Polytiko

Zambia's presidential candidates in final push 24 hours before poll

2011-09-19T15:48:00.001+01:00

Zambia's presidential aspirants try to drum up support from voters in last minute campaigns ahead of elections on September 20th.

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA (SEPTEMBER 17, 2011) REUTERS - Election fever is high in Zambia, with only a few hours left before voting begins. Presidential candidates made a final push over the weekend to win the hearts of voters ahead of the September 20th poll.

President Rupiah Banda who's seeking re-election on a Movement for Multi-Party democracy party ticket and his wife, Thandiwe Banda got crowds dancing to popular tunes while on the campaign trail.

Banda has proposed spending 1 trillion kwacha (20 million US dollars) on the upgrading of urban roads and intends more spending on other infrastructure such as schools, clinics and bridges to push Zambia's development if re-elected.
"If you want an MMD government to continue building a modern and prosperous Zambia, if you want to be on the winning side, then do the right thing and vote for the MMD," said Banda.

At least 10 aspirants have signed up to contest the vote largely seen as a two-man race between incumbent President Rupiah Banda and opposition Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata, a gruff populist critical of what he sees as the increasing influence of foreign firms over the economy.

Banda has a narrow lead over Sata although opinion polls show a high number of undecided voters who could still influence the outcome.

The survey by the Centre for Policy Dialogue, an independent research organisation, showed Banda and his Movement for Multi-Party Democracy party with 41 percent of the vote against 38 percent for Sata's Patriotic Front.

"It is tightly contested and the people of Zambia are going to make their decision to choose the president of their own choice who is going to take this country forward both socially and economically," said David Masupa, a Lusaka resident.
Banda has won accolades from foreign mining firms for opening the country to international investment, especially from China, and providing clear regulations on operations that have helped keep the playing field level.

Banda prides himself on his farming roots and is a former associate of Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda, whose reliance on Soviet-style central planning drove the economy into the ground in the 1980s.

He has since abandoned socialism in favour of free-market economics to the point that his administration is looking to launch a debut 500 million US dollar eurobond shortly after the election.

On the other side of town, Sata also went out to meet and address supporters who turned out to cheer him on. Some even came carrying bath tubs and canoes in honour of Sata's party symbol - a boat he says will save people from poverty and under-development, should they jump in.

Sata told his supporters to watch out for people who may try to buy their votes.
"You have got your registered voters card, when they bring money get it, when they bring Chitenge [wrappers] get it but on 20th go and liberate yourselves," said Sata.

Sata gave Banda a very close run in the former British colony's 2008 election.

Banda, who has presided over more than five years of strong economic growth in Africa's biggest copper producer, was shown broadly in front in the countryside and Sata in the capital, Lusaka, and the northern Copperbelt.

An alliance between Sata and another opposition party, the UPND, crumbled this year, improving the chances of a new full term for Banda, who moved into the presidency after the 2008 death of his predecessor, Levy Mwanawasa.

Since independence in 1964, Zambian elections have tended to pass peacefully, although the kwacha has weakened over the last month, in part because of the political uncertainty and elevated government spending.

A United Nations comittee has critized Australia's handling of indigenous Issues

2010-09-02T14:42:00.000+01:00

The United Nations has criticized Australia for its treatment of indigenous Australians and for not enshrining indigenous rights in its constitution.

UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, AUSTRALIA ABC - The United Nations human rights panel has rebuked Australia over its treatment of aboriginals.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released the observation on Friday (August 27) after the conclusion of it's 77th session.

The report said "the Committee's concerns regarding Australia mostly centred on the status and treatment of indigenous peoples in the country," and noted "the slow implementation of the principle of indigenous peoples' exercising meaningful control over their affairs."

In 2007 the Howard Government suspended the racial discrimination act to be able to intervene in remote Aboriginal communities. The act was re-instated in June 2010 by the Rudd government.

At a national forum in Brisbane on Saturday (August 28) the suspension of the racial discrimination act was discussed.

"I don't know if Australia wants to be that sort of country, that sort of creates laws to protect people, then suspends it and I think it's great that the United Nations picked up on that and has made comment," said Australian human rights commissioner Mick Gooda.

Bill Grant of the Law Council of Australia said the whole issue needs to be re-examined.

The committee also "reiterated its concern about the disproportionate incarceration rates and the persisting problems leading to deaths in custody of a considerable number of Indigenous Australians over the years."

Migrants stalked by fear en route to US

2010-09-01T21:06:00.000+01:00

Hundreds of migrants board trains for northern Mexico as they attempt to make their way to the United States, stalked by fear in wake of last week's ranch massacre.

IXTEPEC, OAXACA, MEXICO (AUGUST 31, 2010) REUTERS - In a heavy rain storm, a cargo train pulls into the city of Ixtepec, Oaxaca, carrying hundreds of poor migrants from Central America.
The 300 or so migrants aboard this train have travelled for more than 11 hours from the city of Arriaga in the southern state of Chiapas as stowaways, and once in Oaxaca, their objective is to jump on another locomotive that will carry them north to the U.S. border.

Tens of thousands of Central Americans make this long trek north through Mexico each year on their way to cross the U.S. border illegally as they search for a better life.

They don't just face an arduous journey - they are also risking the wrath of Mexico's violent drug gangs.

The drug gangs are increasingly kidnapping illegal migrants for ransom and forcing them to carry narcotics into the United States as they muscle into the lucrative trade of smuggling people across the border.

The dangers faced by these vulnerable people were highlighted by last week's massacre of 72 migrants at a ranch in northern Mexico, whose blood-spattered bodies were found blindfolded with their hands tied and riddled with bullets.

In a typical scenario, traffickers armed with automatic weapons snatch weary migrants and hold them in cramped houses with little water or food until families pay ransoms of up to $12,000, officials say.

The Mexican army and U.S. border officials say that those who cannot pay are killed, stripped and dumped in shallow graves in remote stretches of the desert frontier.

Thousands are still prepared to make the journey in spite of the risks.

"One takes more risks but has more probabilities to survive. Salaries in my country are low and I can't continue supporting my family any longer," said Guatemalan migrant, Jacobo Coronado.

Jose Alberto Rodriguez, who runs the "Migrantes en el Camino" (Migrants on the road) shelter in Ixtepec, said that when migrants are targetted by gangs, they normally confiscate and destroy their documents so that they cannot be identified.

"The fact is they found them (migrants). Many remain disappeared. The migrant who managed to escape, who was injured, managed to inform authorities. There are many cases where migrants are killed, they are cut into pieces, they throw petrol on their bodies and are set on fire to erase all evidence," he said.

An Honduran migrant, Mario Eduardo Tercero, said a heavy police presence was needed to avoid further deaths.

"More support from the police. I think that if they pinpointed locations (where murders take place) they would prevent more deaths because sometimes they just patrol highways, they stay on the beaten track and it's rare to find a policeman on the road, one tends to find more murderers and rapists."

Despite the worst U.S. recession in decades, poor Latin Americans are still trying to cross illegally into the United States in search of higher wages than at home, walking for days through hot desert or swimming the Rio Grande.

Powerful drug cartels began taking over the trafficking of undocumented migrants into the United States at the start of the decade, seeking to make even bigger profits along their trafficking routes and pushing out small-time smugglers.

As rival gangs wage a lethal war over drug routes into the United States, cartels are kidnapping each others' immigrants or turning on their own clients, using them to smuggle drugs.

The cartels' diversification into migrant trafficking poses another challenge to President Felipe Calderon as he fights a war that has killed more than 28,000 people since he took office in late 2006.

Attack on muslim taxi-driver an isolated incident say fellow drivers amid controversy over a planned Islamic Center near Ground Zero

2010-08-31T15:34:00.000+01:00

Taxi drivers in New York interviewed by Reuters say the attack on a fellow muslim driver was an isolated incident, although it does worry them. The attack comes amid angry protests over a planned Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT - AUGUST 26, 2010) REUTERS - Amidst controversy over a proposed mosque at Ground Zero, many taxi drivers in New York say an attack on a fellow-muslim driver was an isolated incident, although they say it does make them more fearful.
43-year old Ahmed Sharif, a Bangladeshi immigrant, said he was stabbed by a passenger who asked him if he was Muslim and celebrated Ramadan. Sharif described at a news conference on Thursday (August 26) how the passenger slashed his neck, face, and shoulders.

"The knife was in front of my throat, when I go little bit back this came right over there. If this one if can put it here (pointing to his throat) I'm not supposed to be talk right now, I'm dead," said Sharif.

Sharif said he thought he was attacked because of his religion, but did not know if it was provoked by the angry opposition to a planned Islamic cultural centre and mosque just two blocks from Ground Zero, the site of the attack on September 11, 2001 on the Twin Towers. Sharif said he did not talk about the mosque with his attacker.

Since news of the planned Islamic centre was unveiled earlier this summer there have been several angry protests near Ground Zero.

U.S. President Barack Obama and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg have said they support the right of Muslims to build the centre, though the majority of New Yorkers oppose it. Polls have also found at least 60 percent of Americans are against building the centre about two blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks that demolished the World Trade Centre and killed nearly 3,000 people.

"If they are so dead set on putting it here, there has to be a reason why it has to go here. If it's not about 9/11, then it wouldn't have to go here, it would go anywhere. This is a big beautiful city with lots of space, so why should it have to go here? It is like a slap in the face to the victims and their families," Dante Walls said to Reuters near the site.

Ken Sylman added, "It's an issue of where it will be, because of what has happened here, back then at that time. If there is any other place, but why here? And another thing is, the plans for it, when it goes up, it looks really lavish, really expensive. Where is that money coming from to build it? It's a silent answer to that, so I have my doubts about why here."

A man who would not give his name said, "No I don't like the idea. I don't think it should be built over there because of what happened over there, because I was down here when it happened, and we lost a lot of people."

New York is home to about 800,000 Muslims, around 10 percent of the city's population. About half of the city's cab drivers are Muslim, according to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.

"For sure, I am afraid now, but it's an individual action I think, maybe this guy was sick, I don't know, but this does not usually happen, you know, but I am a little bit afraid," said taxi driver Mohamad Attia, who recently moved to New York from Egypt, when asked about the attack on his fellow driver.

"It's very unnecessary that thing happened. It is a very civilized society. I've been driving almost 20 years, never happened to me like that, maybe some individual have a personal problem. You don't see that too often and thank God it never happen like that," added Mohammad Raz.

Another driver said he couldn't understand the opposition to the proposed mosque.

"We have a lot of Muslims near Ground Zero, I go and pray there all the time. Last night I prayed there, nobody make a problem with that, so why they make a problem for this one?" asked Abboulaye Camara, a taxi driver and Muslim from Senegal.

When asked what he would do if a passenger asked if he was Muslim, taxi driver and Bangladeshi immigrant Matin Chowdhury said, "Right now, I would not even answer that. I try to find a safe place and drop him off, I think. I don't want this conversation, and I'd be more alert, to save myself."

Sharif's accused attacker, 21-year-old Michael Enright, is being held without bail on assault, attempted murder, and hate-crime charges.

Mexico condemns killing of 72 suspected migrants dumped in Mexican ranch

2010-08-25T22:40:00.000+01:00

Alejandro Poire Romero, the technical secretary of the National Security Council, condemns killing of 72 suspected migrants dumped in a ranch near Gulf of Mexico.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (AUGUST 25, 2010) REUTERS - Mexican marines found 72 dead bodies at a remote ranch near the U.S. border on Tuesday (August 24), in what is the biggest single discovery of its kind in Mexico's increasingly bloody drug war.
Mexico's technical secretary of the National Security Council, Alejandro Poire Romero, condemned the killings on Wednesday (August 25).

"Yesterday, the marines repelled an aggression by alleged organised criminals during an operation in San Fernando Tamaulipas, where 72 people were found dead - 58 men and 14 women - and according preliminary information that needs to be confirmed, they could be illegal immigrants of several nationalities including El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and Brazil," Poire told a news conference.

The marines came across the bodies of 58 men and 14 women at the ranch outside a town near the Gulf of Mexico in Tamaulipas state, some 90 miles (150 km) from the Texas border, after a firefight with drug hitmen in which three gunmen and a marine died.

A suspected trafficker was arrested, the navy said, and several escaped in SUVs. Authorities were still investigating how long the bodies had been there.

"This is an extremely serious event which is absolutely outrageous which demands the unanimous condemnation from society and authorities which does not admit hesitation in our condemnation of crime and which should summon us to reject and categorically combat criminal activity in all its forms and manifestations," said Poire.

Marines guarding a nearby checkpoint reached the ranch after a wounded man approached them and asked for help. The soldiers came under fire as they neared the ranch, the navy said in a statement. After the firefight, marines seized assault rifles, bullets, uniforms and vehicles from the ranch -- including one with forged army license plates.

Mexican cartels have moved into human smuggling in recent years, sometimes kidnapping migrants, extorting them and forcing them to carry narcotics across the border.

The discovery in Tamaulipas is the largest single find in Mexico's 3-1/2 year assault on cartels, following the discovery of 55 bodies in western Guerrero state in May and 51 bodies on the outskirts of Monterrey near Texas in July.

President Felipe Calderon, who deployed tens of thousands of soldiers to fight cartels when he took office, has been seeking to shore up support from opposition politicians and civic leaders as the war on drugs grows more gruesome.

African Bishops condemn homosexuality at meeting in Uganda

2010-08-25T14:47:00.000+01:00

Ugandan Archbishop heads campaign to condemn homosexuality at the second All African Bishops' conference in Uganda, where more than 400 African bishops are meeting to discuss issues concerning the African continent. Homosexuality has been a contentious issue that continues to divide the Anglican church.

ENTEBBE, UGANDA (AUGUST 24, 2010) REUTERS - African bishops meeting in Entebbe, Uganda on Tuesday (August 24) condemned homosexuality and said it is against the "word of God".
The ongoing second All African Bishops' conference brings together more than 400 African bishops to discuss issues on the continent.

The Anglican Church has been torn for years by disputes about authority over Church teaching, especially on gay rights. Orthodox Anglicans, especially in Africa, vehemently reject pro-homosexual reforms as sinful and unbiblical.

Recently, the spiritual head of the world's 80 million Anglicans, Archbishop of Cantebury, Rowan Williams tried to mediate in gay rights disputes splitting the Church, by suggesting that member churches approving gay bishops and same-sex unions and those actively opposing them be sidelined from official doctrinal committees.

The initiative by Williams -- who is also attending the Entebbe meeting, was sparked by the consecration of an openly lesbian bishop in California earlier this year.

But Archbishop Williams's move seems to have fallen on deaf ears, with members saying such action was against traditions of the Anglican Church.

Luke Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda, speaking at the conference said African churches were not going to compromise on their stand against homosexuality.

"The orthodox believers like we in Africa, the majority of us have stood clearly to say what my brother Bernard has said. Homosexuality is incompatible with the word of God. In this country we cherish the word of God and if you are proclaiming that word of God, you want to stick to it faithfully," said Orombi.

Orombi criticised the church in the West for "abandoning the word of God".

"A hundred or so years ago, Europe, America brought us the gospel, now that gospel was planted on the soil and hearts of Africans, we received it, it has grown, it has borne fruits. Now for us we have the responsibility to take it back to England. I am just coming from England two weeks ago. I was preaching to the English congregation of over 17,000 people. Now the hunger for the word of God is over there. The warmth -- like hot bread of the word is in Africa, so now am calling to the Africans to say it is time go back to the sending church, America and Europe to take back the gospel," said Orombi.

Orombi said the meeting was a good opportunity for African Bishops to voice their concerns about the issue of homosexuality to Williams, who attended the conference.

"We are happy Archbishop Rowan is here -- and you have intimated when you heard him speak -- it is good that Archbishop Rowan is here, because then we can talk, then we can open our hearts to him because then he can hear, sit with him, and the fact that he is here, we are going to engage him as prime mates. We are going to express to him where we stand, we are going to express to him what our pains are, where our disagreements are and it is very good for us to do that," Orombi said.

Archbishop Williams did not mention the gay rights topic in his speech to the conference. Instead he spoke about sacrifice and prayed for clergy who were working in areas where it was difficult to speak against injustices in society.

"In our own times, there have been many who have courageously continued in this tradition and here we may think specially today with celebration of thanksgiving, of our brothers in Sudan, in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) in Zimbabwe, whose authorities as pastors in the Church of God, rests so deeply on their willingness to take risks alongside their flock, and for them," said Archbishop Williams.

Gay rights in Africa came to the foreground this year with the arrest and conviction of a gay couple in Malawi, who married in a traditional ceremony and after an Ugandan lawmaker proposed an anti-gay bill including the death penalty for some 'offences' related to homosexuality.

Generous British public "shame" governments over Pakistan aid

2010-08-23T17:26:00.000+01:00

British public donate 30 million UK pounds to Pakistan's flood relief effort, "shaming" politicians around the world to give more, says Disasters Emergency Committee in UK.

LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (AUGUST 23, 2010) REUTERS - The British public have given around 30 million pounds of their own money to add to the government's 60 million in aid for Pakistan, "shaming" other governments into pledging funds to help flood victims, said the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) on Monday (August 23).
At a Royal Mail postal sorting office in central London, cheques sent in from across the UK for the DEC appeal were mounting up daily.

"For the first time in the DEC's history we've taken more money in the second week than in the first week," said Brendan Gormley, chief executive of DEC at a news conference in London.

"What we've had in the last couple of weeks, which has been hugely moving, is that as the story has unfolded the UK public has continued to dig deeper and deeper," he said.

In comparison, donations to the Haiti quake aid effort dropped 20 percent in the second week and donations to the Indonesia and Philippines typhoon effort dropped by half in the third week.

DEC predicts donations by the British public, which has a Pakistani population of around 1 million, will continue to rise.

He said the generosity of ordinary Britons should shame governments around the world which have been slow to respond to the massive disaster in Pakistan.

"It is the UK public who are leading the way and I don't think it's too strong a word, shaming politicians across the world to really do what they should do," he said.

The United Nations estimates that 20 million have been affected by the floods, with 10 million in urgent need of help.

Speaking at the London news conference, Humanitarian Director for Oxfam, Jane Cocking said it was crucial for people to realise the scale of the disaster.

"What we have is a single long event, which has the scale of the tsunami, the destruction of Haiti and the complexity of the Middle East. In 20 years in responding to humanitarian crises I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this," she said.

Aid agencies estimate that around 25 percent of flood victims have not received any help at all.

Head of Christian Aid's humanitarian division, Nick Guttmann said they desperately need more money.

"We are very pleased that donations in the past week, unusually for the DEC appeal, picked up in the second week. Within Christian Aid as well our donations have picked up, but we desperately need more. The scale is so huge that every penny that has been raised will be able to be used now," he said.

The DEC is an umbrella organisation for 13 different UK charities who are providing food shelter and medical care to those who have lost everything in the floods.

With government controls relaxed, Red Shirt protests return to northern Thailand

2010-08-22T16:28:00.000+01:00

Thailand's red shirt movement resume their anti-government activity in their stronghold province of Chiang Mai after the government lifts tight military control in the northern provinces.

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND (AUGUST 22, 2010) REUTERS - About three hundred members of Thai United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), gathered in Chiang Mai on Sunday (August 22) in an anti-government rally.
The demonstrators lay down on the ground and staged a theatrical play to mock the military who clamped down on red shirted protesters in Bangkok earlier in 2010.

Most of the demonstrator were women and elderly residents from Chiang Mai and the surrounding provinces.

They accuse Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his administration of ordering the Thai military to launch what became for Red Shirt supporters a bloody crackdown on demonstrations in Bangkok between March and May.

On August 16, the Thai cabinet lifted an emergency law which prevented protests in three red shirt strongholds in northern Thailand

The emergency decree has been in place since April, giving security forces broad power to deal with anti-government protests that spiraled into the worst political violence in modern Thai history and left 91 people dead and nearly 2,000 wounded.

It is still in force in Bangkok and six other provinces.

Wyclef rejected as Haiti candidate

2010-08-21T16:16:00.000+01:00

The Haitian electoral authority rules hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean is ineligible to run for president there in the November election.

HAITI-WYCLEF JEAN RULING - Wyclef Jean's quest to move from musician to statesman may now be over.

Haitian authorities have ruled the hip-hop star is not eligible to run as a presidential candidate there for the November election.

Jean was born in Haiti, but moved to the United States as a child where he eventually rose to fame through his music.

He enjoyed great popularity in his homeland, and founded a charity for Haitian relief.

But Haitian presidential candidates must have five consecutive years of residency in Haiti prior to running.

The electoral authority said Jean did not meet this requirement, leaving him off the list of 19 approved candidates.

RICHARDSON DUMERLE, ELECTORAL COUNCIL SPOKESMAN, SAYING:

"Candidate Jeannel Wyclef Jean: rejected."

Jean - seen here after the ruling - issued a statement saying he respectfully disagreed with this decision, but accepted it.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas.

It continues to struggle in the aftermath of a massive earth quake earlier this year that killed up to 300,000 people.

Though it may not be as president, Jean said he'd continue to work to rebuild Haiti.

David Botti, Reuters

Wyclef Jean says threats will not deter candidacy

2010-08-19T11:08:00.000+01:00

Hip hop star and presidential candidate, Wyclef Jean, says recent spate of threats will not deter his candidacy for president.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (AUGUST 18, 2010) REUTERS - Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean said on Wednesday (August 18) he had received death threats but they would not deter him from running for president of his native Haiti.
Singer-songwriter Jean, 40, said he had received anonymous phone calls threatening that he would be killed unless he left Haiti. He was in hiding and has not appeared in public for two days, but sounded defiant.

He told Reuters he wouldn't give up, but said he had taken precautions.

"And just for our safety, we basically came to an area which we feel is secure, and that's my town. So I basically am in my town, I'm in Lassere, we're in an area where we're comfortable. The area where we was at before, we was not comfortable, so where we at right now, we definitely feel more comfortable. We know that the situation that we have embarked in, you know, death threats comes with the territory," he said.

Haiti's provisional electoral council had been due to finalize on Tuesday (August 17) the list of candidates who met the legal requirements to stand in the Nov. 28 election that will choose a successor to President Rene Preval.

The announcement was delayed until Friday to allow more time to decide on legal questions about several of the 34 contenders, among them Jean.

He said he and his legal team were sure they had met all the requirements.

"So by law and within the Haitian constitution, we have given the CEP everything. So this delay of announcing the candidacy is not on our part because we have given everything possible," he said.

He is widely popular in his impoverished Caribbean homeland, which is struggling to recover from a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people and wrecked

much of the coastal capital Port-au-Prince.

Haiti's electoral law requires candidates to have five consecutive years of residency in Haiti, among other requirements, such as tax compliance.

Jean left his homeland at age 9 to go to the United States, where he launched and developed his international musical career. His lawyers have said he is eligible to run and has maintained residency for more than five years in Haiti.

Legal challenges also have been raised against several other candidates, including Jacques Edouard Alexis, a former two-time prime minister, and Leslie Voltaire, a U.S.-educated urban planner and former minister who has been heavily involved in Haiti's post-quake reconstruction.

Jean has rebuffed criticisms that he lacks the experience and qualifications to be president, arguing that Haiti needs an international figure who can attract aid and allies.

He told Reuters that if his candidacy is not approved, he will continue his work in Haiti.

"If after Friday we're not approved, I will continue doing what I've been doing in Haiti, coming back and forth. But we will be respected as a political force. The important thing is that I hope we can be part of the big plan that is for Haiti. And the programs of helping people write and read, the voice of the youth could still implement, for the farmers, we put them in a better situation, the idea of investment coming into the country, starting with the diaspora, working towards helping bring the first resort to Haiti, that is something that I'm very excited on, you know, better relationships with the DR. I'm still going to be involved," he said.

What Jean may lack in political experience he may make up for in popularity. He is admired by many Haitians, especially the young, who see him as a celebrity who never forgot his roots. Several Haitian youth organizations and Creole music groups are supporting his campaign as a candidate for the Viv Ansan-m party.

The three-time Grammy award-winner has said he will put his musical career on hold if his candidacy is approved.

Preval, who has been widely criticized at home over his handling of the response to the earthquake disaster, cannot run for re-election after serving two terms.

Amnesty International calls on Australian government to treat asylum seekers fairly

2010-08-19T11:02:00.000+01:00

Amnesty International renews demands for fair treatment of asylum seekers ahead of Australian election.

AT SEA NETWORK TEN - Human rights group Amnesty International has renewed its push for fair treatment of asylum seekers just days before a federal election, in Australia.
Amnesty International's national refugee coordinator Doctor Graham Thom said Australia held one of the worst records among the developed nations in the way it treated asylum seekers, or so called 'boat people'.

Graham said Australia breached its international obligations by penalizing people on the basis of their way of arrival.

"Amnesty International expects any incoming government to treat all asylum seekers equally whether they arrive by air or by boat. We should not be penalizing a particular group which only makes up very small fraction of the number of people coming to this country each year, any differently. They shouldn't be taken to remote detention centers, we shouldn't be locking up children, we should be treating all refugees and asylum seekers in line with our international obligations and we should be providing protection to those who prove they are genuine refugees," Thom said.

When asylum seekers arrive in Australia illegally by boat, they are kept in detention centers until their claims are being processed.

Najeeba Wazefadost, 22, is from Afghanistan and has just graduated with a degree in medical science and is hoping to become a doctor one day.

She and her family arrived by boat in 2000. When Australian Navy patrols spotted them and ordered the captain to turn back, their boat was already leaking.

"Even though they did make us turn the boat, we said it is OK we are going to turn it in front of them. We will say we are going to go back, but there is no way we were going to go back because we had nothing back there. We were going to go inside the war again? So for us it wouldn't make a difference, we are going to get drowned in the sea or go back home and get killed in our country, so it was not a choice. At least we were looking at the point of going towards Australia-- we could see a light towards our lives, that we could see there is a way, maybe, there is a one percent chance we can get out of the situation that we were in. Where as the other part, it was all dark," Wazefadot said.

Wazefadost and her family were put in a detention center until their claim was processed. Finally their claim was found genuine and they were granted refugee status.

"Those people, those refugees that are risking their lives to come through that big Pacific ocean is not just for fun or just not to come and see these buildings. I am sure their lives are at risk. I am sure that their lives have been at risk, that they have to go through that big major risk of coming through that big ocean and risking their lives. Otherwise they wouldn't have done that," she said.

