Global News and Analysis

Source: Green Left Weekly

The October 3-14 Commonwealth Games being held in Delhi have proven a disaster for India’s poor — economically and socially. Even before the games opened, 47 workers had died working on sites linked to the games, MSNBC.com said on September 23.

The September 23 Financial Times said working conditions were so bad that the People’s Union for Democratic Rights and other labour rights’ activists “filed a lawsuit in Delhi high court this year, claiming that workers on games sites faced unsafe conditions and rampant violation of a wide range of labour laws and standards. read more

Source: IPS News

(IPS) – “Voice for the voiceless” is the slogan adorning the walls of Liberia’s first and Africa’s second radio station for women.

Situated down a bumpy, dirt track on the edge of the capital, Monrovia, the Liberia Women Democracy Radio (LWDR), claims it wants to advance women and promote change. In a country trying to rebuild itself after 14 years of civil war in which women bore the brunt of the violence, they remain the most vulnerable group in society.

“Before the radio station, we couldn’t get our voices heard. The big people wouldn’t take our problems seriously,” says Deborah Reeves, a mother of four in Monrovia. “Now they hear them over and over.” read more

Looking back a few weeks, we were bitterly disappointed when the White House failed to act on our request that they put solar panels back on the roof.

But in truth, I’m almost happy that they waited. Today’s announcement that the Obamas will be taking their showers and cooking their breakfast courtesy of the sun could not have come at a better moment. We’re four days away from the start of the weekend’s giant Global Work Party, and this is the perfect example of everything that we’ve been talking about for almost a year: it demonstrates the power of individual actions to carry political impact. read more

Source: Mother Jones

How industry donations rule the political money game.

Want to follow the money? Below, 75 of the heaviest hitters in campaign cash.

1 AT&T

2 National Association of Realtors

3 Goldman Sachs

4 American Association for Justice

5 Citigroup

6 American Medical Association

7 National Automobile Dealers Association

8 United Parcel Service

9 Altria

10 American Bankers Association

11 National Association of Home Builders

12 National Beer Wholesalers Association

13 Microsoft

14 JPMorgan Chase

15 Time Warner read more

Source: Yes Magazine

Last spring, public officials from Madison, Wisconsin, returned home from a tour of the Netherlands, and within three weeks were implementing what they learned there about promoting bicycling on the streets of their own city.

This month, I joined a similar group of latter-day explorers on a quest to discover what American communities can learn from the Dutch about transforming bicycling in the U.S. from a largely recreational pastime to an integral part of our transportation system. read more

Source: Guardian Unlimited

In June of last year, when the Honduran military overthrew the social-democratic government of Manuel Zelaya, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador took it personally. “We have intelligence reports that say that after Zelaya, I’m next,” said Correa.

On Thursday, it turned out to be true. Some analysts are still insisting that what happened was just a police protest over possible benefit cuts that got out of hand. But to anyone who watched the prolonged, pitched gun-battle on TV last night, when the armed forces finally rescued President Correa from the hospital where he was trapped by the police, this did not look like a protest. It was an attempt to overthrow the government. read more