29/01/2013
By Alex Lantier, WSWS*, 29 January 2013 – The imperialist powers are escalating the war in Mali. Britain has pledged to deploy troops, and the US is planning a base for drone aircraft in the region, as French troops marched into the rebellious north of its former colony.
**Image: Malian children playing football in a Dogon village | Photo: Jelle Jansen from Soesterberg, Netherlands | Wikimedia Commons
British authorities said they would deploy hundreds of troops, concentrating on training French-backed Malian government forces and providing “force protection” for the trainers. British Special Forces are already reportedly in Mali, working with the French. Britain has also sent C-17 transport aircraft to help France deploy troops to Mali.
The announcement came after talks Sunday between British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President François Hollande.
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29/01/2013
By Russia Today (RT)*, 29 January 2013 – The US is planning to consolidate its position in Africa with a new drone outpost in Niger, with the stated purpose of providing unarmed surveillance support to French efforts in Mali and keeping tabs on al-Qaeda elements on the continent.
**Predator launching a Hellfire missile| Author: Brigadier Lance Mans, Deputy Director, NATO Special Operations Coordination Centre | Public Domain.
The robotic unmanned aircraft would likely be based in Niger, on the eastern border of Mali, where French forces are currently waging a campaign against Al-Qaeda, AFP reported, quoting an anonymous official.
If the plan is approved, up to 300 US military servicemembers and contractors could be sent to the base to operate the drone aircraft, the New York Times reported. US Africa Command is also considering another location as an alternative to the base in Burkina Faso, the official said.
However, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland reiterated that there are no plans to commit US troops to any fighting on the ground.
In the future, the US command does not rule out using the base to conduct military strikes if the situation deteriorates or the extremist threat increases, military officials told The New York Times.
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28/01/2013
By EurActiv*, 29 January 2013 – A majority in the Danish parliament signalled their readiness to allow extraction and exports of uranium from Greenland, marking a historical shift in Danish foreign policy after 30 years of opposition to nuclear power.
Source: EurActiv
A majority in the Danish parliament is prepared for the first time to repeal Denmark’s so-called zero-tolerance policy on the radioactive metal, according to media reports.
The world’s fifth largest uranium deposit, Kvanefjeld, is situated in the south of Greenland and if the Danish self-ruled territory makes a formal request to exploit it, Denmark could become one of the biggest exporters of the radioactive metal.
Uranium is created as a biproduct when extracting many valuable and strategically important metals used in for example mobile phones. Uranium is also used for nuclear power and atomic bombs.
Because of the security political significance, Greenland will have to ask Denmark for permission before the zero-tolerance policy can be repealed.
“We have to approach this positively. We would be caught in a very weird Danish role if we block Greenland’s wish,” foreign policy spokesperson Rasmus Helveg Petersen from the Social Liberals, one of the parties constituting the Danish government, told the newspaper Politiken.
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26/01/2013
By John Loretz, IPPNW*, 25 January 2013 – India now has its own T. K. Jones, although we may never know the name of the actual person in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Defence and State Disaster Response Force who wrote an advisory on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack that was published in the Greater Kashmir newspaper this week.
Source: IPPNW
Jones, for those who didn’t get as far as the Cold War in high school history, was a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration, who preached that nuclear war would not be nearly as bad as people thought. (He was right. Most people, then as now, had no idea how bad it would really be.)
His infamous line — “If there are enough shovels to go around, everybody’s going to make it” — was adapted by journalist Robert Scheer for the title of a book debunking nuclear civil defense. [1]
T. K. Jones played only a small part in the civil defense cottage industry that churned out bucketloads (or should I say shovelsful) of misinformation and false assurances beginning in the 1950s.
Fallout shelter designs and supplies, Geiger counters, and air raid drills were part of the common experience of growing up for an entire generation or three.
A series of “educational” films offered instructions on how to behave in the event of a nuclear attack. The most iconic and ridiculous of these was Duck and Cover, with Bert the Turtle, which did little more than create a generation with persistent neck and back problems. You can watch it on YouTube.
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26/01/2013
The ongoing crisis in Mali is having far-reaching effects in West Africa and the Sahel, a United Nations envoy said* on 25 January, stressing that the situation there illustrated the fragility of the region.
A Malian refugee woman in Mangaize, northern Niger. Many Malians have fled to neighbouring countries because of the general insecurity and humanitarian situation in the country’s north. Photo: UNHCR/H. Caux
“As developments unfold in Mali, the risks for infiltration and destabilization are real in some of the countries bordering Mali, as illustrated by the efforts of neighbouring countries to tighten security along the borders,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Said Djinnit, told the Security Council in a briefing today.
Djinnit, who heads the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA), said the situation in Mali has heightened the overall terrorism threat in the subregion, adding that the international community must remain mindful of the limitations faced by Mali’s neighbours, and enhance support in the areas of border control and counter-terrorism, among others.
