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	Preparations Afoot to Commemorate Hiroshima Atom Bombing By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) - Nuclear abolition is not yet around the corner. But the United States, Britain and France have apparently come round to the view that the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an appropriate opportunity to underline a paradigm shift under way.
	Bribery Will Eat into Gains of East African Integration By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) - A new report has warned that unless bribery is banned, 126 million citizens of the East African Community will be deprived of the benefits that economic integration promises to bring in its wake. These words of caution stem from the East African Bribery Index 2010 (EABI 2010) released by Transparency International-Kenya within about three weeks of the East African Common Market Protocol coming into effect on July 1, 2010.
	Developing Countries should be paid for Eco Disasters By Martin Khor* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint GENEVA (IDN) - The 20 billion U.S. dollar put aside by BP to pay for the effects of the Gulf oil spill contrasts with the lack of accountability of big firms that cause environmental harm in developing countries. In a widely publicised move in June, the United States President Barrack Obama succeeded in getting the oil company BP to set aside $20 billion into a fund to meet claims for compensating losses arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It is extraordinary that a giant company has been pressurised by a government to agree to pay so much.
	UN in a Blind Alley as Peace Eludes Darfur By Richard Johnson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - As the mandate, being carried out by the UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID), comes to an end on July 31, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's report to the Security Council indicates that the situation in Sudan's western region is rather critical.
	Maldives Seeks Way out of Democracy Crisis By Anand Kumar* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW DELHI (IDN) - Multi-party democracy in Maldives -- an island nation in the Indian Ocean -- is facing a major crisis after less than two years of its establishment. A bitter political struggle has emerged between the president and opposition-led national parliament since June.
	Views Differ on Fate of Food Aid Convention By Nirode Masson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis LONDON (IDN) - The food price spike followed by the financial and economic crisis has worsened global food insecurity. But beyond a grand commitment to doing more about food security, there is no agreement on specifics, says a new report. The specifics on which an agreement has yet to be achieved are: a definition of what food assistance is, or the nature of a new food security architecture, and what should replace the Food Aid Convention due to expire in 2011.
	Israel Seems to Have the Divine Right to Impunity By Julio Godoy IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BERLIN (IDN) - One anecdote being repeatedly told these days is that some 20 years ago, the then U.S. foreign minister James Baker, angry with the Israeli government of the time for the lack of progress in the Middle East peace talks, gave his direct telephone number to his colleague in Tel Aviv, and urged him to call. "But you only call me when you are serious about peace," Baker reportedly said. Even though the Israeli government of the time and the ones that followed were almost never "serious about peace" -- with the sole and honourable exception of Yitzhak Rabin in the early 1990s . . .
	Spirituality Tangos with Showbiz in Singapore By Kalinga Seneviratne IDN-InDepth NewsFeature* SINGAPORE (IDN) - Every Sunday morning thousands of young and old pour into Singapores two convention centres -- Expo and Suntec -- packing into large halls with blinding stage-lights, camera crews on cranes transmitting pictures onto jumbo electronic screens with multimedia effects.
	They Break Taboos But Don't Go the Whole Hog By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - A huge funding gap threatens to torpedo efforts by the international community to cope with critical global development and environmental challenges. At least $324 billion will be required each year between 2012 and 2017 -- a reason pressing enough for a Committee of Experts to break taboos and explore innovative financing sources.
	Brazil Asked to Guard against Environmental and Security Risks By J. Chandler IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TORONTO (IDN) - In run-up to the presidential elections next October in Brazil, in which Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is out of the contest due to constitutional law that allows presidents to run only two terms in a row, a new report praises achievements of South America's largest country, but also cautions.
	South Africa Seen Not Doing Enough to Combat Bribery By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepthNewsAnalysis PARIS (IDN) – Criticising South Africa for its failure to combat corruption in international business deals, a new report is asking the country to intensify its efforts to detect, investigate and prosecute cases of foreign bribery.
	Asia-Europe Bridges are Now Built by People By Shada Islam* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BRUSSELS (IDN) - Times change. Foreign relations used to be the exclusive domain of governments. Foreign ministries operated behind closed doors. Diplomats met other government officials, attended receptions and once in a while hosted a "cultural event" showcasing national folk music and dance. Contrast that with the vast array of non-state actors which drive and influence relations among countries in today's globalised and inter-connected world. Diplomats can still do their bit on behalf of governments.But with 24/7 news channels, the Internet, Twitter and other social networking tools, state representatives are fast losing their monopoly on fashioning public attitudes and perceptions.
