At least 20 million people have lost their homes as a result of the floods in Pakistan and more than 1,600 have died. The United Nations (UN) has asked the international community for US$460 million in emergency aid. Pledges of international aid have been coming in slowly. As of Friday last week, the UN only received US$230 million. These funds fall far short of what is needed for the country to rebuild homes and livelihoods. To put the figure into perspective, in 2009, BP made more in...
Jeanne Kay - When the Swiss voted last year to prohibit future construction of minarets on their soil, political commentators in neighboring European countries were quick to express their moral outrage. “The vote of shame,” headlined Liberation in France. Belgium’s Le Soir deemed targeting the towers in order to aim at the population below them to be “hypocritical and fallacious.” The London Times predicted “international embarrassment” for Switzerland. In the...
Author of "The Beauty Myth", Naomi Wolf talks about a new generation of feminists - the third wave. Less dogmatic than earlier feminists, this new wave is more pluralistic about sexuality and personal choices, but also more alert to issues of race and class. Wolf also reflects on differences between western and muslim feminists.