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26/01/2013
By Priyanka Pruthi, New York, 25 January 2013 (UNICEF*) – Displaced from their homes by violence, victims of the 22-month-long conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic are now facing bone-chilling temperatures in makeshift shelters in Lebanon. The brutal winter, snowstorms, widespread flooding and severe food shortage have brought the worst upon them.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2013-0007. Waves of Syrian refugees arrive every day in neighbouring countries, often settling in such makeshift encampments as this one in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. They need shelter, food, water and medical assistance.
UNICEF has been on the ground, struggling with limited resources, to prevent the refugees from losing their lives, and losing hope. It’s hard to imagine and understand the scale of crises like the one in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Waves of Syrian refugees are arriving in neighbouring countries every day with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They need shelter, they need food, they need clean drinking water, they need medical assistance – and they need to know they’re not alone.
Through its Humanitarian Action for Children 2013, UNICEF is asking the international community to come forward and help the most vulnerable women and children of the world. The organization is in need of US$1.4 billion to assist children in emergencies across 45 countries. It is support not only for emergencies but also for strengthening nations, building resilience and helping them recover and rebuild on their own steam.
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26/01/2013
By Hélène Caux and William Spindler in Bamako, (UNHCR)*, 25 January 2013 – The UN refugee agency on Friday renewed its call for increased international aid for hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Malian civilians, warning that stepped up aid was vital to prevent a worsening of the humanitarian situation across the Sahel region.
This 10-year-old boy escaped recent fighting in the Malian town of Diabaly and found refuge in the capital, Bamako | UNHCR
Since the start of the conflict in northern Mali a year ago, more than 150,000 refugees have fled to neighbouring Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso, while nearly 230,000 have sought safety in other areas inside Mali. Mali’s population is estimated at 15 million inhabitants.
In Bamako, Mali’s capital, the number of internally displaced people (IDP) is now estimated at close to 50,000. Most are living in poor neighbourhoods with little or no access to housing or vital services such as clean water, education and health.
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26/01/2013
Washington, DC, 24 January 2013 – Victims of sexual assault in Washington, DC, are not getting the effective response they deserve and should expect from the district’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Human Rights Watch said* in a new report. “Sexual assault cases are too often not properly documented or investigated and victims may face callous, traumatizing treatment, despite official departmental policy to the contrary.”
(Left to right) Eleanor, Roxanne, and Marisa, who all reported sexual assaults to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), stand in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. © 2012 Mariam Dwedar/Human Rights Watch
The 196-page report, “Capitol Offense: Police Mishandling of Sexual Assault Cases in the District of Columbia,” [2] concludes that in many sexual assault cases, the police did not file incident reports, which are required to proceed with an investigation, or misclassified serious sexual assaults as lesser or other crimes.
Human Rights Watch also found that the police presented cases to prosecutors for warrants that were so inadequately investigated that prosecutors had little choice but to refuse them and that procedural formalities were used to close cases with only minimal investigation.
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25/01/2013
By Salil Shetty, Secretary General Amnesty International* – As business and government leaders gather for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos this week the issue no-one should ignore is global inequality – including from a human rights perspective.
**Professor Klaus Schwab opens the inaugural European Management Forum in Davos in 1971 | World Economic Forum
Countries like China, which have seen the highest economic growth, are seeing a spiralling disparity of wealth. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found that in the wealthiest countries the average income of the richest 10 per cent of the population is nine times that of the poorest 10 per cent. That’s seven times higher than it was 25 years ago. Few countries buck the trend.
As millions of people confront rising costs and cuts in social spending, revelations about how the very rich plus large corporations have been able to protect their wealth, in good times and bad, have sparked protests and demands for legislative change.
But is it a human rights issue? I would argue yes.
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25/01/2013
Russia Today (RT)* Exclusive, 25 January, 2013
The US has lots of troubles dealing with other nations as they haven’t come to grips with the new global reality, Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro told RT in an exclusive interview. He also spoke about the health of President Chavez.
Speaking to RT Spanish host Eva Golinger in Caracas, Nicolas Maduro shared his views on the political and economic future of Venezuela and Latin America’s fight for independence.
Eva Golinger: We would like to ask you a question that’s on everybody’s mind: how is President Chavez doing? Do you have an update on his present condition? Will he be coming back to Venezuela soon?
Nicolas Мaduro: We’ve already said that President Chavez’s recuperation period is almost over. It has been a long and difficult process. The president was aware of the odds all the way, but his vigor and energy are simply amazing. The surgery was a very difficult.
President Chavez suffered internal bleeding, which was a very alarming sign. I should say that Comandante Fidel Castro and his team were with Chavez and his relatives the whole time. We are very grateful for that. For the concern on the part of Comandante Castro, Cuban President Raul Castro, and the doctors.
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 