Top 5 arms exporters: who feels secure? Weapons piling up, enough to blow up Earth many times over rather than defend it.
The United States of America remains the largest exporter of conventional weapons in the world, according to the latest study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The U.S account for 30% of global arms sales, or about $7 billion per year, for the period 2005-2009, SIPRI statement says. From 2005 to 2009, the U.S. sold one-third of its arm exports to South Korea (15%), Israel (13%) and the United Arab Emirates (11%). The top U.S. military equipments included JDAM guided bombs and RGM-84L Harpoon-2 anti-ship missiles, delivered to South Korea, in 2008.
AlJazeeraEnglish | October 23, 2010 - It is the biggest leak of military secrets ever. Al Jazeera has obtained access to almost 400,000 classified American documents. Torture, claims of murder at the checkpoint - revelations that make a mockery of the rules of combat.
Over the past ten weeks, working with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London, Al Jazeera has read tens of thousands of documents, which we sourced through WikiLeaks.
There is a good reason that Washington did not want you to see them. They reveal the covering up of Iraqi state torture to the truth about the hundreds of civilians who have been killed at coalition road blocks.
There are fresh outrages involving private security contractors and we find out what the US really thinks about the Iraqi prime minister.
RevolutionNewz | October 08, 2010 - Contractors working for the Pentagon "funneled US taxpayer dollars to Afghan warlords and strongmen linked to murder, kidnapping, and bribery, as well as to Taliban and anti-coalition activities," says a congressional report released Thursday.
A year-long investigation into private contractors in Afghanistan, carried out by the Senate Armed Services Committee, found, among other things, a contractor that had two alleged Iranian spies on its payroll, and another contractor who hired two rival Taliban-linked warlords, only to see one kill the other in an ambush.
The report (PDF, 32MB), which looked at 125 defense contracts over three years, provides further evidence that the coalition war effort in Afghanistan may be becoming a lucrative source of financing for the very groups the coalition is fighting.
Claims that security contractors have been paying bribes to the Taliban have been around for the better part of the year. And this summer the New York Times reported on evidence of "all-out collusion" between some security contractors and Afghan insurgents.
One contractor on which the new congressional report focuses extensively is ArmorGroup, which the report alleges hired two rival warlords, one of them Taliban-linked, to guard the Shindand airbase in Herat province. ArmorGroup referred to the two warlords as "Mr. White" and "Mr. Pink," in reference to the violent criminal characters in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
AlJazeeraEnglish | October 09, 2010 - Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has re-introduced a proposal requiring any non-Jew taking Israeli citizenship to swear allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Inside Story discusses how the 'Jewish loyalty oath' could impact the Middle East peace talks.
WeAreChangeEire | October 05, 2010 - hit the streets of Dublin city on the 9th anniversary of the false flag terror attacks on the free people of this planet. Thousands of our brothers and sisters were killed in the name of big oil and globalisation. We talked to Dublin and tried to raise some awareness. It's not reflected fully in the video but essentially everybody we spoke to knew 9/11 was a lie.
RussiaToday | October 06, 2010 - The Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors - the organization overseeing U.S. media directed at foreign audiences - says his organization needs to fight its enemies. And among those are Iran's Press TV, China's CCTV and RT. Political commentator Peter Lavelle says the chairman's statement puts him beyond real journalism.
The appointment of an infamous Israeli interrogator to a high-ranking police post has sent shockwaves among human rights groups. Known among inmates as Captain George, he's accused of numerous cases of torture and abuse of Arabs. Now that he's in charge of Arab affairs, many Palestinians fear for their lives. RT's Paula Slier reports from Israel.
Sean Matthews is a homeless construction worker who was convicted of marijuana possession in 2007, and was assessed $498 in legal fines and costs. He was arrested two years later after being unable to pay that $498, and spent five months in jail at a cost of more than $3,000 to the City of New Orleans.
Gregory White, also a homeless man, was arrested for stealing $39 worth of food from a local grocery store. He was assessed $339 in fines and fees. Because he could not pay the $339, the City of New Orleans imprisoned Mr. White for 198 days at a cost of over $3,500 to the city.
You can see where this is going. In a time when states are laying off school teachers and firefighters, cities and counties are locking up people who can't pay legal fees, at costs that exceed the actual amount owed.
A whiter shade of pale - India's skin-whitening cosmetic industry is worth billions of dollars and growing, but not all of the products are safe.
02 Sep 2010. Aljazeera - In India, real beauty is proving to be skin deep with a massive growth in the sale of skin-whitening creams.
India's obsession with pale skin has created a billion-dollar industry, with predictions it will grow in 2010 by 25 per cent.
Endorsed by top Bollywood stars in TV ads, marketers lure consumers with a bewildering supply of products that promote fair skin that they promote with bring romance or a new job after the user becomes markedly fairer.
Skin-lightening products aimed at Indian men are also booming with marketers constantly adding new products including whitening soaps, moisturisers and aftershaves.
The desire for pale skin has deep roots in India's complex caste-driven history. Those higher up the scale were typically fair-skinned while lower castes often worked outdoors and were darker skinned.
101 East looks at India's billion-dollar skin whitening industry and asks, can there be fairness in India, without fair skin?
