Been off the blogosphere for the last month because of a project I was working on. Thought I’d get back into the saddle by looking into the latest on Afghanistan. On July 10th in response to a reporter’s question, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said the surge had been a success. In response to some […]
I went back to Haiti, where I lived last year, to reconnect with a country I love and report on how things were progressing. It was amazing to see some of the public parks open instead of covered with tents. But as I followed people moving out of those camps, and met the people still […]
Posted by contributor Andres Santamaria. It has been said by some that the recent Rio+20 Conference was needed but did not deliver. Some criticized the many meetings where no real concrete plans or timelines were adopted. Others claimed that there is no substantial international driving force behind several of the abstract goals. Many believe it […]
This week, the State Department held a “virtual ribbon cutting” for a new initiative, Leaders Engaged in New Democracies (LEND). LEND will help leaders in fledgling democracies connect with leaders who have experienced democratic transition in their own countries. As Voice of America reports, the initiative will facilitate conversations between leaders “by leveraging voice, video and […]
On Monday, the Republic of South Sudan celebrated its first anniversary and independence from now-neighboring Sudan. Following decades of civil war, the nation separated from Sudan one year ago. Leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda attended an official ceremony; meanwhile, thousands of people danced and waved flags during official celebrations of the newly formed nation in the capital city […]
By James Stafford World markets appear to be hovering over a precipice as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, slowdowns in India and China and further bank downgrades threaten to send stocks and commodities down even further. Falling oil and gas prices may offer some respite to consumers but are they enough to help the economy or […]
Some of the provisions in 2011 Budget Control Act, meaning the failure of the 2011 “supercommittee” to find $1.2 trillion in cuts, are sweeping the media back into a fury of preemptive Armageddon terror. The rapidly approaching sequestration (a procedure by which automatic spending cuts are implemented)–which will hit both defense and non-defense spending if Congress […]
It appears Paraguay (as I covered last month) is not the only country embroiled in an impeachment scandal. Last Friday July 6 Romania’s parliament voted to impeach President Traian Basescu, who has violated the Constitution and acted as a dictator according to opponents (note: all news-related information and quotes in this article derive from […]
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally approved a rapid, over-the-counter, and at-home test for HIV. The test, called OraQuick and made by OraSure, allows people to check their serostatus in the convenience and privacy of their own homes and illustrates the change in perception around HIV ever since it became an epidemic […]
The United Nation’s most recent report on progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that Pakistan’s food security has declined in the last four years. “The report expressed fears that Pakistan was lagging behind the target of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and indicators show that the target would not be achieved by 2015, […]
A video slideshow from the BBC illustrates the circumstances of two Ethiopian women, each dealing with food insecurity. Fitsum Birhan Tadele is a 20-year old mother of two who lives in Ethiopia’a arid Hintalo Wajerat district, whose people rely on food aid each dry season. The slideshow also shows how a food-for-work irrigation project can […]
After more than a year of planning, much diplomatic hype, and thousands of attendees, last month’s UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro produced what one activist called a “failure of epic proportions.” The few agreements—including yet another “universal intergovernmental high level political forum” to talk some more—seemed to fall well short of the challenge […]
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