Currently, there are over 4,200 unauthorized arrivals being held in detention in Australia, but while the numbers are small, border protection is a "hot button" issue with voters, which helped conservative parties win a stunning election victory in 2001.

The coalition's leader Tony Abbott wants to reopen a detention center in the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru.

In June, the asylum seeker issue saw the ruling Labor party lose a key state by-election in western Sydney.

In July, Prime Minister Julia Gillard unveiled a new policy aimed at calming voter fears about rising numbers of asylum seekers that includes a possible East Timor processing center.

Penelope Mathew is a senior lecturer in Australian National University about refugee issues.

She thinks it is a law and order issue politicians love to whip up ahead of elections.

"It is I think a distraction because it makes it look as though politicians doing something good for Australian citizens, you know, we are keeping you safe, we are controlling borders," Mathew told Reuters.

Gillard rejected charges her regional processing center policy was aimed at "rednecks in marginal seats" and Tony Abbott remained adamant that dealing with "the boat people" was a matter of dignity for a country to control its borders, with marginal seats in suburbs likely to determine the election on Saturday.

Obama says "no regrets" on mosque comments

2010-08-18T20:11:00.000+01:00

U.S. President Barack Obama says he has "no regrets" that he expressed his view in the opening of a Islamic cultural center near the site of the 9/11 attack.

COLUMBUS, OHIO, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 18, 2010) POOL - As the proposed establishment of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near the site of the 9/11 attacks continues to dominate America's political chatter, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he had "no regrets" about his controversial comment last week which ignited the rhetorical firestorm.
After delivering remarks on the economy in Ohio, Obama paused to shake hands with members of his audience. A reporter stationed along a rope line asked the President if he regretted the remarks on the Islamic center. Obama walked away from the reporter, apparently to consider his response, and turned back again a short while later.

"The answer is: no regrets," he said.

Obama inserted himself into the debate over the mosque last week when observed that Muslims have the right to worship freely. Some commentators, ranging across the political spectrum from the Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid to former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, have argued that placing the Islamic center so close to the site of the attack on the World Trade Center would open raw wounds in America's national psyche.

UK's historic coalition government marks first 100 days in office

2010-08-18T16:35:00.000+01:00

Britain's coalition government, the first since World War Two, marks its first 100 days in office as UK trade unions attack spending cuts saying the lowest paid workers could be hit the hardest.

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM,UK POOL - Britain's first coalition government since World War Two marked its first 100 days in office on Wednesday (August 18).
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he was proud of the governments' achievements during a CentreForum think-tank event as he took over from Prime Minister David Cameron, who was on holiday.

"As of today the new coalition government is 100 days old, inevitably there is lots of discuss about our performance to date. Everyone will have their own view about the kind of start that we have made. I'm really proud of the achievements so far," Clegg said.

An ICM survey for the Guardian showed 46-percent of those interviewed felt the coalition government was doing a "good job" with 36-percent who felt the opposite. This was a drop in margin from June which showed a 23 point gap.

Assistant Editor and Political Commentator for the Guardian, Michael White said Cameron had done well on domestic policy.

"Cameron has done quite well. He has made mistakes a number of of foreign policy errors, with the president of Pakistan the other day, made a silly slip about 1940 and the Americans being the senior partner against Hitler, wrong year and so on and so forth. On domestic policy he has generally been surer," he said.

White added that unless a real disaster hits the UK, he expects the coalition government to through to the next election in 2015.

"My assumption is that unless a real disaster hits the country, an economic disaster, factors outside our control, things go wrong in the wider world economy which ranges from war to natural disaster, via resumed economic depression, I assume if that doesn't happen, the coalition will sort of battle on, perhaps stagger on, getting more unpopular. They will say 'we are seeing it through, we are doing the right thing, you will begin to see the benefits by the time we have the next election'," he said.

Director of Political Research at YouGov, Joe Twyman said although Cameron was doing well in the polls, support for the coalition was dropping.

"David Cameron is doing relatively well as prime minister, but really it is all about him as part of the wider coalition, that is the important thing for the people. And whereas David Cameron's support and the Conservative party's support have been able to be maintained over his course as prime minister. What we are seeing is the government, the coalition is dropping."

Britain's trade unions launched an attack on public spending cuts to mark the coalition's 100th day in office, setting the scene for an autumn battle with the government as it reveals where the axe will fall.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat government, which came to power on May 11, has pledged to cut departmental spending by at least 25 percent as it tackles a budget deficit running at around 11 percent of national output.

Senior Policy Officer in the Economics Department of Trades Union Congress, Nicola Smith said in 100 days there have been 100 cuts hitting the most vulnerable and poorest in the community.

"Over the last 100 days we have seen a hundred cuts that have hit the most vulnerable and poorest communities across our society the hardest. We have seen cuts in long-term support for unemployed young people, we have seen cuts for women at risk of domestic violence, we have seen cuts in support for children and nursery funding and for building extended schools and providing childcare," she said.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has joined with charities such as Oxfam to call for a fairness test to guarantee budget cuts do not hit the lowest paid workers hardest.

Unions warned the government's austerity measures, which are expected to result in around 600,000 public sector job losses, risked pushing the British economy back into recession.

While some savings were outlined in an emergency budget in June, the bulk of cuts will be set out in a spending review on October 20, a day on which unions have promised protests.

The TUC, which represents 6.5 million workers, called on the government to reconsider its planned cuts to public services and focus instead on other ways to reduce the deficit, such as a tax on financial institutions for foreign exchange, derivatives trading and share transactions.

"The real risk of these sharp cuts is that we are going to see lower growth, lower tax revenue, an increase risk of economic stagnation or even a double dip recession and that is going to take us even further away from being able to reduce the deficit. What we need to see is the deficit reduction timetable taking place over a longer period and a far fairer balance between tax rises and spending cuts," Smith added.

Public opinion of the streets of London was mixed.

Philip Clarke was impressed with Cameron engaging with local people to talk about issues.

"I think the fact that he is engaging with the people, he is actually going to meet people and chat about various issues, that impresses me," he said.

Londoner Serena Williams was unsure of Cameron but placed her support behind the coalition government.

"No I really can't comment but I do like the coalition though."

While Henry Davey likened the coalition government to a strict school teacher.

"There is a kind of a feeling that we all have been messing around while the naughty teacher is taking the class and we all know that we actually have to knuckle down and do our homework and the strict teacher has come along and said, 'stop messing around'. I think that is kind of the vibe really," he said.

The TUC's policy officer said public opinion might change once people have seen how the spending cuts affect their local services and communities.

"It does seem fair to presume that once the spending cuts actually start to hit people's services, people's communities and people can see the problems that are being caused in their local areas as a result of this very sharp and quick withdrawal of public funding, the public opinion may start to change," Nicola Smith said.

Is There A Book Of Prescribed Punishment?

2010-08-16T01:36:00.000+01:00

There is no specific book of punishment, as sentencing is
based on a variety of factors. Regardless of what crime is
committed a criminal lawyer, DUI lawyer or a felony lawyer
can provide the client with an average punishment for the
situation, but the final judgment is determined by the
court.

In most instances, it is the judge and not the jury who
determines sentencing. The court cautions elected jurors not
to factor possible sentencing when attempting to determine
the guilt or innocence of an individual. Certain states
require juries to be involved in the sentencing process, but
only in rare circumstances, which include advising whether a
defendant should receive the death penalty over life
imprisonment.

A crime is committed when a specific law has been broken and
many times each law or statute provides a guideline for
penalties according to each behavior. A first time offender
may be subject to a monetary fine, imprisonment or both,
which is not to exceed a specific amount. The judge then
determines the final penalty. Statutes may define behaviors
without delegating punishment so courts will decide the
punishment based on the type of behavior in general.

Public complaints of leniency have influenced Congress to
ensure justice when certain laws are broken. "Mandatory
sentencing" applies when federal crimes are committed and,
in certain instances, when a state law is violated. Under
these circumstances, judges are required to hand down
predetermined punishment for anyone who breaks these
specific laws. An automatic and specific punishment is
assigned to the breaking of that law regardless of who
committed the crime.

Generally, courts expect judges to evaluate a number of
facts surrounding the case before determining final
punishment. A person's age, criminal history, social and
work history in addition to what prompted the individual to
break the law and whether he or she regrets the action, are
issues taken into consideration. In these situations, the
punishment is determined based on the offender and not the
law that was broken.

In cases where the judge renders punishment, the defense
attorney presents "mitigating circumstances" or facts
pertaining to the particular situation, to influence the
judge to consider a milder punishment. For instance, it
might be taken into consideration that the offender has a
minor or no previous criminal history. Perhaps the defendant
did not play a key role in the crime, but was assisting
another person. Maybe the person was experiencing a great
amount of stress when the crime was committed, for example,
job loss, bills piling up and a family illness. Or perhaps
the crime did not cause injury or would not have resulted in
the injury of any person.

On the other hand, "aggravating circumstances" influence a
judge to deal severely with an offender. An individual who
commits the same crime repeatedly is likely to receive a
harsher punishment. How a crime was committed is another
aggravating circumstance. An offender who was intentionally
cruel or malicious will receive a sentence based upon that
behavior. Occasionally, laws carry defining circumstances
detailing what is considered aggravating, which include
using a weapon to commit a crime.

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Is Artificial Insemination The Only Way To Get Pregnant After 40?

2010-08-16T01:34:00.000+01:00

Artificial insemination is one of the most common types of
treatments tried by women who suffer with infertility
issues. While this has been a proven method of treatment
for many women, it is not something that is right for all
women, and there are other ways.

There are several options available to you to help you
conceive a child but it is important to remember that most
of these treatments comes with their own set of
complications. The exceptions are the natural and holistic
approaches.

Hearing that you may not be able to have a baby is one of
the most distressing things for a woman. Having a child is
something that most women have dreamed about their whole
lives so when this type of news is presented to them, it
hurts them deeply.

Some women feel a desperate need to seek some type of
immediate treatment that can help them to correct the
situation straight away. But often they do not take the time
to consider the complications that may arise.

Artificial insemination is usually one of the first types of
treatments that women look into. This gives women a chance
of carrying their own child, and bypasses the issue that
keeps them from having a baby naturally.

It can be a very expensive treatment option, so is something
that not everyone can afford. And what should happen if the
treatment isn't successful first time round (as it is in 4
out of 5 cases)? Most of the time it can take up to 6
sessins before people give up.

The process of artificial insemination is not a short one.
A woman must take infertility medications for a defined
period so that her chance of getting pregnant increases.

The fertility drugs can cause a woman to have major mood
swings. She may also have to deal with her ovaries becoming
enlarged as well as having dry cervical mucus. Some women
can complain of stomach aches, and there havce been studies
which link the use of these treatments to higher cases of
cancer.

This treatment has also been notorious for making women
pregnant with multiple babies. This is not something that
most people plan for.

The complications above are sometimes all too much for a
woman to deal with. Which is why thousands of women are
looking for natural ways to help them conceive.

Many women do not realize that if they look at all aspects
of why they cannot conceive, they will have a better chance
of correcting the situation.

By taking a natural and holistic approach to the treatment,
women will be able to create a healthy environment for their
child to be conceived. This is the best way forward, as a
woman will be working to make her body better from the
inside out.

So, before you make your decision as to what type of
treatment is best for you, you should look into what options
you have where natural and holistic treatments are concerned.

You will be healing your body so that it can work to heal
itself, making the need for artificial insemination
disappear.

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African immigrants in South Africa fear attacks after World Cup

2010-07-09T13:02:00.000+01:00

Foreign nationals living in South Africa are being threatened that violence against immigrants will restart shortly after the World Cup.

DE DORNS, SOUTH AFRICA REUTERS - Foreign nationals living in South Africa say they fear for their safety as the World Cup comes to a close, after receiving xenophobic threats of violence.
In De Dorns, rows of tents house refugees - mostly Zimbabweans - who sought safety after a breakout of violence last November in South Africa's Western Cape. Many say they are too scared to return to their homeland but also face a new wave of threats in South Africa.

"After the World Cup, they are promising that 'We are going to kill you and if we don't kill you, we will do something very bad. So, it's better if you go back to your homes now - that the World Cup is in progress. After the World Cup, we are going to do something very terrible.' So, many of the people here have gone but we can't go. Where do we go?" said Evah Chibukira, a Zimbabwean refugee staying in the camp.

South Africa's government on Thursday (July 8) played down concerns that locals will turn on poor African migrants competing for scarce jobs in the continent's largest economy when the curtain falls on the soccer World Cup.

But migrants from African states and non-governmental groups said foreigners have been leaving due to renewed threats of xenophobic violence in the country where attacks in 2008 left 62 migrants dead and around 100,000 homeless.

In recent months, the government has encouraged the community to vacate the sports field and move back to their homes.

There are still more than 200 refugees staying in the area, including Chakauya Musakawa and his wife Moleen.

Musakawa says he would like to move back to their old home so they can work again, but with newborn twins, they have to think of safety first.

"The government wants to move us out of this place but I don't. If they can come and facilitate an agreement between us and the community people, we can go to the location freely. But if they can't facilitate that then we will stay here," he said.

The South African army has been deployed in areas around Cape Town, following an upsurge in threats towards foreigners but rights groups say the government needs a long-term solution.

At the Scalabrini Centre in Cape Town - a non-government organisation (NGO) which helps refugees - director Miranda Madikane said the source of the problem was poverty.

"It's a lot about poverty and I think if those root causes were addressed, we wouldn't be dealing with the xenophobic threats," she said.

South Africa's liberal immigration and refugee policies have made it a haven for Africans looking for work in the country's mines, farms and homes, where they battle for jobs in the country with 25 percent unemployment.

The number of migrants are estimated to be about five million, almost equal to the white population in a total population of about 49 million.

Assaults have the potential to dampen investor sentiment and embarrass President Jacob Zuma's government, which has pledged to reduce violence in a country whose reputation as Africa's economic engine has been undercut by its high crime rate.

Dalai Lama advocates unity-in-diversity to world leaders

2010-06-06T11:48:00.000+01:00

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama during a visit to Kishtwar region of Indian Kashmir calls for peace and unity among people of all faiths.

KISHTWAR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (JUNE 05, 2010) ANI - During his visit to Kishtwar in the Jammu region of Indian Kashmir, the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama said that unity among all faiths is the ultimate key for universal peace.
He said this while addressing a multi-religious congregation at a Buddhist monastery in Gulabgarh village near Paddar on Saturday (June 05).

Omar Abdullah, chief of Indian Kashmir accompanied the Dalai Lama on this visit.

Stressing on this aspect, the Dalai Lama appealed to the world leaders to come forward and make the 21st century a violence-free era.

He was all praise for the social fabric of India where people following different faiths live together peacefully.

Later addressing the congregation at the village, Omar Abdullah, chief of Jammu and Kashmir termed the Dalai Lama's visit as a blessing for the society.

"Whenever you look at him you will find that there is halo on his face and in his presence, people will also receive such positive vibrations. So that's the reason I find myself and the people of my state very fortunate he has come here for us and he will pray for us, he will pray for all the people of our state," said Omar Abdullah.

Earlier, the Dalai Lama appealed to the people of Kishtwar, which at one time was a hot bed for the militants, to continue with their rich multi-cultural heritage and maintain religious harmony and tranquillity at all costs.

The sleeping town of Kishtwar was spruced up to welcome the renowned Tibetan leader since it happened to be his first visit to this area.

Later, the Dalai Lama flew to Paddar in Zanskar valley.

UN human right council condemn Israel raid

2010-06-02T19:25:00.000+01:00

GENEVA SWITZERLAND (JUNE 2, 2010) UNTV - The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday (June 2) condemning the attack by Israeli forces against the humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza, which left nine people dead.
Calling the maritime assault "the outrageous attack by the Israeli forces which resulted in the killing and injuring of many innocent civilians from different countries," the resolution also calls on Israel to immediately lift the siege on occupied Gaza.

The UN Council also decided to dispatch an independent international fact finding mission to investigate violations of international law resulting from the Israeli attack in which nine people died.

The representative from Israel Aharon Leshno Yaar asked delegates to vote against the resolution it, saying that Gaza was controlled by Hamas.

"I would like to first remind the Council that the Gaza strip is controlled de facto by the Hamas terrorist group, a terrorist group that in its Charter seeks to obliterate Israel, as a land and as a people. Hamas deliberately and indiscriminately attacks Israeli civilians and communities on a daily basis using Qassam rockets, missiles and mortars. For this reason, Israel imposed a maritime blockade to prevent the infiltration of war material into the Gaza strip," he said.

The United States delegate said it was too early to jump to conclusions before a full investigation

is conducted about what happened when the Israeli mariners stormed the Turkish boat leading the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza on Monday (May 31).

"Unfortunately the resolution before us rushes to judgement on a set of facts that, as our debate over the last few days makes clear, are only beginning to be discovered and understood. It creates an international mechanism before giving the responsible government an opportunity to investigate this incident itself and therefore risks further politicizing a sensitive and volatile situation. We understand the impetus to respond quickly to a troubling set of events. But we have an obligation to determine facts and make considered judgements on how to best address what is a complex and difficult situation," said United States ambassador to the Council Eileen Chamberlain Donahue.

Norway and Italy also voted against while other European Union states abstained, as did Japan while China sided with other non-aligned in favour of the resolution.

After the debate, The Council adopted the resolution, by a vote of 32 in favour, three against, and nine abstentions, deploring the loss of life of innocent civilians and expressing its deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims and their families.

The Council called on Israel to fully cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross to seek and provide information on the whereabouts, status and condition of the detained and injured people.

Oliver Stone denounces U.S. ignorance at Bolivia screening of documentary

2010-06-02T18:13:00.000+01:00

Oliver Stone sits next to Bolivia's Morales at screening of documentary 'South of the Border', says U.S. people 'know nothing' about leftist leader.

COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA (JUNE 01, 2010) REUTERS - Oliver Stone said people in the U.S. 'know nothing' about Bolivian leader Evo Morales after a screening of his documentary 'South of the Border' in Cochabamba on Tuesday (June 02).
The film by Oscar-winner Stone focuses on how a generation of leftist leaders, led by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, is seeking increased independence from U.S. cultural and economic domination in the region.

Stone, who also interviewed leaders in Paraguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Cuba and Brazil, visited Morales in January 2009. The two played soccer behind the presidential palace, chewed coca leaves and discussed the particulars of Morales' project to refound Bolivia in the name of the poor, indigenous majority.

Since taking over as president in 2006, Morales has nationalized several key industries in an effort to redistribute wealth. Morales has also been very critical of U.S. anti-drug policy in the country and has accused of the United States of leading destabilization campaigns against his government, a tiff that prompted Bolivia to throw out U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg in 2008.

Stone, who sat next to Morales at the screening, seeks to demonstrate how both Morales and Chavez has been unfairly demonized by the U.S. media.

"Believe me, American people do not know anything about Evo Morales, about the water revolt, the transformation of Bolivia, the suspension of trade relations with the United States, getting rid of the ambassador to Bolivia. They don't know anything about the coup in Venezuela in which the United States was involved 2002 against Chavez, they don't know anything about this. We have to start somewhere."

Stone encouraged both the leftist leaders to use the Internet as a way to circulate alternative information.

"We advise President Chavez and we would advise President Morales to keep getting the truth out there to the web. The web is your best weapon, people will read it, they read alternative media. They believe other things if they think for themselves," Stone said.

Chavez recently set up a Twitter account that immediately had thousands of followers.

The 62-year-old Stone has worried his movie won't get much play time in the U.S., where Chavez is often portrayed as a dangerous maverick who is a threat to security.

Malawi pardons gay couple

2010-05-29T23:27:00.000+01:00

Malawi pardons a gay couple from a 14-year prison term after a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

MALAWI-GAY PARDON - Malawi's leader Bingu wa Mutharika pardons a gay couple from a 14-year prison term after a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who applauded the move and urged the country to amend "outdated" laws on homosexuality.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, saying:

"It is unfortunate that laws which criminalize people on the basis of sexual orientation still exist in some countries. This outdated penal code should be reformed."

Major donors to aid-dependent Malawi had condemned the jail sentence and warned it could affect support for Malawi's budget. The United States called the decision "unconscionable".

The Malawian couple, were arrested after celebrating their engagement in a traditional ceremony in late December.

They were tried and found guilty earlier this month of sodomy and indecency.

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters

Thousands demonstrate against Arizona immigration law

2010-05-29T23:25:00.000+01:00

New Arizona attracts thousands of demonstrators who oppose the law, and some who support it.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA, USA (MAY 29, 2010) NBC - Angered by Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants, thousands of protesters marched through central Phoenix on Saturday (May 29), urging Washington to block the new state law they call racist.
Civil rights and labor group activists from across the United States -- carrying banners that read: "Obama Keep Your Promise" -- rallied to protest the law, which requires state and local police to investigate the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally.

"We're here to stand in unison with immigrant families. This law violates our fundamental principles of human dignity and human rights" said marcher Peter Morales.

The Arizona law comes at a difficult time for President Barack Obama, who has failed so far to deliver on his promise to Hispanic voters of an immigration overhaul. His Democratic Party faces congressional elections in November.

Activists want Obama to order federal authorities not to accept custody of illegal immigrants detained under the law.

They also want the Obama administration to revoke the so-called 287g agreement, which deputizes officers from local police agencies to enforce federal immigration laws.

The Arizona law seeks to push illegal immigrants from the desert state, a major corridor for migrant and drug smugglers crossing the border from Mexico. The measure is supported by a solid majority of voters both in Arizona and nationally.

Advocates of the law -- due to take effect on July 29, subject to legal challenges -- also held a protest near the Arizona Capitol building.

One man who supports stronger laws equated the current situation to an immigration tsunami.

"You keep allowing these tsunamis of non-white hostile crowds to come in, once they're the majority they will not extend to us the same courtesies," he said standing next to a Confederate flag. "We will be voted into the cooking pot. So now is the time to wake up."

France, RDC anti-racism organisations join fight to label 'Tintin in Congo' racist

2010-05-12T16:41:00.000+01:00

France's Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN) and a Kinshasa-based association against racism, join the fight to put a warning on the children's comic book 'Tintin in the Congo' because of what they say is racist content.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 12, 2010)REUTERS - Congolese-born Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu wants the children's comic book 'Tintin in the Congo' banned from Belgian shops because he argues it is racist.
On Wednesday (May 12), France's Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN) and a Kinshasa-based association against racism joined Bienvenu's fight.

While the two associations do not want a total ban on the book, they want at least a warning and a foreword replacing 'Tintin in Congo' in its historical context.

The book came out first in 1930 and traces the adventures of a journalist Tintin and his dog Snowy as they travel through Belgian-controlled Congo.

In the book the Congolese are badly educated, take up servile positions, speak in pidgin french and send Snowy running for cover because of the colour of their skin.

Tintin, for his part, is portrayed as magnanimous white man who teaches their children in a missionary school.

Bienvenu started his fight in 2007, after Britain's Commission for Racial Equality declared 'Tintin in Congo' contained "imagery and words of hideous racial prejudice''.

France's CRAN (Representative Council of Black Associations), an umbrella organisation for 120 associations defending black people's right and the fight against racism, joined the case in Belgium because the book is against European values of tolerance, CRAN President Patrick Lozes said.

''The Belgian procedure starts to take a long time and as a result we do not exclude the possibility of bringing the case in front of a French tribunal to ask for a label, a warning on the book, and a foreword because each day is one day too many because children are reading this book and the book conveys images and messages that are not worthy of the values were are trying to promote within the European Union,'' Lozes said.

The case has also raised issues in the Republic Democratic of Congo, Jean-Claude Ndjakanyi, a lawyer representing an association for the fight against racism in Kinshasa, said.

Mdjakanyi said the book contributes to the epidemic of racism: ''I think there is progressively an awareness that racism is shocking. It's like an epidemic.''

Bienvenu has lived in Belgium for more than 20 years and believes Tintin in the Congo is partly responsible for the racist attitude he faces daily.

Bienvenu says that by portraying the Congolese as servile and stupid Tintin perpetuates a negative image of all black people and that children should not grow up believing this is acceptable.

''You are being refused a flat because you are black. You are being denied a better job because your are black. Because of all that, we are asking ourselves, ''Why do they act that way with us?'' And if we have to start fighting against racism, then all the elements contributing to racism and for example the comic strip, 'Tintin in the Congo', should be banned, I think,'' Bienvenu said.

In Britain, the Commission for Racial Equality forced the UK publishers in 2007 to put a warning sign on the book-cover after declaring it contained "imagery and words of hideous racial prejudice, where the 'savage natives' look like monkeys and talk like imbeciles''.

Bienvenu wants Belgium to go for a total ban.

He is also seeking symbolic damages from Tintin publisher and rights owner Moulinsart.

Moulinsart denies that Herge, Tintin's creator, was racist. Spokesman Alain de Kuyssche argues he was simply a man of his time. Not all sailors are as haphazard as Captain Haddock, not all scientists are as forgetful as Professor Tournesol.

Yet he does admit that Herge felt the need to revise the book in 1946 because if could be seen as offensive.

''It's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. You know, when you read the entire work of Herge you realise he is everything but racist, but colonialist. He is laughing at colonialists,'' De Kuyssche said.

''He reflects the way black people were represented. I can tell you that in 1946 he (Herge) felt the need to review and revise 'Tintin in the Congo'. Others didn't do it,'' De Kuyssche added.

For example, a geography lesson where native Congolese were being taught about their country Belgium became a mathematic class. Belgium controlled the country that is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo until 1960.

A native Congolese wearing the european-style trouser and shirt outfit in the 1930 version wears a more traditional loincloth in the later version.

De Kuyssche said Tintin had not been in the Congo before he wrote the book. He said he was inspired by what he read in the press or what he saw in the Africa Museum in Brussels' suburb of Tervuren.

De Kuyssche said the book should be read in the context of the period when it was published.

Yet he also says that if you ban Tintin you might as well ban Tarzan, or the works of English writers Charles Dickens or Rudyard Kipling who have also been criticised for their patronising and colonial writings.

Bienvenu won't hear those arguments and is ready to go far to have his case heard.

