Monday, June 18, 2012
From DR Congo to Washington, DC, to the United Nations « Invisible Children Blog
The press conference at the United Nations Security Council is fast approaching, and we are so happy to say that two local leaders from northeastern DR Congo will be there. They arrived in DC yesterday, and over the next couple of weeks they will be speaking in front of some of the most influential governing bodies in the world on behalf of the remote communities in Central Africa that continue to be targeted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Father Benoit (whom you might recognize from KONY 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous or one of our videos about his Early Warning Radio Network) and Sister Angelique both do remarkable work in their communities, protecting civilians and helping rehabilitate those who have escaped from the LRA. I copied their bios below so that you could get a glimpse of the experience and knowledge they bring with them. Our advocacy partner, Resolve, and Crisis Action are hosting the two delegates on their three-week advocacy tour.
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: From DR Congo to Washington, DC, to the United Nations « Invisible Children Blog
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Muslim Brotherhood claim victory in Egyptian presidential elections - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
The group said Morsi took 51.8 percent of the vote to Shafiq's 48.1 percent out of 24.6 million votes cast, with 98 percent of the more than 13,000 poll centers counted.
Egyptian presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi waves his ballot as he prepares to cast his vote at a polling station in Zagazig, 63 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Cairo, Egypt. Photo by AP
this story is byThe Associated Press
The Muslim Brotherhood declared early Monday that its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won Egypt's presidential election, even as the military handed themselves the lion's share of power over the new president, enshrining their hold on the state and sharpening the possibility of confrontation with the Islamists.
With parliament dissolved and martial law effectively in force, the generals made themselves the country's lawmakers, gave themselves control over the budget and will determine who writes the permanent constitution that will define the country's future.
But as they claimed victory over Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the election, the Brotherhood challenged the military's power grab. The group warned that it did not recognize the dissolution of parliament or the military's interim constitution - or its right to oversee the drafting of a new one.
Libya gives green light for political campaign
Protesters demonstrate against the allocation of seats for elections to Libya’s National Congress, in Benghazi. (Reuters)
Political campaigning for a national assembly begins on Monday, a milestone in Libya’s troubled path to democratic elections after four decades of dictatorship under late dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The electoral commission announced late on Saturday that candidates have 18 days to campaign, June 18 to July 5 inclusive. It said 2,501 independents and 1,206 political association candidates were eligible to stand after vetting.
A total of 142 political associations are fielding candidates, it added.
The July 7 vote is for the North African nation’s first General National Congress. Once the newly elected assembly holds its first session, the interim ruling National Transitional Council is due to step down.
The vote, which was initially slated for June 19 in line with a pledge by the NTC, was postponed for technical and logistical reasons.
Revolution, in Libyans' own words
Rebel fighters prepare ammunition in Misrata, Libya, in June 2011. In Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution, journalist and author Lindsey Hilsum explores the Libyan uprising through the eyes of various Libyan people.
Photograph by: Reuters , Reuters
Award-winning British journalist Lindsey Hilsum has reported from Afghanistan, Kosovo and the front lines of the Iraq war embedded with a U.S. Marine unit, but Libya's revolution last year marked the first time she set foot in that country.
Now she is responsible for another first: her Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution is the first book to tell the story of the 2011 uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi through the eyes of Libyans.
Now she is responsible for another first: her Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution is the first book to tell the story of the 2011 uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi through the eyes of Libyans.
Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Revolution+their+words/6792203/story.html#ixzz1y1XUBft8
Saturday, June 16, 2012
US enlists Britain's help to stop ship 'carrying Russian attack helicopters' to Syria - Telegraph
The helicopters Hillary Clinton was referring to are believed to be part of a 36-strong consignment ordered by the Syrian government at the end of the Soviet era, some of which were transferred back to Russia recently for routine maintenance
The MV Alaed, a Russian-operated cargo vessel, is currently thought to be sailing through the North Sea after allegedly picking up a consignment of munitions and MI25 helicopters - known as "flying tanks" - from the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad.
Washington, which last week condemned Moscow for continuing to arm the Syrian regime, has asked British officials to help stop the Alaed delivering its alleged cargo by using sanctions legislation to force its London-based insurer to withdraw its cover.
Washington, which last week condemned Moscow for continuing to arm the Syrian regime, has asked British officials to help stop the Alaed delivering its alleged cargo by using sanctions legislation to force its London-based insurer to withdraw its cover.
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: US enlists Britain's help to stop ship 'carrying Russian attack helicopters' to Syria - Telegraph
Friday, June 15, 2012
HRW: Libya Law 37 repeal is ‘landmark decision’ | Libyan Tweep Forum
HRW: Libya Law 37 repeal is ‘landmark decision’
Supreme Court Decision on Law 37 Affirms Right to Free Speech
(Tripoli, June 15, 2012)
The Libyan Supreme Court’s decision on June 14, 2012, that declared unconstitutional a law that criminalized a variety of political speech is a landmark decision, Human Rights Watch said today. The court ruled that Law 37/2012 was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.
“Today, the Supreme Court of Libya has shown what freedom means,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “By declaring this law unconstitutional, it has affirmed free speech for the Libyan people, even for critical and controversial views.”