	OECD Praises and Criticises South Africa By Satish Bhaskaran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis PRETORIA (IDN) - A new report has commended South Africa for its growth performance which has improved over the past two decades, but pointed out that this was not sufficient either to offer enough employment opportunities for the young and growing population or to close the aggregate income gap with OECD countries.
	No Need to Despair on Biodiversity By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - Humankind will suffer annual losses of 'natural capital' valued at between 1.3 to 3.1 trillion Euros, if 'business as usual' deforestation and land use change continue, according to United Nations' latest estimates. These stupendous figures exceed the total financial capital lost to Wall Street and City banks during 2008, their worst year in history.
	Children Suffer Most from Forced Return to Kosovo By Thomas Hammarberg* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint STRASBOURG (IDN) - Several thousand persons have been forcibly returned to Kosovo by west European states in the last few years, mainly from Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Among the returnees have been persons belonging to minorities, and in particular Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. For them these deportations have not had a happy ending.
	UN Code to Halt Indiscriminate Drain of Health Workers By Richard Johnson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a 'global code of practice' to stem the 'brain drain' of health-care workers from developing to high-income countries, which weakens health systems in the countries they quit.
	UN Funds Gender Equality in Bosnia-Herzegovina By J. Chandler IDN-InDepth News Analysis TORONTO (IDN) - The United Nations has decided to help advance gender equality and women's rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country in South-Eastern Europe whose Constitution assures gender equality but women in the country are still restricted in the exercise of their fundamental rights and freedoms because of entrenched tradition.
	USA and France Help Poland Go Nuclear By Petra Ramatowski IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WARSAW (IDN) - Backed by the U.S. and France, Poland is set to tread the nuclear path and hopes to start generating atomic power by 2021. Presently, coal accounts for over 93 percent of the eastern European country's electricity, demand for which is expected to double by 2025.
	Afghanistan Looks like Slipping Away By Prakash Joshi IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW DELHI (IDN) - As the war in Afghanistan enters another summer of increasing violence, a new report finds that the international community is experiencing severe difficulties in the crucial battle to win over the hearts and minds of the local population in southern Afghanistan.
	UNESCO Condemns Yet Another Killing of Indian Journalist By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis PARIS (IDN) - For the third time in less than two years, the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has expressed concern over the death of an Indian journalist. Hem Chandra Pandey is the third Indian journalist to be killed since December 2008. He was killed early July 2010 along with a Maoist leader in an encounter with police in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
	IMF Pledges Closer Ties with Asia By R Kim IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis SEOUL (IDN) – Asia and the International Monetary Fund are set to build strong ties in run-up to the summit meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) major industrial nations and emerging economies in November 2010 in Seoul. The Fund's relationship with Asia had suffered during the 1997-98 Asian crisis.
	Overcoming Hazards - Striving for greater Safety By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsFeature* TOKYO (IDN) - Nowadays they are trucking hazardous cargo. They carry fine chemicals and ethanols, imported by trading companies, to client factories in Tokyo and surrounding five prefectures, known as the Kanto area. But there is a long and exciting human story behind today's Gosho Transportation Company. The short of the long story is that before Yoshio Emori founded Gosho in 1969, its predecessor Emori Oil Co. Ltd was running 27 gas stations in Saitama and Tokyo.
	Global Governance Reform Needs More Than Lip Service By Shada Islam* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BRUSSELS (IDN) - Two years ago at their meeting in Beijing, Asian and European leaders vowed joint action to rebuild the battered global economy. “We swim together, or we sink together,” European Commission President José Manuel Barroso told the ASEM summit. Can that message of solidarity and pledge of collective action be repeated again when Asia-Europe leaders gather in Brussels on October 4-5?
	UN Focuses on Global Anti-Poverty Targets By Richard Johnson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) – The United Nations is leaving no stone unturned to galvanize action toward achieving by 2015 the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In run-up to a gathering of heads of government and state at the UN in September 2010, Secretary-General has set up an advocacy Group of eminent persons. A "real collection of superheroes in defeating poverty" has been chosen to serve on the Group, co-chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
	Shaping the Post-Crisis Order without a Silver Bullet By Gregory Chin* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TORONTO (IDN) - During the summer of 2010, it would be understandable if interested observers of global affairs are swept up in summit fever. The twin G8/G20 summits in Canada late June and the meeting of the G20 proper which is to commence in South Korea in November 2010 have understandably turned the attention of international analysts to global summitry. But what should we expect from these 'G' Leaders' summits? Can we expect big decisions to change 'the architecture' that will allow for greater international economic and financial cooperation?