''I started in 2007. It has been three years and a few weeks of manoeuvres to delay the case will not tire me. And I am saying we will continue to where the story ends, and that could be the European Court of human rights,'' Bienvenu said.

''Tintin in the Congo'' is one of 23 books which track the adventures of the fictional young journalist and his trusty dog Snowy.

Two million Tintin albums are sold every year, De Kuyssche said. Hollywood director Steven Spielberg

The tufty-haired Tintin first appeared in 1929 and featured in adventures until 1976, selling more than 200 million copies worldwide.

Arizona immigration law fallout

2010-04-30T23:16:00.000+01:00

Emotions in Arizona remain heated, where reaction to the border state's new law that promises a crackdown on illegal immigrants has reached a near boiling point. Jon Decker reports.

USA-ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW - Emotions in Arizona remain heated, where a new law requires state and local police to determine a person's immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" they are undocumented.

Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, is the bill's author.

SENATOR RUSSELL PEARCE ON THE BORDER, SAYING:

"This is not only a national security issue, but once they cross that border, it is our neighborhoods, our health care, it is our criminal justice system, it is our educational system, it is our responsibility to our system and our citizens to protect and serve. We intend to enforce the law here in Arizona."

A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that almost two-thirds of voters in the Arizona favored the measure.

LISA CUMMINGS, PHOENIX ARIZONA, ON THE LAW, SAYING:

"I know a lot of people who come over the border to have babies, so that they can stay in this country. They don't have to pay their insurance to have their baby. I pay insurance. Why is that fair for them and not me."

But critics say the law is unconstitutional and opens the door to racial profiling.

TONY ZUNIGA, PHOENIX, ARIZONA, ON THE LAW, SAYING:

"It is not what America is about. It is not what our history is about. I am totally American and I totally believe in the American way. I don't believe in discrimination, I don't believe in hating people, this was not the right route to take."

The law, which also makes it a crime to transport illegal immigrants and to hire day laborers off the street, has already had an impact on those looking for work.

GABRIEL ESTORREZ, FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA, ON HOW THE LAW IS IMPACTING HIM, SAYING:

"I only came here for the job. The police, sometimes there is too much problems. The sheriff, you watch him, if you are hispanic, you need your I.D., your papers. It is too much problems for this. I do not know."

There are some 11 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States, an estimated 460,000 of them in Arizona.

Jon Decker, Reuters.

Venezuela arrests man who allegedly sent text death threat to Chavez

2010-04-30T17:55:00.000+01:00

Man arrested after being accused of texting death threat against Venezuela's Chavez.

BARINAS, VENEZUELA (APRIL 29, 2010) GOVERNMENT TV - Venezuela's foreign minister said on Thursday (April 30) a man had been arrested for allegedly encouraging the assassination of leftist President Hugo Chavez.
Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami said authorities were investigating a suspect for allegedly sending text messages pushing for Chavez's assassination.

"A Venezuelan citizen has been arrested here in Alberto Adriani in the state of Merida. He's A 29-year-old who is being investigated for alleged links to instigate the assassination of President Hugo Chavez, who as you know was supposed to visit Merida, although this wasn't the motive for not going. Text messages began to circulate that encouraged the assassination of Chavez. We've started an investigation and we've arrested one person allegedly involved. We are going do a deeper investigation. He's a person that's been in and out of Colombia. It reaffirms what we've been denouncing, that there's a permanent and continuous threat of assassination for President Chavez," the foreign minister said.

"Death to Hugo Chavez, for a fatherland free of tyrants," read the text, according to the minister.

He added the message was attributed to an illegal paramilitary group, the AUC or United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which began disarming a few years ago.

Chavez, who is Latin America's leading critic of Washington, frequently accuses the Colombian government of being a U.S. pawn in the region. But critics say he exaggerates the threat to distract Venezuelans from domestic problems.

Vietnam remembers the fall of Saigon

2010-04-30T17:53:00.000+01:00

Vietnam celebrates the 35th anniversary of the fall of Saigon - now known as Ho Chi Minh City - which marked the official end of the Vietnam War.

VIETNAM-ANNIVERSARY - Thousands of troops march in a parade commemorating the communist victory over U.S. -backed South Vietnam in Ho Chi Min city.

It was 35 years ago when North Vietnam tanks smashed through the gates of the presidential palace in the city.

A lieutenant and political commissar of that tank unit recalls the moment the war ended.

VU DANG TOAN, FORMER SOLDIER IN TANK 390, SAYING:

"The moment our tank 390 smashed through the gate is coming soon. At 10:45 am thirty-five years ago it smashed the presidential palace and drove straight to the palace. We are here today, very emotional, and thinking of what happened 35 years ago as it was a great victory, it was very quick to liberate Saigon and the country is reunited."

The ceremony was held at the former presidential palace in Ho Chi Minh City, formally known as Saigon.

The Communist Party Chief praised the city's economic achievements.

The city itself generated more than 20 percent of the nation's gross domestic product last year and 30 percent of its tax revenue.

Officials also paid tribute to the three million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians who died during the war, which also claimed more than 58,000 American troops.

Ageing veterans were overwhelmed with the celebration.

MADAM VU THI NHAM, 80-YEAR-OLD VETERAN FROM HANOI, SAYING:

"I could not describe my happiness. I was crying as I'm so emotional, so happy but at this moment I think of my comrades who sacrificed their lives for the country. We feel happy but we always want to remember them."

Police kept ordinary Vietnamese away for security reasons as President Nguyen Minh Triet led a delegation of dignitaries from Cuba, Russia, Cambodia and Laos.

Ian Lee Reuters

Amnesty condemns Belgian burqa ban vote

2010-04-30T17:50:00.000+01:00

Human rights group condemns decision by Belgium's lower house of parliament to approve a draft law to ban wearing the full Islamic face veil in public.

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 30, 2010) REUTERS - Amnesty International reacted with dismay on Friday (April 30) to the decision by the Belgian lower house of parliament to approve a draft law to ban wearing the full Islamic face veil in public. The move could make Belgium the first country to make the practice a criminal offence.
The measure was overwhelmingly backed on Thursday (April 29) by 136 lawmakers with just two abstentions.

The bill, which would ban all clothing that covers or partially covers the face, could become law in the coming months as the upper house, or Senate, is not expected to block it.

John Dalhuisen, an Amnesty expert on discrimination in Europe, said they were shocked that not a single member of parliament had voted against the ban.

He said: "Amnesty International is obviously very disappointed by this vote, by the ban on the full covering of the face in Belgium. We're extremely disappointed that it was approved by such an overwhelmingly comprehensive margin, 130 odd in favour, two abstaining, and absolutely no-one against a measure that Amnesty International believes violates Belgium's obligations to respect both the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion of women who freely choose to wear full face veils, such as the burqa or the hijab, in public."

However, the collapse of the Belgian government last week and the prospect of an imminent election could cause a delay because parliament would have to be dissolved.

France, which has the largest Muslim population in Europe, is also looking towards a ban on wearing veils in public, with the government set to examine a draft bill in May. It could also become law within a few months.

Dalhuisen said he fears there could be a domino effect across Europe. He said: "If you see at the moment it's far right, extreme right parties who have jumped on this bandwagon. Mainstream parties are certainly considering it as well in a number of European countries as well, so there is a real concern that there are a lot of other European countries looking at this. If this passes, if this passes without significant opposition, I think a lot of people will be tempted by it. It's in our view a very dangerous line to be going down. It's definitely very much the thin end of the wedge."

Belgium's French-speaking liberals, who proposed the veil law, argued that an inability to identify people who have hidden their faces presents a security risk and that the veil was a "walking prison" for women.

Wearing the facial veil, known as the niqab and the body-length outer garment, or burqa, widely worn in Afghanistan, could lead to lead to fines of 15-25 euros (about 20-33 U.S. dollars) and imprisonment for up to seven days.

The bill's chief promoter, Daniel Bacquelaine, said local mayors could suspend the ban during festivities such as Carnival when people traditionally wear costumes, including masks.

The law could also be used against potentially violent demonstrators who covered their faces.

Bacquelaine estimated that a few hundred women in Belgium wore facial veils and said it was a rising trend.

Tensions rise in Arizona over immigration law

2010-04-29T17:42:00.000+01:00

Arizona's controversial new immigration law creates huge divide in state, while bringing the issue back to the forefront U.S. politics.

NOGALES, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 28, 2010) REUTERS - Emotions in Arizona remained heated on Wednesday (April 28), where reaction to the state's new law that promises a crackdown on illegal immigrants has reached a near boiling point.
The controversial law, which Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into effect last Friday (April 23), has created strong feelings on both sides.

It requires state and local police to determine a person's immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" they are undocumented. Critics say it is unconstitutional and opens the door to racial profiling.

Republican backers argue that it's needed to curb crime in the desert state, which is a key corridor for drug and migrant smugglers from Mexico.

"Enough is enough. How many more people have to die, billions of cost to the tax payers," explained State Senator Russell Pearce, the author of the bill.

"It is outrageous, it is malfeasance on the part of the government. Even farther, the government is complacent in the deaths, the maiming, the billions of dollars in cost to America and American citizens. Our citizens have a constitutional right to have these laws enforced and the failure to enforce them is an abuse to the lawful citizens in this country, who pay the price for that failure" Pearce added.

There are some 10.8 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States, an estimated 460,000 of them in Arizona.

A Rasmussen Reports poll on Wednesday found that almost two-thirds or 64 percent of voters in the Arizona favored the measure.

"I know a lot of people who come over the border to have babies, so that they can stay in this country," complained Lisa Cummings, a longtime resident of Phoenix.

"They don't have to pay their insurance to have their baby. I pay insurance. Why is that fair for them and not me. It is not, it is just giving every one an equal chance. The problem is that they are coming over the border, they are smuggling people in and why not do it the right way" added Cummings.

Protest organizers who staged a gathering outside the state capitol on Wednesday were outraged over the law.

"There is a lot of ignorance on the anglos. They see a hispanic, we're good to wash your dishes, to clean your yard, to build your houses, to do the work from the bottom. You mean to tell me we are not good enough to be like you guys," said Daniel Valdez, who believes the bill will result in racial profiling.

Others find the law un-American.

"It is not what America is about. It is not what our history is about. I am totally American and I totally believe in the American way. I don't believe in discrimination, I don't believe in hating people, this was not the right route to take," added Tony Zuniga, a local criminal attorney in Phoenix.

The law, which also makes it a crime to transport illegal immigrants and to hire day laborers off the street, has already had an impact on those looking for work.

"I only came here for the job," explained Gabriel Estorrez, a day laborer, who may consider leaving Arizona as a result of the new law.

"The police, sometimes there is too much problems. The sheriff, you watch him, if you are hispanic, you need your I.D., your papers. It is too much problems for this. I do not know."

Arizona's law is slated to take effect 90 days after the current legislative session adjourns in late July or early August. .

The bold move has reverberated well beyond its border, sparking calls for economic boycotts and celebrity intervention. Colombian-born pop star Shakira said she will travel to Phoenix on Thursday (April 29) to help campaign against the new law, and would meet with Mayor Phil Gordon, police and Latino families. She sought a meeting with Governor Brewer but was turned down, her publicist said.

Three former cabinet ministers accused of sleaze

2010-03-23T20:13:00.000Z

Three former cabinet ministers are suspended by Britain's ruling Labour party after being secretly filmed claiming they could use their position to influence government policy for cash.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 23, 2010) - Three former cabinet ministers were suspended by Britain's ruling Labour party on Monday (March 22) after being secretly filmed claiming they could use their position to influence government policy for cash.

Former Defence Minister Geoff Hoon, Stephen Byers and Patricia Hewitt were suspended pending further investigation following the screening of a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, in which all three were secretly filmed meeting a bogus American lobby firm.

Margaret Moran, a Labour member of parliament, who also featured in the programme has also been suspended. All four are due to stand down at an election due by June.

Undercover footage showed Byers, a former transport secretary, telling reporters he could be hired for 5,000 pounds ($7,474) a day in exchange for access to ministers, secret government information and advice on influencing policy.

"I am a bit like your sort of cab for hire, I suppose," Byers told the undercover reporter.

Byers referred himself to parliament's standards watchdog over the comments, but denied any wrongdoing.

His claim to have lobbied successfully for National Express over their east coast mainline rail franchise has been dismissed as "pure fantasy" by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.

Lord Adonis told the House of Lords he had a "brief conversation" with Mr Byers last year about the company's threat to default on its franchise, but said there was "no truth whatsoever" in suggestions that he changed his policy as a result.

"My Lords there is no truth whatsoever in the suggestion that Stephen Byers came to any arrangement with me on any matter relating to national Express. These are the facts, any claims to the contrary are pure fantasy," Adonis said.

Conservative leader David Cameron, whose own centre-right party was mired in sleaze allegations in the 1990s, said the government should also investigate the Byers allegations.

"No wonder there is deepening suspicion that politicians are out to serve themselves and not the country. A couple of months ago I said that I thought this was the next big scandal waiting to happen. I worried that the culture of excessive lobbying and quiet words in the minister's ear were threatening to do even more damage to the battered reputation of parliament," Cameron said.

However one of Cameron's own MP's Sir John Butterfill appeared to be offering influence from the House of Lords, telling the undercover reporter:

"Can I tell you something very much in confidence, well it is quite likely that I will go to the Lords. No no nothing is certain in this world so that would be nice and it also gives me another string to my bow as far as you are concerned because quite often the right mover and shaker happens to be in the Lords."

Former Defence Minister Geoffrey Hoon told the programme: "One of the challenges which I have been looking forward to is sort of translating my knowledge and contacts about sort of international scene into something that bluntly makes money."

Labour backbench MP Margaret Moran who is stepping down from parliament after the next election appeared to be overlie keen to start a lobbying role ahead of time.

"Yeah, Im free now," Moran told the programme.

The timing of the inquiry is uncomfortable for Brown, whose centre-left party trails the Conservatives in the opinion polls.

Source: ITN

UK political resource centre

2010-03-23T14:17:00.000Z

track press coverage, party communications and user interest in UK political parties. Begin by selecting your party and constituency from the drop-down lists, then refine the results using the tabs.

Download our free how-to guide to political campaigning in digital Britain [PDF].

U.N. chief appalled by Nigeria violence, calls for restraint

2010-03-08T21:14:00.000Z

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon 'deeply concerned' about religious violence in Nigeria.

UNITED NATIONS (MARCH 8, 2010) UNTV - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday (March 8) he was deeply concerned about the recent "appalling" deaths in Nigeria, and urged the country's political and religious leaders to solve the nation's crisis.
Several hundred people are feared to have been killed in recent clashes involving Muslim herders and Christian villagers. Violence has been concentrated around the city of Jos, which lies at the crossroads of Nigeria's Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

"I am deeply concerned that there has been more inter-religious violence, with appalling loss of life," Ban said in New York. "I appeal to all concerned to exercise maximum restraint."

He urged Nigeria's political and religious leaders to work together to "address the underlying causes and to achieve a permanent solution to the crisis in Jos."

Nigeria's acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, called an emergency meeting with all security service chiefs on Monday to discuss strategies to prevent clashes spreading to neighboring states, presidential sources said.

Solid 62 % turnout for Iraq election

2010-03-08T21:12:00.000Z

Turnout in Iraq's parliamentary election was 62 percent, higher than in last year's provincial ballot, despite attempts by Sunni Islamist insurgents to disrupt the vote with attacks that killed 38, officials said.

REUTERS - Electoral workers in Iraq, count votes in tally centers across the country...a day after 62 percent of Iraq's 19 million eligible voters turned out to cast their vote...in the country's second parliamentary elections.

The turnout exceeded expectations, despite attempts by Sunni insurgents to disrupt the vote... in an election hoped to mark an end to years of sectarian violence.

In Baghdad, U.S ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill said the elections were a success.

CHRISTOPHER HILL, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ, SAYING:

"It's a good day for Iraq democracy and I believe it will be a real foundation point of a new beginning for the U.S. relationship with Iraq, we hope will stretch decades to come."

At least 38 people were killed in attacks across Iraq on election day, but U.S military officials said Iraqi security forces had passed a crucial test --- successfully preventing large-scale violence

Major General Stephen Lanza.

Major General Stephen Lanza, saying:
"No high profile, no vehical-borne improvised explosive devices, no suicide vests...those large high profile attacks did not occur yesterday and I attribute that to the professionalism, the growth of capability and capacity of the Iraqi security forces who conducted this mission in a tremendous manner yesterday after years of hard work....and as I've said earlier, I think what we saw yesterday and what the Iraqi people have seen as what the American troops that were out there supporting them is a return on the investment of the last six plus years in this country as Iraq continues to move forward."

Preliminary results are expected in two or three days, but it could take months to form a new government, raising fears of a political vacuum that could test Iraq's fragile democracy.

This as the United States prepares to end combat operations this year and completely withdraw from the country by the end of 2011.

Pavithra George, Reuters.

Why Libya Is Set To Be The New Power Player In The Global Energy Market

2010-03-08T14:50:00.000Z

World marks liberation of Auschwitz 65 years ago

2010-01-29T12:20:00.002Z

REUTERS, TVP - The 65th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi death camp Auschwitz was commemorated at ceremonies with survivors, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Polish leaders attending on Wednesday (January 27).
On January 27, 1945, Soviet Red Army troops liberated the largest and most notorious Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, near the village of Oswiecim in southern Poland, where up to 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, perished during World War Two.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the ceremony at Brzezinka along with Poland's leaders and government ministers from nearly 30 other countries.

The theme of the commemoration at Auschwitz, held in subzero temperatures and attended by around 150 death camp survivors, was the education of young people about the Holocaust.

A few thousand people attended the ceremonies, including some international groups of students.

"I think it's very good that we can see the people and this place. That we have the chance to see the people they were here, and have (speaks German) life today. And yes, I think it's very good and special." said Julia Hausner, a student from Germany.

Up to 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, perished at Auschwitz during Nazi Germany's wartime occupation of Poland.

"We remember who shivered to death and if they didn't freeze to death they were gassed and burnt in a horrible conflagration." Netanyahu said at a closed ceremony in Brzezinka.

"The worst was the humiliation." remembered former prisoner Marian Turski, who was 16 when he was sent to Auschwitz in 1942.

"The fact, that you were not treated like a human being. Especially if you were Jewish and especially because you were Jewish. You were not even treated like an animal, but like an insect." Turski said.

Jewish groups have expressed concern about what they see as a rise in anti-Semitism and other forms of xenophobia and racism in some European countries and have called for increased education about the Holocaust.

Poland was home to Europe's largest Jewish community before World War Two. The vast majority perished in the Nazi camps.

The museum that now runs the Auschwitz site will house an exhibition chronicling the camp's liberation by the Red Army.

Russia was represented on Wednesday by its education minister after President Dmitry Medvedev declined an invitation

from Kaczynski to attend.

Zimbabwean court issues eviction notice for four white farmers

2010-01-29T12:18:00.000Z

Zimbabwean farmer speaks of his struggle to hang on to his farm, after a Zimbabwean court gave notice to four white farmers to vacate their properties.

BEATRICE, ZIMBABWE (RECENT) REUTERS- A Zimbabwean magistrate court on Tuesday (January 26) gave four white farmers 24 hours to vacate their properties, the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) said.
The mainly white CFU, which last week criticised the power-sharing government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for failing to end chaos in the farming sector, said the magistrate ruled that the four farmers were guilty of refusing to vacate their properties.

The Union said the farmers were slapped with an 800 US dollar fine each and ordered to immediately move out of their homes and vacate their farms by Wednesday (January 27) evening, in a ruling that highlights worsening fortunes for Zimbabwe's white farmers who have also come under increased attacks from Mugabe's supporters since the formation of the coalition government.

"I grow 50 hectares of tobacco, similar hectarage of maize and we run, my wife owns a Tuli cattle stud, a pedigree Tuli herd of about 150 breeding females," said Kevin Cooke, a tobacco farmer.

The evicted farmers are Algernon Taffs of Chirega Farm, Dawie Joubert of Stilfontein, Mike Odendaal of Hillcrest Farm, Mike Jahme of Silverton Farm - all from the southeastern district of Chipinge.

"It's been quiet up until recently, of late there has been a new offer letter issued on the farm and so we are back in court looking to defend our case, we've actually been in and out of court for four different hearings now," said Cooke adding, "Our situation now is that we go to court on the 10th of March, that will begin the trial. We have no pressure on the ground. We haven't been told to move off the farm immediately, but if we are to lose the court case we would have to move off at short notice."

According to the CFU, the magistrate said if the four failed to vacate their properties as ordered by the court they would spend the next two years in jail but the Union indicated that the farmers were preparing to appeal against the eviction orders.

Under the Constitution of Zimbabwe everyone has the right to appeal but the magistrate denied them this right saying there was no doubt in his judgement.

According to the CFU, urgent applications are currently taking place in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on behalf of the evicted farmers and their families are moving

their life's belongings into the local Dutch Reformed Church for safety.

"The action that is taking place and the inaction that is trying to stop what is happening seems to confirm to us that the government of National Unity does not want any white commercial farmers in this country, if that is the case, they should come out and tell us and we can then inform our members," said Deon Theron, the Commercial Farmers Union President.

The Unity government of Mugabe and Tsvangirai has watched as members of the security forces and hard-line activists of Mugabe's ZANU PF party intensified a drive to seize all land still in white hands in recent weeks, causing deep frustration among the farmers.

In a strongly worded statement last week, the farmers labelled the ongoing farm seizures as a "crime against humanity" and called on the coalition government to act to end lawlessness on farms in keeping with the 2008 power-sharing agreement that gave birth to the administration.

Under the power-sharing agreement Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who is the third signatory to the pact, promised to restore the rule of law in the farming sector, including carrying out a land audit to weed out multiple farm owners - nearly all of them senior ZANU PF officials who have hoarded most of the best farms seized from whites.

The coalition government is yet to act to fulfil the promise to restore law and order in the key agricultural sector, while more farms - including some owned by foreigners and protected under bilateral investment protection agreements between Zimbabwe and other nations - have been seized over the past few months. To make matters worse, according to the CFU, police and judicial officers who are supposed to enforce the rule of law were also among the beneficiaries of the free-for-all land grab.

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2010-01-28T16:22:00.001Z

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Obama call for bipartisanship embraced by Congressmen

2010-01-28T12:08:00.000Z

Members of Congress hail U.S President Barack Obama's call for bipartisanship during his first State of the Union address.

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 27, 2010)POOL - Members of Congress came out in support of U.S President Barack Obama's call for bipartisanship, but some questioned the president's agenda.
In his first State of the Union address on Wednesday (January 27) Obama told a full chamber of Republican and Democratic lawmakers that the change he campaigned on -- will only be realized if both parties change the tone of political debate.

Democratic Congressman John Lewis said described Obama's speech as "hard-hitting"

"He didn't bite his tongue, he was very strong, solid and he really stuck it to members of the United States Senate. He said, in effect, that the House...we did our work, we did uplifting, now it's time for the Senate to act," Lewis said.

With two of his major initiatives in trouble -- legislation to revamp healthcare and stem global warming -- Obama told lawmakers that Americans expected Democrats and Republicans to work together.

"I thought the president struck the perfect tone, making it clear he understands the gravity of the challenges that we face, but leaning into them, not at point saying, woe is me, these are tough things, we are going to go into reverse....he basically laid out a pretty challenging, forward leaning agenda and that's what a good State of the Union does," said New York Congressman Anthony Weiner.

Obama's appeal for bipartisanship was met with scepticism by members of the GOP.

Florida's Republican Senator George LeMieux said he was looking for "real solutions."

"Well, I thought there was a lot of good rhetoric, but unfortunately, I didn't think there were a lot of good solutions. I come from a state where there is very high unemployment, almost 12 percent, and I hope there will be some real solutions to get people back to work," LeMieux said.

"I am hoping again, those words turn into action because Republicans are ready. I am a Republican, I am ready. I want to work on healthcare, I want to work to get these jobs and the economy moving again," said Republican Congressman Dave Reichert.

Obama spoke one week after Republicans won a special election in Massachusetts, costing Democrats their 60th vote in the Senate needed to clear procedural roadblocks.

The election immediately jeopardized much of Obama's agenda, gave Republicans new clout and sent a rush of fear through Democrats facing tough races in this November's congressional election.

Jet set Davos looks to go green

2010-01-28T12:02:00.000Z

The 40th edition of the World Economic Forum is making a stronger effort at environmental awareness, once the global power brokers arrive from the airport and helipads.

Every year the streets of Davos are lined with bumper to bumper limousines, while private helicopters fly in to transport the world's most important people. This year, however, organisers of the World Economic Forum have launched a pro-active initiative to "Go Green." Reuters Insider's Leanne Clark reports.

Museveni marks 24 years in power

2010-01-27T15:07:00.000Z

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni celebrates 24 years in power.

MBALE DISTRICT, UGANDA (JANUARY 26, 2010) REUTERS - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) celebrated his 24 years in power in Tuesday (January 26) in the town of Mbale, in eastern Uganda.
Trade minister Kahinda Otafire said celebrations in the town were significant because of its historic contribution in the the 1981-1985 bush war.

Uganda gained independence from Britain in 1962 under Prime Minister Milton Obote. A coup led by Idi Amin toppled Obote in 1971 and ushered in a bloody era until a Tanzanian invasion ousted him in 1979.

Museveni led a 1981-86 revolt from the bush against a second Obote government, before seizing power.

East Africa's third largest economy has enjoyed political and economic stability over the last two decades after years of ruinous civil war during the 1970s and 80s.

Museveni has been praised for his macroeconomic reforms and poverty reduction.

But critics, including some Western donors, have accused him of rights abuses, high-level corruption and the political repression of opponents.

Museveni and his allies maintain that the country is better off with him at the helm.

"On the side of security of persons and property, we have professionalised the army. The army of Uganda today is one of the most disciplined, I don't want to say in Africa only but in the whole world," Museveni told supporters at the celebration ceremony.

Museveni, 64, won re-election in February 2006 after he changed the constitution in 2005 to let him stand for a third term.

He is widely expected to stand for a third term in 2011 in a likely rematch with opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who was defeated in the last two multi-party polls.

But Museveni's hold on power has angered many in the country and critics accuse him of trying to be president-for-life.

In June last year, he dismissed an opposition call for electoral reform that would have blocked him from standing for another term.

