By : Carey L. Biron
The U.S. military over the weekend formally began to support the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Advocates of the move, including prominent voices in global health, are lauding the Pentagon’s particularly robust logistical capacities, which nearly all observers say are desperately needed as the epidemic expands at an increasing rate. Yet […]
A United Nations panel reviewing the U.S. record on racial discrimination has expressed unusually pointed concern over a new pattern of laws it warns is criminalising homelessness. U.S. homelessness has increased substantially in the aftermath of the financial downturn, and with a disproportionate impact on minorities. Yet in many places officials have responded by cracking […]
The U.S. and Brazilian governments are moving into the final stages of weighing approval for the commercialisation of genetically engineered eucalyptus trees, moves that would mark the first such permits anywhere in the world. The Brazilian government is slated to start taking public comments on such a proposal during the first week of September. Similarly, […]
The shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in the southern United States earlier this month has led to widespread public outrage around issues of race, class and police brutality. In particular, a flurry of policy discussions is focusing on the startling level of force and military-style weaponry used by local […]
Civil society groups are split over a decision by the U.S. government to waive sanctions on Myanmar’s timber sector for one year. The decision, which went into effect late last month, is being hailed by some as an opportunity for community-led and sustainability initiatives to take root in Myanmar, where lucrative forestry revenues have long […]
Pressure is building here for lawmakers to pass a bill that would funnel billions of dollars of U.S. investment into strengthening Africa’s electricity production and distribution capabilities, and could offer broad new support for off-grid opportunities. With half of the U.S. Congress having already acted on the issue, supporters are now hoping that the Senate […]
Newly publicised internal documents suggest that U.S. negotiators are working to permanently block a landmark regulatory proposal in the European Union aimed at addressing climate change, and instead to force European countries to import particularly dirty forms of oil. Environmentalists, working off of documents released through open government requests, say U.S. trade representatives are responding […]
Some of the largest companies in the United States have banded together to call for a substantial increase in the production of renewable electricity, as well as for more simplicity in purchasing large blocs of green energy. A dozen U.S-based companies, most of which operate globally, say they want to significantly step up the amount […]
Landmark new policies that have sharply curtailed U.S. financing for international coal projects may be rolled back, the result of a sudden, polarised fight over a little-known government agency here. The debate revolves around an entity called the Export-Import Bank, which for much of the past century has made federal money available to promote U.S. […]
Environmentalists are formally urging President Barack Obama to enact trade sanctions on Mozambique over the country’s alleged chronic facilitation of elephant and rhinoceros poaching through broad swathes of southern Africa. Investigators say substantial evidence exists of Mozambique’s failure to abide by international conventions against wildlife trafficking, including to back up allegations of state complicity. While […]
IPS Daily Report
