Language Translation MARCH 2011 WORLD AFFAIRS

MARCH 2011 WORLD AFFAIRS

There's more to development than ending absolute poverty
Living standards may be improving, but each generation will still need to fight for equality, dignity and justice. Read more
 
Amnesty: Death penalty use dropped in 2010 (UN Wire)
While the number of countries that carried out the death penalty rose by four to 23 in 2010, the overall number of people executed dropped from 714 to 527, Amnesty International says in a report. The figures do not include China, which carries out more death penalty sentences than any other country, according to this article. Read more
 
Online mapping and humanitarian relief (UN Wire)
Humanitarian relief efforts can be greatly enhanced by the deployment of crowdsourced mapping tools, according to a report, but more coordination is required by leading agencies including the UN and the Red Cross for them to reach their potential. The analysis comes from a report called "Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies" from the UN Foundation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Vodafone Foundation and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. Click here to read and download the full report, via the UN Foundation. Read more
 
International Women’s Day
International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. News from around the world on International Women's Day. Read More
 
Top 100 women
We celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day, with a list of the top 100 social, economic, artistic and political achievers Read More
 
Pope finds Jews not to blame for death of Jesus
Pope concludes those responsible for the crucifixion were the 'Temple aristocracy' and supporters of the rebel Barabbas. Read More
 
Facebook Jihad: The Radical Islamist Roots of the Frankfurt Attack
Arid U., who has confessed to the Wednesday shooting of two US airmen at the Frankfurt airport, was an unfriendly loner, say his neighbors. But his list of Facebook friends indicate that the 21-year-old had several contacts with radical Islamists. Read More
 
Stepping on the Gas: New Drilling Technologies Shake Up Global Market
While the world fears a new oil price shock, the entire energy market is on the verge of a revolution. Companies are using increasingly sophisticated technology to tap new sources of natural gas. Drilling is also underway in Germany, where both the potential and the risks seem enormous. Read More
 
Pakistan Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti shot dead
Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti has been shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car in broad daylight in the capital, Islamabad. Read More
 
How to draft a constitution: six steps for the Middle East
Egypt’s military has suspended the country’s Constitution and tasked experts with overhauling its fundamental law. Other countries in the region may also soon be in line for such a make-over – redesigning government institutions, enshrining individual liberties, entrenching guarantees of democratic accountability. But not all constitutions are created equal. Read More
 
Madagascar captures Somali pirate 'mother ship.' Now what?
The capture of a Somali pirate 'mother ship' north of Madagascar, some 2,500 miles from Somalia, has highlighted this impoverished island nation's outdated piracy laws. Read More
 
'Air hybrid' cars would be cheaper than electric hybrids, claims researcher
Storing energy as compressed air rather than in batteries would reduce the cost of green hybrid cars, say researchers in Sweden. Read More
 
Armed conflict blocking efforts to achieve universal primary schooling, UN warns
Armed conflict is robbing 28 million children of an education by exposing them to widespread rape and other sexual violence, targeted attacks on schools and other human rights abuses, according to a United Nations report issued today. Read More
 
Fear of Freedom: Democracy Virus Has Dictators Fretting
First it was Ben Ali in Tunisia, then Mubarak in Egypt. Now Libya's Gadhafi is under pressure. From Cuba to China, dictators are watching events in the Arab world with alarm, with full knowledge that ideas are spreading to their populations via the Internet -- and that they could be next. Read More