"He has not thought about handing over power to anyone else apart from himself and he has indicated over the last three elections that he is not ready to hand over power to someone else, should he lose in an election," said political analyst, Charles Mwangauhya Mpagi in Kampala.

"From the perspective of his own political party, the National Resistance Movement, he has not prepared a succession party within the party. He has not allowed the party to function as an institution that can be able to build the necessary frameworks to be able to keep power either within the party or to allow someone else to take over power," Mpagi added.

Museveni's National Resistance Movement ran Uganda as a one-party state until a referendum that brought back multi-party politics in 2005.

Opposition politicians hope to capitalise on cracks within his party over the prospect of another term, as well as high-level corruption scandals as Museveni's share of votes dwindled in the last two elections, despite retaining a majority in past polls.

One year after Obama pledged to close the Guantanamo prison, 196 detainees are still held there

2010-01-22T19:56:00.000Z

REUTERS / NBC - On his second full day in office, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order mandating that the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay be shut down within one year.
"This is me following through on, not just a commitment I made during the campaign, but, I think, an understanding that dates back to our Founding Fathers -- that we are willing to observe core standards of conduct, not just when it's easy but also when it's hard," Obama said that day.

But a full year later, the detention facility which now houses remains open and housing 196 detainess -- there are no immediate plans to shut it down.

"The President won't meet the deadline he laid out a year ago," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday (January 21, 2010). "But the President, his national security team, our generals in Iraq and Afghanistan, understand the support for al Qaeda that Guantanamo provides them in recruiting, in attracting those that seek to do us harm. To keep the American people safe, the President pledged to close Guantanamo Bay, and he'll do that."

The Obama administration is moving ahead with its effort to close the prison despite criticism by Republican lawmakers who worry that some former detainees released from the Guantanamo facility may be returning to the battlefield.

"These are terrorists," said Representative Don Manzullo, a Republican of Illinois. "They should be tried by military tribunals, not brought to the United States, not posing a threat of national security, not taking advantage of the Constitution, which they have sworn to destroy because they hate Americans."

Obama has halted indefinitely any transfers to Yemen because of concerns about al Qaeda operating there. The suspect in the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger jet arriving in Detroit is believed lnked to a Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda.

The administration, which intends to prosecute some detainees in U.S. military tribunals or civilian criminal courts, plans to move them to a prison in Illinois, but Congress has refused to fund the transfer of any Guantanamo detainees to U.S. prisons, and foreign countries are reluctant to accept them.

Eritreans arrested for working with Egyptian gangs, abducting African refugees

2010-01-22T11:35:00.000Z

Israeli police arrest Eritrean citizens suspected of assisting Egyptian gangs in abducting African refugees for ransom. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will construct a barrier to prevent refugees from infiltrating its southern border.

JERUSALEM (JANUARY 21, 2010) CHANNEL 2 - Israeli police arrested two Eritrean citizens suspected of collaborating with Egyptian gangs in the abducting of African refugees who tried to infiltrate the border with Israel, a lifted gag order revealed on Thursday (January 21).
Israeli police said that the gangs extorted the families of African citizens and asked for a ransom in exchange for their release.

Israeli media reported that the suspects, 34-year-old Nabsi Habati, 41-year-old Fatawi Aziabhir, were arrested last week by police, and have been charged with collecting ransom from relatives of the African captives. No suspects were arrested in Egypt.

A statement issued by a police spokesperson said a special police unit became aware of the gang last year, when refugees residing in Israel filed complaints saying that their relatives were being held captive in prison camps in the Sinai peninsula and would be released only for a ransom.

It's believed the money was to be given to Habati and Fatawi in Israel.

Police seized $100,000 (U.S. dollars) in a raid of their Jerusalem apartment when they were arrested.

The statement said the abducted refugees were abused and tortured while they were held by the Egyptian gangs in Sinai camps.

A third man, Mohammed Ibrahim, was also named as taking part in the operation and police found $50,000 in his home at the time of his arrest.

All three men are being detained until the end of police proceedings, police spokesperson said.

At a conference centre near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he planned to erect a barrier along part of Israel's border with Egypt to stop the flow of illegal migrants.

"It must be stopped and we are going to stop it. From here, I'm going to fly to the Negev, to Mount Harif (in Southern Israel), near Gaza, in order to tour ahead of a government decision which will be presented in a week or two at the most. This decision will be to form a barrier to (prevent) infiltration from Africa to Israel," Netanyahu said.

He later toured Israel's southern border area with Egypt.

Sudanese refugees began entering Israel through Egypt on a regular basis in 2005. Numbers increased as violence raged in the troubled Darfur region while more came from Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Chad.

Some hoped the Jewish state would provide a gateway to Europe, while others were eager to stay.

The Israeli government estimates more than 12,000 migrants live in Israel, most of them illegally.

It has faced fierce criticism from non-governmental organisations over the health neglect and poor living conditions of refugees inside its borders.

Two more Indians attacked in Australia

2010-01-22T11:22:00.000Z

Two Indian nationals are attacked overnight in separate incidents in Brisbane, Australia.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 22, 2010) NETWORK TEN - Two Indian nationals were attacked late Thursday (January 21) and early Friday (January 22) in two separate incidents in Brisbane, Australia.
An Indian taxi driver was attacked around midnight on Thursday in Brisbane by two attackers, who refused to pay the fare and punched the driver several times in the head, Australian TV Network Ten reported on Friday (January 22).

Sandeep Goyal was punched by two men who then smashed Goyal's taxi windscreen leaving his eye injured, and temporarily out of sight.

The two attackers, Josh Gill and Brett Gill, are charged with assault and appeared in court on Friday (January 22).

The Acting Police Commissioner Karen Rynders held a news conference on Friday and assured reporters that these incidents could happen to anyone and could not be attributed to racial violence.

"It could be the type of incident that could happen in any street in Brisbane to any person that happens to be out in a public place," said Rynders

The Queensland Taxi Council stated that there had been an increased number of attacks on drivers from foreign countries.

"We are also starting to see physical assaults on people simply because they are born overseas," said a spokesperson from the Queensland Taxi Council.

In a separate unrelated incident, a 25-year-old Indian youth was also attacked in Brisbane around 2:40 a.m. on Friday while using a phone near his house.

The youth was attacked by a person being described as tall and of Pacific Islander background, who also stole the youth's wallet after punching him.

Following the incident, the Australian government reiterated that there was no indication that the attacks were racially motivated and assured Indian nationals that Australia is a safe place.

The attacks over the past 18 months, including the fatal stabbing of a 21-year-old Indian graduate this month, have strained ties with India and hurt Australia's lucrative foreign student market, its third largest export earner, worth 13 billion Australian dollars (12 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007-08.

India's foreign minister said on Wednesday (January 20) that attacks on Indian students in Australia needed to stop immediately, while Australia's former military chief said the attacks had a strong racial element.

Wilders on trial for hate crimes

2010-01-20T11:56:00.000Z

The trial of Dutch MP, Geert Wilders, who is charged with inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims, starts in Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (JANUARY 20, 2010) NOS POOL - Right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders appeared in an Amsterdam court on Wednesday (January 20) charged with inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims in a case seen as a test of free speech in the traditionally tolerant Netherlands.
Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party PVV, is standing trial after a court ordered in January he face charges in a decision that overruled the public prosecutor, who had argued Wilders was protected by the right to free speech.

The MP is charged over his 2008 film "Fitna" which accused the Koran of inciting violence as it mixed images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book.

He is also charged over his outspoken comments in the media, such as comparing Islam to fascism and the Koran to Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf".

Opening the proceedings, the judge addressed Wilders and said he was appearing in court as a suspect but despite the fact another court had ordered he stands trial, this did not mean he had been pre-judged.

"The court has decided that you have to be tried and there has been a lot written about this and a lot said about this, not least it has been said that you have already been pre-judged by the court. I'd like to say that this is not how the legal system works. Only once the last word has been said in this courtroom, will we come to a decision,"said the judge.

A fierce opponent of Islam in European culture, Wilders has proven popular in recent years with Dutch voters concerned about immigration and its impact on Dutch society.

Wilders' Freedom Party emerged last year as the Netherlands' second-largest party in the European Parliament and recent polls have indicated the party stands a chance to become the largest in the Dutch Parliament in national elections due in May 2011.

Outside the court, a crowd of protestors gathered behind police barriers to voice support for Wilders, carrying banners saying "Freedom Yes" and "Wilders process, a political process".

"It's really, it goes beyond freedom of speech. I am here to defend freedom of speech," said one man.

Another demonstrator, Jo Joker, said "Why should we project all our fantasies about freedom on one person named Geert Wilders?"

But an anti-racism group placed 100 comments from Wilders online at www.watwilwilders.nl to back its allegations the MP is guilty of inciting immigrant hate and discrimination and that his comments are not only a criticism of religion.

Charged also with offending a group of people, the start of the case against Wilders on Wednesday aims initially to deal with procedural issues, such as how many witnesses each side will call before handling the case proper at a later date.

He faces a maximum of one year and three months imprisonment if convicted on both counts.

EU lack concesus on climate

2010-01-16T19:19:00.000Z

The European Union looks unlikely to extend commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 30 percent because it cannot be sure other countries will follow suit.

SEVILLE, SPAIN (JANUARY 16, 2010) INSTITUTIONAL POOL - The European Union will probably not extend commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions
in a bid to limit global warming because it cannot be sure other countries will follow suit, bloc ministers said on Saturday (January 16) .

The EU has already set its own internal target of cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 20 percent from 1990 levels over the next decade. It promised ahead of climate talks in Copenhagen in December that it would deepen those cuts to 30 percent if other countries do likewise.

European Parliament Environment Head, Jo Leinen said he hoped the EU's conditions for moving to 30 percent would be met before the Mexico meeting.

"I could tell you already now that the parliament would like the EU to go to 30 percent and maybe change the conditionality if necessary. Not to wait until all the other have done their legislation and these comparable efforts but just say Europe will go for 30 percent and we expect an international global agreement to certify it and to make it binding," said Leinen at the closing news conference after the meeting.

Spanish Secretary of State for the Environment, Teresa Ribera chaired a meeting of EU environment ministers in Seville, southern Spain, which came days before a United Nations deadline on Jan. 31 for countries to commit to emissions cuts.

"What is still outstanding, and needs to be determined is that evaluation of comparability with regards to efforts by others," Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change Teresa Ribera told journalists.

The 27-country bloc accounts for about 14 percent of the world's CO2 emissions and is seeking a strategy to revive global talks on climate change after Copenhagen failed to produce a binding agreement.

Spain holds the EU's rotating presidency until July and will play a role in defining the bloc's climate strategy for 2010.

The move will disappoint environmentalists who argue that the economic crisis has slowed industry to the point that the less ambitious goal is within easy reach.

Prior to the Copenhagen talks, the United Nations had called for wealthy countries to cut emissions by 25-40 percent in order to keep the average rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius by 2100.

Scientists have said reductions tabled at Copenhagen would lead to a 3.5-degree rise by 2100, or enough to melt the Greenland ice sheet and raise sea levels by 7 metres.

But EU ministers said they would keep pushing other countries to increase their emissions cuts ahead of a climate meeting in Mexico at the end of this year.

Indian taxi driver attacked in Australia

2010-01-15T13:10:00.000Z

Australian man pleads guilty to assault charges after attacking an Indian taxi driver.

BALLARAT, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 15, 2010) NETWORK TEN - An Australian man on Friday (January 15) pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful assault, one count of criminal damage and making threats to kill an Indian taxi driver near Melbourne, media reported.
Paul John Brogden was apparently under the influence of alcohol when he made the racial and threatening remarks. The driver then reportedly pulled his car into a petrol station and Brogden reportedly followed him into the store and assaulted him and another man nearby.

Roughly 12 hours after the alleged attack, a Victorian magistrate sentenced Brogden to three months in jail, local media reported.

Outside the courtroom, Brogden's friend said Brogden was not a racist person.

"He is not a racist person, he just got a few beers too many and he just ran amok one night," he said.

Members of the Indian community in Ballarat found the incident worrying.

"We feel safe in Ballarat but we are hearing new news, now we are scared," a woman said.

Community leaders also expressed concern about the attack.

"Our main concern was just placing fear in the community and that's what we are trying to prevent - it spreading into the community that one racist targeted," community leader Khuji Maharaj said.

Early this month an Indian man was stabbed to death in Melbourne and another one set-alight.

Ballarat is more than 100-kilometers west of Melbourne.

Environment ministers upbeat about chance of Copenhagen climate deal

2009-12-13T16:30:00.000Z

Environment ministers arriving for climate talks in Copenhagen express hopes a global climate deal can be reached.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (DECEMBER 13, 2009) REUTERS - Environment ministers representing about 40 countries met in Copenhagen on Sunday (December 13) for informal talks to break a deadlock in negotiations to reach a deal to curb climate change.
Until now the talks have been run mostly by senior officials. Negotiators from 192 nations are trying to agree a new U.N. climate pact.

Several of the ministers and delegates arriving for the informal talks at the Danish foreign ministry expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached.

"They (heads of delegations and ministers) all express their position that they are ready with the leadership of the Danish government to play a positive and constructive role," said a representative of the Chinese delegation.

"An agreement is certainly possible. If all of us trust each other and if we have the courage and conviction, we can still come to a fair equitable deal in Copenhagen," said India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh.

However, some were more cautious.

"It takes more when it comes to emissions reductions. We have to see some of the big countries put more emission reductions on the table. I still don't think we'll receive that today but we'll push for that," added Andreas Carlgrend, the environment minister for Sweden, which currently holds the rotating European Union presidency.

"We will have bilateral talks and such discussions to see where we can come together and where we have to underline our discussions," said German environment minister Norbert Roettgen.

Citizens in countries around the world are watching developments as they unfold for a sense of what their future climate may look like.

"I think there is a good spirit and there is a sense of now is the time where we have to act and work together and get the agreement that the world expects us to make," said UK climate change minister Ed Miliband.

Delegates claim progress is being made on some fronts, but the hardest decisions on sharing curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and funding to help the poor are likely to be left for the summit.

First train leaves Belgrade to Sarajevo in 18 years

2009-12-13T15:45:00.000Z

The first train leaves Belgrade for Sarajevo 18 years after the service was halted by war.

BELGRADE, SERBIA (DECEMBER 13, 2009) REUTERS - Creaking and swaying through a landscape of bitter memories, the once beloved Belgrade-Sarajevo train service was restarted on Sunday (December 13) after almost 18 years after the war stopped the service in its tracks.
The train left Belgrade railway station at 07.15 GMT.

When the service was stopped people had to use buses or other means of transportation to get to their destination.

"I am pleased, especially because I work there (referring to Bosnia) and it goes there, earlier we had a difficult time, we used buses, and other means of transport, now I am satisfied," said Nada Gajic, one of the passengers on the train.

The train has three coaches, one from Serbia, one from the Bosnian Serb republic, and a coach from the Bosnain-Croat federation railway companies.

The journey will take more than eight hours instead of six due to the new borders between Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. The journey time is also impacted by the dilapidated track worn out by war, neglect and poverty.

A spokesman from Serbian railways said there is a great demand for the service,

"After the assessment of Serbian railways and Bosnian railways and Bosnian Serb railways, we now have an economic reason to establish such a railway service, and we all expect that there will be enough passengers to fulfil the economic interests of both railway systems," said Nenad Stanisavljevic, spokesperson of Serbian railways.

The express became one of the victims of the wars that erupted in Croatia in 1991 and Bosnia in 1992, fomented by nationalist leaders riding a wave of discontent with a failed economy, crippled by Tito's reckless foreign borrowing.

Parts of the track were blown up or became front lines as an ethnic Serb rebellion cut Croatia in half, and ethnic Serbs, Croats and Muslims fought each other in Bosnia.

The swanky trains of Yugoslavia's golden age -- the "Olympic Express" and the "Bosna Express" -- are gone, to be replaced by older, rickety carriages and slower locomotives.

On the train's route, the legacy of the war is inescapable.

Vinkovci in Croatia, once a main rail junction, was on the front lines and still carries the scars of Serb shelling.

The Bosnian towns of Doboj, Samac and Modrica became notorious for ethnic cleansing and concentration camps.

The present public transport link between the two cities -- a bus taking eight hours to wind its way through backwater towns to the sound of thumping Balkan pop -- is seldom full.

There will only be one train a day, compared with the schedule before the war, when there were three.

Houston's first gay mayor celebrates her election win

2009-12-13T15:43:00.000Z

The first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city celebrates her election win.

HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 13, 2009) NBC - Houston's first openly gay mayor celebrated her election win on Sunday (December 13). Annise Parker won Saturday's run-off race with nearly 54-percent of the vote.
Parker won the run-off against fellow Democrat Gene Locke after a four-way primary in November came up inconclusive.

Other big U.S. cities like Portland, Oregon and Providence, Rhode Island have openly gay mayors, but none the size of Houston -- the fourth-biggest city in the nation with more than two million residents.

Mugabe gets five more years

2009-12-13T15:36:00.002Z

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is endorsed to lead his ZANU-PF party for another five years and vows to resist demands for changes to the country's security forces.

ZIMBABWE - At 85 Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is one of the oldest leaders in the world and in the twilight of his political career.

But amongst the ranks of his party Zanu PF he remains popular and has been re endorsed to lead for another five years.

He has led the party since the mid 1970's during a political career which has lasted more than half a century and shows no sign of giving up.

ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE SAYING: "We go back much stronger, a better focused party, ready and raring to go to take on issues that confront us, even problematic ones."

But the veteran leader was forced to share power with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in March last year.

The coalition has been rocked by differences over how to share power and the MDC is pressing for reform of the security forces it accuses of being used by ZANU-PF to stifle dissent.

Many senior officers in the security forces fought in Zimbabwe's war of independence and remain loyal to Mugabe.

They have vowed never to recognise Tsvangirai as leader.

Now Mugabe has vowed to resist demands from the opposition to change the country's security forces.

ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE SAYING: "and that is the most dependable force we could ever have, it shall not be tampered with , the enemy would want to see it disintegrate and any tactics, manoeuvres, any tactics to tamper with the forces will never be entertained by us."

While Mugabe has managed to remain at the helm of ZANU-PF, a raging battle is underway over who will eventually succeed him, threatening the future of a party that had enjoyed uninterrupted rule from independence in 1980 till last year.

Penny Tweedie, Reuters.

Government's Feminist Tyranny Exists Denying Men Their Constitutional Due Process

2009-11-30T22:03:00.000Z

Government's Feminist Tyranny Exists Denying Men Their Constitutional Due Process
Author: Shane Flait

Tyrannies begin by promulgating policies of good
intentions. Such intentions fool the public into allowing
government to fund such programs. Feminism was accepted by
most as simply fostering equal opportunity for women. So,
government-funded programs began.

And so began the tyranny against fathers, family and
freedom both here and throughout the western world. This
article is a first of a series exposing the nature of this
tyranny and how we must take back government's tyrannical
control of society to secure freedom for all.

...But the funding grew more programs which supported
lobbying for more and for perverse changes in the laws -
changes that denied men and fathers their fundamental
rights. Feminist-instigated government policies and laws
viewed their intentions as a 'greater good' than the rights
that keep us all free - a view which is the hallmark of
tyranny.

With 'feminist jurisprudence' established, especially
within domestic-related jurisdictions, 'greater good'
intentions like 'best interest of the child' or 'safety of
women' are now used to deny the constitutional rights and
protections of all - but most especially of men and fathers.

Based on both denials of rights and constitutional
protections, fit fathers under divorce or paternity actions
and men accused of specious domestic violence become the
excuse and fodder for government control over their lives
and their earnings. This tyranny has fostered the growth of
a $100+ billion government-affiliated industry feeding off
constitutionally deprived fit fathers and the public for
its ever-increasing control and demands.

In a nutshell, this government's feminist tyranny employs
the noble-sounding greater good intentions as 'best
interest of the child' and 'safety of women' for reason to
justify denying men their rights and protections. The
'best interest of the child' principle is used in divorce
and paternity actions to deny a fit father his parental
rights to legal and physical custody of his child - at
least equal to the mother's.

This allows the court- and thereby the state- to virtually
kidnap his child and, then demand extortion payments
euphemistically called 'child support' for up to 20 years
or more. The government-affiliated industry feeds off these
payments, the continual litigation for more, and a host of
other government-assisted programs to control and
manipulate the father's life, earnings, property and his
pursuit of happiness for himself and his child.

If the father won't - or most often can't - comply with the
extortion payments (perhaps 30% or more of his gross
income), he's jailed without constitutional due process
under feminist-perverted contempt judgments. He can have
his state license to practice his profession revoked, his
driver's license revoked by any administrator of his
state's revenue department and his passport taken to extort
payments from him. If he leaves his country to secure
freedom, he becomes a felon subject to 10 years in jail.
The system reduces him to the status of a slave. And
remember, he's never done anything wrong - but he has been
seriously 'wronged'.

The 'safety of women' principle is used both in divorce and
paternity suits and in any domestic circumstance to throw a
man out of his house and restrict where he can go. It only
takes an 'accusation of abuse' - no trial, i.e. no rules of
evidence to punish him. By law, 'abuse' can be a
subjective - and not even physical - state of the 'woman's
(read victim's) mind. He can be thrown in jail until a
hearing - perhaps for 3 months; but if he admits he abused,
he'll be let out so he can keep his job. That's a good way
to get those phony 'abuse numbers' up to justify more abuse
programs; extortion works wonders.

No constitutional due process to protect against false
accusations means that innocent men are thrown out of their
houses, lose their possessions, denied seeing their kids,
and go to jail - all the time. And, of course, it means a
malicious woman can count on the feminist's government
tyranny to help her steal a man's rights, property, income
and children.

Is what I've quickly summarized about the circumstance that
men and fathers face true?

Yes. But why should you believe it to be true? You should
because the constitutional protections - i.e. our
fundamental rights and the high standard of due process
protecting them is wholly ignored for men and fathers put
into divorce, paternity actions and domestic violence
actions.

The aptly named government-affiliated child support and
domestic violence industry's enormous funding allows it to
propagandize the inherent 'badness of men'. That fathers
run away from marriage or don't want to support their
children. That they don't have the best interest of their
child at heart nor the safety of women.

That's phony propaganda. But it's important to vilify those
who you'll deny rights to. That's the way tyrannies always
work.

About the Author:

Shane Flait gives you the capability you need to fight for
your rights.
Get his FREE Court Process Sheet at
http://FathersRightsLegalAid.com
Read his ebook: 'Wise Way to Financial Independence' =>
http://www.SovereignU.com

The Darkside of Christianity

2009-11-30T22:00:00.001Z

Like many people, I did not consider that there might be a problem. Surely, I thought to myself, a good Christian folk would have no problems with a gay in their midst? Or would they? I had been told different, and surprised by this revelation (if you pardon the pun), I decided to go undercover to test things out. I am neither gay nor a practising Christian, but I would soon be both.

My cover story was simple. I would tell those I spoke to, I had been struggling with my sexuality while at the same time I wished to remain a Christian, so what could I do. I had hoped that these 'good' Christian people would accept me. I had hoped they would say, don't be silly just be yourself! Surely God and Jesus, for that matter, would accept me for what I am?

I first approached a group called Christian Voice, hoping that they would show some compassion and understanding. I explained that I was attracted to men and wanted to do what for me was natural and just be myself and added that many of my friends had been telling me to be myself. A plausible solution I thought, maybe I could be gay and Christian?

"There is a war between the flesh and the spirit" I am immediately told by a man called Michael. "It is not enough to simply be 'ourselves'. You need support from people who have experienced what you have and have come through with Christ still sovereign in their lives."

This made homosexuality sound like a cancer. I, apparently, needed help from those who have 'experienced what I have?'

These people, Michael went on: "Rejected the lie that homosexuality is acceptable in God's sight."

Personally, I am not a member of any church and I was shocked by this initial encounter. I honestly hadn't expected to find such a total disregard for the feelings of our fellow humans. In this man's view people just can't be themselves - sounds like a form of slavery to me. To him gay and lesbian people possessed a 'plague-like' disease that would forever forbid them to join an exclusive club called 'Christianity'.

The only advice I had received so far was to change sexuality. In effect, what they were telling me was that God and Jesus didn't like homosexuals that I would have to become heterosexual before they would find a place in their church for me. This was a bit like being refused entry to an exclusive venue because I was the wrong class, or the wrong skin colour.

It came as a surprise, but now desperate to find out more I contacted Love In Action and spoke to a man who 'had been' homosexual but was now making an attempt to live as a heterosexual. In a refreshingly frank interview the man, who I found very honest, admitted that he had to take things a day at a time and that he still had strong basic urges to follow his natural feelings.

Having read material published by the American Psychological Association I found what I was now being told quite disturbing, surreal and quite bizarre. Not being yourself could mean risking real and severe mental health difficulties.

After all you cannot seal yourself into a distinct and separate world from the one we all inhabit. Love and having feelings for someone else is natural irrespective of sexuality.

Meanwhile, I was contacted by a man from the Jonah Institute for Gender Affirmation. What I needed, and by implication every gay and lesbian, was a counsellor. He, his name was Arthur, went on to tell me that I could and should change and directed me to two men, either of whom, was excellent. Both, Arthur added, had: "Grown out of homosexuality (sic)."

I found the comment mind-blowing. The reference was childlike, homosexuality according Arthur's comment. Being gay or lesbian was related to childish behaviour. Hence, gay people, A) Need to deal with the disease (cancer, plague). B) Need to take things one day at a time (alcoholic, addiction) or C) Start behaving like adults. If, however, they ignore these warnings then they will bring the wrath of God down upon them. This was beginning to sound dangerously deluded.

In those I had encountered so far there was a strange obsession with the sexuality of the person as if this feature of human and animal existence was a simple black and white issue, when we know sexuality covers a whole spectrum of behaviours and is an extremely complex feature of existence.

My journey, however, brought me to a fascinating woman who had experienced a lesbian relationship at college before finding Jesus. She told me that she had met and married an 'ex-gay' man and that they now have a three month-old son.

"After a hard season (six years) of healing and discipleship" she told me, "I rarely struggle with same-sex attractions."

Rarely is the key word here, like my other informant who still takes one day at a time, she did not speak of being 'cured' of the 'disease', or of growing out of it. Despite healing and discipleship and all the effort she had undertaken to lead a heterosexual life, same sex attraction was very much a part of this woman's natural being.

