November 29, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Amid the mounting fiscal and economic crisis that is threatening to undermine the project of European integration, the Group of Lecce has issued a new statement on the need to reform European economic governance. The Group of Lecce aims to develop policies “to strengthen economic and financial multilateralism”, strengthening the democratic underpinnings of the Union, along with the dynamism of the European economy, through advanced ongoing cooperation.
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October 28, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
The European Union has reached an agreement to relieve Greece of half of its sovereign debt, and to boost the Eurozone bailout fund to €1 trillion. The agreement may well be funded, in part, by non-European governments, even private investors, but it shows a new commitment to the Union as such, even amid a surge [...]
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August 12, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
On Monday, the first day of trading after a credit downgrade of US Treasury bonds from Standard and Poors, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 624 points. On Tuesday, it gained 429 points. On Wednesday, it dropped by 509. And on Thursday, it gained 414. It is the first time in its history that the DJIA saw swings of 400 points or more for four consecutive days, swings that far out-strip some of the worst one-day declines in its history.
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August 9, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
After the shooting of an unarmed man by London’s Metropolitan Police force, in Tottenham, the community organized a peaceful protest, which through a series of events that remains difficult to trace, turned into clashes between police and youths. A rash of riots have now spread across greater London, with arson attacks, looting, and violent clashes between masked youth and armored police.
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July 19, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Gordon Brown, the former UK prime minister and chancellor of the Exchequer denounces “the systematic criminality of News International”, accusing the media conglomerate of “lawbreaking on an industrial scale” and of abusing the rights of citizens, crime victims and the families of soldiers who lost their lives in war, for financial gain by the most [...]
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July 19, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Rupert Murdoch has, today, told a Parliamentary committee in London that he was “clearly” misled by unknown persons within News Corp. Several of the committee members have sought to clarify who may have been responsible for misleading him. His son James told the committee that “What happened at News of the World was wrong”, adding that [...]
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July 18, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
In a shocking development, a former News of the World reporter and key whistleblower in the phone-hacking scandal now sweeping the News Corp. media empire and British political landscape has been found dead at his home in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Sean Hoare was the first named journalist to have alleged that Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor and top media officer for Prime Minister David Cameron, knew of and openly encouraged illegal phone hacking and other corrupt practices.
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July 18, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and his recently arrested protégée, Rebekah Brooks, are scheduled to testify before Parliament, tomorrow. With more than ten people now arrested on allegations of corruption and illegal hacking into private files, the scandal that closed the 168-year-old News of the World tabloid is now threatening to metastasize to the rest of the News Corp. news media properties, and to high-ranking public officials. For the second time in as many days, a top-ranking police official has stepped down, due to alleged connections to the News Corp. scandal.
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July 17, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
The downward spiral of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has deepened, as Rebekah Brooks, former editor of the News of the World tabloid, accused of bribery and illegal hacking of private phone messages and other documents, has now been arrested. Now, the multinational News Corp., which owns not only the now closed News of the World, [...]
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July 15, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
News Corp., the New York-based multinational media conglomerate whose majority shareholder is the controversial billionaire Rupert Murdoch, is now facing an FBI investigation for illegal activity in news gathering. Long maligned by press advocacy groups as a leading source of abusive media activity, and even of attacks on genuine news sources, News Corp. is now being accused of having authorized bribery and/or hacking activity to gain illegal access to the private files of victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
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June 16, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Spain’s May 15th movement is often called the revolution of the indignados, indignant at the failure of elective government to solve the problems that increasingly define the lives of ordinary people. The complaint, succinctly, is that the powers that be are collaborating in a systemic failure to live up to the rigors of a healthy, legitimate social contract.
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May 27, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
An effort by the Catalan state police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, to remove protesters from the Plaça Catalunya, by use of force, has ended with at least 125 people reported injured, the demonstrators retaking the square, and the Mossos forced to retreat. Protests have now spread to other parts of the city, as students have reportedly closed la Avinguda Diagonal, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, “in solidarity with the protesters in Plaça Catalunya”.
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May 27, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
In Spain’s capital, Madrid, in the heart of the city, at the Puerta del Sol, from which major roads radiate out toward all corners of the country, thousands of protesters, of all ages and social classes, young and old, have set up camp, literally, in what is now a Europe-wide demand for economic democracy. The [...]
