What's New, April 1999

Date of Update

Description

April 24, 1999

1. NATO is 50 Years old. With the end of the Cold War, the original purpose of this alliance has ended. Now, it is trying to fill in a role which the UN already has, while undermining the UN altogether... Should the 50 years be celebrating the end of NATO? Go There!
2. Kosovo updates. Many more links regarding the Kosovo crisis have been added. For example, the effects on the environment, some interesting quotes from Richard Holbrooke and Madeline Albright, in 1995, both on the side of Milosevic, the violation and citation of international law as it suits NATO, the effect of the conflict on children, political motive, double standards and more... Go There!
3. Ethnic Minorities have been scapegoats in many nations. In this century of war, ethnic conflicts still occur and racism is still increasing... A Nazi group claims responsibility for the explosion of a second bomb in another ethnic area of London... Go There!
4. The massacre of school children and teachers in a US high school earlier this week has been truly horrendous. The two kids who went around the school shooting people were targeting ethnic minorities and planned the whole incident to take place on the birthday of Adolph Hitler... The reaction from President Clinton regarding the need to solve conflicts without using weapons, while much needed, does seem contradictory to what is going on in Kosovo... Go There!
5. Military contractors have an interest in promoting security concerns. If they can convince the leaders that there is a threat etc, then more expenditure on military equipment will result. NATO expansion gives another boost to these military contractors, as well as the Kosovo Crisis... Go There!
6. A source of information on Landmines has been added. This is an entire magazine issue devoted to the subject from New Internationalist... Go There!
7. There have been a number of causes for the global financial crisis. Amongst them, many point to the structural adjustment policies and also too much unregulated free markets... Go There!
8. Some of the effects of various lending schemes have resulted in many problems around the world. Yugoslavia has also suffered from this and this has perhaps allowed someone as ruthless like Milosevic to come to power... Go There!
9. The IMF and World Bank have admitted that structural adjustment initiatives to help heavily indebted poor countries has been backfiring in some cases. This is what some debt-relief groups have been fearing even before the scheme was launched... Go There!
10. A new report suggests that the forests of the world have been exploited to the point of crisis. Continuing loss of pristine forests would mean a potential loss of benefits such as medical cures while increasing the likelihood of very expensive costs to reverse the effects... Go There!
11. A source of additional information has been added. This one is New Internationalist in Easier English, based on the very good New Internationalist magazine... Go There!

April 18, 1999

1. A new section on Mainstream Media has been added. This used to be a subsection in the Human Rights page, but it has grown and become its own page. A lot more has also been added. There are sections on Media and Conflicts, Corporations and the Media, and Media in the USA... Go There!
2. Western Media has become more part of the war machine to help NATO than to report objectively on what is happening. Instead of constructive criticism about the NATO policies and the effect that it has had (i.e. making the situation even worse) the media has unfortunately been as biased as the Serb media... Go There!
3. NATO bombing is achieving the opposite of the stated goals... NATO bombing has seen an increased crackdown by Milosevic on Ethnic Albanians, a reduction in democratic opposition in Belgrade, a crackdown on opposition media in Serbia and a devastated Kosovar people that are not being protected from the ruthless onslaught of Serbian forces... Go There!
4. The Environment is also affected by NATO bombing... The entire Balkan region can be affected by bombing... Go There!
5. There has been increased violence in East Timor. Pro-integration paramilitaries, supported by the Indonesian government are contributing to this, which has delayed a UN-backed peace process... Go There!
6. Extradition proceedings of Pinochet to go ahead. British Home Secretary, Jack Straw gave the authorisation on April 15... Go There!
7. The total debt of developing nations continue to rise, despite ever-increasing payments, while aid is falling according to a World Bank publication that tracks the annual movement of international capital flows to developing countries... Go There!
8. The ecological footprint of a city or nation can be larger than the country itself. This footprint is the amount of land required to sustain the city or nation and where the natural resources come from. These regions are not always sustained... Go There!

April 9, 1999

1. Russia sees NATO attacks on Yugoslavia as a direct threat to itself. The attacks have been met with a lot of criticism in Russia as well as other nations... Go There!
2. Media propaganda is occurring both in Serbia and in the NATO countries Some good resources on media portrayal of this conflict have been added. One to note is the Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting section on Yugoslavia. Much more has also been added about the entire crisis such as links mentioning that the KLA have actually said that they have felt betrayed by NATO, yet we do not hear this in mainstream media, that the strong objections from Russia has even led to about 70,000 young people there apparently saying they have signed up as would-be volunteers in Yugoslavia... Go There!
3. Other former Latin American dictators could be facing charges similar to that which Pinochet faces. There have been many cases of torture, disappearances and worse... Go There!
4. Problems in Haiti have been numerous. Many of them due to political interests of more powerful countries and large corporate interests... Go There!
5. The WTO has authorised the largest ever trade sanctions on the EU regarding the banana trade pacts. To many this seems like a battle between fair trade and free trade... A good FAQ, which has been linked to, also suggests that the US sanctions and actions could be illegal... Go There!
6. More information about Fair Trade related issues. The Campaign for Labour Rights has excellent information on many many topics... Go There!
7. Damage to the Amazon is worse than previously thought. Deforestation in such places poses a risk to biodiversity, which can affect all of us, directly or indirectly... Go There!
8. A new source of more information has been added. This one is Le Monde Diplomatique, a french source (with English translation) providing good analysis into many important issues... Go There!

April 3, 1999

1. There is obviously a lot of media coverage about the Kosovo crisis, but there has been a war going on in the Congo involving over seven countries which has gone largely unmentioned... That too has created thousand of refugees... Go There!
2. Has the NATO bombing made the Serbs increase their crackdown on Ethnic Albanians? How is humanitarian support and protection being provided to the fleeing refugees? Will targeting Belgrade and risking innocent Yugoslavian lives risk more rallying behind Milisovic, increasing resentment against USA and NATO? Will this also lead to further crackdowns and atrocities by Milisovic and Serbian troops? These and many other questions are asked and many links provided for possible answers and insights... Go There!
3. Canada will act alone if other G7 nations do not take steps to reduce debt burden of severely indebted countries. Some prominent people, such as the chief economist of the World Bank and the Finance Minister of Britain have admitted that some debt repayment policies need reconsidering... Go There!
4. Structural Adjustment policies affect the ability for governments to provide better healthcare to women. The forced cutbacks, or reforms, leaves less for such expenditure... Go There!
5. Web Active is a decent source of more information. They have a lot of Real Audio news reports and analysis of various issues from groups like Democracy Now and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting... Go There!

Check Out What Was New In:

• March 1999
• February 1999
• January 1999
• December 1998
• November 1998
• October 1998
• September 1998
• August 1998
• July 1998