Archive for October 27th, 2014

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27/10/2014

Muhammad, Where Are You?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Uri Avnery*, TRANSCEND Media Service

25/10/14

It sounds like a joke. But it isn’t.

About a month ago, on the eve of the Jewish New Year, the government statistical office published a set of interesting items about the population of the state. It is intended as a gift for the citizens. The population is growing, it is getting richer and it is satisfied.

**Children returning home to Aida Palestinian refugee camp north of Bethlehem; Israeli West Bank barrier is in the background. | Author: Mrbrefast | Wikimedia Commons.

**Children returning home to Aida Palestinian refugee camp north of Bethlehem; Israeli West Bank barrier is in the background. | Author: Mrbrefast | Wikimedia Commons.

One of the items lists the most popular names given last year to newborn boys and girls.

When the statisticians saw the results, they were flabbergasted. It appears the name that topped the list was Muhammad.

Muhammad? The most popular name in the Jewish state?

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Posted in Middle East, The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

27/10/2014

Braving Dust Storms, Women Plant Seeds of Hope at World's Largest Refugee Camp

Human Wrongs Watch

Turning dry lands into fertile fields, a livelihood project is helping Somali women refugees in Kenya make a living and prevent sexual and gender-based violence.
Women at business training workshop

Women take part in a business management training workshop at the Ifo 2 camp in the Dadaab refugee complex. Photo: UN Women/Tabitha Icuga

By UN Women*, October 2014 — In the world’s largest refugee complex — the sprawling Dadaab settlement in Kenya’s North Eastern Province —  women listen attentively during a business management workshop held at a hospital in one of its newest camps, Ifo 2.

Leila Abdulilahi, a 25-year-old Somali refugee and mother, has brought her 5-month-old along, while her four other children wait at home. She asks question after question, eager to learn more. Leila has lived in the camp for the past three years and has no source of income, so her family depends on the rations distributed by the World Food Programme.

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

27/10/2014

From Wife-beaters to Peace-preachers: Tackling Domestic Abuse in Zimbabwe’s Hinterland

Human Wrongs Watch

Marondera, October 2014 (IRIN)* — Jairos Maruwe used to beat up his wife so badly he once knocked her unconscious and broke her arm. It landed him in jail at least once, but it was the way he was raised.

Photo: Jaspreet Kindra/IRIN | A third of Zimbabwean women have experienced physical violence at the hands of their spouse or partner.

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“We grew up thinking that women are our tools and we can do whatever we want with them,” the 34-year-old farmer in northeastern Zimbabwe’s Marondera region told IRIN.

“We have this tendency to resort to violence and emotional abuse when we think they have wronged us,” he said.

That was then.

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

27/10/2014

Initiative on Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons Takes Centre Stage at UN General Assembly

Human Wrongs Watch

It took a full 5 minutes for New Zealand’s Ambassador for Disarmament, Dell Higgie, to read out the list of the 155 co-sponsors of the Joint Statement on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons.*

Source: ICAN

Source: ICAN

The overwhelming support for the statement demonstrates concretely the momentum that in the period since the second International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons hosted by Mexico in Nayarit, there has been no waning of support for the humanitarian initiative. Indeed, non-nuclear weapon states are starting to speak openly and with confidence about the next steps.

The New Zealand Joint Statement is the latest and strongest in a series of statements delivered at Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) meetings and in the UN General Assembly and two multilateral conferences, in Norway and Mexico, aimed at highlighting the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

27/10/2014

Brazil: Dilma Roussef to Go Ahead Ruling the Latin America Giant Until 2018

Human Wrongs Watch

By Paulo Genovese, 26 October 2014 (Pressenza)* 

Dilma Rousseff Has been re-elected as President in the most fiercely fought contest in Brazilian history. The President-elect who managed to unite the support of social movements, parties of the left, ex-militants, academics and celebrities, will continue ruling the Latin American giant until 2018.
Source: Pressenza

Source: Pressenza

The election has divided the country and inspire the small difference between the two candidates there was a clear gap between the richest states that supported the defeated candidate and the votes of the poorest, concentrated in the candidate of the Workers Party.

The campaign was marked by a strong manipulation of the media which turned out to be nothing more than “paid advertising” for the defeated candidate. Even the legal system was influencing the electoral process.

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Posted in Latin America & Caribbean, Mother Earth, The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

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