Since 2003 Iran has been coerced into playing a nuclear chess game against US and Israel. Western media outlets have been playing the part of cheer leaders for the American Israeli side, preparing the observing masses for the expected American Israeli “checkmate” move against Iran. Not a single day passes without the description and analyses of a tactical move, with each analysis ending with the question of when, rather than if, the Israelis would bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.
In August 2009, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) published a special report titled: "Locked In: The Humanitarian Impact of Two Years of Blockade on the Gaza Strip." It focuses on import and export restrictions, the travel ban on "livelihoods, food security, education, health, shelter, energy and water, and sanitation." It explains how violence and human rights abuses increase the suffering of 1.5 million people.
Last week supporters of health-care reform gathered around the country, including in Austin, TX, where 2,000 people crowded into a downtown church to hear speakers talk about different aspects of the issue. Asked to speak about the ethical dimensions of health care, I tried to go beyond short-term political strategizing and ask more basic questions. This is an edited version of what I said.
Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, has denied claims his government pressured Scotland to free the Lockerbie bomber or that it struck a deal with Libya over the release.
Four men have been sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for their part in a multi-million dollar bank robbery in the capital during which eight police guards were killed.
Opium farming in Afghanistan has declined by 22 per cent this year as prices for the drug tumbled, causing farmers to switch to other crops, the UN has said.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the outgoing head of the UN atomic watchdog, has called the nuclear threat from Iran "hyped" and said there was no evidence that Tehran will soon have nuclear weapons.
Brazil's environment minister says increased policing has brought a sharp drop in Amazon deforestation over the past year, despite July's jump in logging.
Colombian legislators have passed a bill which will allow Alvaro Uribe, the country's president, to seek a third consecutive term if he chooses to run for re-election next May.
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