It struck me and I have wondered about this a great deal what is was that these 'converted' gays were really looking for, God? Acceptance? Being ourselves, for me, is all about being honest and truthful. To hide or repress what you are all about in terms of sexuality I would imagine being deceitful and I would have thought God and Jesus might have frowned on this?

Broken Chains
Human & Equal Rights Organization
Head Office Address: Office 120
Street Address: 15-17 Caledonian Road
City: London
Post Code: N1 9DX

Website: www.broken-chains.org

Brazil's President lays out his "Zero Hunger" programme. Ahmadiejad's wife makes rare appearance in Rome

2009-11-15T23:08:00.000Z

Brazilian President Lula da Silva chairs an Africa-Latam meeting ahead of FAO summit and lays out his programme to eradicate hunger. On the sidelines, the wife of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a rare public appearance at a first ladies summit.

ROME, ITALY (NOVEMBER 15, 2009) REUTERS - Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva on Sunday (November 15) hosted African delegations in a meeting to promote his "Zero Hunger" programme.
Lula, born to a poor family in Brazil's northeast has spent much of his time in office rallying at home and abroad to combat hunger. He has made it his aim to eradicate hunger.

Launched in 2003, in six years his "Zero Hunger" programme has slashed child malnutrition by 73% using food banks, community kitchens and locally procured school meals.

The Brazilian government has promoted redistribution of land and supported small farmers. Brazil's constitution enshrines the right to food, monitored by a national council on food and nutrition.

Anti-poverty agency ActionAid ranks Brazil as the top nation in the war on hunger.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe also attended the meeting.

Last year's food crisis, when fears of food shortages gripped grain markets -- sending wheat and rice prices soaring to record highs and sparking hoarding and riots -- was a wake-up call, one that experts hope will translate into sustained investment.

The unrest was a powerful reminder of the risks of food insecurity and helped spur the world's richest nations to promise to spend $20 billion over three years to help small, subsistence farmers improve their productivity.

Meanwhile the wife of Iranian President Ahmadinejad, Azam Farahi, joined NAM (Non Aligned Movement) first ladies summit for a meeting aimed at identifying concrete steps that could be made to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition.

World leaders and government officials meet in Rome on Monday (November 16) for a three-day U.N. summit on how to fight global hunger, but anti-poverty campaigners are already writing off the event as a missed opportunity.

Copenhagen at the Crossroads; Adaptation or Mitigation?

2009-11-15T15:15:00.000Z

The Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009 was intended to
commit world governments to a common purpose and approach
on reducing climate changes. Already before the meeting,
it is becoming obvious that such an agreement cannot be
reached. The reason is simple; the concept of the Kyoto
Treaty is deeply flawed and more and more countries are
urged by their citizens to find more effective and more
agreeable provisions for a new treaty.

Such a worldwide pact must treat every country fairly and
must take into account past practices and missteps.
Scientific evidence has become undeniable; the Earth is
getting warmer and climate changes are proliferating.
Consensus is building that a worldwide arrangement must be
arrived at that initially halts further warming and that
eventually restores historic climate conditions when such
restoration becomes economically and technologically
feasible.

The Copenhagen meeting is unable to decide on future
countermeasures because many nations feel uncomfortable
consenting to binding provisions that aim at the reduction
of energy consumption in all participating nations. The
general apprehension and distrust is based on past history;
the wealthiest nations are pushing the hardest for energy
reduction but cannot agree on energy reduction targets and
cannot achieve targets previous agreed upon.

Additionally, there is general unease; will the rationing
of energy lead to a slowdown of national economies? World
populations are continuing to grow. National economies
must keep pace and governments cannot dare to take the
chance of strangling domestic growth. How should
Copenhagen or a subsequent convention respond?

Fortunately, at least one workable solution is beginning to
take shape. This is the concept of turning back the clock;
reducing today's excessive carbon dioxide concentration
back to historic levels. For thousands of years,
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were maintained
by Mother Nature at 280 ppm. Historic climate conditions
can be reestablished with certainty if we can get back to
this magic level and can do so in the near future.

A new environmental movement has sprung up that is trying
to impress upon the world's governments that atmospheric
concentrations have to be returned to 350 ppm. This
movement, which calls itself 350.org, has the right
concept. If we are able to reduce carbon dioxide levels to
350 ppm from higher levels, we will automatically be able
to reach lower levels, too. The challenge of being able to
save Earth from overheating, therefore, comes down to
resolving several, important questions.

What technologies must be available for reducing
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration? How can the
world community agree upon an equitable and fair approach
to significantly reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide
emissions, restore them close to historic levels, prevent
the slowing down of world economies, distribute the
responsibility for cleanup judiciously, and allow younger
nations to catch up to energy use levels of industrialized
countries?

Fortunately, scientists, inventors, and investors have
accumulated an astonishing armory of technologies and
equipment for converting and utilizing energy.

However, the assortment of technologies needed for first
arresting and subsequently reducing atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations is not complete, yet. Several
technologies must be advanced before they become usable.
Others must be developed entirely.

Technologies for storing large quantities of electric
energy, for reducing the cost of electricity from solar
energy and wind energy, for growing huge quantities of
biomass without threatening food crop agriculture, and for
converting biomass into petroleum substitutes must be
developed to stop the destructive use of fossil fuels.

Scientists and technologist can, however not stop there.
Completely different technologies are needed for retrieving
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The very low
concentration of carbon dioxide, which is so powerful in
causing global overheating, is thermodynamically not suited
at all for economic recovery and sequestration of this
pollutant.

New inventions are required to provide such a much needed
technology for restoring historic carbon dioxide levels.

Can scientists, technologists, inventors, and investors
respond in time? This is a judgment call. This author
believes that at least one decade is needed for getting
missing energy technologies developed and readied for
installation. Private industry will not be able to provide
the early funding for developing very expensive and risky
concepts. Industry will get involved only after
developments have reached a stage, at which risks can be
quantified.

A major national or international agency must be formed to
tackle the formidable challenges, which need to be resolved
before Earth can be saved.

The agency must be committed to a very tightly written
mission: - Develop and prepare the implementation of a
worldwide plan that will develop novel energy conversion
systems, which will halt global warming and which will be
capable of furnishing plentiful, affordable, and secure
energy supplies for the next few centuries without slowing
world economies or harming the environment.

Funding required for such an agency will be comparatively
small when measured against past, huge, and worthless
efforts related to technology developments for combating
climate changes.

About the Author:

Dr. Hemsath's books, Climate Change-Gold Rush or Disaster?
and Clean Energy For Centuries, offer a comprehensive plan
for saving Earth from overheating. He is now writing a
follow-on book, Petroleum Substitutes From Biomass. For
fifty years he has worked on advanced energy technologies
as scientist, engineer, inventor, Corporate R&D Executive,
CEO, entrepreneur, and author. He holds more than 60 US
Patents.
Visit http://www.thermalexpert.com

Contribution of Immigrants to British Society

2009-11-03T13:56:00.000Z

Immigration policy is a political hot potato, particularly in the months preceding an election. Enforced deportations, loss of control of asylum seekers, loss of benefits for refugees until they are accepted all stand to damage the reputation of the UK in the world. Great Britain is generally well respected for its models of good practice in interfaith relations and its appreciation of other peoples’ cultures. It is also noteworthy that major religions praise the values of hospitality and sanctuary. This permeates our legal and moral framework not just in the UK but in the European Union.

Britain has hosted several waves of immigration throughout its history. These give rise to greater tensions during a time of economic recession. While we have benefitted from substantial number of professionals and others from around the world, there is a sense of tension over lack of job opportunities, rising house prices and lack of resources and availability of public services in some specific areas. There seems to be a need for mature discussion about these issues, in such a manner as not to jeopardize the good community cohesion measures in place. On the other hand, we should never lose sight of the great contribution immigrants have made over the years, to the United Kingdom. Our distinguished panel of speakers will illuminate on these issues and the topics.

As there is a great interest in this event, please (RSVP) reserve a place by return email or phone call. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on November 24th.

Robin Marsh Cllr. Margaret Ali – Chair of Community Cohesion Working Group
07956 210 768 0207 -262 0985 / / 07723024750

On behalf of Community Cohesion Working Group committee members: Ms. Vanessa Edwards: CCWG Secretary; Cllr. Liaquat Ali: former Mayor of London Borough of Waltham Forest; Mrs. Ruth Louise Barnett: Holocaust educator; Cllr. Janet Baddeley: Watford Borough Council; Cllr. Mushtaq Lasharie: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea & Chair of 3rd World Solidarity; Mr. Alan Rainer: Interfaith activist & Religious Education teacher, Angad Kaur of Guru Ram Das, project, Mr. Tim Miller: Chair of Hastings Interfaith Forum; Mr. Brij-Mohan Gupta:Co Chair of Hindu Council UK – Cllr. Faizullah Khan: Former Speaker of London Borough of Hackney; Mr. Edwin Shuker: Vice President of the World Congress of Sephardic Jews, Mr. Sukhbir Singh, of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sevak Jatha;

UPF Patron: Lord King of West Bromwich;
Advisor: Imam Dr. Abduljalil Sajid.

Upcoming UPF Events

Universal Peace Federation - UK www.uk.upf.org
Tel: 44 (0) 207 262 0985
43 Lancaster Gate, London W2 3NA

Peace and Development Network:
UPF is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

Millions need emergency food aid, 25 years after Ethiopia's worst famine

2009-10-22T18:54:00.000+01:00

Ethiopia has appealed for emergency aid to help feed 6.2 million people.

NAIROBI, KENYA (OCTOBER 22, 2009) REUTERS - Ethiopia appealed for emergency aid to feed 6.2 million people on Thursday (October 22), 25 years after more than a million perished in the country's notorious 1984 famine. Aid agency Oxfam says although short term assistance is necessary, a long term solution is the only way to change what has become -- over the years -- reliance on handouts.
"It's more... what's not changed. So, what's not changed is that there are millions of people who aren't able -- year on year -- to reliably feed themselves, and that's not changed and that's not satisfactory. It's great that people don't starve, where there is assistance and there is predictable assistance, and that's great. But insufficient energy has been put behind finding the longer term solutions so people can get out of this current reliance on food aid and that's what we think needs to change," said Oxfam's Paul Lomas.

More than 1 million Ethiopians died in 1984 as millions in the rich world sat transfixed in front of their television screens. The huge scale of the suffering brought with it the biggest outpouring of charity money the world has ever seen.

But 25 years on, foreigners still feed huge numbers of Ethiopians.

Oxfam says food aid has trapped Ethiopia into a cycle of dependency on the West and that donations could be better spent.

"We are really looking for both definitely when people... when an emergency appeal like this comes out the donors must respond and people do need food. But we also think that the long term funding is needed too. Now, there are ways that you can do a certain amount of both -- if more money for emergency food aid is invested inside the region, then we could be recycling the economy far more, we could be promoting local agricultural investment far more than buying grain from somewhere on the other side of the world," said Lomas.

Many Ethiopians say they are sick of their image as a famished country and point to foreign investors' growing interest in the country.

"I think every time I meet people who are recipients of food aid it's not a place they are happy to be in, they have their own personal ambitions, their own dignity, they are looking for a way out themselves. People want to get to be in a situation where they can stand on their own two feet," said Lomas.

On top of the 6.2 million people needing food aid, another 7 million people are on a scheme that gives food in exchange for work, which means more than 13 million of the country's 83 million people rely on foreign handouts to survive.

Aid workers say a five-year drought is afflicting more than 23 million people in seven east African nations.

First ever UNESCO World Aquatic Heritage site in Malawi

2009-10-22T14:31:00.002+01:00

UNESCO's first ever aquatic heritage site includes Lake Malawi which has some 250 unique fish species, holds an incredible 1000 of the world's 20,000 known fish species.

MANGOCHI, MALAWI (OCTOBER 19, 2009) REUTERS - The Galapagos islands are to Latin America what Lake Malawi is to Africa.
Christened as the world's first fresh water national park in 1980, Lake Malawi National Park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984, mainly due to the fact that it boasts more species of fish than any other lake in the world.

Around five percent of the world's fish species - 1,000 out of 20,000 - are found in Lake Malawi, making its waters crucial for the study of marine life evolution.

Lake Malawi's 29,600 square kilometers makes it the third largest lake on the continent.

Indigenous to Lake Malawi is the Cichlid, a clourful medium-sized fish whose species number between 1,300 and 3,000.

Although new species are constantly discovered, 156 cichlid species are currently listed as vulnerable, 40 species are listed as endangered, while 69 species are listed as critically endangered.

There is also rich birdlife on Lake Malawi including the African fish eagle.

The park itself and the lake's two largest islands, Likoma and Chizumulu, contain five villages.

"It is very unique in the sense that this is the only national park in the country that has got villages inside the park. And Chembe is one of the biggest villages that is found in Lake Malawi National Park. There are about five villages with a total population of about 25,000 people and these people depend on park resources for their own survival," explained Joe Chinguwo, an education and enviromental officer in the park.

A number of the park's human residents make their living from tourists and have enjoyed their home's prominence in the world of conservation.

"We are always happy to receive tourists and visitors from all over the world. We have a lot to showcase within this heritage site. I am happy, as a businessman that many people are now coming here," said boat operator Andrew Njikho.

Lake Malawi national park officers do not just take care of what is in the water. They are equally conscious of conserving the surrounding mainland to avoid sediment building up in the water, which could ultimately be fatal to the fish.

"Apart from conserving the Mbuna (Cichlid) which is in the water, we also conserve the mainland, the trees so that we avoid siltation of our lake," said Chinguwo.

In the late 1970s, siltation caused by deforestation and the introduction of new species caused the disappearance of 80% cichlid fish in East Africa's Lake Victoria, a situation which Lake Malawi is determined to avoid.

Global action against poverty campaign breaks world record

2009-10-22T14:29:00.002+01:00

More than 173 million people across the globe participated in the ''Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now'' events, claiming the Guinness World Record for mass mobilisation.

NAIROBI, KENYA (OCTOBER 22, 2009) REUTERS - A global action campaign against poverty dubbed 'Stand up, Take Action' broke a world record for the largest number of people mobilizing for one cause at the same time, the United Nations Millenium campaign said on Thursday (October 22).
Stand Up and Take Action, a campaign of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) which sets out to eradicate poverty across the globe by 2015 by using popular artists in advocacy, witnessed a massive turnout of people worldwide over the weekend.

"Last night, we got a message from Guinness that we had actually shattered the world record, and that all together globally, 173 million people in events across the world, over 3,000 events across the world, in more than 120 countries, stood up and took action demanding that they want poverty to end.", said Sylvia Mwichuli, the UN Millenium Campaign's Acting Deputy Director for Africa.

The record for biggest mobilisation was broken in 2006, the event's inception year when approximately 23 million people participated.

The number grew exponentially, as the event kept shattering its own record year after. By 2009, it had increased by more than seven times since it first began.

This year's leg comprised of some 3,000 global events, including the participation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in New York, that of Nepalese president Ram Baran Yadav, a concert by Irish band U2 and one by legendary Nigerian artist Femi Kuti.

Through these events and numbers, Mwichuli believes global policy will have to be affected.

"We hope that these figures are going to translate into real actions, through these actions we have had thousands of policy related actions where we have provided petitions to governments both from the grassroots to the national level, we have demanded that governments must allocate resources to development programs.", said Mwichuli.

The UN estimates that almost half of the world lives on less than two US dollars a day, and one in six people does not receive adequate nutrition.

.

Why We Need a Green Revolution: Insights and Opinions of Thomas Friedman

2009-10-21T16:15:00.001+01:00

My husband and I went to see Thomas Friedman, a best
selling author and NY Times columnist speak about his most
recent book, Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green
Revolution - and How It Can Renew America, which is a
follow up to his previous book, The World Is Flat: The
World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first
Century. We enjoyed his presentation which was full of
vivid examples, memorable images, and humorous lines.

American Industry Problems

According to Friedman, America has lost its way over the
last decade or so. His entire book is about, as he put it,
how America can gets its groove back. His ideal solution is
that the U.S. should become a world leader in the green
innovation and technology that's needed to tackle the
world's largest problems, which all stem from the fact that
the world has become:

- Hot: As you can guess, this part of his book is about
the climate crisis due to global warming.

- Flat: Straight from his last book, The World Is Flat,
this term refers to the fact that far more people on the
planet have high paying jobs that allow them to achieve the
American standard of living.

- Crowded: The world's population is growing exponentially
which is going to tax all the resources on the planet.

With the world in this three-pronged predicament, five
significant global problems have arisen:

- Ecological and Natural Resources, Supply and Demand.
Increasing demand for raw materials such as timber, water,
and minerals is putting stress on the earth's ecosystems.

- Petrodictatorships. As the price of a barrel of oil
decreases, the pace of freedom increases, and vice versa,
in countries such as Russia, Iran and Nigeria. By
continuing to purchase oil from these countries we are
contributing to the problem.

- Climate Change. As the average temperature of the earth
increases, look for the weather to become more extreme.
Friedman prefers to think of this as global weirding rather
than global warming. In a way he is correct. All weather
patterns are going to become more extreme. Hot will become
hotter, but cool will become colder. Wet and dry, the same
thing. Weather patterns will shift dramatically with as
little as one degree of temperature increase.

- Energy Poverty. A large portion of the world's
population lives without electricity. No electricity means
no access to the world's knowledge. Ignorance through lack
of learning creates large scale problems.

- Biodiversity Losses. The world faces a mass extinction
larger than when an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.
Currently we are losing one species every 20 minutes,
primarily due to loss of habitat. As the climate changes,
animals will have to search for new habitats, but they are
unlikely to evolve rapidly enough to survive the abrupt
shift in their habitat.

The Solution

Not one to despair over such large problems, Friedman sees
one solution to these five problems: cheap, abundant,
clean, reliable electrons

His hope is that our country will use the power of
innovation, technology, government and businesses
leadership to produce electricity that satisfies these
requirements. He refers to this new industry as Energy
Technology, or ET, the next generation of Information
Technology, or IT.

The Reality

As it stands now, the rest of the world is a step ahead of
the U.S. Of the top 30 clean tech companies in the world,
only 6 are American companies. If we don't take action now,
we'll lose our place as an innovative force in the world.

What we need is a bold revolution to solve the climate
crisis... a Green Revolution, so to speak. He described the
current green effort as a party where everyone gets to
continue enjoying life without making a commitment or
sacrifice. A party, a change in lifestyle, is not enough!
We need to take a stronger stand to get done what needs to
get done. As he put it... a Revolution isn't a revolution
unless someone gets hurt. There will be losers in this new
world, the outdated, dirty, carbon based businesses that
continue to contribute to the problem.

The Action

The ultimate goal of the green revolution is the
disappearance of the word green from our vocabulary. It can
happen as current green standards become embedded into our
everyday lives and become the norm, rather than the
exception.

To accomplish the goal of becoming an innovator in the race
for clean, abundant, clean, reliable electrons, we need to
create what he calls an Ecosystem for Innovation. To
explain this, Friedman used an analogy of a rocket on a
launching pad. The technology and innovation now bubbling
up within entrepreneurial start-ups is the engine exploding
with energy. For the energy of to be directed and focused,
we need the second set of engines to ignite and the
astronauts in the capsule on top to steer us toward the
goals. Unfortunately, at this moment, the astronauts in the
capsules (read politicians in Congress) are in disagreement
about the flight plan.

That flight plan, the system of rules, standards,
regulations, incentives and pricing, is essential to create
the necessary infrastructure for this Energy Technology
explosion. If we are committed to this goal, we need to
focus our attention on getting leaders in all levels of
government to believe in the cause and be willing to take
action. One of Friedman's take away lines was... Don't
change your light bulbs, change your leaders!

According to Friedman this is a critical moment in the
history of planet earth. The next great global industry,
Energy Technology, is just beginning to take shape. We must
act now to reduce the world's carbon output. We must all
take a part in turning the national conversation to issues
associated with cheap, abundant, clean, reliable electrons.

Our actions can't wait. The word later must leave our
vocabulary. There is no later when it comes to addressing
climate change.

If we all start now, we have just enough time to solve this.

About the Author:

Green Career Expert Carol McClelland, PhD, is the author of
the forthcoming book Green Careers For Dummies and founder
of Green Career Central, a membership website with useful
programs, 500+ pages of effective, targeted information to
help you identify your green niche, find a green job, start
a business or further your education. Visit
http://www.GreenCareerCentral.com to request our free
report - "Six Strategies to Find Your Green Career"d

President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Viewed Positively in 62 Percent of Twitter Messages

2009-10-12T10:15:00.000+01:00

Attensity Analyzes Sentiment Expressed in 25,000 Tweets

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Attensity(TM) Group, the leader in business user applications that generate value from unstructured data, has released its analysis of public reaction to today's award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama. The surprise announcement created a huge flutter on the Twitter micro-blogging site, resulting in thousands of postings.
(
Using Attensity Cloud, the newest product addition to Attensity's semantic analysis application suite, 25,000 discussion-oriented messages, or "tweets," were pulled from Twitter. All 25,000 tweets were then analyzed by Attensity's Voice of the Customer (VoC) solution, using Attensity's social media domain. Results were created using Attensity's out-of-the-box Sentimetrics analysis. Findings include:
Sentiment in Twitter towards President Obama's win of the Nobel Peace Prize:
8 percent extremely positive
54 percent positive
2 percent neutral
34 percent negative
2 percent extremely negative
In addition to overall sentiment, Attensity also analyzed tweets to determine whether people felt President Obama deserved the Nobel Prize, with these results:
54 percent felt he did deserve the Prize
30 percent questioned whether he deserved the Prize
16 percent felt he did not deserve the Prize at all
Attensity's VOC solution assigned a Sentimetrics Score(TM) of 64 to the sentiment associated with President Obama winning the Nobel Prize. The Sentimentric Score is an Attensity proprietary calculation that enables organizations to track sentiment movement over time. It takes into account and weighs sentiment by degrees of sentiment, and is then normalized based on the number of sentiment-based facts found by Attensity's VOC solution.
To view the pie chart analysis, go to Attensity's web site: http://www.attensity.com/en/ObamaPeacePrize.html
"We expected there to be a great deal of buzz generated by the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, but today's surprise designation of President Obama caused a tremendous flapping of wings in the 'Twittersphere,'" said Michelle de Haaff, chief marketing officer of Attensity Group. "It's rather interesting that there were so few Extreme Negatives, but perhaps that provides insight into the age and politics of Twitter's user base."
Attensity's Solutions
Attensity Cloud is designed to allow organizations to monitor, analyze and respond to social media together with internal customer conversations in email, surveys, and CRM systems. Powered by Radian6, the social media monitoring platform for marketing, communications and customer support professionals, Attensity Cloud (http://www.attensity.com/en/Applications-and-Services/Applications/Voice-of-the-Customer/Market-Voice.html) enables real-time active monitoring of social media to identify trends, influencers and sentiment. Attensity Cloud enables people to determine which conversations are relevant and active, engage in dialogue with the community, and understand which sites and people are the most influential for their organization. The results can provide a foundation for crafting strategic decisions, and to measure and analyze the impact of various social media initiatives.
By combining Attensity Cloud with Attensity's flagship Voice of the Customer (VoC) application (http://www.attensity.com/en/Applications-and-Services/Applications/Voice-of-the-Customer/Voice-of-the-Customer-Index.html), organizations can extend keyword analysis to actionable insights on issues found in social media. They can take advantage of Attensity's deep text analysis capabilities to analyze not only social media information, but also structured and unstructured information from internal sources, including email, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) databases and surveys for a 360-degree view of customer issues, opinions, ideas and requirements. Organizations can compare "Top Issues" in social media with "Top Issues" in direct communications, to address customers' greatest needs. Users can drill down into details around sentiment and root cause and identify the reasons why customers will or will not buy again.
Entry level pricing for Attensity Cloud starts between $500 and $1,200 USD per month.
Additional Resources
Read Attensity's whitepaper, "Monitor, Analyze, Respond and Repurpose: Toward a more effective utilization of social media." http://www.attensity.com/en/Collaterals/Attensity_SocialMedia_WP080609.pdf
Watch a video via Attensity's blog demonstrating analysis of "tweets" on a new KFC sandwich: http://www.attensity.com/en/Company/Blog/2009/08/Michelle_August5_2009.php
Register for a free webinar demonstration of Attensity Cloud on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 11:00 a.m. PT: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/257697147
About Attensity Group
Attensity Group provides business user applications that generate value from unstructured data. Its comprehensive family of solutions leverages semantic analytics to enable knowledge management professionals, business leaders, customer support personnel and customers to interpret and manage an organization's unstructured data to get relevant and actionable answers -- fast. Attensity Group's award-winning software is in use by more than 250 of the Global 1000 and by large government agencies to deliver powerful insights, enhance operational efficiency, reduce risk exposure, and ensure increased customer satisfaction. The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) has honored Attensity Group with its 2009 Recognized Innovator Award. Attensity Group, with more than 500 installations worldwide, services customers from multiple offices in the U.S. and Europe. The company's go-to-market entities are Attensity Americas and Empolis in the EMEA region. Attensity Group's corporate headquarters are in Palo Alto, Calif. More information is at http://www.attensity.com. Follow Attensity on Twitter at http://twitter.com/attensity and read the corporate blog at http://www.attensity.com/en/Company/Blog/index.php.
©2009 Attensity Group. Attensity and Sentimetrics Score are trademarks of Attensity Group in the United States and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Information is subject to change without notice. All rights reserved.

Contacts:
Michelle de Haaff
Attensity Group
(650) 433-1700
mdehaaff@attensitygroup.com

Lisa Hawes
Sterling Communications
(408) 884-5155
attensity@sterlingpr.com

SOURCE Attensity Group

Pope warns Africa against colonialism, religious fundamentalism

2009-10-05T17:43:00.001+01:00

As the Synod of African Bishops gets underway, Pope Benedict warns Africa of religious fanaticism and corruption.

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN (OCTOBER 4, 2009) CTV - Pope Benedict opened a synod of Roman Catholic bishops on Africa on Sunday (October 4) by denouncing the West's materialism and lack of moral values, which he said were contaminating the world's poorest continent like "toxic waste."
In his homily the Pope compared Africa, which he visited earlier this year, to a spiritual "lung" at risk of being attacked by what he called the viruses of materialism and religious fundamentalism.

