The latest salvo in the battle over Africa's seed systems has been fired, writes Stephen Greenberg, with the Gates Foundation and USAID playing puppet-masters to Africa's governments - now meeting in Addis Ababa - as they drive forward corporation-friendly seed regulations that exclude and marginalize the small farmers whose seeds and labour feed the continent.
… Grabbing Africa's seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation … Oliver Tickell | 23rd March 2015 News Africa Farming Seeds Corporations USA EU maria … The latest salvo in the battle over Africa's seed systems has been fired, writes …
From slave labour to armed conflict, our thirst for natural resources has created serious problems for Africa. Pádraig Carmody’s latest book attempts to unravel the moral morass, says Mark Newton
… The New Scramble for Africa Mark Newton | 9th May 2012 Reviews Books Reviews Africa Minerals Natural Resources Conflict … resources has created serious problems for Africa. Pádraig Carmody’s latest book attempts …
An elite group of aid donors and agribusiness corporations met in London this week to plan the takeover of Africa's seeds, writes Ian Fitzpatrick, replacing traditional seed breeding and saving by small farmers with a corporate model of privatized, 'improved', patented, genetically uniform and hybrid seeds in a profit-driven market.
… Carving up Africa - aid donors and agribusiness plot the … Oliver Tickell | 26th March 2015 News Africa Food Farming Corporations Seeds USA UK … in London this week to plan the takeover of Africa's seeds, writes Ian Fitzpatrick, …
What was NATO's violent intervention in Libya really all about? Now we know, writes Ellen Brown, thanks to Hillary Clinton's recently published emails. It was to prevent the creation of an independent hard currency in Africa that would free the continent from economic bondage under the dollar, the IMF and the French African franc, shaking off the last heavy chains of colonial exploitation.
… Why Qaddafi had to go: African gold, oil and the challenge to … | 14th March 2016 News Finance Economics Africa Libya War Politics USA France … creation of an independent hard currency in Africa that would free the continent from …
Important developments are unfolding at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty negotiations in New York this week, writes David Lowry. These include the surprisingly large scale of the US's warhead scrapping, and a grassroots rebellion against the nuclear states led by South Africa. But the UK and its media remain aloof from it all - intent on renewing Trident no matter what.
… | 21st May 2015 News Nuclear WMD UK USA South Africa titanii-missile-cut.jpg Important … against the nuclear states led by South Africa. But the UK and its media remain aloof … from seeking their own nuclear weapons. South Africa was arguably the most robust in …
Major world trade deals now under negotiation would allow corporations to sue governments for billions if they tighten up laws and regulations, writes Thomas McDonagh. But increasingly countries are rejecting these dispute mechanisms that undermine sovereignty and democracy.
… 'standard' clauses after the fact. South Africa, Indonesia have rejected the tribunals In South Africa, the government has recently moved to … Italian investors Piero Foresti sued South Africa in relation to its Black Economic …
Six environment heroes, one from each continent, are honoured for their work today - fighting threats from giant coal mines to forest destruction, fracking, high dams, illegal development and toxic waste dumps. Sophie Morlin-Yron reports.
… Waste Water Energy USA Indonesia Russia Peru Africa India Forests … from Peru's civil war. Desmond D'sa, South Africa Desmond D'Sa rallied south Durban's …
The global rebirth of nuclear power was meant to be well under way by now, writes Jim Green. But in fact, nuclear's share of world power generation is on a steady long term decline, and new reactors are getting ever harder to build, and finance. The only real growth area is decommissioning, but that too has a problem: where's the money to pay for it?
… EU USA France Germany Japan Saudi Arabia Africa … in India's nuclear program. What about South Africa and Saudi Arabia? Last year Saudi Araba … program is not constrained. As for South Africa, its on-again off-again nuclear power …
Some of the world's most powerful figures tout the benefits of GMOs, writes Stacy Malkan, but what's the real story? Facts on the ground expose the PR spin, half truths and outright propaganda that has come to dominate a public conversation that is not so much about engineering genes, but engineering truth for the benefit of multinational corporations.
… vitamin fortification. "And so I think, for Africa, this is going to make a huge … (breeding)." Gates responded: "Well, the Africans it's up in the air, and Kenya just … using these things and if you want farmers in Africa to improve nutrition and be competitive …
Peru, notorious for its brutal exploitation of forests, oil and minerals, theft of indigenous lands and murder of eco-defenders, is an unlikely host for the COP20 climate talks, writes Alexander Reid Ross. Except that Peru's actions reflect the corporate land-grabbing agenda manifest in the false solutions on offer in Lima this week. It's a time for resistance, not compromise!
… and Europe in the name of producing food for Africans, while bestowing just a tiny percentage of their massive budget on Africa, itself. The Gates Foundation's project with African countries, known as the New Alliance …
Last week the UN General Assembly's Disarmament and Security Committee voted for negotiations to begin next year on a new international treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, writes Rebecca Johnson, bypassing the stalled Non Proliferation Treaty. One immediate consequence is to make the UK's plans to replace its Trident nuclear missile system 'completely untenable'.
… of nuclear free countries, including South Africa which eliminated its nuclear arsenal in … Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa, with 57 co-sponsors, calls for the … weapons when they don't have any. Several African and Latin American diplomats reported …
The US taxpayers who finance foreign food aid surely believe they are feeding starving people, writes James Bovard. But the truth is the reverse - it is undermining indigenous agriculture in recipient countries - creating famine and chronic malnutrition, while sabotaging self-sufficiency.