	Kudos and Corrective Advice for British Aid By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis PARIS (IDN) - A new report has praised Britain to the skies for its profound commitment to helping countries in dire need of money and a wide range of resources vital for economic and social development, but cautioned that there is ample scope for doing things better for the benefit of the taxpayer at home and the poor abroad.
	UN Worried about West Africa By Nirode Masson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - The United Nations is at a loss in West Africa. On the one hand, it is confronted with the resurgence of military coups, accompanied by paucity of good governance. On the other, deadly flooding, following on the heels of acute food shortages caused by prolonged drought and crop failure, is creating an alarming situation.
	Some Aid Agencies Feel More Secure in Afghanistan By Prakash Joshi IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW DELHI (IDN) - Armed attacks on non-governmental organisations and humanitarian agencies working in Afghanistan have lessened over the past six months, not only because of their own security measures, but also because the Taliban have stopped targeting them, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office (ANSO). While some 1,200 security incidents were recorded in June 2010 -- more than in any month since the fall of the Taliban -- assaults on NGOs by armed opposition groups in the first half of 2010 were 35 percent lower than in 2008-2009, says ANSO, which provides free safety analysis and advice to member NGOs.
	Rendezvous with Planet Earth By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BERLIN (IDN) - 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. And we all have a rendezvous with Planet Earth this year. In order that as many of us as possible feel encouraged to make it to the venue at the right point in time, the United Nations has launched some of the most innovative initiatives.
	CITES Regulates Billions Worth Wildlife Trade By Indira Srivastava IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - Global wildlife trade has increased significantly since 1975, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed. But not a single one of some 34,000 species listed by the Convention has become extinct as a result of boost in trade.
	'Europe Should Tie-up with Asia for Global Security' By Shada Islam* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BRUSSELS (IDN) - Asia-Europe relations used to be about business, not politics. The emergence of the Southeast Asian "tiger" economies in the 1980s and Europe's quest for a share of the region's booming market helped spur the drive for closer Asia-Europe relations and the launch in Bangkok in 1996 of ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting), an informal platform for discussion between the two sides.
	Finland Also Favours More Nuclear Energy By Brenda Sorensen IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis STOCKHOLM (IDN) – The Nordic countries appear to be undergoing a renaissance of nuclear energy. Within three weeks of the Swedish parliament permitting new atomic power plants from 2011, neighbouring Finland's legislators have given the go-ahead for two new atomic reactors.
	Laos Burns Drugs - Criminal Syndicates Survive By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) - Laos, a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, has made significant strides in combating the scourge of illicit opium production and addiction, says a new report by the United Nations, but warns of serious problems arising from the country becoming a transit route for transnational criminal syndicates.
	Western Sahara Back on Radar Screens By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) – Western Sahara, one of the most thinly populated territories in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands, is drawing renewed focus after having been consigned to mainstream neglect for years. The disputed territories are back on radar screens in the aftermath of new reports that the area is one of the most heavily mined territories in the world. These have been accompanied by one significant step taken by the United Nations.
	EU Using Soft Power in Zimbabwe By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) – Top-ranking leaders of the European Commission have told Zimbabwe that they expect "further concrete progress" and "clear signs of improved political environment", given which the country might receive additional money. The 27-nation European Union (EU) has provided the landlocked country in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, 180 million Euros for health, education, food security and governance.
	Global Crisis Calls for Rethink of Growth Strategy by China and East Asia By Martin Khor* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - As the global economic crisis evolves, China and other East Asian developing countries will be profoundly affected as their old growth strategies will no longer be able to serve them as before. Changes in economic policies and strategies that rely less on exports to the West will thus be required in China -- and even more so in the other Asian countries.
	Confronting the Bliss of Ignorance about Africa By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - Somalia hit the top of the chart for the third consecutive year when the 2010 Failed States Index was recently unveiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace. Several African states followed Somalia in the first 20 listed. They are considered the worst failures. The index was compiled on the basis of 12 criteria: demographics, refugees, illegitimate governance, brain drain, public services, inequality, group grievances, human rights, economic decline, security forces, factionalised elites, and external intervention.
