World On Fire: UN Helpless As Crises Rage In 10 Critical Hot Spots

 World On Fire: UN Helpless As Crises Rage In 10 Critical Hot Spots

Dear Friend,

If you think the content of this news letter is critical for the dignified living and survival of humanity and other species on earth, please forward it to your friends and spread the word. It's time for humanity to come together as one family! You can subscribe to our news letter here http://www.countercurrents.org/subscribe.htm. You can also follow us on twitter, http://twitter.com/countercurrents and on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/countercurrents

In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org


World On Fire: UN Helpless As Crises Rage In 10 Critical Hot Spots
By Thalif Deen

http://www.countercurrents.org/deen210415.htm

The United Nations is fighting a losing battle against a rash of political and humanitarian crises in 10 of the world's critical "hot spots." Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says even the U.N.'s 193 member states cannot, by themselves, help resolve these widespread conflicts. "Not a single country, however powerful or resourceful as it may be, including the United States, can do it," he warned last week. The world's current political hotspots include Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic – not forgetting West Africa which is battling the spread of the deadly disease Ebola


Blood On Their Hands: Libya's Boat Refugees And "Humanitarian" Imperialism
By Johannes Stern & Bill Van Auken

http://www.countercurrents.org/auken210415.htm

The horrific death toll of African and Middle Eastern refugees and migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe is a damning indictment of all the major imperialist powers, and most particularly the United States


Oil Market Uncertain As US Shale Boom "Goes Bust"
By Countercurrents.org

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc210415.htm

Oil market is uncertain as the US shale oil output is expected to fall for the first time in four years, and the coming months are likely to see a continuing price war between OPEC producers. Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and HIS are now projecting that US oil production growth will now end. The global oil price rose slightly in the morning of April 14


Sex, Drugs, And Dead Soldiers : What U.S. Africa Command Doesn't Want You To Know
By Nick Turse

http://www.countercurrents.org/turse210415.htm

For years, as U.S. military personnel moved into Africa in ever-increasing numbers, AFRICOM has effectively downplayed, disguised, or covered-up almost every aspect of its operations, from the locations of its troop deployments to those of its expanding string of outposts. Not surprisingly, it's done the same when it comes to misdeeds by members of the command and continues to ignore questions surrounding crimes and alleged misconduct by its personnel, refusing even to answer emails or phone calls about them


What Happens When Mugabe Leaves: Zimbabwe In The Next 50 Years
By Tsungai Chipato

http://www.countercurrents.org/chipato210415.htm

Regional hegemony will be the norm for the next following decades; as world powers follow Obama doctrine of having a small footprint but large reach. With South Africa seeing itself in the beginning throes, of a period of decline due to internal conflict. Western powers may have no choice but to deal with whatever administration that administers Zimbabwe


Abolish The Zionist Mythological Narrative
By Ludwig Watzal

http://www.countercurrents.org/watzal210415.htm

Miko Peled, son of general Matityahu Peled and author of the highly acclaimed book "The General's Son"(1) , destroys in his lecture the historic fairy tales that the Zionist fabricated around their conquest of Palestine. The Zionist claim a "right of return" to their ancient homeland while they are denying the same right to the Palestinians who they dispersed in 1948


Truth Is Washington's Enemy
By Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.countercurrents.org/roberts210415.htm

A government that cannot survive truth and must resort to stamping out truth is not a government that any country wants. But such an undesirable government is the government that Clinton-Bush-Cheney-Obama-Hillary-Lack-Royce have given us


How America's Aristocracy Extends Its Global Control
By Eric Zuesse

http://www.countercurrents.org/zuesse210415.htm

America's great Founders defeated the aristocracy of their time. Gradually, an American aristocracy has arisen to take its place. But, with what's now known, perhaps those people can also be defeated; and, this time, because of what is now known, it might be able to be done in a way that will prevent any future aristocracy from forming here. The situation is far from hopeless. It is bad, but progress really is possible. And progress should be the goal


World Bank Group Increases Spending On Fossil Fuels: 2014 Saw $3 Billion For Fossil Fuel
By Countercurrents.org

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc210415A.htm

Despite repeated calls for urgent action on climate crisis, the World Bank Group (WBG) increased funding for fossil fuels in its last fiscal year. The increase comes during the first full fiscal year following the World Bank's announced commitment to limit coal financing due to climate concerns. Last year, the WBG provided more than $3bn in financing for fossil fuels


Why Cuba Won't Extradite Assata Shakur
By Matt Peppe

http://www.countercurrents.org/peppe2104115.htm

As negotiations continue between the governments of the United States and Cuba over the normalization of relations, the U.S. State Department has claimed Cuba is willing to discuss the extradition of political refugee Assata Shakur. While it may seem that Cuba would gladly make such a seemingly minor concession in return for the promise of normalized relations, this would greatly underestimate the Cuban government's commitment to upholding its principles. Shakur need not worry that Cuba will cave for expediency's sake and send her back to the country she escaped from after being harassed and persecuted for years


Dana Durnford's Post-Fukushima Odyssey: Documenting Ecocide on Canada's West Coast
By Robert Snefjella

http://www.countercurrents.org/snefjella210415.htm

Dana Durnford's odyssey, in 2014 and 2015, not a fable, has been to document what has happened and is happening since Fukushima to wild life, plant and animal, in the waters and tidal zone and pools on the West Coast of Canada. His boat is a little Zodiac water craft, almost impossible to sink, but no comfort inn. He has sailed it largely alone, with his intrepid old dog Zoey, for months and for many hundreds of kilometers along the shores of British Columbia and its islands and out to the Queen Charlotte Islands


Land Acquisition Bill Takes Away Rights Of Farmers And Pits Them Against 'Make In India'
By Dr Rahul Pandey and Dr Sandeep Pandey

http://www.countercurrents.org/pandey210415.htm

Since the past several months we have seen the NDA government aggressively pushing through changes in land acquisition policy, first in the form of Ordinance in December 2014 and then, as it was passed as a Bill with nine changes in Lok Sabha but faced roadblock in Rajya Sabha, re-promulgating it before its expiry in April 2015. With the government calling the Bill pro-farmer and pro-development and most of opposition parties and social activists opposing it as anti-farmer, it is useful to sieve through the noise and look at the changes proposed and what existed earlier