Over one hundred Colombian farmers are suing BP in the UK High Court for over $28 million, claiming that the British company Equion Energia (formerly BP Exploration (Colombia)) was negligent in the construction of the Ocensa oil pipeline in the 1990s. In 2006 a different group of Colombian farmers received an undisclosed amount of
Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda are the main producers of coffee in Africa, with Ethiopia being the continent’s leading coffee grower. Traditionally it takes rather a long time to be served a cup of coffee in Ethiopia, but things are now speeding up. As coffee plants originate from the east African
Since 1945, the “Washington Institutions,” such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with the US Treasure have both sustained and constrained global economic development depending on different perspectives. To the developing countries, the conditionality of the IMF and the World Bank that pushed privatization and deregulation in those countries is
With the biggest economy in Europe, Germany’s first female defence Minister Ursula Von Der Leyen wants the German army to play a greater role in the international arena. Last month she dispatched German army volunteers to help combat Ebola in the African continent, and although she has not yet joined in the bombing of the Islamic
The slums of Kenya, according to The Guardian, are covered in human waste. Members of Kenya’s slums do not have an adequate amount of toilets so they defecate in bags and then to discard the bags they throw them out of their homes and onto the streets. These Kenyan citizens do not know that feces,
After nine months of unprecedented drought, 95% of the water has gone. Supplies are usually abundant. Brazil has 12% of the world’s freshwater and less than 3% of the world population. The drought, affecting Brazil’s southeast and central regions, has prompted rationing in 19 cities, undermined hydropower generation, pushed up greenhouse gas emissions and
On the 10th of October, 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize was award to Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi for their actions as child rights campaigners. Pakistani teenager, Malala Yousafzai, who is the youngest recipient in the Peace Prize’s history, was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating for girls rights to
Ghana says it is now close to reaching a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a financial assistance programme which it hopes to be finalize in November announced Deputy Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson on Thursday. The country has been economically stagnate this past year due to self-inflicted wounds. This deal will hopefully
Mr Hollande, the Socialist French president elected in May 2012, currently leads his country with a popularity rating of 13%, and it seems to be sinking even further. This is the lowest recorded poll rating since the Cinquième République (Fifth Republic) was established by Charles de Gaulle in 1958. Even though the overall tax income
South Sudan’s citizens, foreign workers, and their economic means (oil, farming, cattle, etc.) need all the protection they can get. South Sudan is plagued with a violent ethnic conflict that started when President Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his chief deputy Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer from his post. Since then, the army was
The World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized the impoverished health care systems of the countries hardest hit by the Ebola virus: Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. The WHO has stressed the importance of health care professionals treating those infected with Ebola follow strict guidelines and protocols when dealing with infected patients. Professor Piot, a
Hong Kong, as the 6th largest stock market in the world and as the 2nd largest in Asia ranked closely after the Tokyo, is now experiencing political turmoil that has a possibility of spreading its influence to the economy of mainland China and those of the whole Asian region. Thousands of people, mainly students, have
An edict issued by South Sudan’s Ministry of Labor on September 16th ordered all foreign workers to leave within a month. This understandably caused a stir internationally, but especially within the development community whose workforce is almost entirely foreign. This move would not only further cripple the already troubled nation, but would severely disrupt foreign
Even though Scotland rejected independence from the United Kingdom in September, the ramifications of this referendum have had an impact outside of the Union. The Scottish referendum has reignited and reenergized political movements and debates throughout Europe. It may even entice other separatist groups to replicate and adopt the ‘Scottish model’ which carries out the
There are many Venezuelan immigrants in New York protesting the possible inclusion of Venezuela into the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2015-16 year. They are concerned that a state that oppresses their people’s liberty of speech, imprisons political activists without just cause, and is constantly siding with the world’s greatest oppressors will be
Khorasan, a relatively unknown extremist group, has been targeted in the first round of airstrikes conducted by the US and its Arab allies in Syria effectively killing its leader Mushin al-Fadhli. The State Department had offered a $7 million reward for information on his whereabouts in 2012. The Pentagon’s Rear Admiral John Kirby said
Today’s ecological and environmental problems are increasingly global in nature and to deal with these problems there is a need for international cooperation. On September 23, 2014, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon invited all heads of states to the U.N. Climate Summit, during which a pact/treaty, called the 2015 Paris Agreement, was planned ahead to strengthen
