tagged w/ Current International News
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A one-word blog post from a cell phone helped to free an American student from an Egyptian jail, but it took the signatures and support of thousands of activists to get his translator out.
When detained in April, graduate student James Karl Buck turned to his cell phone and typed the message, "Arrested," alerting all his friends on the microblog service Twitter site.
Upon his release shortly afterward, the first thing Buck did was send another message, "Free."
On Tuesday, nearly three months after the American and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested, Buck turned to Twitter again -- this time to tell everyone that Maree was safe at home.
The post: "Mohammed is free, Mohammed is free!"
Twitter, a social-networking blog site, allows users to send status updates, or "tweets," from cell phones, instant messaging services and Facebook in 140 characters or less.
Buck spent much of the time after his release working to free his friend. But it was not until shortly after Maree's release that Buck and his translator were finally able to speak -- through instant messenger.
"He was totally in good spirits; he joked with me," Buck said. "I told him he was a hero, and that because of his case and what he suffered, he's brought a lot of attention to the government's behavior in Egypt."
Immediately, Buck said he apologized to the translator because he felt guilty about his detention.
Buck, 29, a graduate student from the University of California, Berkeley, working on a photography project for his master's thesis, met Maree, a 23-year-old Egyptian veterinary student, in Mahalla. Maree offered to help Buck as he photographed anti-government protests over low wages and rising food prices in April. See Buck describe what he saw and captured on film during the protests »
During one of the demonstrations, Buck and Maree were detained. En route to the police station, Buck sent a message via Twitter, and his school hired an attorney and was able to get him released within a day. But Maree remained in jail for nearly three months.
After his release, Buck returned home and used his Twitter network, now more than 570 followers strong, to help free his translator and friend.
Fueled by the gnawing guilt of leaving Maree behind, Buck set out to enlist all the help he could in hopes of sparking a movement for the translator's release.
He began setting up a virtual online command post to demand Maree's release. He contacted U.S. and Egyptian authorities and human rights groups and used everything from Twitter updates, blog posts on his Web site to an electronic petition signed by more than 900 people.
Maree's brother, Ahmed, said it was an unbelievable feeling to have Mohammed home.
"It's like someone was dead and [brought] back to life," he said.
Maree's family was worried about when, if ever, he would be freed. After reports of alleged torture in prison, relatives feared for his life.
Rumors began swirling a week ago that there had been a development in Maree's case, but details were scarce, so Buck said he tried not to get too excited.
"Any change in the case could have been equally bad news or good news," Buck said. "And so far it had all been bad news."
Buck said he cringed each time he checked his e-mail lately about what was happening. Then he got an e-mail from Maree saying he had been released.
There was little information surrounding Maree's detention. Speculation about Maree's whereabouts was fueled by confusion about what initially happened to the translator. Government officials in Egypt said they could neither confirm nor deny Maree's detention during the past three months as well as his recent release despite repeated requests for comment. A one-word blog post from a cell phone helped to free an American student from an... more
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These are the crises that go unreported by the MSM. The crises that show war, death, famine, and the daily struggle for survival that Doctors Without Borders does all in its power to combat with our help. I think these photos should be viewed as a reminder of the world we live in... a world that should be what we make it. And that should begin with basic human kindness, compassion, and responsibility not only to our planet but to each other.These are the crises that go unreported by the MSM. The crises that show war, death,... more
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A Chinese ship with a vast cargo of small arms has docked in Durban, South Africa for transportation to Robert Mugabes regime. The South African government has claimed it is powerless to intervene as long as the ships papers are in order, pointing out that there is no UN trade embargo against Zimbabwe.
The 77 tones of small arms including some 3m rounds seems to have been ordered by the ministry of defense in Harare from Beijing three days after the Zimbabwe election. Just enough time to realise the election had been lost and come up with what looks like a bloody back-up plan to hold onto power?
Thankfully the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union have decided to act and refused to unload the ship or move the cargo by road. Lets hope they are successful in stopping this consignment reaching its destination.A Chinese ship with a vast cargo of small arms has docked in Durban, South Africa for... more
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In light of recent European bans of a pesticide linked to Bee Colony
Collapse Disorder (CCD), at least one key bee expert is calling for a ban of the same pesticide in the United States. "In the United States, drastic action is needed," says Canadian geneticist Joe Cummins, explaining that U.S. farmers and beekeepers shouldn't have to wait for more evidence or for an air-tight explanation for the complex syndrome, which threatens one in every third bite of food in the United States. Now most apiarists and scientists realize that pesticides are a factor in CCD, he says.