"There is absolutely no doubt that the so-called 'First' World has exported up until now, and continues to export its spiritual toxic waste that contaminates the people of other continents, particularly those of Africa. In that sense colonialism -- at a political level -- has never really entirely come to an end," he said.

"In this sense colonialism, which is over at a political level, has never really entirely come to an end."

Lamenting the exploitation of Africa's vast resources, the pope also spoke out against religious fundamentalism, which he said was mixed with political and economic interests.

In the 20th century Africa's Catholic population shot up from about 2 million in 1900 to about 140 million in 2000, making the continent ever more important to the Vatican as the number of practising Catholics in the developed world declines.

World Bank reveals new study in Bangkok on the cost of fighting climate change

2009-09-30T11:40:00.000+01:00

The World Bank reveals a new study on the cost of fighting climate change as delegates at the Bangkok Climate Change Talks continue negotiations on a new climate change treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

BANGKOK, THAILAND (SEPTEMBER 30, 2009) REUTERS - Developing countries will need to spend as much as $100 billion annually for the next 40 years to adapt to more extreme and severe weather changes, according to a World Bank study released on Wednesday (September 30).
"Achieving a two-degree world will cost about 75 to 100 billion dollars per year from now, from 2010 to 2050. This is low compare to GDPs its on par with the amount of development assistance to developing countries. So, it is about the same level," Director of World Bank's Environment Department, Warrant Evans told reporters at a news conference during climate change talks in Bangkok.

Despite previous estimates of $9 billion and $104 billion, the World Bank said the latest projection came from its most in-depth analysis of the impact of climate change.

He added that East Asian and Pacific Asian countries with growing economies are experiencing rapid urbanisation, especially in costal areas, and would bear the highest cost.

Meanwhile, a hundred green activists demonstrated outside the UN building, accusing rich countries of causing the most global warming.

"This climate problem is because of the over use of energy transportation for hundreds of years since industrialisation," said Jubilee South Activist representative, Vinod Raina.

The activists said rich countries should bear the costs of combating climate change.

"So, we shouldn't have loans and we shouldn't have World Bank giving loans, which people have to repay. It should be rich countries giving ground and reparation." added Vinod Raina.

Earlier, the head negotiator for the Philippines urged rich nations at the U.N. climate talks to toughen emissions cuts, claiming the typhoon that hit the country this week was a taste of future effects of climate change on poor nations.

"The death, the pain and the damage in the Philippines helps us to understand the necessity of an earnest negotiations," Chief Philippine Climate negotiator, Heherson Alvarez told reporters.

Typhoon Ketsana killed 246 people and triggered widespread flooding in the capital Manila.

The storm, which has also killed 32 in Vietnam, dumped a month's worth of rain in 24 hours in Manila, overwhelming rescue services.

The storm has become a focus of the marathon climate talks in Bangkok this week, with developing nations and green groups saying it is an example of the type of climate disaster poor nations could face in a warmer world.

Delegates from about 180 countries are meeting in the Thai capital trying to narrow differences on emissions reduction targets, climate finance and transfer of clean-energy technology before a December deadline to seal a tougher pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

The Bangkok talks, which run until Oct. 9, is the last major negotiating round before a gathering in Copenhagen in December that the United Nations has set as a deadline to seal a broad agreement on a pact to expand and replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Living hell for immigrants in Italy's tomato fields

2009-09-28T12:14:00.000+01:00

After crossing half of Africa and surviving a perilous boat trip from Libya in search of a better life in Italy, many immigrants enter into a form of slavery picking tomatoes with living conditions worse than those back home.

RIGNANO GARGANICO, ITALY REUTERS - Every year thousands of immigrants, many of them from Africa, flock to the plantations of southern Italy to eke out a living as seasonal workers picking anything from grapes to olives, tomatoes and oranges.
This army of illegal immigrants certainly could not have imagined the sort of living conditions they would be forced to endure.

Broadly tolerated by authorities because of their role in the economy, they endure long hours of backbreaking labour for as little as 15-20 euros a day and live in squalid makeshift camps without running water or electricity.

The shanty town, known as 'the Ghetto' is where some 600 immigrants live in the countryside near the city of Foggia in Puglia. The area is known as the 'Red Gold Triangle' which produces 35 percent of Italy's tomatoes.

From afar the shanty town resembles a refugee camp in any war-ravaged African country, but the reality is possibly worse.

The economic crisis forced factories in Italy's rich north to shut down or lay off employees, so more migrants than usual -- around 2,000 people -- have come here in search of work.

Rains -- a tomato picker's best friend because the machinery an increasing number of farm owners use to replace manual labour does not work properly on muddy grounds -- have been sparse.

"Here is where I sleep, ten people sleep here," said 24-yr-old Boubacar Bailo from Guinea.

People sleep on bug-infested mattrasses in overcrowded shacks made of cardboard and plastic sheets or in decrepit houses.

"If it's raining they prefer calling us to work rather than the machines, it's shit its only 3 euro for one big crate," Bailo said, adding that this was not living.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which since 2003 has been monitoring the area around Foggia and helping the immigrants get access to basic health services, say more should be done.

"They sleep on the ground on matresses they have picked up on the streets, most of them are rotten and infested with insects." said Doctor Alvise Benelli.

Idle youths in dirty clothes try and sleep or simply stare into the distance at the camps. To eat the immigrants club together to buy a sheep so they can slaughter it themselves and feed more people.

The going rate for illegal tomato pickers is 3.5 euros per "cassone" -- a big plastic crate that, when full, weighs 350 kg. On a lucky day, workers can hope to make as much as 35-40 euros after labouring from dawn to dusk.

But in most cases they will have to pay a cut to the so-called "caporali", intermediaries who select the workforce for the farm owners and make sure the job gets done.

"We just didn't know Italy was like this, we always thought it was a country where you could find a job and do everything like eating and alot of nice things," said illegal immigrant Andrea from Burkina Faso who has been in Italy for several years.

"...But we have seen it is not like that but I can't go back," Andrea said.

This month, the government launched an amnesty for immigrants illegally employed as cleaners or carers for the elderly by Italian families, but that does not apply to those bringing tomatoes from the fields to their plates.

Most of them are trapped, with no papers and barely any income they are forced to travel up and down the country following the harvest, with little hope of ever being able to afford to return home.

UN: Pace of climate change quickens

2009-09-26T18:37:00.000+01:00

As world leaders meet in New York, a new report from the U.N. says the pace of climate change is surpassing predictions.

The pace of climate change is exceeding the scientific community's worst-case scenarios . That's the grim bottom line from a new UN Environment Program report that says emissions already released into the atmosphere could lead to the loss of ecosystems and a more rapid spread of deserts from Africa to Asia.

The UN report comes as world leaders have been meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York and the G20 in Pittsburgh. One goal is breaking the global deadlock on how rich and developing countries will share the burdens of trying to slow global warming.

Earlier in the week U.S. President Barack Obama said the US is pursuing more aggressive climate policy but that efforts must be collective.

U.S. President Barack Obama saying:

"Those rapidly-growing developing nations that will produce nearly all the growth in global carbon emissions in the decades ahead must do their part as well. Some of these nations have already made great strides with the development and deployment of clean energy. Still, they will need to commit to strong measures at home and agree to stand behind those commitments just as the developed nations must stand behind their own."

And the Group of 20 did agree to phase out subsidies on oil and other fossil fuels over the "medium term", according to its communiqué.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, at a news conference following the summit, said the eventual costs for the world will be much higher if nations do not address the threat of climate change.

Some worry though that the lack of a firm timetable and the failure to make progress on financing for poor countries may hinder how much progress can be made at the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in December

Meanwhile, experts have been meeting at the United Nations desertification conference in Argentina this week where they said land degradation and desert threatens two billion people worldwide.

They warned that unless policy action is taken immediately, freak weather incidents like the huge outback dust storm that blanketed Sydney earlier this week will occur more frequently as the "perfect storm" of climate change gathers momentum.

Manoush Zomorodi, Reuters, New York

Project 10^100 - Vote for the idea you believe will help the most people

2009-09-26T11:29:00.002+01:00

It's time to vote!

Last year, Project 10^100 invited the world to submit ideas to help as many people as possible. We received over 154,000 submissions, which we narrowed down to our favorites.

Now, you're invited to view the ideas and vote for the ones you think will help the most people.

Our advisory board will use your votes to identify the best ideas for further consideration, and we've committed $10 million to make up to 5 of them a reality.

Hurry, voting ends October 8, 2009.

Thanks for your help. Please vote! And may those who help the most win.

- The Project 10^100 Team

Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Brad Pitt honoured for humanitarism

2009-09-25T17:20:00.000+01:00

Brad Pitt prasied for his foundation's help reconstruction of The 9th Ward in New Orleans

At the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Thursday (September 24), Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt was honoured for his humanitarian work in New Orleans.

Seated next to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Pitt's and his "Make It Right" foundation were praised for their efforts to rebuild homes in the Louisiana Port City.

Thousands of people in New Orleans' 9th Ward were left homeless by Hurricane Katrina - Pitt's foundation built thirteen houses there.

Each unique house has sustainable, eco-friendly features to minimise costs like heating and cooling.

The average utility bill for the homes is 35 U.S. dollars a month - the aim is to cut that to zero.

Pitt said the model could be applied to communities everywhere.

Brad Pitt, Actor and Founder of "Make It Right", saying:

"If we had not been so blissfully naive to the potential, we would not be experiencing what we are seeing today and that is the unquantifiable joy of families returning home to the 9th Ward and returning home to something that was better than before. Returning home to and setting forth a new paradigm."

The former U.S. president commended the houses as an example for the future.

Bill Clinton, Former President, saying:

"This is a story that can have a happy ending because if we change the way we produce and consume energy, including the way we build and rebuild, we can create more opportunity as has been done here."

Pitt's goal is to have 150 green homes up and ready in New Orleans by 2010.

Doug MacLaurin, Reuters.

Obama deadpans on Letterman

2009-09-22T11:01:00.000+01:00

"I was actually black before the election" U.S. President Barack Obama jokes on David Letterman's late-night chat show.

Barack Obama make the remarks in a pre-recorded segment of the "Late Show With David Letterman" when he was asked about former President Jimmy Carter's comment that some of the sharp criticism aimed at the current U.S. president in the healthcare debate seemed to reflect racism.

As well as comedic moments the interview tackled weighty issues, with Obama offering a cautious prognosis on the economy saying, "we are not out of the woods yet."

Obama, whose approval ratings have tumbled amid a rancorous debate on his plan for healthcare reform and accusations by critics that his policies would lead to too much government meddling in the economy, has made a series of appearences on U.S. television shows in recent days, in an effort to explain and promote his policies.

Source: CBS/WORLDWIDE

Denmark Launches Climate Change Web Platform With Google

2009-09-22T10:27:00.000+01:00

Involving Global Opinion in the Climate Debate: Denmark Launches Climate Change Web Platform With Google
COPENHAGEN and NEW YORK, September 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, on behalf of the Danish government as hosts of the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15), today announced a new collaboration with the global internet company Google.

The aim of the collaboration is to increase global engagement in climate change in the run-up to and during COP15 in Copenhagen in December.

The collaboration includes a number of online initiatives:

- "Raise your voice" COP15 YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/cop15

Denmark will allow users of the online video sharing website YouTube to share their thoughts on climate change and to make their voices be heard at the conference. Through the channel, users can contribute their own opinion and questions, and respond to and view videos by climate change opinion makers. The channel will also allow users to watch videos that go behind the scenes of the conference itself. During COP15, videos will be shown to the leaders of the world gathered at the conference, who will have a chance to record their opinions directly from the conference venue.

- Visualization of climate change on Google Earth - http://www.google.com/cop15

Working with data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the international scientific community, Google has visualized climate change stories on Google Maps and Google Earth. For example, users will be able to view visualizations of greenhouse gas emissions by region, the expected consequences of climate change, as well as narrated virtual tours on mitigation and adaptation aspects.

- Working together for the climate

A number of different organizations are working on outreach efforts in the period leading up to COP15. To unite all these campaigns, users of Denmark's "Raise your voice" COP15 YouTube channel will be able to visit other major campaigns, including the UN's official Seal the Deal initiative, UNICEF's Unite for Climate youth campaign, the Hopenhagen campaign, Prince Charles' Rainforest Project and the Tck Tck Tck campaign.

In addition to the above activities under the collaboration between Denmark and Google, Google is collaborating with CNN to conduct a global, TV-transmitted Townhall debate during COP15. As such, questions submitted to the "Raise your voice" YouTube channel will be broadcast to a worldwide audience.

The collaboration between Denmark and Google will be launched tomorrow, September 22, by the Prime Minister of Denmark, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, during the UN Climate Summit in New York. Video coverage of the event will be made available on the COP15 "Raise your voice" YouTube channel.

On the YouTube channel there will also be "Call to Action" videos from HRH the Crown Prince of Denmark and the Prime Minister of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Web links:

COP15 "Raise your voice" YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/cop15

Google Earth climate change visualization: http://www.google.com/cop15

COP15.dk - climate change news and conference information: http://www.cop15.dk COP15 "Climate Thinkers Blog": http://www.blog.cop15.dk

COP15 on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cop15

COP15 on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cop15

For more information, please contact:

Google, Inc.

Niki Fenwick, Senior Manager, Communications & Public Affairs,

nikifenwick@google.com

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Klavs A. Holm, Ambassador for Public Diplomacy, tel. +45-25-28-37-37

Louise Brincker, Head of Press, COP15, tel. +45-23-43-41-76

Jakob Faarvang, Team Leader, COP15 Press/Outreach team,

tel. +45-25-26-75-74

Torben Jensen, Head of Section, COP15 Press/Outreach team,

tel. +45-50-86-75-28

SOURCE Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Over 100 children detained in Calais Jungle roundup, police chief says

2009-09-22T09:53:00.001+01:00

More than 100 children and as many adults were detained in a dawn raid on a makeshift migrants' camp near the entrance of the Channel Tunnel in northern France, the local police chief said.

CALAIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 22, 2009) REUTERS - Children were among those who were detained by French riot police as they closed down a makeshift refugee camp near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel that the government says has become a magnet for criminals and people smugglers.
The children were among approximately 200 people who were detained amid scuffles with members of French pressure groups who had gathered to prevent the so-called Calais Jungle being dismantled.

Protesters cried and accused the police of acting without any dignity. But earlier, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said the move was essential to re-establish the rule of law.

Police took down details of the migrants who were detained and at least one person who appeared lightly injured was carried away, eyewitnesses said.

"The adults have already been placed in detention. We are going to verify their personal situations. Those in a legal situation will obviously be released with a proposition of accomodation. For months now, we have not detained anyone without proposing them some accomodation in Calais or somewhere nearby", said police chief Pierre Debousquet.

The French government announced the closure of the Jungle late last week, vowing to re-establish the rule of law in the patchy scrub of land with makeshift housing that serves as a jumping-off point for hundreds of migrants who smuggle onto Britain-bound lorries every year.

Police begin clearing migrant camp as Immigration Minister defends his decison

2009-09-22T09:49:00.000+01:00

French police begin clearing Calais migrant camp as French Immigration Minister Eric Besson says he wants to stop people trafficking there.

CALAIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 22, 2009) REUTERS - French police on Tuesday (September 22) began clearing an improvised camp dubbed "the jungle" where migrants gather near the port of Calais before trying to cross to Britain.
The operation, announced last week, has been heavily criticised by humanitarian groups who say it will do nothing to solve the problem of illegal immigration, but Immigration Minister Eric Besson defended the move.

"I want to dismantle this camp which is a base for people traffickers," he told RTL radio shortly after the operation began.

Besson said people traffickers exploited migrants, charging them 15,000 euros to get to Britain.

"I've seen a number of people describe it as a pleasant humanitarian camp. It is not a humanitarian camp. It is the base camp of the people traffickers," Besson said.

The French minister said the state of law needed to be established in the camp, to the benefit of the migrants themselves who are exploited, but also to the benefit of the inhabitants of Calais and its surrounding area.

He said around 250 people had been in the area on Monday but he was unaware of how many were still there as police moved in.

The makeshift tent city grew up after France closed a large Red Cross centre at nearby Sangatte in 2002 under pressure from Britain, which saw it as a magnet for clandestine immigrants.

Humanitarian groups say the high-profile closure of the "jungle" will merely move the illegal immigrants elsewhere in the area.

EU ministers debate resettlement program for refugees and asylum seekers

2009-09-21T18:25:00.001+01:00

European duty to ''welcome those victims of persecution'' and be ''a continent of asylum'' are outlined as EU ministers start debating new resettlement policy.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (SEPTEMBER 21, 2009)EBS - EU justice and home affairs ministers debated on Monday (September 21) a new resettlement policy to harmonize EU laws on refugees and asylum seekers.
Resettlement means that refugees who have temporary protection in the country in which they first arrived may move to another country where they can receive permanent protection.

Sweden, who is holding the six-months rotating EU presidency, said the resettlement policy is one its priority though it warned there was ''no quick fix''

''There is no quick fix for that problem I am afraid and we also have to think about that problem in short and long term. However, by offering a resettlement program, we will be able to deal with some of the problems,'' Swedish minister for migration and asylum Tobias Billstroem said as he arrived for the meeting.

Ministers are studying new proposals by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. The Commission said the new resettlement policy will identify common priorities to help the most vulnerable populations and it proposed that member states accepting migrants to be resettled within their border will get 4,000 euros ($5,849) per person resettled.

''The program will not only have an impact on the individual beneficiaries but it will also alleviate the pressure that some third countries that host major refugee population feels today,'' Billstroem said, referring to countries like Syria who is hosting a great number of Iraqi refugees.

The EU Commission also wants to develop cooperation with the United Nations for High Refugees Commissioner (UNHCR), the International Office for Migration (IOM) and non-governmental organisations dealing with immigration and create a greater solidarity between EU member states.

Countries at the border of the European Union like Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Spain or Italy say they are dealing with an increase in the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers. They want other EU nations to show more solidarity and help them resettle migrants outside their own borders and within the European Union.

Jacques Barrot, EU Commission vice-president in charge of immigration, and the UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres said some values need to be respected when dealing with refugees and asylum seekers.

''There are about ten millions refugees in the world and 750,000 are waiting for resettlement. We therefore have to face those demands which need to be understood in the light of European values, those values which mean it's a duty for Europeans to welcome those who are victims of persecution throughout the world,'' Barrot said.

''We remain confident that Europe is and shall go on being a continent of asylum. It's very important that Europe grants access to European territory for bona-fide asylum seekers and a fair treatment of their claims,'' Guterres said.

Immigration is a hot topic in the EU.

In Italy, the first landing-point in Europe for many migrants from Africa, migrants face detention under legislation passed in July making it a felony to be an illegal immigrant or help one.

In France, the government has vowed to close an illegal migrants' camp in Calais by the end of this week. The camp, known as ''The jungle'' has been the jumping off point for hundreds of asylum seekers bound for the UK.

The European Union is set to issue new immigration policy proposals by the end of October.

Massive crowd turn out for Juanes' Peace Without Borders Concert

2009-09-21T09:13:00.000+01:00

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans watch international stars perform in a free Peace Without Borders Concert.

HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 20, 2009) REUTERS - Hundreds of thousands of people filled Havana's Revolution Square for a "peace" concert on Sunday (September 20) in which Colombian singer Juanes and other musicians sought to bridge the political divide that has separated Cubans for 50 years.
The concert was shown live on international television, including to viewers in Miami, the heart of the Cuban exile community and center of opposition to Cuba's communist-led government.

Puerto Rican singer Olga Tanon, who kicked off the concert by shouting, "It's time to change."

Juanes, a 17-time Latin Grammy winner who lives in Miami, was joined on stage by 14 artists from six countries, among them Olga Tanon of the U.S. territory Puerto Rico, Miguel Bose of Spain and Jovanotti of Italy. Cuban salsa kings Los Van Van closed it out.

Juanes, who organized his "Peace Without Borders" concert in conjunction with the Cuban government, had insisted the show was not political, but raised eyebrows at the end of the concert when he shouted "one Cuban family" for Cuban unity and "Cuba libre," words that have been a rallying cry in the exile community for years.

They prompted immediate speculation on Spanish-language television in Miami, but drew no response from the Cuban government.

The huge crowd in attendance, which Juanes said numbered more than 1 million, danced and swayed under a blistering sun that caused many to faint during the five-hour event.

A number of Cuban dissidents supported the concert, even though they say the government was using it to project an image of tolerance that does not exist.

One of Cuba's leading anti-government dissidents, Martha Beatriz Roque, told Univision on Sunday that Cuban state security police had warned a number of dissidents and other individuals to stay away from Revolution Square.

"I think it shows much about the desire we Cubans have for union, solidarity and desire to live in peace," said Miriam Leyva, wife of dissident Oscar Espinos.

Juanes has said he organized the concert because he believes U.S. President Barack Obama has "opened the door" to change by easing the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo and taking other steps to improve U.S.-Cuba relations.

He said he would like to see Cuban leaders respond to his overture by moving away "from some of the anti-democratic practices of the past."

Cuba's government last week chided Obama for not doing more to completely end the U.S. sanctions on Cuba.

A British woman, allegedly humiliated in courtroom, says hopeful of justice

2009-09-19T19:53:00.000+01:00

Kaya Eldridge, who was allegedly humiliated by a lawyer during the hearing of a molestation case in India, says she is hopeful of justice.

AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT, INDIA (SEPTEMBER 19, 2009) ANI- Kaya Eldridge, a British woman, who was allegedly humiliated by a lawyer during the hearing of a molestation case in India, said that she was hopeful of getting justice on Saturday (September 19).
Elridge staged a protest along with several locals and foreigners against molestation of women in India's western Ahmedabad.

"I am very positive about my case. I think if the support of the people is anything to go by, then the judicial system will have to, will have to reflect that and hopefully the truth will prevail here and we will finally get justice," she said.

Local citizens who voluntarily joined her shouted slogans demanding justice for victims of molestation and violence.

"On one hand we are inviting the guests from foreign lands and we are welcoming them and we are pampering them and on the other hand a guest lady is suffering from these atrocities." Swarup Dhruv, a cultural activist said.

High Court of India's western Gujarat state on Friday (September 18) directed the chief metropolitan magistrate to conduct an inquiry into the case.

Elridge wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, Mr. Justice KS Radhakrishnan, with signatures of people demanding action against the lawyer who allegedly asked her irrelevant question in the metropolitan court.

The issue was taken up at the High Court by a self-help group.

Expressing concern over the issue, Radhakrishnan sought report in the case after accusations were made by Eldridge that she was humiliated in the courtroom by the lawyer on Monday (September 14).

Last month, Eldridge complained that a plumber molested her when he came for a repairing work at her flat.

Guidelines of India's apex court say that court proceedings should take place 'in-camera' to avoid embarrassment to the victim and to protect her identity.

Lucy Liu, actress and UNICEF Ambassador speaks about human trafficking

2009-09-17T21:37:00.004+01:00

Lucy Liu, actress and UNICEF Ambassador, speaks about the need to put a stop to the crime of human trafficking at USAID's Anti-Trafficking Symposium on September 16, 2009. Since 2001 the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided more than $134 million to combat human trafficking. USAID has funded anti-trafficking projects in more than 70 countries as a part of the coordinated U.S. government effort to combat the crime of trafficking in persons worldwide. Activities are in place to help prevent vulnerable individuals from being trafficked, to protect and reintegrate victims and to find and punish human traffickers. Lucy Liu's most recent collaboration with USAID was for the documentary "Traffic," a joint project with USAID and the MTV Foundation for the EXIT campaign. (PRNewsFoto/U.S. Agency for International Development)

Why Americans are so stirred up about Obama

2009-09-17T20:37:00.000+01:00

Despite all the ruckus concerning town-halls lately, most
of which is the ruckus made by liberals upset that
conservatives are attending and expressing their opposition
to Obama's policies, we have been treated to some
important, if accidental, moments of honesty and clarity.

For example, while conducting a recent town-hall meeting,
Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill attempted to
calm constituents upset over the proposed "reform" by
asking "Don't you trust me?" The resounding "no's"
reverberated throughout the room, along with many boos,
which provides us with our moment of honesty.

So why don't voters trust the government or its
representatives to "fix" the problem? Partially because
they've taken a good look at the proposed "solution" over
the past few months, and the closer they look, the less
they like what they see. From federally funded abortions
(as "health care"), to reduced choices in the free-market,
to likely tax increases and health care rationing, there's
plenty to have a problem with.

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, fifty-four percent
of Americans would rather have no health care reform at
all, rather than the bills that are currently being
considered in Congress. The poll also shows that, while
eighty percent of Republicans oppose the bill, a surprising
forty percent of Democrats are opposed as well.

The other reason they're lacking in the "trust" department
is that they know the government's track record when it
comes to "fixing" things, or generally getting anything
productive done at all, much less done well.

They know government programs only get bigger, not smaller,
(unless you're talking about defense programs under liberal
Democrats). They know the stories about the five-hundred
dollar hammers and six-hundred dollar toilet seats, not to
mention the obscene overspending and fraud in Medicare and
Medicaid. They saw the great job done by local, state and
federal agencies during Katrina, and they weren't too
impressed.

Which brings us to our moment of clarity, courtesy of one
of Obama's recent town-hall meetings, in which he gave a
great reason why we shouldn't trust the government to fix
much of anything, much less manage one-sixth of the economy.

Obama offered the example of the Post Office in an analogy
of how the government run option wouldn't hurt or hinder
the free market in delivering health insurance. Yes, the
US Post Office - the government agency whose failure to
sufficiently master delivery of packages from point A to
point B prompted the rise of free market choices like FedEx
and UPS.

In other words he was saying, "Don't worry about a
government run program killing off private competition,
because it will be awful, just like the Post Office".
(How's that for a vote of confidence!)

Yes, FedEx and UPS are doing fine in their competition with
the government, just as the free market would do a better
job of delivering quality, affordable health care, if not
for government interference. But that's because the Post
Office doesn't get to set the rules under which its
competitors operate.

