]
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