Cummins' remarks, in an interview with GreenRightNow, come less than a month after Germany's ban of clothianidin, a pesticide commonly used to keep insects off of corn crops. Germany banned the pesticide after heaps of dead bees were found near fields of corn coated in the pesticide, and in response to scientists who report that the insecticide severely impairs, and often kills, the honeybees that corn and other crops depend on for pollination.
The German government took the extraordinary action to protect bees and other essential pollinators, stating that there is now enough compelling evidence connecting the chemical to Bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in that country.
The ban also will likely fuel the European debate over genetically modified food, which involves treating crop seeds to resist harm from pesticide treatments. Critics of such modified foods say they are harming the environment, and have unknown human consequences, for little or no crop gain. Some scientists in Europe have called for their ban.
In light of recent European bans of a pesticide linked to Bee Colony
Collapse... more
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The announcement by the Paris municipality that water services will return to public hands by 2010 is in line with a global trend of ending privatisation of such services.
Mayor Bertrand Delanoë announced Jun. 2 that the municipal administration would regain control of all water services for the city, ending a private monopoly that has lasted more than 100 years.
The contracts with the world’s two biggest water service companies, Suez and Veolia, will not be extended after Dec. 31, 2009.
“We want to offer a better service, at a better price,” Delanoë said. “We also promise that prices would be stable.”
Delanoë said his administration will encourage other municipalities in the Ile de France region around Paris to end privatisation of water services.
“That France, once known as the heartland of water privatisation, is embracing a return to public management of water services, is a strong signal in this new pattern,” Olivier Hoedeman of the Water Remunicipalisation Tracker told IPS. The group, a sub-division of the Amsterdam-based Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and the Transnational Institute, documents the decline of water privatisation.
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This is good news and a good trend we need to see across the globe. Water is a public trust. Hopefully, the information put out about the effects of water privitization has helped this along.
Read my entries here as well:
http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/ The announcement by the Paris municipality that water services will return to public... more
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The expense and unreliability of electricity supply is fuelling East African interest in solar energy.
In rural Kenya, where there is no electricity, solar systems have proven popular with small-scale businesses and farms, where it is used to power water pumps and lighting.
Solar energy is cheap compared to electricity because, once the necessary equipment has been installed, there is no additional monthly charge.
Additionally solar systems require little maintenance, owing to the lack of moving parts, and solar energy offers "a stable grid quality output without power fluctuations".
Private company Solar World East Africa is set to launch "solar kits" that provide enough power for lighting, charging a mobile phone and operating an FM radio. These packs will cost 3,000 Kenyan shillings each (around US$47).
Another company, Jua Moto Systems, is planning to introduce solar-powered cookers and water heating systems.
But despite this growing interest, "solar power has not been as thoroughly explored as hydroelectric and geothermal power in Kenya … the use of wind and solar energy has remained low, just like in the rest of Africa".
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Solar power is peace.
Solar power is hope.
Solar power is self sufficiency.
The expense and unreliability of electricity supply is fuelling East African interest... more
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Rescuers have found at least 33 survivors and at least six dead among the nearly 750 aboard a ferry that capsized in a typhoon that battered the southern Philippines, a Red Cross official said Monday.
Rescuers have found at least 33 survivors and at least six dead among the nearly 750... more
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Iraq is insisting on the right to veto any US military operations throughout its territory under a "status of forces" agreement currently being negotiated between Baghdad and Washington, according to a senior member of the Iraqi government.
The agreement will last for a maximum of two years and can be terminated by either side with six months' notice, Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq's oil minister, said.
His remarks come amid intensive closed-door negotiations between the Iraqi and US governments which have led to complaints in the US Congress as well as Iraq that the Bush administration is tying the next US president's hands by seeking to maintain long-term bases in Iraq for possible attacks on Iran and other neighbouring states.
