Throughout the 2008-2010 financial crisis, Canadian banks were touted by the government and the banks themselves as being very stable and that they needed no bailout. However, in reality, Canada’s banks received billions in cash and loan support during the 2008-2010 financial crisis—and the government has remained resolutely secretive about the details, according to a study released this week by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA, one of the focal points of Social Watch in that country).

Fishing port in Gaza.
(Image: Press TV)

Israeli keeps on putting pressure on fishermen in the Gaza Strip at the height of the fishing season. Nearly a dozen Palestinian fishermen were arrested by Israeli forces off the coast since mid-April. The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in the occupied territories) warns that those Israeli policies are worsening the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“Speak Up, Speak Out: A Toolkit for Reporting on Human Rights Issues” seeks to help journalists and other content creators learn the basics of reporting on women’s and other human rights issues. This handbook was produced by Internews, an international non-profit organization devoted to “empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect and the means to make their voices heard”.

In the eve of Rio2012, civil society organizations all over the world are warning against the “growing influence of major corporations and business lobby groups within the UN”. Those concerns became also apparent in the thirteenth session of the UNCTAD in Doha, where the rich countries were trying to minimize the role of that agency, whose reports have consistently criticized the politics of deregulation, liberalization and privatization that benefit the private sector.

UNCTAD XVIII closing
ceremony. (Photo: UNCTAD)

In the thirteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII), civil society representatives “witnessed outrageous attempts by developed countries to change the policy basis and mandate” of that UN agency, that reflected their corporations and investors’ interests “rather than maintaining historical policy commitments to assist developing countries”, according the statement issued by the organizations on Thursday.

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