	Juba Far from being a City of Dreams By Ellen Martin IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint (IDN) - Juba, an isolated garrison town during Sudans civil war, is now an important political and economic centre as the new capital of South Sudan, and a hub for regional trade. But the throngs of hard-headed investors, the new roads and busy restaurants hide the grim reality for many residents. Juba has seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of urban poor since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Receiving little attention from the Government of South Sudan or the international community, their needs are largely unmet and many have become increasingly marginalised.
	'Pressure Israel' – Church Agencies Tell EU By IDN Middle East Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - Faith-based development agencies CIDSE and APRODEV are calling on the 27-nation European Union to pressure Israel for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings to allow access to humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons. According to CIDSE and APRODEV, the measures the EU has proposed so far are insufficient and can only strengthen the status quo.
	China Borrows Money for Non-Mega Projects By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) - The ongoing support of huge fiscal and monetary stimulus is expected to propel growth in China to 9.6 percent this year. But urban-rural inequality and inadequate infrastructure remain a source of concern, not the least because of paucity of funds. With this in view, China has turned to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that has agreed to extend two loans of 100 million U.S. dollar each.
	UN Pleads for an Overhaul of Existing Multilateral Machinery By C. J. Suresh IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW YORK (IDN) - A new report by the United Nations is calling for shifting gears and overhauling the machinery for international finance, aid and trade in order to respond to significant shifts taking place in the global economy.
	Emerging Asia-Europe Partnership for Development By Shada Islam* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) - It used to be fairly simple -- but it did not get results. Aid from rich industrialized countries to poorer ones was seen as the key to growth and development. Ministers and officials spent hours haggling over aid packages and critics routinely referred "hand-outs" to poor countries.
	A Beyond-Aid Development Agenda on the Anvil? By Dirk Willem te Velde* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint LONDON (IDN) - Most developed G-20 countries are walking a tightrope, trying to balance actions to promote growth whilst ensuring fiscal sustainability. So most headlines about the G-20 Summit in Toronto were about the agreement on growth-friendly plans to reduce deficits, albeit at different speeds in different countries. There was also coverage of the slower than expected progress on financial regulation, and on the agreement to implement bank levies only if and when countries want them. Beyond these headlines, however, the Summit Declaration contains what could become a new development agenda for the G-20, focusing on support for growth in low income countries (LICs).
	Afghan Security Needs Focus After Trash-Talking General Goes By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - General Stanley McChrystals removal from his position of pre-eminent military leadership in Afghanistan has deflected attention from the continuing need for a sober, non-rancorous national debate on the war in Afghanistan. That, too, will come, however, for who can forget that McChrystals fall from grace took place in June, the same month in which his strategy appeared to be running out of gas.
	Learn To Live With Less So That Others Can Continue Living By Mannava Sivakumar* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint GENEVA (IDN) – The impacts of climate change are now nowhere more visible than on the lives of billions of poor farmers around the world. In the last 50 years the world population has more than doubled -- from 3 billion in 1959 to 6.7 billion in 2009. According to the International Labour Organization, the economically active population in the world grew from 1.89 billion in 1980 to 3.21 billion in 2009. A large majority of this increase has occurred in the developing countries. While the economically active population in the more developed regions grew from 519 millions in 1980 to 623 million in 2009 . . .
	Low Carbon a Shared Challenge for Asia and Europe By Shada Islam* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) – It's no secret: international efforts to curb global warming continue to divide Asia and Europe. European and Asian governments did not see eye to eye at the climate change summit held in Copenhagen last December, and as preparations intensify for another international meeting on global warming -- this time in Cancun, Mexico -- at the end of the year, prospects for a credible and enforceable agreement remain elusive.
	Protecting Children from Exploitation By J. Chandler IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TORONTO (IDN) - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is calling on the business community to work together to build universal principles that will place children’s rights at the top of the global corporate responsibility agenda. The 'Children’s Principles for Business' will help business avoid the negative impacts that their activities may have on children, argues UNICEF that is being backed by the UN Global Compact and Save the Children non-governmental organization. The Global Compact -- which observed its ten years of existence at a leaders' summit concluded in New York on June 25 -- is a call to companies . . .