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May 21, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Tens of thousands of youth protesters are occupying la Puerta del Sol, the central square in Madrid, the capital of Spain. They have been occupying the square for a week, and last night camped overnight, despite a new government ban. The protesters are calling themselves “los Indignados”, the indignant.
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March 27, 2011 :: The Editors :: 2 Comments
Today, Juan Cole published an open letter to the political left, asking them to understand the humanitarian urgency of the situation in Libya, and to balance their desire for an end to war and foreign interventions against the need to protect human life and ensure that a viable democracy movement is not put down through massive slaughter of thousands or tens of thousands of civilians. Cole is right. Though military action is never the best of all possible outcomes, it is sometimes the only way to protect innocent human life against plans of deliberate mass murder.
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February 13, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Thousands of demonstrators are gathering at Rome’s Piazza del Popolo, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Demonstrations are being staged across the nation to protest against Berlusconi’s alleged sexual indiscretions and political corruption. Supporters of the conservative politician say the protests are partisan in nature.
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January 26, 2011 :: staff :: Comments Off
Today, the Russian parliament officially finalized ratification of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The ratification, following the December vote in the US Senate, brings the new treaty officially into effect. Bilateral nuclear disarmament is now moving forward, with historic reductions and new provisions to allow for cooperation and verification, and the securing of technologies that could fall through the cracks if not carefully supervised.
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December 22, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
One of Pres. Obama’s signature initiatives, announced upon taking office, in an historic address to over 100,000 people in Prague, is moving the international community toward a “world without nuclear weapons”. Despite rising tensions with an increasingly authoritarian Russian Federation, under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, Obama negotiated a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Putin’s younger successor, Pres. Dmitry Medvedev.
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December 12, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
David Cameron, who campaigned as a rights-focused, green-conscious Tory, claims a steep rise in tuition fees will be good for Britons educational aspirations; but his plan to triple tuition fees for average British citizens seeking a university education initially led to nationwide protests, student rallies and sit-ins at the Conservative party headquarters. Now, the political crisis has escalated as passage of the tuition fee hikes has provoked violent riots in the streets of London.
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October 22, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
French president Nicholas Sarkozy’s plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and to reform the pension system has sparked a massive, coordinated general strike that has seen air traffic cut in half, and fuel supplies interrupted across the country. More than one-quarter of filling stations are reportedly out of fuel, and gas lines are causing commerce to break down: strike organizers promise a war of attrition.
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October 21, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
David Cameron, the Conservative party leader who heads a coalition UK government in partnership with Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, is forcing record cuts to social spending, slashing the military budget and plans to lay off 500,000 Britons. In an atmosphere where private investment and new hires are both stagnant, such cuts could undermine any economic recovery, however stunted. Critics say the move is ideological and may be intended to consolidate his support among the conservative base.
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September 29, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The European Commission is considering new rules that would give it far more control over the domestic fiscal policy of member states, including the possibility of fines to countries in distress that do not adopt austerity measures to reduce spending. Today, across Europe, there are protests organized by labor unions and citizens groups who allege austerity is just a veiled way of making the majority of working people, innocent of the financial system’s collapse, pay for the abuse or misjudgment of top executives and reckless investors.
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June 4, 2010 :: Denver Lessing :: Comments Off
The Guardian reports that a proposed piece of legislation up for debate in the Italian senate would mean: “No more reporting of criminal investigations before they come to trial (even if that takes years). No more recording or photographing of anyone, even a Mafia boss, unless that person approves. Only members of the state-approved “National Order of Journalists” allowed to film or record. Fines approaching half-a-million euros for publishers who transgress, with €20,000 per reporter also on the table.”
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June 1, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
The European Union is dealing harshly with nations that are suffering the converging crises of economic downturn, joblessness and swelling budget deficits. Spain is taking aggressive action to reduce public spending, but such “austerity measures” may be deepening, instead of resolving, the economic crisis.
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May 11, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
As the Labour party’s leadership seems to indicate resignation to working from the opposition to what is likely to be a coalition formed by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, it looks like the Liberal Democratic leadership have their eye on a major parliamentary reform: proportional representation.
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April 18, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama’s nuclear diplomacy has already defined one of the most successful periods of progress toward collaboration on international peace and security since the Second World War. His Nuclear Security Summit, hosted this month in Washington, DC, helped further the goal of steering the world toward a moment in which nuclear proliferation is more science fiction than an immediate threat.
