International

World military expenditure totalled $1.75 trillion in 2012, a fall of 0.5 per cent in real terms since 2011, according to figures released today by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).* The comprehensive annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure…

by Alberto Tetta A documentary movie gives voice to the families of lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals in Turkey. “My child” is an intense work, gaining increasing attention. We met its director, Can Candan. “My daughter is transsexual, I come from…

“The weapons of choice in (today’s) new conflicts are not big-ticket items like long-range missiles, tanks, and fighter planes, but small and frighteningly accessible weapons ranging from handguns, carbines, and assault rifles on up to machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and…

Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) is under siege in that relative rarity in Hong Kong, a workers strike. Speaking to the press the company said it expects 90 vessels will skip the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal, where it operates, if the…

Whistleblower Bradley Manning has been nominated [for the third year running] for the Nobel Peace Prize, and according to several websites he should receive it. We include here links for those who would like to support the nomination. “No individual…

The United Nations human rights chief today urged all branches of the United States Government to work together to close the Guantánamo detention centre, stressing that the indefinite incarceration of detainees is a clear breach of international law. “I am…

The United Nations today called for accelerated action in the next 1,000 days from governments, international organizations and civil society groups to reach the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their deadline at the end…

Four years today, President Obama announced in Prague his vision and commitment to seek a world without nuclear weapons. Alyn Ware, Global Coordinator for Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament, reports on a number of anniversary actions, and asks whether…

“Most taxpayers know that evading tax is a crime, but how many of us know that paying tax can also be a crime?” Tony Farrell interviews Chris Coverdale who explains different Genocide and International War Law agreements, his tax withholding…

The BRICS just became impossible to ignore.  At the close of the Fifth annual BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa last week, there was little question that this group of five fast-growing economies was underwriting an overhaul of the global economic and…