	UN Panel on Sri Lanka Could Derail Reconciliation By Kalinga Seneviratne* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint SINGAPORE (IDN) - The appointment of a panel of experts on Sri Lanka by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on June 22, 2010 to advice him on the accountability issues of alleged human rights abuses during the final stages of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 has been widely condemned in Sri Lanka as an UN witch-hunt that will derail reconciliation attempts promoted by the government between Sinhalese and Tamil communities.
	Water Security at Extreme Risk in Africa and Asia By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) – Clean, fresh water supply, which is fundamental to life and health -- regardless of nationality, age, gender, profession or status -- is at "extreme risk" in four African countries: Somalia, Mauritania, Sudan and Niger.
	'Green Growth Opportunities Are Under-Reported' By Yvo de Boer * IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BONN (IDN) - Climate change is at the front of political leaders' minds, on the agendas of corporate boardrooms, and reflected in the hopes and fears of billions of people around the world. Without the media to report what is happening in the field of climate change, this simply would not have been the case. Around 3,500 media representatives came to Copenhagen . . .
	Poorest Countries Report Progress By Indira Srivastava IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - New analysis published by the London-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the United Nations Millennium Campaign finds that, in absolute terms, many of the world's poorest countries are making the most overall progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
	'Investigate Torture Allegations Accurately' By Thomas Hammarberg* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint STRASBOURG (IDN) - The new government in the United Kingdom has taken an important step to prevent torture: it has authorised a judge-led inquiry into allegations that British officials were complicit in the mistreatment of suspects held by the United States, Pakistan and others.
	Japan Urged to Increase Development Assistance By Richard Johnson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis PARIS (IDN) - Japan has been urged to reverse the pattern of decline in its international development cooperation budget and to make progress towards its committed aid targets and regain its former position as a leading donor.
	'Don't Grab – Invest in Land' By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis ROME (IDN) - There is a genuine alternative to land acquisitions in developing countries that would benefit both big investors and small farmers, claims new research. It shows how agricultural investments in developing nations can be structured as alternatives to large-scale land grabbing.
	G20 Advised Continued Vigilance By J Chandler IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TORONTO (IDN) - In run-up to the summit in Canada, the world's major industrial and emerging economies comprising the Group of 20 (G20) countries have been praised by the OECD and UNCTAD for avoiding new protectionist barriers to inward investment, but warned that continued vigilance is needed in the face of emergency measures to address the economic crisis that still pose a threat to competition and international investment.
	New phase for Swedish Nuclear Energy By Brenda Sorensen IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis STOCKHOLM (IDN) - Nuclear energy is not being consigned to museums in Sweden. On the contrary, new atomic power plants will be permitted from next year. Overturning the decision of a referendum 30 years ago, the national parliament Riksdag has voted to allow Swedish firms to replace the existing ten reactors that provide over 40 percent of the country's electricity.
	Buddhist Leader Pushes for Nuclear Abolition Treaty IDN Special IDN-InDepth NewsInterview of Daisaku Ikeda BERLIN/TOKYO (IDN) - An eminent Buddhist thinker, Daisaku Ikeda, has called for an early start of negotiations for a global treaty to abolish nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction, to coincide -- ideally -- with the 70th anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. An international treaty in the form of a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) would prohibit the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons . . .
	Changing Media Landscape Not without Risks By IDN Media Watch IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis PARIS (IDN) – A new report has confirmed that the changing global media landscape offers fresh opportunities and is, at the same time, fraught with risks that might jeopardize democracy. The report provides an insight into the international newspaper market and its evolution, with particular emphasis on its economics, the development of online news, related opportunities and challenges and policy approaches.
	Development Wisdoms and Platitudes By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - The United Nations Development Programme has found the Stone of the Wise Ones to achieve in the next five years deep and far-reaching goals that range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education.
	The Trillions Worth Soil Biodiversity By Luc Gnacadja* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BONN (IDN) - Six to ten inches (18-25 cm) of topsoil are all that stand between us and extinction. There's far more to this than food. The things that live in and grow from this irreplaceable and finite resource also keep us clothed, the air and water clean, the land green and pleasant and the human soul refreshed. Only now are we starting to comprehend how the tiny life forms in soil sustain productivity and the greater environmental balance.