But Shahristani insisted: "Neither the constitution nor our people will allow any violation of our sovereignty. Obviously foreign troops on Iraqi soil carrying out operations without the prior consent and approval of the elected government is a violation.
"Any arrests, any operations internally or externally against our neighbours without prior agreement of the Iraqi government will be considered a violation ... Land and sea movements and air space is all part of Iraq's sovereignty."
The status of forces agreement, known as Sofa, will flesh out a more general "strategic framework" pact on all aspects of the US-Iraqi relationship that is also being worked out secretly. The two agreements are seen as "legacy issues" allowing Bush to claim success and a legitimation of the US occupation when the UN mandate runs out at the end of this year.
Iraq is insisting on the right to veto any US military operations throughout its... more
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Mugabe gave a chilling warning to his people yesterday asking Zimbabwe's voters: 'How can a pen fight a gun?'. Indicating he would refuse to cede power even if he loses the June 27th Presidential run-off. State controlled media reported these comments just a day after he threatened to 'go to war' to win the election.
http://current.com/items/89025145_mugabe_if_i_lose_the_poll_we_will_wage_war
Violence has taken a sharp upturn in recent weeks moving from beatings and torture to mutilation and killing. Bizarrely Mugabe moved to arrest opposition leaders for inciting the violence.
Britain is preparing a whole host of measures that will be used against Mugabe if he rigs the elections. Including a call for its neighbours to cut off the countries power supply and create an economic blockade.
One diplomat said: 'One way or another, this summer is likely to mark the endgame for Robert Mugabe.'
I hope too many lives are not lost in the process.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1026734/Britain-threatens-block-Zimbabwes-electricity-supply-Mugabe-rigs-poll.htmlMugabe gave a chilling warning to his people yesterday asking Zimbabwe's voters:... more
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Photographs of Water First and Water Action bringing clean running water to a village in Southern Ethiopia for the first time. This is what we are on this Earth for.Photographs of Water First and Water Action bringing clean running water to a village... more
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A project to map every place in the world's second-largest tropical forest where trees have been cut down will be announced today.
A purpose-built camera will be sent into space to record every clearing and logger's track in the Congo Basin in Africa to determine how much of the forest is left.
The camera will be fixed to a satellite and should be operational by the end of 2010 as part of an initiative to save the Central African tropical forest from being chopped down.
At twice the size of France, the Congo Basin forest is exceeded in extent only by the Amazon but it is estimated that loggers, many of them illegal, destroy an area the size of 25,000 football pitches every week.
Forests absorb huge quantities of carbon but it is released when they are cut down and their preservation is regarded as one of the biggest challenges by those trying to slow the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.
Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, will announce extra funding to save the forest today when he explains the camera project. It will record the forest in more detail than before.
A project to map every place in the world's second-largest tropical forest where... more
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Transcript:
MATTHEW PALEVSKY, JOURNALIST, TRNN: Presidential candidate John McCain has repeatedly warned Americans that withdrawing from Iraq would invite chaos in the Middle East and empower Iran.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): If our troops are ordered to make a forced retreat, we risk all-out civil war, genocide, and a failed state in the heart of the Middle East. Al-Qaeda terrorists would rejoice in the defeat of the United States. Allowing a potential terrorist sanctuary would profoundly affect the security of the United States, Israel, and our other friends, and would invite further intervention from Iraq's neighbors, including a very much-emboldened Iran.
I recently sat down with two Iraqi parliamentarians who testified to the contrary in front of the US Congress. I asked Nadim al-Jaberi, former general and current member of Shiite Fadhila Party, what he thought of McCain's statements.
NADIM AL-JABERI, IRAQI MP, FADHILA PARTY (SUBTITLED TRANSLATION): No, I do not agree with McCain's conclusion. I believe that Iran became influential in Iraq due to the American occupation and not the other way around. I would say that if the US is controlling the Iraqi streets, then Iran is controlling the state [government]. Iran had no power in Iraq before its occupation on the 9th of April 2003. But it established its power after that date. Iran will stay as an essential and influential factor in Iraq as long as there are foreign forces present, as it feels that these forces threaten its national security.
PALEVSKY: There is a gap in power that Iran could manipulate to gain control and influence in Iraq. Why wouldn't they take advantage of this?
