JERUSALEM, Apr 15, 2012 (IPS) – As 60 percent of the international activists set to land at Ben Gurion airport Sunday had their plane tickets cancelled, organisers of the ‘Welcome to Palestine’ fly-in campaign condemned what they say is European complicity in Israel’s illegal restrictions on their right to travel freely. "It’s a sign of capitulation and obedience to illegal …

Young people are using social networking to drastically alter power dynamics, speak out against human rights abuses and end oppression.  Credit:UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran UNITED NATIONS, Apr 6, 2012 (IPS) – In his keynote address to the Global Colloquium of University Presidents at New York's Columbia University last week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke of the growing power exercised by …

Although the word ‘Islamic’ refers to beliefs specifically related to Muslims, it is a different case altogether with Islamic banking and finance. It is a sophisticated banking and finance structure based on moral and social values, which is compatible with the modern day financing needs, and hence, is receiving overwhelming response from Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Islamic banking Sometime ago, …

A worrisome question on the minds of Sri Lankans is ‘Is the United States sponsored UNHRC resolution ‘calling’ Sri Lanka to implement the LLRC recommendations a prelude to US-Indian military designs on the island? Toss the US strategy for world domination as demonstrated in its PNAC (Plan for New American Century) along with its obsession with China into the equation …

Asia and Africa will account for a hefty 86 percent of all increases in the world's urban population in the next four decades, the United Nations said in a report released Wednesday. Africa's urban population will increase from the current 414 million to over 1.2 billion by 2050, while Asia will increase from 1.9 billion to 3.3 billion.  The largest …

As the currency weakens many countries that use the dollar are searching for alternatives. China is expected to be the top world economy in a matter of years. To add insult to injury, the BRICS countries have decided to lose the dollar and use their own currencies. So what does this mean for the US dollar? According to many economists, …