Global News and Analysis

Source: Yes Magazine

With climate disruption, war, and a faltering economy, the ’00s were tough. Still, seeds were sewn for a more green and egalitarian 2010s. And peoples movements offer the power to make real change happen. In my last column, I listed nine crises of the ’00s.

But something else happened during the first decade of the millennium. People around the world turned away from ways of life and practices that are endangering our world and worked to make communities, work places, and technologies green and egalitarian. And peoples movements challenged the power of corporations, the military, and finance interests, insisting on putting people and the planet first. It’s this combination of smart, local innovation and people power that offers hopeful possibilities for the ’10s, ’20s, and beyond. read more

Source: Yes Magazine

Thailand’s Andaman coast was flattened by the tsunami that ravaged much of Southeast Asia in 2004. In the fishing village of Baan Nam Khen alone, some 2,200 of the village´s 4,000 inhabitants died when the village was washed away.

The shocked survivors spent several weeks in inland resettlement camps, waiting to return to the places where their people had lived for generations.

When they finally returned to the places where their homes had been, however, they were in for a surprise. It wasn’t the utter destruction of their villages-they had expected that-but the chain-link fences around their land. read more

Source: Women’s ENews

KAMPALA, Uganda (WOMENSENEWS)–After parliament’s recent passage of key laws to protect women here, Jane Alisemera Babiha, chair of the Uganda Women Parliamentarians Association, is hoping a bill to modernize laws on marriage and divorce will sail through in January.

"We are anxious to have this law passed by the beginning of next year," Alisemera told Women’s eNews recently.

"It is only natural that as women, we should champion for the cause of our fellow women who we represent," added parliamentarian Mary Karooro Okurut, representative of the Bushenyi district. "But in our campaign, we are also enlisting the support of men." read more

Source: Green Left Weekly

The November 26 announcement that the sovereign fund Dubai World would require a six-month pause on payments on its US$60 billion debt sent tremors through international stock markets.

In response, European markets fell 3%, the November 28 Sydney Morning Herald said.

On November 30, the government of Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s neighbour and fellow member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), issued a statement confirming that it would bailout Dubai’s debt.

Not all of it -some banks would still lose something – but enough to ensure that major banks with “exposure” to Dubai World, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Citi and HSBC, would not again be plunged into crisis. read more