AL-JABERI: No, I believe that Iran's influence grew due to the presence of the American forces on the Iraqi land. There is no connection with the dismissal of Saddam. The issue is connected to the capabilities of the Iraqi state. I believe that the Iraqi state is capable of protecting its borders from Iran or others. There is a historic competition between the two states. On that basis, there has always been a balance between the two states, and neither can swallow the other. If the American forces withdrew from Iraq, I believe that the majority of the Iraqi nation would stand against any Iranian interference. Maybe some people think that the Shias [population] would be loyal to Iran, but I believe that impression is wrong because most of the Iraqi army that fought against Iran from 1980 to 1988 were Shia. There is no connection between Iraqi and Iranian Shia. There may be a connection among some of the [Iraqi] politicians and Iran, but there is no connection between the Shia sect [in Iraq] and Iran. Only some basic ideology, but no political connection. Interestingly, the political elite that is loyal to Iran are the same people who are supported by the United States.
Transcript:
MATTHEW PALEVSKY, JOURNALIST, TRNN: Presidential candidate John McCain... more
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Authorities in Budapest consider initiatives to reduce the city's air pollution.
Air pollution in Hungary's capital city is growing worse every year. Local authorities are considering a green zone where access would be restricted according to a vehicles polluting capacity. Another option being considered is a congestion charge, a solution supported by other capitals in the region.
Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports.Authorities in Budapest consider initiatives to reduce the city's air pollution.... more
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It is said Sudan's Darfur region is often overlooked by the media as one of the biggest humanitarian disasters in history. But to the south, an even lesser-known war has raged on in Northern Uganda. And the media have shared very little about this "silent disaster" as well. This unique look at the crisis in Northern Uganda follows a Portland, Oregon musician's journey to share her music and compassion with those who have been left to pick up the pieces in the wake of a decades-long war. It is said Sudan's Darfur region is often overlooked by the media as one of the... more
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Human Rights Watch issued a report calling for the release of Matrook al-Faleh, 54, who was seized at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, two days after he publicly criticized conditions in a prison where two Saudi human rights activists are serving jail terms, according to the agency.
Joe Stork, deputy director at Human Rights Watch's Middle East division, said the arrest shows that human rights advocacy in Saudi Arabia remains "a risky business."
Another example of a government suppressing the truth by shutting up journalists or, sometimes killing them. This guy is on a hunger strike as we speak (freely) and the Saudi Government needs to be humane in dealing with this. The US Government says they will look into it...hopefully not before its too late. One of the problems with situations like this. When an injustice has been committed, it usually takes a long time for that injustice to be made good and absolutely no consideration is given to what it is like for this person to be locked up and treated like an animal, nor the families affected while fat politicians are trying to figure out how to make this into a strategy to make them look bigger.
Please speak up, because if we let this go by the wayside it is a signal that it's alright to shut someone up. Look at Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma ... Locked up for speaking about democracy!Human Rights Watch issued a report calling for the release of Matrook al-Faleh, 54,... more
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Palestinian officials close to peace talks said Sunday that Israel has offered a West Bank withdrawal map that leaves about 8.5 percent of the territory in Israeli hands, less than a previous plan but still more than the Palestinians are ready to accept.
Also Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as telling backers that the negotiations have achieved no progress since they were restarted last November with a pledge to U.S. President George W. Bush to try for a full peace treaty by the end of the year.
The Palestinian officials said Israel presented its new map three days ago in a negotiating session. The last map Israel offered had 12 percent of the West Bank remaining in Israel. Israel wants to keep West Bank land with its main settlement blocs, offering land inside Israel in exchange. The land would be between Hebron in the southern West Bank and Gaza - at least part of a route through Israel to link the two territories.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are being conducted behind closed doors, said Palestinians were ready to trade only 1.8 percent of the West Bank for Israeli land.
Israeli officials refused to comment.Palestinian officials close to peace talks said Sunday that Israel has offered a West... more
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The UN's nuclear watchdog says Iran's alleged research into designing nuclear warheads remains a matter of serious concern and needs."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also said in its latest report on Iran that Tehran had 3,500 uranium enrichment centrifuges working at its Natanz underground nuclear facility, a slightly higher number than earlier this year.The UN's nuclear watchdog says Iran's alleged research into designing... more
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