The end of this year is the moment the United Nations will meet in Copenhagen, which should reveal whether humanity is really in for beating climate change. Leading to Copenhagen lays a difficult path, paved with high ambitions. If all goes well, a money machine will be installed at the core of the UN, which allow developing countries to undergo an ...

The neoliberal globalization hit a wall. The World Economic Forum in Davos does not know what to do. Would the World Social Forum be able to point the right direction? The youngest edition seemed as furious and indecisive as the previous ones. Nonetheless, there was more consensus than ever.

The European Union is worried about the human rights situation in Russia. That was the message José Manuel Barosso, president of the EU Comission, sent to Russian prime minister Vladimir Poetin following the murder of the human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov. The complaints against Russia before the European Court for Human Rights are piling up. ...

Last year 16.000 ships anchored at the port of Antwerp. Crews from all over the world are often the victim of miserable working conditions. Social protection is still too easily bypassed. MO* went to visit the ships with the Antwerp seamen's missions.

‘We are close to the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. The Islamic Revolution came to power with the vote of the people. There is no way that we can say that the people of Iran in 1979 did not want the Islamic Revolution – no, they voted for it. Therefore, the Islamic Republic does

Soon, 100,000 Western soldiers will be in Afghanistan -four hundred of them Belgians. Nonetheless, year after year the insurgency gains terrain. Nato is running the military operation in Afghanistan and would like to hand itself a victory, as a present for its sixtieth anniversary later this year. In reality, the organisation has to pull all string ...

Youssou N’Dour (49) is the most famous African musician in history. In 2007, Time Magazine declared him one of the hundred most influential people in the world. A new documentary -Youssou N’Dour. I bring what I love- was screened In Amsterdam. MO* seized the opportunity to interview the voice of Senegal.

China is growing, but do the Chinese that produce our clothes, shoes, mobiles and laptops profit from it? Is it true, in other words, that globalization gives chances to the labouring people in developing countries? In september 2008, just before the onset of crisis, John Vandaele went to the Pearl River Delta, where twenty million migrant worke ...

Assam is one of the northeast states of India, known for its excellent tea but also for its long-lasting ethnic rebellions. Hundred thousand people where chased away from their homes by community violence in the beginning of October. A few weeks later a well-coordinated bombing campaign caused over 60 deaths. Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak give ...

Maritime transport is one of the vital arteries of the world economy: no less then 95 percent of all goods traded are transported by sea. When this goes wrong, often the consequences cannot be overlooked.

According to a new dossier from the UN there’s an urgent need for regulations and transparency about nano-technology. Nowadays, hundreds of products with uncontrolled nano-parts have been commercialized.

In the European Union 78 million people live below the poverty line – this is one in six Europeans. For children the risk is even higher (19%). And despite the economic growth of the last couple of years, over 8 % of the working people also live below the poverty line.