Our feature
This week, Luis Oliveros takes us on a surreal journey through the reporting by the "Permanent Correspondent in Vienna of the Department of Fake News," unfolding with graphic details a "Foreign Army" invasion of the city two days ago.
The correspondent adds: "Although the face of the statue of Emperor Franz I at the Innerer Burghof courtyard within the Hofburg Palace complex in Vienna looked sternly at the foreign troops marching below, the Viennese people did not seem that concerned...." Read on here to relish the touch of irony and humor in which the feature is couched.Our columnists
Ramesh Shrestha asks: "Why does external aid fail?" exploring in turn "motivation for providing aid" and laying bare the "visibility vs priority" nexus where very often "priority" remains compromised. It remains reduced, Ramesh argues, to a "one size fits all" approach, citing several real world examples drawn from his own professional life and experiences. The ending does not provide an answer to the question posed but concludes with a "maybe"! You might wish to read on.
Ken Gibbs' explorations of his family lineage always makes interesting reading. Here's another, captioned as "Code breaking is an art too" Ken traces his family history through his maternal grandmother's "very informative diary" covering around 45 years "but when it came to the Second World War years, it stopped." Ken, it seems, is still struggling with "codebreaking" the unfathomed mysteries that remain unexplored.
Articles
Tom McDermott builds upon Donald Trump's nomination of Elise Stefanik, who is likely to be the New US Ambassador to the UN, providing her background and professional track record in synopsis. It is a key role to carry through with conviction, equally matched by determination, given much of the policy shifts that we envisage the US to be moving into. It is good to know the chosen spokesperson for the task. Many of her views and stands are no doubt well aligned to Trump's thinking but there's much more to the job and there could be many surprises on the way.
Fouad Kronfol shares an invitation to join a forthcoming Webinar led by The Group of 78, to discuss "bias within the UN SDGs". It promises to be insightful, probing in turn the Hidden Politics and How to Hold the UN Accountable. Some of you may hold interest and register for the event.
Georges Gonzales offers us De l'autre côté du rideau, the second entry in his French and English blog on the experiences of becoming a recent retiree. We hope Georges' blog will inspire more of our many francophones to contribute. Ditto for the hispanophones and lusophones - or the 'whateverphones' among us.
Reports and Reviews
Paula Claycomb reviews the report Clearing the Mines 2024, which shows the sad state of mine action in recent years. Only two countries, Angola and Cambodia, offer brights spots, while 58 countries and two territories remain contaminated with mines.
Baquer Namazi shares an interesting Oxfam Report report prepared for the Davos meetings on Inequality and how World's richest men double their wealth in three years.
Fouad shares an insightful review and analysis by Craig Mokhiber of the Turmoil in the ICC as fears rise over Israel and US interference.
Robert Cohen shares an article on The Future of Vaccine Policy in the US which analyses the current state of public support in the US for vaccinations, the role of state and federal governments in vaccine policy, and the impact of vaccine exemptions on public health
News roundup
This week's list of Articles You May Have Missed is a collection of important news shared by our readers or editors without comments. Don't forget that we post articles individually only when you send them with your comments or opinions. When you send just a link to an article without your comments, we add it to this weekly list. So please, tell others what you think of the articles you share and why you think other readers will find them interesting. Your comments and opinions are important.
Photos of the week
Myra Rudin offers us some beautiful views she has collected of The end of autumn. If you taken a few good photos recently, please share so we can include them in future photos of the week.
On the Lighter Side
A few smiles for the week. Have you seen better ones? Share them please.
Comments
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