Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Kanya D’Almeida NEW YORK, Jan 21, 2012 (IPS) – In most mainstream media the words "corruption" and "election fraud" accompany images of makeshift polling stations manned by armed guards in Burma or burning tires beside tattered ballot boxes in South Sudan – the insidiousness of stolen elections [...]
TURKEY: Filtering Out Internet Freedom
January 21, 2012 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS ANKARA, Jan 19, 2012 (IPS) – Fifteen respected academics from different Turkish universities signed a declaration in Ankara last week protesting recent state regulations restricting access to a variety of websites on ‘moral’ and ‘national integrity’ grounds. Simultaneously, thousands of angry netizens held street demonstrations in several major [...]
MEXICO: Activists Organise Against Spiralling Threats
August 15, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Aug 12, 2011 (IPS) – "Open the door! Open the door, you SOBs!" Policemen dressed in black, wearing balaclavas and carrying "what I suppose were high-power rifles" broke down the door of the home of Efraín Bartolomé, a poet who lives on the [...]
MEXICO-RIGHTS: Activists Tell U.N. High Commissioner They’re in Danger
July 10, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Jul 8, 2011 (IPS) – Reports of extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, kidnappings and assaults are some of the heavy baggage that U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay is taking home from Mexico. Pillay, who ended an official visit here Friday, met [...]
MIDEAST: ‘Flytilla’ Debacle Another PR Nightmare For Israel
July 10, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mel Frykberg BEN GURION AIRPORT, Tel Aviv, Jul 10, 2011 (IPS) – Confused foreign tourists arriving at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Friday would be forgiven for thinking that a terrorist attack was about to take place. Hundreds of armed Israeli soldiers and police spread throughout [...]
MEDIA-LATIN AMERICA: The Seduction of Power
June 26, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Raúl Pierri MONTEVIDEO, Jun 24, 2011 (IPS) – The governments and big private media groups in Latin America are waging a war to win over public opinion, the ultimate arbiter of legitimacy, and the only solution would appear to be to strike up an alliance. "Battle" was [...]
SRI LANKAN TAMILS: A DISCONCERTING SITUATION FOR INDIA
June 19, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN My attention has been drawn to a disturbing documentary titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” produced by Mr.Jon Snow of the Channel4 TV channel of the UK. 2.The documentary highlights the results of a forensic investigation into the bloody culmination phase of the counter-insurgency operations of the Sri Lankan Security [...]
Governments and Powers-That-Be Fear the Internet
June 6, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Gustavo Capdevila GENEVA, Jun 6, 2011 (IPS) – The global reach of the internet, and its ability to transmit information in real time and mobilise populations, creates fear among governments and the powerful, says Frank La Rue, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of [...]
SPECULATION REGARDING ZARDARI
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN The “Dawn News” of Karachi has reported as follows: “President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday (December 6,2011) arrived in Dubai for a medical check-up. According to presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar, the President has traveled to Dubai along with his team of doctors for an extensive medical examination. He added [...]