Region

We may never know what drove a U.S. Army staff sergeant to head out into the Afghan night and allegedly murder at least 16 civilians in their homes, among them nine children and three women. The massacre near Belambai, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, has shocked the world and intensified the calls for an end to the longest war in U.S. history.

Imagine this scenario: A developing nation decides to selectively share its precious natural resource, selling only to “friendly” countries and not “hostile” ones. Now imagine this is oil we’re talking about and the nation in question is the Islamic Republic of Iran… [the original article was published February 17, on Al Akhbar]

Last week, money was raised to send three US Veterans for Peace to Jeju Island, they were not allowed to land; meanwhile, the South Korean authorities detained and began the process of deporting two international nonviolent peace activists, Angie Zelter UK Benjamin Monnet France. Reports from Veterans for Peace US and Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

Goldman Sachs’s executive director’s resignation made big headlines. Accusations of corrupt and immoral practices appeared to suggest that this was a particular, perhaps isolated, case. Grateful as we are to Greg Smith for highlighting the shortcomings of the financial giant we should not be distracted from the fact that this is how the present system works.

In these present times we are seeing growing protests, in various countries, against the dominating violent structures in all their shades. This is especially seen among the new generations – this time supported by their parents – that show their irreverence at dictators, autocracies and the neoliberal system, through creative and non-violent activities.

Bangkok – Japan is widely regarded as well-prepared for disasters, being used to frequent tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes and volcanic activity, but a year after the calamitous events of 11 March 2011, the lessons from the multi-disaster still resonate.

Reporters Without Borders denies reports that it was “excluded” from UNESCO during this UN body’s most recent executive council session for a supposed “lack of ethics.” False reports to this effect have been circulated by certain media, especially in Latin America, without any attempt at verification.

Yemen has been facing a new wave of internal displacement, with tens of thousands of civilians fleeing tribal clashes in the north and fresh fighting between Government troops and militants in the country’s south.

On this the first anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster questions remain to be adequately and correctly answered on: is life in Japan back to normal? What lessons were learnt about the hugely funded nuclear industry? What do we really know about radiation and nuclear energy, what impacts do these have on our lives?

A court case in the UK will suggest that civilians engaged in aiding to guide unmanned aircraft to kill people in foreign countries may be committing serious violations of international law making them liable to prosecution. The high level of civilian deaths perceived as “collateral damage” further puts into question this novel form of political assassinations.