Health care is another matter. Currently, government tells
insurance companies what products they can sell and where
they can sell them, and what policies customers can buy and
where they can buy them, (and forces them to use the
government product - Medicare - when they turn sixty-five).

I think it's fair to say that the competitors to the Post
Office wouldn't do so well under similar rules, which would
leave consumers with less reliable and lower quality
service.

Rules and regulations under a government run health care
scheme are sure to be even worse - and so would the service.

Ronald Reagan used to tell the joke, "I'm from the
government, and I'm here to help", and it always got a
laugh. Why? Because the notion of the government being
helpful, as opposed to usually screwing things up, getting
in the way, or infringing on our liberties is laughable.

But if we allow this so-called "reform" to become law,
health care in America will "go postal". And the joke will
be on us.

About the Author:

Drew McKissick is a political strategist and former member
of the Republican National Committee with over 20 years of
experience in grassroots politics. He writes a regular
column providing analysis and commentary on the polical
scene. His website is available at
http://www.DrewMcKissick.com . You can follow him on
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/DrewMcKissick

Canadian group vows to fight Tanzania albino murders

2009-09-16T16:57:00.000+01:00

A Canadian group vows justice over the killings of Albinos in Tanzania, whose body parts are sold to be used in witchcraft.

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA REUTERS - A Canadian rights group says it will not rest until there is an end to the murder of albinos in Tanzania -- a minority often hunted down for their body parts to be used in witchcraft.
Since 2007 at least 53 albinos have been killed in various parts of the east African nation, with most incidents occurring in the remote northwest regions of Shinyanga and Mwanza, where superstition is deep-seated.

Albinos lack pigment in their eyes, skin or hair, making their life difficult in Africa, where there is plenty of sunshine. They are more susceptible to skin cancer and sunburn.

Tanzania has about 170,000 albinos among its 40 million people, according to government and lobby groups, and grisly stories about their killings are carried in local media.

The killers sell parts such as arms, legs, hair, skin and genitals to those involved in witchcraft, The buyers hope these grisly ingredients will make their magic more potent, according to police and albino groups.

The high level of violence against albinos reflects the strength of many Tanzanians' belief in witchcraft. Tanzanian witch doctors are believed to be the best and are also sought after by people from elsewhere in east Africa.

Ash, an albino, gave the example of a 5-year-old girl named Mariam who was attacked by a group of men in Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria.

"About a year ago men broke to their home, wielding machetes in the dark. They smashed through the door into the room where Mariam and her siblings were sleeping, and they isolated her in a separate room of the home and they took out a machete, they pinned her down against the bed and they slit her across the throat and she began to bleed. They turned her body over and they took a cooking pot and they drained her blood into a pot while her other siblings watched. Then one of the killers drank the blood on the spot from the pot. Once they were done with that they began with the right leg and they sawed it off while she was alive in pain. They then sawed off her left leg. They then began with the right arm, then moved to the left arm," said Peter Ash, the founder and director of Under The Same Sun.

"Mariam screamed in agony. She did not have the benefit of being unconscious first. She was killed alive like an animal by grown men. They did this while the siblings watched. By the time her mother and other relatives got to the scene, she was already dead and the killers had run off with the body parts, which of course they will sell to witch doctors who then take those body parts, her precious blood, her little legs, her little arms, they grind them up like meat in a butcher shop and they mix them with potions. So this crime, this genocide, this crime against humanity can continue. The witch doctors in the community will buy those body parts and they'll mix them with potions and sell them to the wealthy businessmen and businesswomen in the mining industry and fishing industry and other individuals who may have political affiliations or business affiliations, who wants to become successful, they want to win elections, they want to succeed in business, and they will consult the services of these witch doctors and they'll use Albino body parts," Ash added.

Authorities have arrested more than 90 people, including four police officers, for their role in the killings of albinos or trade in albino body parts, which witch doctors tell their clients will bring luck in love, life and business.

Ash said that Mariam's mother had taken her brother, also an albino, to a boarding school for safety, but the boy cannot go home for holidays and instead lives with foster families.

Ash will later tour another school in Kasulu in western Tanzania near the border with Burundi where about 56 albinos live.

In June, prosecutors opened at least 15 cases against suspects, five of them in Shinyanga.

The murders have damaged Tanzania's reputation for relative calm in the region, and drawn condemnation from the United Nations and European Union.

In neighbouring Burundi, at least 11 albinos have been killed since last year. So far five people have been convicted, including one who received a life sentence.

Stream of high-profile outbursts in the U.S. raises questions on state of the nation's manners

2009-09-16T12:50:00.000+01:00

There's a fine line between famous and infamous -

As tennis champion Serena Williams discovered during the U.S. Open after threatening to stuff a ball down a judge's throat.

Member of Congress Joe Wilson was shunned after shouting at President Barack Obama during a speech on healthcare.

And rapper Kanye West was booed off stage at the Video Music Awards after congratulating winner Taylor Swift by announcing Beyonce deserved the award.

The combination of outbursts has led some to question the state of the nation's manners.

But the offenders themselves have admitted misbehaviour and been keen to make up for their mistakes.

TENNIS PLAYER SERENA WILLIAMS SAYING:

"I wanted to apologise first to the lineswoman, to the USTA, and my fans most of all, and to Kim Clijsters who ended up having such a wonderful tournament and winning the championship, and what an amazing feat that was."

SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE JOE WILSON SAYING:

"I, last night heard from the leadership and was told that they wanted me to contact the White House and state that my statements were inappropriate. I did."

Beyonce graciously did the work for West, inviting Swift back on stage to share the spotlight.

Which may just be enough for etiquette experts to believe the traditional American pie may be humble after all.

Julia Glover, Reuters

Australia should prevent attacks, says India

2009-09-16T12:46:00.001+01:00

India expresses concern over recent attack on Indian students studying in Australia. The Federal government of External Affairs has also asked the Australian Government to take strict action against the culprits.

NEW DELHI, INDIA (SEPTEMBER 16, 2009) ANI- Expressing concern over recent attack on Indian students studying in Australia, the Federal government of External Affairs asked the Australian Government to take strict action against the culprits.
Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs, said on Wednesday (September 16) that India had kept in touch with Australian leadership to take strict action against the culprits for the recent assault on four Indian men.

Two Indian nationals and two other persons of Indian origin, were assaulted by a group of individuals at Melbourne late in the evening on 12th September. One of the Indian nationals, Sukhdip Singh sustained serious injuries and is undergoing treatment.

Prakash added that the police had arrested four individuals who have since been released pending further investigations.

"We are concerned at the recurring attacks on Indians in Australia. The matter was taken up by our high commission in Canberra with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith of Australia today. Our High Commission has also written to the Premier of Victoria. The Indian Consul General in Melbourne is in contact with authorities in Victoria including the police authorities. As we take note of the assurances given to us, including from the highest levels of the government and provincial authorities of Australia, it is our earnest hope that the concerned authorities would take all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of Indians in Australia," said Prakash.

Prakash said that concerned authorities in Australia have been asked to implement the measures as soon as possible in order to prevent reoccurrence of assault on Indians.

"We hope that the latest incident is investigated with care and the culprits are dealt with, as per the laws of the land. It would also help, if various measures being contemplated by the Australian side, in addition to those that have already been announced, are put in place at the earliest, to prevent reoccurrence of such incidents in the future," said Prakash.

Prakash added that officials of the Consulate General of India in Melbourne, are also in touch with the members of the family of the victims, who have been assured all assistance by the Consulate.

A series of violent assaults on Indian students was reported from Australia in last few months.

The attacks, which Indian media have called race-based, caused some diplomatic discomfort between the two countries and sparked angry protests in India. Australia's government condemned the attacks but said racism was not behind them.

Around 93,000 of the 430,000 foreign students in Australia are Indians, up from around 30,000 only a few years ago.

The latest attack has added to fears that violent attacks and robberies of Indian students could seriously damage Australia's third-biggest export earner, the A$15 billion ($12.16 billion) market for overseas students.

Earlier, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also raised concerns with his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd, and several senior ministers have been wheeled out by the Australian government to try to avert a foreign student exodus.

Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith had also formed a new task force to deal with the problem, led by former special forces commander turned National Security Adviser Duncan Lewis.

Here's how to find a group that aligns with your values

2009-09-16T11:59:00.001+01:00

Each of us has always been a part of a group. We are born into a family which becomes a group. As we continue through life, our groups expand and contract, but mostly expand. There is our religious group, classmates, the other nerds, braniacs, athletes, national honor society members and on and on.... From the gym community to the garden club and on to our political party, we are group heavy.

Belonging to a group is a wonderful thing-- until the group/s begin to erode our truth... and we silence our own truth to continue to "belong." Read more

Japan aims for deeper carbon cuts

2009-09-07T18:02:00.000+01:00

Japan's Prime Minister-elect says he wants to cut the country's carbon emissions by 25 percent by 2020.

The world's number two economy will now aim to cut its carbon emissions by 25 percent.

It was at a meeting on climate change where the country's prime minister elect Yukio Hatoyama made this announcement.

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER-ELECT YUKIO HATOYAMA SAYING:

"We aim to cut carbon gas emissions according to what scientific studies have told us is necessary and by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020."

Despite growing opposition from many industries he said it was time to join other nations in the fight against cutting carbon.

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER-ELECT YUKIO HATOYAMA SAYING:

"It is crucial that all nations deal with this issue as a common but differentiated responsibility."

Japan's carbon emissions rose above their Kyoto agreement by more than16 percent increasing pressure on the Tokyo to act against climate change.

According to the Democratic Party, Japan's aim to reduce carbon emissions by 2020 from the 1990 levels will allow the country to play a bigger part in U.N.- backed climate talks in December.

But many in the country are unhappy with Hatoyama's decision.

A government report showed many industries among them auto makers and chemical makers fear the reduction in emissions coud ultimately lead to job cuts.

In order for Japan to lower its carbon emissions the government is considering a new carbon tax and a financial rewards system for renewable energy sources.

Basmah Fahim, Reuters.

Petrol vs. preservation in Bolivia

2009-09-03T20:54:00.003+01:00

A fight over oil reserves in Bolivia could be brewing as some fear the government search for oil could damage the country's national park.

The Madidi National Park in western Bolivia. It stretches from the Andes to the Amazon basin and is said to be one of the most biodiverse areas on earth. It is also believed to be home to a large oil reserve, which the government began exploring in October 2008.

Now some indigenous and environmental groups are up in arms fearing further degradation to an area already hit by logging.

Patricia Molina of the Fobomade Environmental Group:

Patricia Molina of the Fobomade Environmental Group, saying:

"We are facing a clear dilemma: to promote this part of the country as we already have been, maybe organizing and promoting tourism more, or turn to a completely different development model with the exploitation of petroleum, biofuels, intensive sugar cane plantations. Which is a completely different vision

The Bolivia government is led by the country's first indigenous president Evo Morales who nationalized the energy industry soon after his election.

In 2007, the government announced that its state oil firm would join its Venezuelan counterpart for the Madidi project, with an investment of more than $1 billion. The two state oil companies formed Petroandina.

Carlos Espinoza, of Bolivia's Hydrocarbons Ministry, said that all of the local communities had agreed to the support the project before it began.

Carlos Espinoza, of Bolivia's Hydrocarbons Ministry, saying:

"In each community we have consulted the populations and explained to them all the aspects of the project and the possible impacts,"

Eight indigenous communities hold territories in and bordering on the Madidi National Park and seven of them approved the exploration.

The only community that opposed was Simay.

Simay indigenous leader, Wilma Mendoza Miro.

Simay indigenous leader, Wilma Mendoza Miro, saying:

"[The other communities] have said it themselves: 'They have given us the money, but what are we going to do with that?' It is not even one thousand dollars. Maybe some of the communities have received more, but what are they going to do with that, it won't cover anything.

Natural resources are the only major industry in impoverished Bolivia, which exported $3 billion worth of natural gas to Argentina and Brazil in 2009.

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.

Africa may veto climate change deal says Ethiopia's Meles

2009-09-03T16:29:00.002+01:00

Africa will send a united negotiating team to the landmark climate change talks in Copenhagen, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told a meeting of climate change experts, saying the continent bears the burden of global warming.

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (SEPTEMBER 03, 2009) REUTERS - Africa will veto any climate change deal that does not meet its demand for money from rich nations to cut the impact of global warming on the continent, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Thursday (September 03).
A U.N. summit scheduled for December in Copenhagen will try to reach global agreement on how to tackle climate change and come up with a post-Kyoto protocol to curb harmful emissions.

"Over fifty countries, more than a quarter of the member states of the United Nations will be speaking with one voice. That should make the negotiations much more manageable than would have been the case in the absence of such a decision. Africa's interest and position will not be muffled as has usually been the case when each African country speaks for itself or tries to do so, on behalf of Africa without the necessary mandate," Meles told a conference of climate change experts in Addis Ababa.

"We will use our numbers to delegitimize any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position. If needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threatens to be another rape of our continent," Meles said.

He did not say how much money Africa would be looking for in Denmark but some experts have said the continent should ask for up to $200 billion a year.

Africa contributes little to the pollution blamed for warming but is the hardest hit by the drought and flooding cycle that is already affecting parts of the continent.

Ten African leaders last month held talks at the African Union (AU) headquarters in the Ethiopian capital and agreed a common stance ahead of the Copenhagen talks.

"We will participate in the upcoming climate negotiations not as invitees but as full blooded negotiators. We will participate in the negotiations not as supplicants pleading for our case but as negotiators defending our views and interests and reaching out to others to achieve our common positions. The fact that Africa will be represented by one negotiating team reinforces our role as key stakeholders and negotiators," said Meles.

Meles -- who has become Africa's most outspoken advocate on climate change -- earlier this year argued that pollution in the northern hemisphere may have caused his country's ruinous famines in the 1980s.

A study published in May by the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum said poor nations bear more than nine-tenths of the human and economic burden of climate change.

The 50 poorest countries, however, contribute less than 1 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions that scientists say are threatening the planet, the report said.

Developing nations accuse the rich of failing to take the lead in setting deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and say they are trying to get the poor to shoulder more of the burden of emission curbs without providing aid and technology.

Full access to secret files being debated in Hungary

2009-09-03T13:51:00.002+01:00

Hungarians continue to debate the opening of secret files, twenty years after the end of the communist era. One opposition MEP says it is time the country faced up to its unpleasant past.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY. REUTERS - Twenty years after the change of regime in Hungary, many of the files of the former communist era are still unavailable to the public.
The Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security hold most of the files of the former interior intelligence department of the secret services, which dealt with spying on fellow Hungarians. But a large section of the files is still kept by the secret services, and many of the stored files cannot be fully accessed even by the victims concerned.

Unlike other ex-communist countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary has not revealed the names of secret police collaborators from the communist era. Attempts to pass a law that would open up all files have repeatedly failed over the past decades. Several versions of laws were passed but all with strict data and personality protection limits.

Last year, a so-called "dossier law" proposal was tabled to parliament which aimed to open up all files to the public with very little national security limits. A committee of historians and secret service experts was given the task to evaluate the transfer of secret service documents up to 1990, to investigate what happened to these documents since then, and to prepare suggestions for a new law. But for over a year the work of the committee has been stalled as well as the work for a new law.

"I cannot name any other eastern or central eastern European country where the uncovering of the past, the knowledge of history would have such deficiencies, and be as disregarded as in Hungary," said Janos Kenedi, secret service expert and head of the committee.

Now an MEP of the largest opposition party Fidesz has come up with a new approach, calling for the state to release all documents to the people affected by them without them having to apply for the documents.

Tamas Deutsch says a truly democratic state must provide all Hungarian citizens the information that was gathered about them by the secret services.

"The state - instead of saying to the citizen, come to me and if I am very nice I will show you what I have - it should collect all information, for example on citizen Tamas Deutsch from the documents left from the communist times, and send that information to the citizen whether they ask for it or not. And in a way that nothing is covered up," he told Reuters Television.

Deutsch says if his party wins general elections next year, one of its priorities will be the release of all the secret files.

But historian and director of Budapest's House of Terror Museum worries that revealing all the files would come at a high price.

"I'm not sure that children and grandchildren should be reading such documents about their grandparents or parents that were made by the AVO, because we don't know how true these documents are. We don't know how much fabrication is in them, we don't know how much dirt got into these documents that could have been only tricks to put pressure on people under interrogation, and so on," Maria Schmidt said.

The AVO was the Communist State Security Office.

Many also argue that since a large number of files were destroyed or stolen just before the change of regime, the full truth would still not emerge.

Finding out what the files reveal about friends being collaborators can be very hard indeed, says Kenedi who himself had to face up to one of his close friends having spied on him for years.

"Those months badly tortured me when I had to keep guessing whether it was true that Sandor Tar whose writings I respected and whose personality I liked could have been an informant on me for a very long time. The psychological consequences of that should be written down sometime but I'm not sure whether I'd ever be able to write about it," he said.

At present, files kept in the archives can only be opened on the basis of individual review by archive staff to people who fear they were spied upon. or to historians who have official backing for their research. But even then, they are bound by a web of limitations of access and publication.

But over the years there have been several leaks. Online publications exposed famous Hungarians as communist informants, including Hungary's Oscar winner film director, Istvan Szabo and Cardinal Laszlo Paskai. In 2006 a political analyst company, Political Capital, published a list of some 60 former agents and bosses on the internet, including a police chief, and a well-known mayor.

Deutsch says his proposal would put an end to such manipulations and the problems of the past twenty years.

"For once and for all it would stop the former communist secret services continuing to operating like an informal network. We would be able to face up the rather unpleasant heritage of our recent past, and it would at last lead to a kind of self-cleansing because everyone could know the collaborators in their surrounding circles, or God forbid, family," he said.

But the head of the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security says most of the available files are already accessible, and that with the destruction of many of the documents, it is not possible to know a great deal more than at present.

"Among the remaining 7% of the unreleased documents that are being released gradually every three years I would say most likely we will find another 20 agents. But will that change the world? From the historical research point of view, I feel that based on the hundreds of thousands of high office documents and interrogation documents the historical reconstruction can be already done on the basis of these materials," Gyorgy Gyarmati said.

The Archive holds about 60 million pages of documents that contain some 240,000 names, both victims and informants, out of the average population of 10 million. But because of the missing files the archives are only able to identify about 10,000 agents out of the estimated 200,000 who worked for the regime.

Gyarmati says that with 93% of all remaining secret services files available, very little is left. But the head of the expert committee that investigated the withheld documents says that figure is significantly higher.

"At the moment the amount of unreleased files is 27% of the remaining secret services files but they are reluctant to release or even admit this. It would be possible to put an end to the secrecy madness in Hungary with one stroke of a pen, all you'd need is a pen," Kenedi said.

Whether the withheld secret documents and the ones held in the archives will ever be fully opened up now depends on the outcome of the next elections and the willingness of the politicians to carry through the new proposals.

Some say it may all now be too late, and ordinary people have stopped caring about it.

"I think people don't have the time or the mood to get to know the past era and therefore they have no knowledge of it and cannot make good decisions about it," said one visitor to the House of Terror Museum, Zoltan Szepesi.

Russia court orders new Politkovskaya murder probe

2009-09-03T11:55:00.001+01:00

Russia's Supreme Court agrees a request from the family of murdered Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya to send the case back to prosecutors for a new probe.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 3, 2009) REUTERS - Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday (September 3) agreed a request from the family of murdered Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya to send the case back to prosecutors for a new probe to find whoever ordered her shooting.
Politkovskaya's children Ilya and Vera, were in court to hear the supreme court judge read the verdict supporting their appeal.

"The appeal of the representatives of the [Politkovskaya] family - lawyers Moskalenko and Stavitskaya - to return the case to the prosecutor's office in order to combine it with the case of Makhmudov Rustam Ruslanovich and other unidentified people - which was supported during the hearing by the prosecutor's representative - was carried," said the judge.

The Politkovskaya family lawyer, Karina Moskalenko, gave the court decision a qualified welcome.

"The appeal of the family was carried. And of course we are satisfied, but it is a moderate satisfaction, because it gives a chance to present a better investigated case, it gives an opportunity to the prosecutor's office to send new case to the court, not the case they sent last time," said Moskalenko.

"But whether the general prosecutor's office will use this opportunity we don't know," Moskalenko added.

A Moscow military court last month turned down a petition by Politkovskaya's family to return the case to prosecutors to be merged with an investigation to find whoever masterminded the murder.

"Now the case will be returned to the prosecutor, the prosecutor will return to the investigator, and what the investigator is going to do with this case we don't know. We hope that this time it will be better investigated and there will be an attempt not to falsify evidence," said Murat Musayev, lawyer for the defendants who were found not guilty in the first trial.

Politkovskaya, a 48-year-old mother-of-two who published scathing exposes of official corruption and rights abuses, was shot as she returned to a central Moscow apartment block from a supermarket on October 7, 2006.

The journalist's killing sparked outrage in the West, which called on the Kremlin to ensure her killers were brought to justice.

Brazil points to sharp drop in Amazon destruction

2009-09-02T10:12:00.000+01:00

Brazil's Environment Ministry announces the annual destruction rate of the Amazon rain forest has dropped to its lowest level in more than two decades.

AMAZONAS, BRAZIL GOVERNMENT TV - The annual rate of destruction of Brazil's Amazon rain forest has fallen 46 percent to its lowest level in over two decades due partly to increased police patrols, Environment Minister Carlos Minc said on Tuesday (September 1).
The drop, if confirmed by definitive data, could allow Brazil to argue at a major world climate summit later this year that it is delivering on a pledge to slash deforestation after decades of criticism by environmentalists.

Brazil has been under pressure to slow the encroach of loggers and ranchers who are blamed for much of the destruction of the world's largest rain forest, while at the same time continuing to develop the resource-rich region.

In a news conference in the capital Brasilia, Minc said deforestation rates had dropped significantly, but were still very high.

"According to INPE (Brazil's space agency) this year there was a 46 percent reduction in deforestation in relation to the previous year. According to Imazon (Amazon research institute), there was a 65 percent fall. This is still unsatisfactory, deforestation rates are still very high, but this year we will have the smallest deforestation rate of the past 21 years," he said.

Deforestation has in the past increased when demand for soybeans, beef and timber have gone up.

Minc estimated between 8,500 square kilometers (3,088 sq miles) and 9,000 sq km (3,474 sq miles) were destroyed in the 12 months to July, 2009. That compared to 12,900 sq km (4,980 sq miles) in the same period a year earlier.

"This year alone we seized a thousand trucks loaded with illegal wood every months, which shows that Ibama (Brazil's environment agency) and the federal police are working well. But, in the other hand, it shows that they're still destroying a lot (of rain forest). Even many of those who defend the "Zero Deforestation" program, when we go after the illegal cattle, the illegal wood, they attack us violently. This is the distance between intentions and actions," Minc told reporters.

The peak of 27,329 sq km (10,500 miles) was reached in the 2003/2004 period.

He based his calculations on a preliminary report by Brazil's National Institute of Space Studies, which indicated a 46 percent reduction in deforestation in the region in the 12 months to July, 2009.

That report was based on satellite imaging. A definitive report using higher-resolution images will be published later this year.

Minc attributed 90 percent of the deforestation reduction to improved policing. Experts give authorities some credit for the trend, but they say lower commodity prices resulting from a global economic crisis also was a factor.

The states with the biggest reduction were Rondonia and Mato Grosso, both in the southwestern region of the Amazon.

Mato Grosso is one of the country's leading farm states and its governor, Blairo Maggi, is often called the "king of deforestation" by conservationists.

Brazil last year announced it would reduce destruction in its share of the Amazon by 50 percent in a decade.

The South American nation is expected to play a key role in negotiations at a summit in Copenhagen in December, which is aimed at framing a new international treaty on climate change.

The destruction of the rain forest made up 75 percent of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions in 1994 but is falling to around 60 percent, Minc said last week. Burning or decomposing trees emit carbon dioxide, a key cause of global warming.

Minc, in his post since May 2008, earlier complained to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva about opposition to his agenda from a powerful farm lobby and from colleagues.

Animal rights activist Richard O'Barry faces Japanese dolphin hunters

2009-09-02T10:01:00.001+01:00

Animal rights activist Richard O'Barry confronts Japanese dolphin hunters at a seaport in Taiji, Japan.

TAIJI, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 2, 2009) YTV - Animal rights activist Richard O'Barry faced Japanese dolphin hunters at a seaport in Japan on Wednesday (September 2), but was quickly shooed away by angry locals.
According to Japanese television station YTV, O'Barry, a former dolphin trainer who trained "Flipper" from the 1960s television series of the same name, was visiting the fishing town to film a new documentary for the Discovery Channel - just in time for the dolphin hunting season that begin in September each year.

For nearly 40 years since a traumatic experience on "Flipper" in which his favorite dolphin died, O'Barry has worked to free these marine mammals and publicise their plight.

Teaming up with conservation organisations, the Earth Island Institute and the Oceanic Preservation Society, he zeroed in on Japan's small coastal town of Taiji, where fishermen ensnare a majority of the dolphins displayed in marine parks to create a documentary called "The Cove."

Following its release in the U.S. this summer, "The Cove" has already been praised by critics and won the audience award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. "Eco-activist documentaries don't get much more compelling than 'The Cove'," said Variety's review.

Beyond objections to the Taiji fishermen's hunting practices, which force the animals into nets, O'Barry suspects the town is concealing unsavory secrets related to the exploitation of dolphins passed over for capture.

With Louie Psihoyos, a veteran National Geographic photographer, scuba diver and first-time filmmaker, O'Barry assembled a crack team of marine specialists, high-tech experts and experienced divers to investigate the fate of dolphins herded into a cove adjacent to the Taiji capture site.

They battle Japanese police and fisherman to gain access to the cove where barbed wire blocks people from filming dolphin killings.

The film also showed hit U.S. TV series "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere protesting in Taiji.

O'Barry, who has been visiting Taiji several times a year for the past eight years and now wears disguises in the town to avoid the attention of fisherman and the police, predicted the film would have a big impact.

Dalai Lama visits Taiwan

2009-08-31T11:47:00.000+01:00

In a first visit to the self-ruled island since 2001, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader prays for Taiwan's typhoon victims.

The intention - to offer comfort to those whose lives were devastated by the typhoon that swept through parts of Taiwan in August.