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April 10, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (StART) is a major accomplishment for US foreign policy, helping to move the world toward a future without nuclear weapons. The signing caps a year of bold, imaginative diplomacy, kicked off with an historic speech in Prague, in which he declared “clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
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March 19, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
A prominent muslim scholar and cleric has issued a 600-page fatwa, or religious edict, drawing from authoritative historical sources and scripture, to rule that true Islam bars any form of bloodshed. Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, a muslim theologian from Pakistan, who lives and teaches in Britain, said an honest examination of the teachings and doctrines of Islam demonstrates an absolute prohibition on the shedding of blood for political or religious purposes.
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January 4, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
En mesa redonda, en el programa 59 segundos de la TVE, un panel de periodistas y analistas políticos debaten los méritos y desafíos del primer año del mandato de Barack Obama, presidente de Estados Unidos. Entre las complicaciones, debaten las expectativas, tal vez más globales y desafiantes que las que encontró ningún otro presidente al llegar al poder, y la agresiva resistencia de sus contrincantes políticos a la ética del diálogo y de la política colaborativa.
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December 21, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
(1) [W]e shall, recognizing the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius, on the basis ofequity and in the context of sustainable development, enhance our long-term cooperative action to combat climate change. … (2) We agree that deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science, and as documented by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report with a view to reduce global emissions so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius … (10) We decide that the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund shall be established as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention to support projects, programme, policies and other activities in developing countries related to mitigation including REDD-plus, adaptation, capacity-building, technology development and transfer….
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December 19, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
When Pres. Obama and Pres. Medvedev meet, their agenda will reach beyond carbon emissions and climate change negotiations, however.They are expected to discuss ongoing negotiations on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty. US and Russian negotiations have been meeting in Geneva, holding talks described as “intense”, in the interests of mutual nuclear disarmament. The plan will be a second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (StART 2), aimed at moving the world closer to Pres. Obama’s vision of “a world without nuclear weapons”.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
The above video highlights the Danish city of Frederikshavn’s ongoing comprehensive plan to achieve 100% carbon neutral status by 2015, by focusing on wind and other renewable resources to produce its entire municipal energy supply. Mikael Kau, the director of the Frederikshavn energy project explains that other, larger cities in Denmark could adopt similar plans and from the local level help Denmark achieve 100% energy independence and carbon neutrality by 2015.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Gordon Brown plans “plan b” 2nd round of talks if Copenhagen conference fails to achieve global pact. The plan would call for a smaller number of nations to meet to agree to concrete steps to curb emissions and move their contribution to the world economy toward a green energy future.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Good morning. It’s an honor to for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come together here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave and growing danger to our people. You would not be here unless you —like me— were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, this is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet. That much we know.
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December 10, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
I believe that peace is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear. Pent-up grievances fester, and the suppression of tribal and religious identity can lead to violence. We also know that the opposite is true. Only when Europe became free did it finally find peace. America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens. No matter how callously defined, neither America’s interests — nor the world’s — are served by the denial of human aspirations.
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December 7, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
The Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change opened today, with 192 nations in attendance, making it the most significant event ever staged to bring governments together to fashion a global response to climate destabilization. 15,000 participants representing governments and the fields of science, economics and public policy research, are gathered to try to reach agreement on the first true global protocol for curbing emissions and countering the threat of comprehensive climate destabilization.
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December 6, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
A prominent Russian journalist, Olga Kotovskaya, has been killed in a mysterious fall from a building in Kaliningrad, under circumstances press rights groups believe suggest yet another attack on press freedom by shadowy individuals linked to the government. Kotovskaya had just won an important court victory over the government and should have been allowed to take back control of a TV network she had founded.
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December 5, 2009 :: staff :: 3 Comments
Amanda Knox, an American student whose British roommate Meredith Kercher died in violent circumstances, in Perugia, Italy, has been convicted for murder, in a case legal analysts say was deeply flawed, had little to no evidence of involvement, let alone guilt. There are serious concerns about the fairness of the trial process, and people in both Italy and the United States have come to her defense, assailing the legitimacy of the prosecution, even as Italian popular culture rages against “the devil with an angel’s face”.