	BP Cries 'Uncle' and Agrees to Create $20 Billion Claims Fund By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - Less than 24 hours after President Barack Obama delivered an address to the nation on the relentless consequences of the BP (British Petroleum) disaster in the Gulf of Mexico -- a disaster that has already adversely affected four Gulf states -- BP management cried "uncle". They made a passable show of contrition and went along with Obama's demand for generosity.
	World Economy Taking New Shape By Richard Johnson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis PARIS (IDN) - The biggest economic story of our times is unfolding itself. In the new economic world we live in, countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are providing the dynamism for future growth. In fact, economic growth in the developing world has outpaced that in advanced economies for more than a decade. Developing countries are set to contribute nearly 60 percent of world GDP (gross domestic product) by 2030.
	Pentagon Plans Moving Arms through Pakistan to Afghanistan By Jeremy Scahill* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW YORK (IDN) - The United States military is in the process of taking bids from private war contractors to secure and ship massive amounts of U.S. military equipment through sensitive areas of Pakistan into Afghanistan, where it will then be distributed to various U.S. Forward Operating Bases and other facilities.
	Safeguarding Climate Financing Against Corruption Risks By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - As a first step towards scaling up its advocacy work on corruption risks in climate governance, Transparency International (TI) is calling on governments to work towards strong surveillance measures that can safeguard current and future climate change financing.
	No Bed of Roses for International Criminal Court By Ronald Joshua IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis KAMPALA (IDN) - All that glitters is not gold. This applies to the Rome Statute which set up the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998, against the staunch opposition of the United States, giving it jurisdiction over four categories of crimes: the crime of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
	G8 and Africa Have Promises to Keep By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) – The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's appeal to developed countries to make good on promises made repeatedly at summit meetings of the G8 and G20 and at the United Nations to double aid to Africa, comes at a right point in time and sets the record straight about an under-reported and much-maligned continent. But Africa, too, has a promise to keep, he said in an address to the Cameroon National Assembly at Yaoundé on his way to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
	Anti-Immigrant Crusade Unleashed By Justin Akers Chacón IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis OAKLAND (IDN) - "Can you hear us now, Mexico? Can you hear us? This land is not your land, this land is our land," proclaimed Atlanta talk radio host Larry Wachs, whipping the crowd of 5,000 into a frenzy.
	Invest in Women and Maternal Health By J. Chandler IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TORONTO (IDN) - At least one woman dies every 90 seconds from pregnancy-related causes and another 20 suffer infection or disability, while four million newborns die every year. These grim numbers actually represent improvements over the last 20 years, during which many international gatherings have pledged investments in women that failed to materialize. The gatherings included the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, the 1995 Beijing International Conference on Women, the Monterey Consensus 2003, the 2004 Paris Declaration . . .
	Miles to Go For Solid Progress in Climate Change Talks By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - Sanguinity mingled with scepticism as the latest round of global climate change talks concluded on June 11, with the UN's top official Yvo de Boer -- who is being succeeded by Christiana Figueres -- cautioning against bringing in "legal rigour" in the negotiations. IUCN’s Claire Parker welcomed "the renewed spirit of cooperation and confidence governments showed in Bonn", Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) warned that U.S. intransigence was threatening vital progress in the talks.
	From Zero to Media Plurality in Afghanistan By S. M. Raheen* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint KABUL (IDN) - Nine years ago, we did not have mass media in Afghanistan. The Taliban punished even Television sets by hanging them in public. In fact the terms 'free press' and 'freedom of speech' were omitted from the life of the people of Afghanistan for three decades. Following the formation of the interim government in pursuance of the Bonn Conference, the Ministry of Information and Culture during the first month of the establishment of the interim administration presented to the Council of Ministers . . .
	Name Aid Offenders but Do Not Blame Them By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) - The EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and the development NGOs are in agreement that the European Union Member States are missing their aid targets. Though this is not the only point on which they see eye to eye, they are not "one soul in two bodies". While agreeing that there was a decrease in 2009 from 2008 official development assistance (ODA) level, Piebalgs maintains that it corresponds to 0.42 percent of 27-nation EU's GNI (gross national income). And this "is a strong outcome compared to other major donors, despite tight budget situations in most Member States".
	There is something Systemic about the Oil Spill By Julio Godoy IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BERLIN (IDN) - If the world needed a symbol of the dimensions of the environmental catastrophe the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico embodies, then it was this: Dozens of pelicans, the archetypical bird of the area, oil-soaked, condemned to dying before our eyes. Before us, helpless spectators, horrified by British Petroleum's deeds.