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: HRW: Libya Law 37 repeal is ‘landmark decision’ | Libyan Tweep Forum
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Democracy in Development » Sakena Yacoobi’s Courage and the Future of Afghan Women
Afghan students study in a makeshift classroom in tents provided by UNICEF at the Afghan government-funded Babazangi school compound in Herat, Afghanistan on September 20, 2010 (Raheb Homavandi/Courtesy Reuters). It’s good to have heroes. One of mine is Sakena Yacoobi, the founder of a terrific organization called the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) that provides education and health services to women across Afghanistan. I first met Sakena nearly a decade ago, and have followed her work closely since then. I’ve visited several of AIL’s programs in Afghanistan and wrote about her and her work in my book Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East.
Sakena is in New York this week to receive the Asia Foundation’s second annual Lotus Leadership Award; en route to New York, she also received an honorary award from the World’s Children’s Prize Foundation, a nonprofit in Sweden. Not surprisingly, she’s received tons of awards over the years for her work in Afghanistan with marginalized Afghan women.
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Pentagon's Dirty Deal
By Tom Andrews
The following originally appeared in the Huffington Post.
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: The Pentagon's Dirty Deal
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
Should U.S. taxpayers be forced to subsidize the mass murder of Syrian civilians?
Despite objections from both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, the Pentagon believes so. That is why it is fighting congressional attempts to shut down a no-bid contract worth $1 billion to the Russian state-owned arms dealer Rosoboronexport, which happens to be the chief supplier of weapons to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad’s forces have now killed at least 9,000 civilians in response to protests over its regime, according to the United Nations’ last update in March.
Secretary Clinton has passionately urged nations doing business with Syria to cut off trade and arms sales to Assad: “Get on the right side of history!” she admonished. Apparently her cabinet colleague at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, didn’t get the memo about which side of history the administration wants to be on. Pentagon Undersecretary for Policy James Miller acknowledged evidence that Rosoboronexport weapons “are being used by Syrian forces against Syria’s civilian population” in a letter to lawmakers. Nonetheless, being a good customer of Assad’s accomplices is, in his words, “critical to building the capacity of Afghanistan security forces.” So critical, apparently, they get a contract that no one else is allowed to bid on.
Not bad for a firm that spent years on a U.S. sanctions list for illicit nuclear assistance to Iran.
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: The Pentagon's Dirty Deal
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Israeli minister accuses Syria of genocide, slams Russia for arming Damascus
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been accused by a senior Israeli minister of committing genocide during his crackdown on a 15-month uprising. (Reuters)
Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz also criticized Russia for arming Damascus and repeated Israel’s demand for international military intervention to topple Assad, akin to last year’s campaign in Libya.
Israel has until recently been slow to call for Assad’s fall, wary of worsening the turmoil in Syria - the two countries are enemies but have been in a mostly stable stand-off for decades.
With hourly media reports in Israel of Syrian civilian deaths, public anger has been growing and Israeli officials have been stepping up their criticism.
“A crime against humanity, genocide, is being conducted in Syria today. And the silence of the world powers is contrary to all human logic,” said Mofaz during an interview on Israel’s Army Radio.
Foreign powers were “making do with flaccid condemnation” rather than intervening to overthrow Assad, he added.
“Worse than that is the Russian conduct, which weakly condemns the slaughter while continuing to arm Assad’s murderous regime. Best-case, this is irresponsibility, and worst-case, it is a partnership in the slaughter,” Mofaz said.
Slain revolutionary broadcaster ranked world’s fifth most influential Arab | Libya Herald
The late "Mo" Nabbous
by Nihal Zaroug
Tripoli, 10 June:
The 28 year old Libyan IT technician who beat Qaddafi’s news blackout by founding Libya’s first free TV station and was murdered just a month later by a sniper’s bullet, has been honoured as one of the world’s top 500 most influential Arabs.
Mohammed Nabbous, has been rated fifth in the Power 500 List published today by the magazine Arabian Business. The hugely-talented “Mo” Nabbous set up Libya Al Hurra TV, on 19 February in Benghazi, two days after the Revolution had begun. Because the regime had shut down terrestrial internet, Nabbous rigged up a two-way satellite link which enabled his TV station to start broadcasting online.
One of his many memorable broadcasts was of the aftermath of an attack on an Benghazi power station, where he went so close to a flaming oil storage tank to get better pictures, that he was almost overcome by the heat.
His proclamation “I am not afraid to die, I am afraid to lose the battle” would go on to became as famous as Omar Al Mukhtar’s “We do not surrender. We will fight and we win or we die.”
Slavery's last stronghold - CNN.com
Slavery’s last stronghold
Mauritania’s endless sea of sand dunes hides an open secret: An estimated 10% to 20% of the population lives in slavery. But as one woman’s journey shows, the first step toward freedom is realizing you’re enslaved.
In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. Activists are arrested for fighting the practice. The government denies it exists.
“On this land, everybody is exploited.” The vast Saharan nation didn't make slavery a crime until 2007. Only one slave owner has been successfully prosecuted.
Moulkheir Mint Yarba escaped slavery in 2010. She has asked the Mauritanian courts to prosecute her slave masters. "I demand justice," she says, "justice for my daughter that they killed and justice for all the time they spent beating and abusing me."
FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: Slavery's last stronghold - CNN.com
Saturday, June 9, 2012
OpSail 2012, Norfolk, Virginia, Friday Evening June 8th
I took some sunset shots of this year's Norfolk Harborfest, co-titled OpSail 2012 as part of the ongoing national commemoration of America's winning the war of 1812 against Great Britain, although we still like the Brits.
FLICKR SLIDESHOW: Opsail 2012, Friday Evening
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