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November 29, 2009 :: Mirya Dunaeva :: Comments Off
The Nevsky Express train from Moscow to St. Petersburg, carrying 661 passengers, yesterday suffered a serious impact or explosion, derailing several cars and killing at least 26 people, near the village of Uglovka. A small crater found near the tracks and an engineer’s testimony that an explosion had occurred have led investigators to suspect a bomb attack as the cause for the tragedy.
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November 20, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Despite months, even years, of speculation the job would go to the former 2.5-term British prime minister, Tony Blair, the European Union has named Belgium’s new multilingual, largely unknown Flemish prime minister, Herman Van Rompuy, its first full-time president. Van Rompuy’s role will be daunting and complex, as he will be the public face of a 27-nation bloc whose “unity” sometimes seems more a matter of legal technicality than of fact.
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November 13, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has called for sweeping political and economic reforms, designed to make Russia a modern, advanced democratic society. In his state of the nation address, Pres. Medvedev said Russia needs to evolve from being a “primitive” economy based on raw materials and natural resources to an advanced economy based on unique innovative human knowledge. He also said the new Russia needs to be one of “intelligent, free and responsible people”, not one where political bosses dictate policy.
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November 10, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin, ensuring that capitalist and democratic West Berlin remained surrounded on all sides by the communist German Democratic Republic, where a permanent state of martial law kept millions prisoner for decades. West Germany was forced to move its seat of government to Bonn, to protect against a potential hostile siege from the East German regime, strongly backed by the Soviet Union. But on 9 November 1989, a spreading movement of ground-up resistance and reform climaxed in what seemed like the sudden unraveling of an empire that covered half the continent.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video shows the emotional exuberance of the massive crowds of millions that flooded the streets of Berlin around the places where the wall was being dismantled and the checkpoints where cars were being allowed through. The iconic East German Trebant cars were symbolic of the people’s urge to peek through the barrier and glimpse life on the other side. They brought East Germans into the streets packed with revelers, who welcomed their newly free neighbors. The atmosphere is one of joy and celebration as families and communities are reunited.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
his video is in German, with English subtitles. It shows the convergence of thousands at the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing, as news of the opening of the wall began to spread. The wall is slowly opened as the border guards begin to understand the scope of what is taking place. The political order has shifted so quickly, it takes time for the information to filter through that they are not to use force to stop the tens of thousands seeking to cross into West Germany.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video shows original video footage from 12 November 1989, taken at various sites both before sunrise and later that morning. The video focuses on Potsdamer Platz and records the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the jubilation of those who flocked to the historic celebration.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video shows an ABC News report on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the process of reform and political change that rapidly swept across eastern Europe in the months surrounding that event. The report cites the efforts of mass movements of ordinary people to overthrow hardline totalitarian regimes through peaceful mass protest.
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October 28, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
The European Union is expected to soon establish a full-term presidency for the European Council of heads of state, separating that post from the presidency of the Council of the European Union, replacing the current six-month rotation between member states, once the Czech president, Vačlav Klaus, signs the Lisbon Treaty. The change will mark a major transition for the multinational bloc, which has been gradually building up a stronger common government since the founding of the European Economic Community after World War II.
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October 9, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
Pres. Barack Obama, in office just under 9 months, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The award announcement has sent a ripple through world opinion, as critics and supporters clash over whether the award is premature, or whether Obama’s collaborative diplomatic method has achieved important gains for world peace. The prize could signal an endorsement of Obama’s work on comprehensive nuclear disarmament or on achieving climate consensus this fall, or it could be oriented toward affirming the gains made in international cooperation.
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September 26, 2009 :: Mirya Dunaeva :: Comments Off
The government of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has been hard to characterize, seeming one day to be a mouthpiece for the bellicose policies of his predecessor, now PM, Vladimir Putin, and another day to be the first Russian leader ever to express interest in a uniform standard of global governance and cooperation, rooted in democratic principles. Now, Mr. Medvedev’s political stock has gained, as ongoing nuclear negotiations with the US, at Pres. Obama’s urging, have resulted in a unanimous Security Council counter-proliferation vote.
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September 22, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The UN General Assembly, which brings together every head of government in the world, to offer their country’s position on issues, their country’s demands regarding trade and conflict negotiations, their country’s hopes for a more harmonious world, this year truly grapples with issues of global consensus. Economic recovery, for many parts of the world, will require an unprecedented expansion of women’s rights and sustained attention to responsible environmental stewardship.
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