	Getting the Oceans on Radar Screens By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - But for the World Oceans Day, that "continuous body of water" covering about 71 percent of the Earth's surface will be hardly on anyone's radar screen. In fact, the United Nations too started focussing worldwide attention on the oceans only in 2009 by marking June 8 as the World Oceans Day.
	BP Disaster Could Destroy a Way of Life and End a Heritage By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - Viceroys, lesser officials, military commanders, and commercial barons of the empire on which it was believed the sun could never set would have envied the speed with which their distant descendants at British Petroleum (BP) have made their mark internationally, with maximum visibility and public attention.
	Growth Potential Tangos with High Disaster Risk By Erna Wolf IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - Bangladesh, Indonesia and Iran are most at risk from extreme weather and geophysical events, according to a new study ranking 229 countries on their vulnerability to natural disasters.
	The Farce Called 'Responsible' Soy By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) - Civil society organizations are calling for phasing out industrial plantations of soy and instead promoting agro-ecological farming systems of local crops.
	Vietnam Expects Boost in Agriculture and More By Tuan Vuong IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis Ho Chi Minh City (IDN) – A public-private task force is being launched by the Government of Vietnam jointly with twelve global companies to advance sustainable agricultural growth.
	ASEAN Urged to Facilitate Intraregional Trade By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) – A new study has stressed the need for trade facilitation in the ASEAN region that, it says, remains very fragmented despite many ongoing initiatives, partly due to the difficulty of moving goods across borders.
	Asian Leaders Look Beyond Today By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) – Asian leaders are calling for a greater role in global governance in which clean and inclusive growth must play a vital role. "A truly new opportunity has dawned on East Asia and so it must take a greater role in global governance," Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam told more than 400 of Asia's leading decision-makers at the inauguration of the 19th World Economic Forum on East Asia in Vietnam.
	Planet Earth worth Multiple Trillions By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsFacts (IDN) - What the 'Mother Earth' is worth to its inhabitants is no longer a mystery. 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)', hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and a myriad of other recent reports and initiatives are providing a glimpse of the value of the Earth's natural assets and their role in development.
	Restoring Ecosystems Pays Off By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) - Ruthless exploitation of nature has triggered a situation that dwarfs the impact of the financial and economic crisis that continues to hold the world economy to ransom. But there is a way out, says a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The report says that restoring lost and damaged ecosystems . . .
	Developing Countries Resist World Bank Power Play By Karen Orenstein* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint (IDN) The U.S., other developed countries, and the World Bank aim for control of climate finance at UN negotiations, but many developing countries and civil society are pushing back. The Copenhagen Accord, a controversial document “taken note of” but not adopted by parties to the UNFCCC in December 2009, set out parameters for climate finance which have largely shaped the debate in 2010.
	How to Correct Global Imbalances By Pier Carlo Padoan* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint PARIS (IDN) - One of the side-effects of the global crisis has been a temporary narrowing of current account imbalances among the world’s major countries and economic areas. This is good news, but will it last? Policy actions may be needed. Prior to the crisis, current account imbalances, measured as the sum (in absolute value) of the world’s current account surpluses and deficits, had risen gradually to reach about 5% of the world’s GDP in 2008.
	The Water Winners and Allies By Erna Wolf IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BONN (IDN) - The critical importance of water for human development and international peace has been underlined by the announcement of two prestigious awards and launch of a 'coalition' to coincide with the climate change talks under way in Bonn, Germany. The eminent Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) announced on June 2 the Cambodian Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) as the winner of . . .
	An Illusion Called the Carbon Capture and Storage By Brenda Sorensen IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis COPENHAGEN (IDN) – High expectations are being placed on a new technology that would capture and store carbon and help mitigate climate change. But a new report says that the technology known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) cannot work wonders and bring about required reductions in CO2 emissions that are known to contribute to global warming.
	Israel Banditry Refocuses Need to End Gaza Blockade By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – The best that can be hoped for in response to Israel's recent act of "banditry and piracy" is that it will stiffen the resolve of the international community to secure the end of Israel's barbaric blockade of Gaza.
	EU Urged to do more for Development Goals By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) - The 27-nation European Union and its member states contribute a lion's share of official development assistance (ODA) the rich nations give to the poor. For such programmes between 2007 and 2013, it has allocated 51 billion Euros. But a new report says that a bulk of the money is not being spent on achieving the goals the international community has set itself.
