Published on 18 Jun 2012 by RussiaToday
Crucial talks are underway in Moscow to try to break the long-running stalemate over Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran is meeting the group of six world powers as Europe and the US prepare to slap their toughest sanctions to date on the Islamic republic. Israel is calling on its allies to threaten Iran convincingly with military action during the current talks in Moscow, media reports say. Tel Aviv believes Tehran does not take the threat of war seriously yet.
Published on 18 Jun 2012 by NASAexplorer
For more than half a century, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has been at the forefront of discovery, creating new instruments and managing high-profile missions that have expanded our understanding of the world around us. Perhaps less well known is its enviable culture of innovation. Through its Internal Research and Development Program, Goddard technologists are pursuing new cutting-edge technologies — everything from nanotech coatings and miniaturized electronic components to lighter, more capable telescope mirrors — that will enable discovery in the future.
Published on 18 Jun 2012 by NASAtelevision
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency discussed the highlights of his half-year on the International Space Station during an in-flight interview with Euronews on June 18. Kuipers, who launched to the station in December, will return to Earth July 1 in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a landing in Kazakhstan along with crewmates Don Pettit of NASA and cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko.
Published on 18 Jun 2012 by N0LINKNEWS
The Earth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. Created by a global consultation process, and endorsed by organizations representing millions of people, the Charter “seeks to inspire in all peoples a sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family, the greater community of life, and future generations.”[1] It calls upon humanity to help create a global partnership at a critical juncture in history. The Earth Charter’s ethical vision proposes that environmental protection, human rights, equitable human development, and peace are interdependent and indivisible. The Charter attempts to provide a new framework for thinking about and addressing these issues. The Earth Charter Initiative organization exists to promote the Charter.
The idea of the Earth Charter originated in 1987, when the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development called for a new charter to guide the transition to sustainable development. In 1992, the need for a charter was urged by then-Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, but the time for such a declaration was not believed to be right. The Rio Declaration became the statement of the achievable consensus at that time. In 1994, Maurice Strong (Chairman of the Earth Summit) and Mikhail Gorbachev, working through organizations they each founded (the Earth Council and Green Cross International respectively), restarted the Earth Charter as a civil society initiative, with the help of the government of the Netherlands
Strong, no longer in charge of any organization related to the charter, still gives advice and support.
New interview with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Founding President of Green Cross International, on the need for urgent economic and social change so to promote true sustainable development that does not over-consume and waste natural resources, while at the same time ensures opportunities and peace for humanity.
The interview comes ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil (Rio+20) that started on 13 June and continues until 22 June.
