By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – There are many losers and few winners when companies bribe foreign public officials to win lucrative overseas contracts. In prioritising profits over principles, governments in most major exporting countries fail to prosecute companies flouting laws criminalising foreign bribery. What is missing, according to Transparency International – the global coalition […]
Kumi Naidoo Wishes a ‘Bigger, Bolder & More Inclusive’ Amnesty
By Devendra Kamarajan NAIROBI (IDN) – The human rights movement needs to be bigger, bolder and more inclusive if it is to tackle the challenges that people face today, says life-long social justice campaigner Kumi Naidoo as he officially starts his four-year tenure as Secretary General of Amnesty International. Amnesty is the largest human rights […]
G20 Anti-Corruption Commitments At Risk
By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – As governments across the globe crack down on citizen groups, stifling their ability to speak out and hold governments to account, the role of civil society is more important now than ever. With his in mind, activists from more than 600 civil society organisations and more than 45 countries […]
300 Parliamentarians Call For Commitment To UN Charter
By Jutta Wolf BERLIN (IDN) – More than 300 parliamentarians representing the collective voice of one billion people from Vancouver to Vladivostok adopted a 76-page declaration on July 11 expressing deep concern about unresolved conflicts and nuclear weapons threats, and proposing measures that should be taken to rebuild peace and security in Europe. The members […]
Call for Equal Citizenship Rights as Gateway to Peace
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, has called upon societies worldwide to embrace models of equal citizenship and to harness the collective energy of religions, creeds and value-systems in the pursuit of equal citizenship rights. The Geneva Centre chairman Dr. […]
Parliament Moves To Block UK As Safe Haven For Dirty Money
By Robert Johnson LONDON (IDN) – An estimated $21 to $32 trillion of private financial wealth is located, untaxed or lightly taxed, in secrecy jurisdictions around the world as the Financial Secrecy Index names tax havens, which play a key role in facilitating the illicit flow of money across borders. “Corruption, bribery, theft and tax […]
U.S.-Led NATO Tops Global Military Expenditure Of $1.7 Trillion
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Countries around the world are increasing their military expenditure. While the 29 NATO members together account for 52 per cent of world spending and the United States continues to have the highest military expenditure among them, China, India and Saudi Arabia are contributing the lion’s share of the […]
G7 Fiscal, Monetary Policies Are Ticking Time Bombs
By D. Ravi Kanth This article was published in No. 211, 18 April 2018 in SOUTHNEWS, a service of the South Centre to provide information and news on topical issues from a South perspective. It was originally carried by the South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) #8663 on 17 April 2018. – The Editor GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – […]
Trade War, Skripal, Arsenic and Old Lace
Viewpoint by Michele Nobile* ROME (IDN) – Like the rest of humanity, I have no way of identifying the instigator of the attempted assassination of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter. But I venture some reasoning, just to clear the field of fantasies and focus on real problems. It is true that […]
G20 Urged to Root Out Corruption in State-Owned Enterprises
By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – One of the many challenges facing today’s world is corruption and one sector in which this is particularly evident is that of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Controlled by national governments, SOEs rank among the largest companies in the world, often serving as some of the biggest employers in their country. […]