	G20 Needs a 'Variable Geometry Approach' By Mui Pong Goh IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint LONDON (IDN) - As G20 governments prepare to meet in Toronto this month, has this young group already passed its high point? In November 2008, when the international economy perched on the brink of collapse, the leaders of the twenty leading economies were invited to Washington by then United States President George Bush to discuss possible measures to address the financial meltdown. Yet eighteen months and three fairly successful summits later, the process appears to have run out of steam.
	Cities Show the Way to Climate Adaptation By Nirupa Mayer IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BONN (IDN) – Local government leaders set their own course for cities adapting to climate change as the Bonn Climate Change talks of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened May 31.
	The Challenge of Culture and Creativity in Media By Thoyyib Mohamed * IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint MALE (IDN) - Did you know that a significant number of Maldivians know how to speak Hindi? This is of course in addition to our local language, Dhivehi and the English that is taught in schools? Not Sinhalese or Tamil, as that of our closest neighbor Sri Lanka, but Hindi - - the Hindi of Sony and Zee TV, the language of numerous Indian teledramas and Bollywood movies. Maldivians anticipate eagerly the entertainment they view from these mass media broadcasting channels and replicate it in their dress, language, music and our own local broadcasting.
	The Challenge of Moving Fast toward a Nuke-Free World By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – Gloom-and-doom headlines in the waning days of the 2010 review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) caused many observers to assume that negotiations would collapse in deadlock, but the Final Declaration of the conference was adopted without dissent. Consensus on potentially contentious issues was a significant milestone on the path toward nuclear disarmament.
	An Important Step toward Nuclear Abolition By Jamshed Baruah IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) – While the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sounds rather upbeat on the outcome of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference that wrapped up on May 28, official Washington’s reaction is rather critical of some important parts of the 28-page final document.
	How to Put the Global Economy on a Sustainable Growth Path By William White* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint PARIS (IDN) – What was the underlying cause of the economic and financial crisis that began in the summer of 2007? I believe that it was an explosion of private sector credit, driven by excessively easy monetary policies and declining credit standards.
	China Communicates With Foreign Media Professionals By Madhu Datta IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BEIJING (IDN) – Who is afraid of “creativity, credibility, rights and responsibilities” of the media? Certainly not China – particularly when it comes to projecting the image of a modern and vibrant country. For this, the Asia Media Summit 2010 in Beijing – organized by the inter-governmental Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) and the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) – provided an ideal opportunity. The summit’s theme, said Liu Yunshan, director of the publicity department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), reflected “the thoughts and concerns of the media world for its own future as well as the attention
	Some Pleasant Surprises from Africa By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis ABIDJAN/BERLIN (IDN) – Africa is taking a growing role in the world, its population is increasing fast and so too is its need for finance to build for the future. To achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and close the gap between its infrastructure and the rest of the world’s, the continent requires an annual investment of $93 billion over the next decade, says a landmark new study.
	The Good and the Bad News about Chad By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) – To rejoice or to regret? That is the question, triggered by the latest news disseminated by the United Nations about the landlocked Republic of Chad in central Africa, which due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, is also referred to as the 'Dead Heart of Africa'.
	Sino-U.S. Talks More than Much Ado about Nothing By V. Prabhakaran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BEIJING (IDN) – China and the United States are permanent members of the UN Security Council. While China is “the largest developing country”, the U.S. is “the largest developed country”.
	Remembering the Three Rio Conventions By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) – The botched UN conference in Copenhagen may prove to be a blessing in disguise by way of correcting the imbalance that has favoured climate change but nearly ignored desertification and biodiversity that are two other centerpieces of the three ‘Rio Conventions’ emerging from the Earth Summit in June 1992.
	U.S. Clogs Arab Nuclear-Free Middle East Plan By Fareed Mahdy IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis ISTANBUL (IDN) – Arab delegates to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review conference in New York (May 3-28), are confronted with strong U.S. resistance to their demand for a nuclear weapons free Middle East.
	Rwanda Global Host of World Environment Day By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) – The East African country Rwanda will be the global host of the World Environment Day (WED) on June 5, which has ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future.’ as the central theme focussing on globe’s wealth of species and ecosystems in line with this year’s UN International Year of Biodiversity. “Rwanda’s combination of environmental richness, including rare and economically-important species. . .