Latin America

A significant gap between the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama and staunchly pro-Israel majorities in both houses of Congress appears to have emerged over what to do in reaction to Tuesday’s report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on possible military applications of Iran’s nuclear program.

If Chinese detractors of liberal democracy and unbridled market development ever needed more fodder for their attacks on the West, then last week’s Greek farce provided plenty. But behind the headlines announcing “the collapse of Europe” there is little sense of ideological triumph. Instead Beijing is busy drawing up contingency plans for the breakup of the euro zone and absorbing the lessons of welfare state excesses.

“What makes this movement revolutionary is that there are new organizational forms taking place that haven’t been tried yet and it’s truly a new moment,” said Mary Clinton a 25-year-old activist.

Unless civil society activists launch their own program of action at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro next summer (Jun. 4-6), the event will be little more than an expensive talkfest.

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama announced Monday that it would immediately cut U.S. funding for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, just hours after UNESCO’s governing board voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestine full membership.

Inspired by the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in the United States, thousands of Japanese youth and workers, dissatisfied with growing unemployment and harsh working conditions in the world’s third largest economy, have taken to the streets to demand stable jobs and government reforms.

With 800 million members in over 100 countries, the cooperative sector is a globally important group of collective organizations. On Oct. 31, the United Nations (U.N.) will begin a year of recognizing their importance by launching the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) in New York.

As sub-Saharan Africa grapples with high food prices in some regions and famine in others, many experts argue that increasing food production through a program of hybrid seeds and chemical inputs is the way to go.

As the sun came up over Oakland City Hall Wednesday, Mike Porter, 24, was standing behind police barricades, watching a public works crew power wash the plaza that had been home to some 200 participants in the Occupy Oakland movement.

Fátima Hernández, a young Nicaraguan rape victim who has become a symbol in her country in her fight for justice, is now working to help women in a similar situation, and preparing to take her case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.