But not everyone welcomes the Dalai Lama's visit. Some have branded it a political stunt. On arrival he remained firm about the sincerity of the trip.
The Dalai Lama saying:

"My side, no political agenda, nothing to discuss with the leaders of this country."

Many lost friends and family in the disaster as well as their homes

Villager Mr. Yen saying:

"Look, there are all these people. he is coming here to comfort us. I'm happy about that."

Villager Hsu Hsin-Yao:

"It's great that he's come. It's good for our hearts."

Earlier in Khaosiung City, protestors gathered at the hotel where the Dalai Lama was staying

Protest organiser saying:

"To donate us money or help us rebuild our houses would be more meaningful. What is he doing in this hotel? He should be staying in our village in the disaster area. Has he seen it or not? How can he pray for us?"

As the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader prayed for the victims at Hsiao Lin Village, China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province denounced the trip saying it could have a "negative influence" on relations.

Joanne Nicholson, Reuters

Dambisa Moyo on the problems of aid dependency

2009-08-29T11:51:00.001+01:00

Dambisa Moyo's talk at the Commonwealth Club of California. She outlines the thesis in her book "Dead Aid" and explains why business and trade are better than aid dependency .

ZAMBIA: NGOs in uproar after president signs new law

2009-08-28T19:39:00.001+01:00

LUSAKA , 28 August 2009 (IRIN) - Zambian president Rupiah Banda has signed legislation regulating the operations of civil society, sending shock waves through the sector, which fears its independence will be severely compromised.

Presidential assent means the 2009 NGO Bill, withdrawn in 2007 after widespread protests by civil society and opposition parties, now only needs gazetting to become legislation that will require "the registration and co-ordination of NGOs" and can "regulate the work, and the area of work, of NGOs operating in Zambia".

Dickson Jere, a special assistant to the president for press and public relations, confirmed in a statement: "His Excellency the President Mr Rupiah Banda has assented to 13 Bills, which were recently passed by the National Assembly, including ... the Non-Governmental Organisations Bill."

The new stipulations will compel NGOs to re-register every five years and submit annual information on their activities, funders, accounts, and the personal wealth of their officials; failure to comply could result in the suspension or cancellation of registration.

On 28 August civil society organizations held an emergency meeting in the capital, Lusaka, to plan a response to the looming regulations, which the NGOs have termed "unconstitutional".

"We have already resolved to carry out a peaceful demonstration next week on Friday [4 September 2009] in Lusaka, and there are arrangements going on so that people in the provinces also carry out the protests. I think the court action [a proposed injunction] is a definite intervention as well, but we are still talking," an NGO worker, who declined to be identified, told IRIN.

Unconstitutional

Engwase Mwale, executive director of the NGO Co-ordinating Committee [NGOCC], an umbrella body for civic organizations promoting gender issues, told IRIN after the emergency meeting: "We wish to register our dismay and shock at President Rupiah Banda's assent to the NGO Bill.

We still find it upsetting and retrogressive that in a democratic society such as Zambia, the president could see it fit to assent to a proposed law that has brought constitutional encroachments on our well-entrenched constitutional rights of freedom of association and expression"Although we appreciate the constitutional obligation that he has to assent to any proposed bill that he wishes, we still find it upsetting and retrogressive that in a democratic society such as Zambia, the president could see it fit to assent to a proposed law that has brought constitutional encroachments on our well-entrenched constitutional rights of freedom of association and expression," she said.

Mwale said the law was conceived without consultation with civil society, and government's "micro-management" of the sector would impact negatively on Zambia's social development.

"As NGOs, we recognize the legality of our existence and therefore we are resolved not to allow any unconstitutional means, let alone illegal legislation, to regulate the existence of NGOs ... and have requested an audience with the president so that we can put before him some of the development challenges as well as constitutional deviations of the NGO law that he has just assented to," Mwale said.

"As president, he's still got an opportunity to reconsider his decision ... before it finds its way into the gazette," she said. A bill can take from a few days to a few weeks to come into effect after the president has signed it.

Chid refugees held in shocking conditions, says UNHCR

2009-08-28T19:17:00.000+01:00

Refugee agency says children are being kept in appalling conditions on a Greek island. Amateur video captures the kids shouting for freedom.

LESVOS, GREECE(AUGUST 21 2009)- The United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday (August 28) more than 850 people, including 200 unaccompanied children, are being held in shocking conditions at a detention centre for illegal immigrants on the Greek island of Lesvos.
The report on the centre at Pagani adds to concern already expressed by UNHCR about Greece's treatment of migrants.

UNHCR's spokesperson in Greece, Ketty Kehayioglou, said the conditions at Pagani were "unacceptable" and "offend human dignity."

The agency had visited several times and found the situation "really, really bad" she said.

Most detainees are from Afghanistan, many seeking political asylum.

Inspectors found overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

"There were about 150 women with 50 babies and they only had two toilets and one shower. The babies were sick for many days and had high temperature and there was no doctor to treat them." said Kehayioglou.

Recent amateur video footage from inside Pagani showed men women and children cramped in rooms like sardines.

It was filmed by members of the "NoBorders" movement, an alliance of anti-racist organizations from across Europe that work for the human rights of illegal immigrants and the end to immigration controls.

Greek health and social solidarity ministry officials have assured the UNHCR that all unaccompanied children at Pagani will be transferred to special reception facilities by the end of the month.

But Greece has failed to implement recommendations presented last year by UNHCR with the support of the interior ministry to overhaul the asylum system, with special measures to protect children.

The UNHCR argues that neither children nor asylum-seekers in general should be held in detention, and says that Greece has a much lower rate of recognising asylum-seekers than other states.

Last year, close to 20,000 requests for asylum were made, while in the same year 358 asylum requests were accepted.

Greece has been struggling under the weight of tens of thousands of immigrants that arrive each year, mainly through Turkey.

U.N. Official defends his remarks on Australian indigenous "Intervention"

2009-08-28T12:05:00.000+01:00

U.N. envoy James Anaya defends his condemnation of the Australian government over it's treatment of indigenous Australians.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (AUGUST 28, 2009) SBS - James Anaya, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People, has been forced to defend his condemnation of Australia's controversial intervention into remote Aboriginal communities.
The senior U.N. official made the findings after a 12-day visit to Australia, where he visited indigenous communities and held talks with the Australian government.

He described the measures taken by the Australian government as discriminatory and spoke of entrenched racism in Australia.

His statements were not welcomed by all in Australia, with one politician calling his findings "nonsense" from an "arm-chair critic".

"I've gotten since my statement yesterday providing my preliminary observations on the situation in Australia, I've gotten 70-something E-mails from people in Australia. Most of them not very admiring, I must say," Anaya said on Friday (August 28) at a speaking engagement in Brisbane.

Australia's former conservative government sent police and troops to remote Aboriginal communities in June 2007, and made special bans on alcohol and pornography, to stamp out widespread child sex abuse fuelled by chronic alcoholism.

Anaya said in his statement that these measures "overtly discriminate against aboriginal peoples, infringe their right of self-determination and stigmatize already stigmatized communities."

Some see the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples itself as divisive.

"And this is an instrument that just can't work because it creates special rights for people and it's going to divide this E-mail tells me. It seeks to divide countries by classifying this group as against others. But that's not the case. That's not the case at all. That's a mistaken view of the declaration. The declaration is an instrument of reconciliation. It calls upon the world community and governments to reflect upon the past but in a constructive sense," Anaya added.

Anaya is the first U.N. Rapporteur on Indigenous People to visit Aboriginal communities in Australia.

Next Step after Twitter and Facebook

2009-08-28T11:34:00.001+01:00

New Social Network Lets You Carve Your Own Niche on the Web

BONITA, Calif., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- What is the next thing for Social Networking? Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and their competitors let you find friends, build brands, and form groups. But a newer site lets you do those things, plus monopolize a chunk of the Internet around a social issue, philosophical question, research problem, niche art form, or environmental challenge that you are passionate about. And all for free. The rationale for the World Mind Network (WMN) stems from events over the last five years or so - the advent of new Web 2.0 tools which have hit society like waves, one after another: MySpace, Skype, Facebook, YouTube, all the various iPhone and Blackberry applications, and now Twitter.

But to a large degree, Web 2.0 tools have been used historically for rather trivial purposes such as games, gossip, silly videos, and inconsequential chatter.

The WMN wants to help people use these tools for grander purposes. Members can use these vastly expanded powers of networking to improve education, do research, build community across political divides, and utilize collaborative online mind-mapping to address common problems. Equally important, their tools allow an individual or small group to attract so much search engine traffic that they may become almost synonymous with their favorite cause.

The WMN Board of Trustees includes five Nobel Laureates.

The first project was helping a multimedia ICT Education center in Kenya receive funding through donation of unused cellphone minutes (SambazaGroup.com).

Joining the World Mind Network is like having a Facebook or Twitter account, but it assumes that one is interested in improving the world somehow. Participants can join a forum devoted to improving science education co-moderated by a Nobel Laureate (Peter Doherty), start a psychological research project, or contribute to an interactive blog on the world economic crisis co-hosted by another Nobelist (Edmund Phelps).

A new project, Twit Lit, invites users to create poems in classic forms short enough to become Twitter feeds (TwitLit.net).

Members are setting up live webcam links between secondary classrooms in South Africa, Macedonia and Japan.

In the works is a program using solar powered cell phones recently invented by Samsung to track the spread of the Aedes mosquito that carries the deadly Dengue fever in East Africa.

The new Institute for Digital Music (Institutefordigitalmusic.ning.com) invites visitors to compose, perform and collaborate with others in creating music through elements such as iPhone apps, Leaf Trombone and Ocarina.

One WMN member is starting a contest to award the best Keitai Shoushetsu, or cell phone novel, a cultural phenomenon that has taken Japan by storm.

A wiki devoted to the psychological effects of H1N1 influenza is at emotionalcontagionandswineflu.wetpaint.com.

For more information, including how to start or co-moderate a project, write to worldmindnetwork@gmail.com, or visit www.theworldmindnetwork.net.

SOURCE World Mind Network

World Mind Network

CONTACT: John Toomey of World Mind Network, +1-626-230-8862, Skypejohnatoomey, fixxer@prodigy.net

Web site: http://www.theworldmindnetwork.net/

A plan to store carbon dioxide in gas fields beneath homes sparks anger

2009-08-25T16:11:00.001+01:00

BARENDRECHT AND ROTTERDAM PORT, THE NETHERLANDS AND AT SEA, NORWAY - A Shell plan to store carbon dioxide in gas fields beneath people's homes in a small Dutch town has angered residents who believe it is dangerous and say they will fight the move all the way to the courts to avoid becoming a European 'waste basket' for CO2. Carbon storage is a major tool in the government's plan to cut down CO2 emissions.

Pink Floyd frontman narrates U.N. documentary on West Bank barrier

2009-08-25T15:58:00.000+01:00

The former pink floyd frontman Roger Waters, has narrated a United Nations film, documenting the predicament of Palestinians after the erection of the controversial barrier by Israel.
Waters, who wrote the album "The Wall" in 1979, is featured in the first shots of the movie walking alongside the concrete Bethlehem section of the barrier.

"The wall (film) focuses on the humanitarian impact of the West bank barrier on Palestinians. It also features Israeli security officials who built the wall and shows, explains why they built the wall and the reason for the route," Allegra Pacheco, head of the advocacy unit at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA oPt) told Reuters Television.

The 15 minute U.N. film "Walled Horizons" is to mark five years since the International Court of Justice ruled that the barrier was illegal and should be taken down because it crossed occupied territory.

The film's Finnish director Johan Eriksson said that it focuses on the direct affect of the fence on Palestinians' lives.

"It was made because this summer it's five years since the international court of justice made an opinion saying that the route of the wall is violence international law, they basically said that you can't build a fence on your neighbours yard," Eriksson said.

The film features Palestinians who lost their lands and livelihoods because of the barrier, with Israeli officials speaking about the aftermath.

Water narrates over footage of Palestinians who are waiting in a fenced corridor at an Israeli checkpoint.

The documentary ends with scenes from a Water concert in Israel in 2006, where he told the audience, "I believe we need this generation of Israelis to tear down the walls and make peace with their neighbours."

Work on the barrier began in 2002, the height of a Palestinian uprising. Israel said the project was necessary to stop suicide bombers from reaching its cities. Palestinians called it a land grab that could deny them a viable state.

The World Court declared the planned 600-km (370-mile) barrier, more than half of which is completed, illegal but Israel has ignored the non-binding ruling.

Source - REUTERS/UNITED NATIONS

Eviction protest, Ramadan feast

2009-08-25T13:18:00.000+01:00

A Palestinian family protest the eviction from their East Jerusalem home, with their Ramadan feast on the street.

The al-Ghawis family set a table for the Ramadan 'Iftar', the breaking of the fast meal.

Unsually the meal is served inside, but the Palestinian family was evicted on Aug 2.

Their stone house in Arab East Jerusalem, is now home to Jewish settlers, who's land claim

was backed by an Israeli court.

The al-Ghawis though, refuse to go away. They are camping and serving their Ramadan meal outside

the former family home.

FORMER HOMEOWNER MAYSOON AL-GHAWI SAYING:

"I am having the iftar next to my house because I cannot easily give up my house. Even though I am living on the pavement, and that's very painful - I will bear the pain and sacrifice for the sake of my home."

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein attended to bring attention to the family's plight.

GRAND MUFTI OF JERUSALEM, MOHAMMED HUSSEIN, SAYING:

"We would like to send a clear message to the world. The time has come for the entire world to raise their voices, and to do everything possible to pressure this right-wing extremist Israeli government that encourages settlers on the account of the Palestinian people."

With no resolution at hand, this dispute will only add to the strained situation of Israeli settlement activities in the

occupied West Bank.

Iranian prosecutor calls for maximum punishment of leading reformer

2009-08-25T12:39:00.000+01:00

An Iranian prosecutor called on Tuesday for "maximum punishment" of those accused of acting against national security, a crime punishable by death in the Islamic Republic, an official news agency reported.

TEHRAN, IRAN (AUGUST 25, 2009) IRIBB - The fourth trial session was initially scheduled for Wednesday (Aug 19), but was postponed due to a request by lawyers of the defendants.
After the disputed election Tehran and some other Iranian cities became the scene of rallies with some of them turning violent and resulting in the death of at least 30 people.

Those tried in the Revolutionary Court included former Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, former Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Aminzadeh, former government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh and Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh, Iranian news agencies said.

Analysts regard the trials as an attempt by the authorities to uproot the moderate opposition and put an end to the street protests that erupted after the poll.

Saaed Hajjarian, disabled after an assassination attempt against him in 2000, was among several prominent reformers who were in the dock.

"The prosecutor ... called for maximum punishment for Hajjarian considering the importance of the case," the official IRNA news agency reported from the trial.

U.S releases Afghan Guantanamo detainee after six years in jail

2009-08-25T12:13:00.000+01:00

Former Guantanamo detainee, Mohammad Jawad, returns to his family in Afghanistan after being released by the U.S.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 25, 2009) REUTERS- The Obama administration on Monday (August 24) released a detainee from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent him home to Afghanistan, the latest departure from the controversial prison that is set to close in five months.
Mohammed Jawad was accused of throwing a grenade that injured two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter in Kabul in 2002.

In the Jawad case, he was arrested in 2002 and his lawyers argued that he was only 12 years old. The Pentagon disputed that and has said bone scans suggested he was 18 when he was sent to Guantanamo in early 2003.

His situation was particularly difficult for the Obama administration not just because he was so young, but also because much of the evidence against him had been thrown out because two judges said it was obtained through torture.

In July this year, Judge Ellen Huvelle ordered him released from Guantanamo, where he was held for more than six years. U.S. Justice Department officials have said they were considering trying to prosecute Jawad in a U.S. federal court, but no charges have been filed.

While prosecutors have said they have new evidence against him, Jawad's lawyers dispute that.

Jawad was reunited his family in Kabul and spoke about his ordeal in Guantanamo Bay.

"There was a lot of oppression when I was in Guantanamo and this inhuman action was not for one day, one week or one month. I was oppressed for all the time I was there, until I was released, They humiliated all the prisoners very badly. They would insult our religion and our holy Koran, they were insulting us and behaving in quite an inhuman way. They tortured prisoners very badly and did not allow prisoners to sleep and did not give enough food. A lot of prisoners got sick, the treatment was very inhuman which is against the laws of all countries, though they knew that I was under age and they did not care about my age either."

Jawad is the latest detainee to be released from the facility, which President Barack Obama has promised to close by mid-January 2010. However, some lawmakers question whether he can deal with the remaining 228 prisoners there by then.

"I remember that the U.S. government lawyer provided all the evidence against, me but could not prove anything and at the end the judge said no charge had been proven on Mohammad Jawad and he is innocent," said Jawad.

According to one of his lawyers, Air Force Major David Frakt, Jawad is scheduled to meet with President Hamid Karzai later on Tuesday.

Jawad's family and relatives expressed gratitude for his release and thanked the government of Afghanistan for the efforts made to release him.

"We are all happy that he is released now from Guantanamo," said Gull Nik, Jawad's uncle.

The Obama administration expects to put some of the detainees on trial in U.S. courts or military commissions. But many are expected to be sent home or resettled in other countries because they could face persecution in their home countries.

In June, three detainees were sent to Saudi Arabia, one went home to Chad and another to Iraq. Four Chinese Muslim Uighurs held at Guantanamo were resettled in June in Bermuda because they feared persecution back home in China.

Air India employees go on a three day hunger strike

2009-08-25T11:40:00.000+01:00

Employees of India's flagship carrier Air India went on a three-day hunger strike on Tuesday (August 25) in the national capital New Delhi over delay in payment of their salaries.

NEW DELHI, INDIA (AUGUST 25, 2009) ANI- Employees of India's flagship carrier Air India went on a three-day hunger strike on Tuesday (August 25) over delay in payment of their salaries in the national capital New Delhi.
As many as 20,000 employees Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG) and Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) and some other unions from across the nation are protesting against the delay in their salary for the past two months.

Earlier, employees had gone on a two-hour-long protest over non-payment of wages.

"Workers haven't been getting their salaries. Past two months we haven't received our salaries. We agitated some time back because of which we got 40 percent of our salaries but the rest 60 percent is still due. The management had issued an order stating to release our salaries by 20th August but we still haven't received anything. The workers are agitated and disappointed," said J B Kadian, general secretary, Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU).

Last Friday, the meeting of the unions with the Air India CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) in Mumbai failed to reach any conclusion. The next round of meeting is scheduled to be held here this afternoon.

The employees threatened that they would again go on strike on August 31 if their negotiations with the management fail.

"If our salaries are not disbursed today then we will carry on the strike for the next three days," said Shruti, an employee of Air India.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had said the government cannot bail out Air India every time, and it is time for the flagship carrier to tighten its belt and resolve its financial woes.

Air India's borrowings have risen from rupees 6, 550 crore in November 2007 to rupees 15, 241 crore in June this year.

Fires leave behind ecological disaster and destroy livelihoods

2009-08-25T11:35:00.000+01:00

Raging fires create an ecological disaster and devastate people's homes and livelihoods around Athens.

PENDELI, GREECE (AUGUST 25, 2009) REUTERS - For as far as the eye could see only charred black landscapes could be seen around Athens on Tuesday (August 25) after raging wildfires burning for three days had abated.
Often referred to as the "lungs of Athens" the lush forests on the hills around the city - like the Pendeli Mountain - provided clean air for the congested capital, but now only several kilometres of smouldering ash circled the wider Athens area in what was being called an ecological disaster.

The forests were also full of wildlife, such as turtles, wild birds, and hares. Partridges could be seen scavenging for a piece of green in the charred remains.

About 37,000 acres (15,200 hectares) of forest, farm fields and olive groves were flattened. It was estimated that some 150 permanent and summer houses were damaged. Homeowners began to survey the damage and clear out the burned debris.

In Rodopolis, in the Attica prefecture, large villas could be seen gutted out by the fire.

The Athens mayor offered to set up tents for anyone who was left homeless by the fire but so far there had been very few takers, as residents tend to find shelter with relatives or have second homes.

An assessment of the damage by local government authorities will now take place and should outline what type of damage houses and farms have suffered in order to allocate compensation and restore power lines and flood breakers. The loss of so many trees now raises the risk of unhindered floods when rains comes in the autumn.

The fire brigade announced officially on Tuesday the fires in the Attica prefecture and Athens suburbs had now been contained but the press and opposition parties have attacked the government's handling of the fire, citing a lack of coordination.

The battle against the fire, the biggest since Greece's worst wildfires in living memory killed 65 people in 2007, will

be crucial to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who has been mulling a reshuffle before an early election this autumn.

Karamanlis's government is clinging to a one-seat majority and the socialist opposition, ahead in opinion polls, has made clear it will force a snap poll and use a March parliamentary vote, when a new president will be chosen, to achieve that.

mnesty says increase in rights abuses in Philippines Muslim south

2009-08-25T11:26:00.000+01:00

Amnesty International reports alarming levels of human rights abuses in the decades-old conflict in the southern Philippines, which has displaced hundreds of thousands and killed hundreds in the past year.

PIKIT, COTABATO, PHILIPPINES (FILE - AUGUST 2008) OMI MEDIA - Dozens of people have disappeared and have been found murdered in the marshland in the southern Philippines where soldiers had battled Muslim rebels in the past year, Amnesty International (AI) said in a report issued on Tuesday (August 25).
Aurora Parong, head of AI in the Philippines, said they were getting more worried over reports that the military has labeled the displaced communities as potential rebel bases, where Muslim guerillas could stage attacks on military targets.

The London-based watchdog released a 74-page report that documents cases of rights abuse in Muslim areas on the southern island of Mindanao.

Civilians suspected of supporting or fighting with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are subjected to enforced disappearances, torture, and other physical abuse, the AI report said.

"In a 40-year-old conflict, the cumulative numbers of victims of human rights violations is really increasing, and it has reached very very alarming levels," Parong said.

Civilians have reported instances of soldiers forcibly entering their houses, pointing guns at them and destroying their possessions.

AI has documented cases of abduction, torture and killings of civilians by government soldiers.

"We're not just talking now of individuals being traumatised. We're talking of families, communities being traumatised," Parong said.

The Philippines human rights commission has counted more than 300 victims of extra-judicial killings, over 100 victims of enforced disappearances, and nearly 50 torture victims in Mindanao since 2001.

"We also call on the international community, particularly the European Union and Organisation of Islamic Countries to look into the possibilities of international monitors that can give credible reports on the human rights abuses and violations of IHL (international humanitarian law) in the ongoing conflict in Mindanao," Parong said.

Around 700,000, who have also been displaced from their homes due to heavy fighting in the past year, rely on limited food aid and suffer from various diseases, the report said. Diarrhea is common, with a short supply of clean water.

Last July both the government and MILF announced unilateral truces, ending nearly 12 months of violence that has killed 600 people in six towns in Mindanao.

The two sides agreed on a mechanism to help hundreds of thousands return to their homes and farms in time for Ramadan, a spokesman for the government peace panel said.

The Philippines government has been engaged in a 40-year-old battle against the MILF, which clamours for self-determination.

The past year's fighting sparked when the government ended peace negotiations in August last year after a deal to expand the existing Muslim autonomous region on Mindanao was stopped by the court.

Rogue elements of the MILF attacked largely Catholic communities, and the military responded with force.

Waste ship arrives back in Britain

2009-08-21T12:48:00.000+01:00

Ship carrying containers of rubbish arrives back in Britain after three-week voyage. Brazil, which rejected the shipment saying it contained toxic waste, has fined three local firms, but investigations are still underway in both countries.

SANTOS, BRAZIL (FILE - AUGUST 5, 2009) REUTERS - Seventy-one of a total of 81 multi-coloured containers arrived at the British port of Felixstowe on Friday morning (August 21) on the cargo ship MSC Serena. The remaining ten will return next week, the English Environment Agency said.
Some of the containers contain clinical waste including syringes, nappies and condoms, according to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Resources (IBAMA).

The MSC Oriane set sail on August 5 from Santos to return the rotting cargo to Britain from Brazil, where it had been shipped falsely declared as plastic for recycling.

The containers were hoisted on to the freighter in the early morning hours at Santos, South America's largest port, destined for Antwerp. There, 71 of the containers were transferred to the MSC Serena, bound for Felixstowe.

The incident outraged many Brazilians and prompted President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to criticise Britain and developed nations for urging higher environmental standards while using developing nations as garbage dumps.

Criminal investigations are under way in Britain and Brazil to discover how the waste came to be shipped this year and last to Santos and another port further south.

Brazil has fined firms that imported or handled the waste. Brazilian law prohibits the import of household waste for any purpose, including recycling.

British police arrested three men in late July but no formal charges have been brought against them and they have been released on bail after surrendering their passports.

It will be a week before English Environment Agency investigators can examine the contents themselves as it has to be fumigated first.

The agency said once evidence has been gathered, it will ensure the waste is safely dealt with by an appointed contractor. It said the shipping lines contracted to transport the containers from the UK to Brazil agreed to bring the containers back to the UK at their own expense.

It is illegal to export waste for disposal, but it can be sent abroad for recycling. The maximum penalty for exporting waste illegally is an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.

Zambian President Rupiah B. Banda establishes Diaspora Desk at State House

2009-08-20T18:00:00.001+01:00

Following concerns raised by Zambia Diaspora Connect and subsequent participation at the National Indaba held between 4th and 5th April 2009, the organisation is pleased to announce that a Diaspora Desk has now been established at State House by His Excellency, President Rupiah Bwezani Banda.

The Diaspora Desk at State House is under the office of the Special Assistant to the President, Economic and Development Affairs. The desk will be in constant liaison with the Zambian Diaspora in exploring ways to enhance Diaspora participation in the development of the nation. Mrs. Ngoza Munthali, Chief Policy Analyst at State House has been appointed as the focal contact person. In their communiqué (ref. SH/101/6/3), State House also reaffirmed the National Constitution Commission’s acceptance of the recommendation on dual nationality which was another area of concern raised at the National Indaba.

Establishment of the Diaspora Desk marks a milestone in the aims of Zambia Diaspora Connect and as an organisation; our primary commitment is to push the Diaspora’s agenda.
Contact:

Tchiyiwe Chihana

Public Relations Officer

Zambia Diaspora Connect

www.zambiaconnect.org