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A New Food Crisis? Some Aspects of the Food Question. Massive bank and hedge fund speculation causes food prices to soar By Tim Jones The recent steep rise in wheat prices has raised fears of another global food crisis. As Tim Jones explains, it is the banks and hedge funds speculating on the price of food that are primarily responsible for this spike in prices. Financial speculation and the food crisis By Olivier De Schutter As in the case of current food prices, it was excessive speculation on the commodities markets that played a primary role in the creation of the 2007-08 food crisis. In outlining the action necessary to address the dangers of such speculation, Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, underscores the crucial importance of reforming the global financial system to attain the goal of food security. Food price volatility a major threat to food security - FAO After a day-long special meeting held in Rome to consider the surge in world food prices, experts from over 75 member states of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) concluded that there was no indication of an impending food crisis as global cereal supply and demand are in balance. However, they warned that unexpected price hikes are a major threat to food security and hence there is no ground for complacency. Food rebellions: Mozambicans know which way the wind blows By Raj Patel Although the September outbreak of 'food riots'
in By Stephen Leahy The heatwave in Food crises and national security By Mohamed Abdel-Maguid The Arab region currently imports half its primary food supplies and the growing food deficit raises the risk of undernourishment in the poorer countries of the region. Only an integrated Arab union can provide food security for all, writes Mohamed Abdel-Maguid. The 2007-08 food crisis: Have the lessons been learnt? By Frederic Mousseau Is the world better prepared to tackle the problem of rising food prices in the light of its experience of the 2007-08 global food crisis? Frederic Mousseau argues that while the world has certainly learnt much from this earlier crisis, it is doubtful whether policy makers will effectively use the lessons that it offers. Looking in a gift horse's mouth By Philip L Bereano and Travis M English The persistence of food crises and food price
volatility has spawned some false solutions. The most notable of these
is the 'New Green Revolution for The food crisis is not about a food shortage By Jim Goodman The ultimate cause of hunger is not a lack of Western agricultural technology but the failure to allow people to participate in a food system of their own choosing, says Jim Goodman. The wrongs about the right to food By Ananya Mukherjee While universalising the right to food opens up possible paths to challenge the unequal social relations which govern the food economy, narrowing the right by 'targeting' social groups which are 'truly deserving' may well provide a tool to manage and legitimise those inequities, says Ananya Mukherjee. ECOLOGY Healing the wounds of mining By Brad Miller Centuries of mining on their homelands by US corporations
may have devastated their lives and environment, but the Native American
peoples of the Desert Southwest region of the CLIMATE CHANGE Leaving oil in the ground to fight climate change By Martin Khor A new initiative to fight climate change and conserve
forests by leaving oil in the ground has taken off in ECONOMICS By Kanaga Raja The group of central bankers and regulators who oversee the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has announced new capital and liquidity rules for banks to strengthen their resilience against future financial shocks. Kanaga Raja examines this new package of reforms known as Basel III. The credit meltdown and the shadow banking
system: What By Ellen Brown While local banks are held in check by the new
banking czars in Rethink export-led growth paradigm, says UNCTAD By Kanaga Raja United Nations development body UNCTAD has warned
countries with export-led economies to reconsider their strategies in
view of the end of the Focus on growth, not deficits, economists tell Obama As US President Barack Obama comes under increasing pressure to prioritise deficit reduction, some 300 economists and civic leaders have issued the following statement urging him to stay the course of promoting growth and jobs. Poverty rises as Wall Street billionaires whine By Les Leopold One in seven Americans may now be mired in poverty, but it is the super-rich who are complaining the most! WORLD AFFAIRS Satan of the details By Uri Avnery Commenting on the current US-sponsored talks between Israeli premier Binyamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority which have as their aim a 'framework agreement' within a year, Uri Avnerypoints out that a framework agreement is not a peace treaty. Yawn of a new day By Neil Lawrence Don't celebrate By Manuel Perez-Rocha Manuel Perez-Rocha explains why Mexicans have little cause for cheer on the occasion of the bicentennial of their country's independence. HUMAN RIGHTS By Daniela Estrada While applauding government moves to rescue the
33 miners trapped underground in a mine in northern WOMEN Maternal deaths fall around the world By Susan Anyangu-Amu While the latest statistics on global maternal
mortality are encouraging, the situation in sub-Saharan MEDIA The phone-hacking scandal and Murdoch's media empire By Tom Fawthrop As media mogul Rupert Murdoch intensifies his drive to dominate the global media, an old scandal involving phone-tapping has resurfaced to haunt him. Full disclosure: Buying By Jeremy Bigwood The VIEWPOINT The shrunken state By Jeremy Seabrook The British coalition government's economic reforms involve more than the reduction of the country's 'structural deficit'. Their real goal is to shrink the state so that the private sector might flourish once more, says Jeremy Seabrook. For subscription and enquiries: THIRD WORLD NETWORK, 131 Tel: 60-4-2266728/2266159; Fax: 60-4-2264505 Email: twnet@po.jaring.my; Website: www.twnside.org.sg Direct link to website page of
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