… James Bovard | 27th July 2014 News Food USA Africa Politics Health foodaid-oxfam-cut.jpg … the 1980s, famines and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa were continually in the world news. But …
A 'Friend of the Sea' Dutch-owned trawler certified to supply 'sustainably caught' shrimp to the US and EU was arrested in Liberia after operating in an an area reserved for artisanal fishers, writes Peter Hammarstedt. The vessel, which had no licence and lacked the turtle excluders required by law, was discovered by the crew of Sea Shepherd's 'Bob Barker' in a joint mission with the Liberian Coast Guard to clamp down on rampant illegal fishing.
… Vrolijk has a long history of fishing in West Africa. Two years ago, the British Royal … Barker continues to patrol waters off West Africa on the hunt for illegal fishing … ) and heads the IUU Task Force for Africa. He can be followed on Facebook …
The Indigenous Peoples of North America are the survivors of a multi-century genocide that was still being deliberately waged in the 1950s and has still not stopped today, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz told Stephyn Quirke. But the fightback is on, and for the world to overcome both genocide and ecocide, the indigenous struggle must grow to encompass the mass of humanity.
… peoples' liberation movements in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, and Caribbean. They … I'm familiar with in the context of South Africa and Rwanda. What do you think this … of wealth in plundering the Americas and Africa (colonialism) is the same force that …
The struggle for collective rights unites all Indigenous peoples from North America to Palestine, writes Sarah Marusek - as does their common narrative of resistance to colonialism, imperialism and capitalism.
… of the liberation of Palestine, from South Africa to India to North America. The struggle … "Israeli Jews - especially those from North Africa and the Middle East - can also be an …
Agroecology is key to retaking control over food, farming and land from the 'monstrous machine' of agribusiness, biotech, big finance and 'free trade', writes Colin Todhunter, as it represents a truly viable alternative to agriculture for corporate profit. But such are the powers ranged against the world's small farmers that it must be supported by a broad-based, global people's movement.
… related to debt repayment, as occurred in Africa , bilateral trade agreements like NAFTA … full spectrum dominance throughout much of Africa as well. Western seed, fertiliser and … success of agroecological agriculture across Africa in the face of climate change, hunger …
Despite the endless rhetoric about a 'nuclear renaissance', there are fewer power reactors today than there were a decade ago, writes Jim Green. The one country with a really big nuclear build program is China, but no one expects it to meet its targets. And with over 200 reactor shut-downs due by 2040, the industry will have to run very hard indeed just to stay put.
… hope for in South Korea is slow growth. South Africa plans 9.6 GW of new nuclear capacity to … commentator Dan Yurman states : "South Africa's plans to build 9.6 GW of nuclear … to the political twists and turns by South African President Jacob Zuma. "Most recently, …
Overtaken by massive regional trade agreements like TPP, TTIP, CETA and TINA, the World Trade Organisation has slipped into the background, writes Polly Jones. But this week it's back with a vengeance, with its first big meeting in two years. The US's plan is to globalise the investment protection regime set out in the TTP, and open a new era of corporate rule and the eradication of democracy.
… time in Nairobi and for the first time in Africa, and I will be there. While there are …
The US Congress has outlawed the use of aid to Ethiopia to evict tribal peoples in the SW of the country - where violent expulsions are under way to clear land for cash-crop farming.
… 2014 News Indigenous Peoples Ethiopia Africa Farming Land Grabs USA omo-2.png The US … The region's top human rights body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' …
In Ken Silverstein's 'The Secret World of Oil', Louis Proyect investigates the uber-wealthy middlemen of oil, inhabiting a pampered universe of moral squalor and depravity - one in which Tony Blair found himself completely at home.
… | 8th July 2014 Reviews Oil Fossil Fuels USA Africa Finance secret-world-of-oil-cut.jpg In … skullduggery in Equatorial Guinea, another African oil-producing nation, even though like … his innocence. In 2004 a group of 60 South African and European mercenaries were arrested …
Attempts to recycle E-waste and donations of old electronic devices are harming poor people's health and devastating the environment, writes Nele Goutier. Agbogbloshie, once an idyllic landscape of wetlands and small farms, is now the most toxic place in the world ...
… | 7th August 2014 News Waste Trade EU USA Africa Toxics Health Ghana agbog-fire.jpg …
Blacks, Indigenous peoples and Palestinians are all engaged in a single struggle against a racist empire that systematically robs, colonises, impoverishes, terrorises, enslaves, imprisons, tortures and murders its subject populations. Their struggle for liberation is one, and will ultimately vanquish as the empire collapses from within.
… resistance to racist oppression. As people in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab World … the world. And inside the United States, Africans, Latinos, Filipinos, Afghans, Arabs …
Jeremy Corbyn came under attack yesterday for his refusal to countenance the use of nuclear weapons, writes Commander Robert Green. But his stance is honourable and both legally and strategically correct - especially with his opposition to renewing the Trident nuclear missile system.
… 'There was no international impact when South Africa and Ukraine abandoned nuclear weapons.' …
After a peaceful protest against nuclear weapons showed up shoddy security at a $19 billion nuclear bomb factory site, writes Kevin Alexander Gray, Uncle Sam got mad - against the protestors, now jailed for up to five years. Will Peace Prize winner Obama set them free?
… for 40 years as a missionary in western Africa teaching science. Sentenced along with …