Archive for November, 2014

« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »
20/11/2014

Wine, Blood and Gasoline

Human Wrongs Watch

By Uri Avnery*, 18 November 2014 , TRANSCEND Media Service

Kafr Kanna, a village near Nazareth, is probably the place where Jesus – according to the New Testament – turned water into wine. Now it is the Arab village where the Israeli police is turning stones into blood.

Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery

On the fateful day, the police was confronting a group of young Arabs protesting against the Israeli efforts to change the status quo on the Temple Mount (known to Muslims as “the Noble Sanctuary”).

Such demonstrations were taking place that day in many Arab towns and villages all over Israel, and especially in occupied East Jerusalem.

According to the first police statement, the 22-year old Arab, Kheir a-Din Hamdan, attacked the police with a knife. In self defense, they had no choice but to shoot and kill him.

As so often with police reports, this was a pack of lies.

read more »

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

19/11/2014

Will a 'Fast-Track' Approach against AIDS Over Five Years Be Enough to Avert 21 Million Deaths, End Epidemic by 2030?

Human Wrongs Watch

Four months ago, the head of the UN agency dealing with HIV and AIDS urged world leaders at an international conference in Australia to end the hypocrisy on sex and make treatment and reproductive health education universally available. Now, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says that taking a fast-track approach in the battle against AIDS over the next five years will avert 21 million deaths and allow the world to end the epidemic by 2030.

Photo: UNAIDS

The report, Fast-Track: ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, outlines a set of targets that would need to be reached by 2020, including 90-90-90: 90 per cent of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status; 90 per cent of people who know their HIV-positive status on treatment; and 90 per cent of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads.*

“We have bent the trajectory of the epidemic,” on 18 November 2014 said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS in a press release. “Now we have five years to break it for good or risk the epidemic rebounding out of control.”

read more »

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

19/11/2014

Orange Your Neighborhood — 16 Days of Activism for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Human Wrongs Watch

By UN Women* — From 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world.

Source: UN Women

Source: UN Women

This year, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women invites you to “Orange YOUR Neighbourhood.” Take the UNiTE campaign to local streets, shops and businesses, and organize “Orange Events” in your own neighbourhoods between 25 November and 10 December 2014.

Reach out to your neighbours, local stores, food-sellers on the corner of your street, gas stations, local cinemas, barbers, schools, libraries and post offices!

Project orange lights and hang orange flags onto local landmarks, tie orange ribbons where you are allowed, and organize local ‘orange marches’ on 25 November to raise awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions that would work for your community.

read more »

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

19/11/2014

'The Western financial system is a house of cards resting on corruption'

Human Wrongs Watch

‘As most Americans, if not the financial media, are aware, Quantitative Easing (a euphemism for printing money) has failed to bring back the US economy. The extent of financial corruption involving collusion between the mega-banks and the financial authorities is unfathomable. The Western financial system is a house of cards resting on corruption.’

688px-USDnotes

**USDnotes | Source: USDnotes.jpg | Author: derivative work: Hidro (talk) – USDnotes.jpg: Original uploader was Andyhi18 at en.wikipedia | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license | Wikimedia Commons

By Paul Craig Roberts*, 17 November 2014, TRANSCEND Media Service — As most Americans, if not the financial media, are aware, Quantitative Easing (a euphemism for printing money) has failed to bring back the US economy.

So why has Japan adopted the policy? Since the heavy duty money printing began in 2013, the Japanese yen has fallen 35% against the US dollar, a big cost for a country dependent on energy imports. Moreover, the Japanese economy has shown no growth in response to the QE stimulus to justify the rising price of imports.

read more »

Posted in Asia, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

19/11/2014

Immigrants in Europe Struggle to Find Decent Work Amid Looming Economic Crises

Human Wrongs Watch

Against a backdrop of aging populations and persistently low economic growth, few European governments are doing enough to help recent immigrants move from low-skilled precarious jobs and into decent work, says a new report out on 18 November 2014 from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Migration Policy Institute.

.

Migrants arriving on Italy’s Lampedusa Island after crossing the Mediterranean on a dilapidated boat. Photo: UNHCR/F. Noy

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | 2 Comments »

18/11/2014

A Family Made Whole Again: After Eight Agonizing Months, Idris Is Runited with His Wife and Sons

Human Wrongs Watch

‘Idris was separated from his wife and sons as they fled the fighting in Central African Republic. Eight agonizing months later, they reunite.’

UNHCR/Olivier Laban-Mattei

UNHCR/Olivier Laban-Mattei

By Baptiste de Cazenove*, 17 November 2014 — After eight months of anguish, Idris Ali is basking in joy. Three days ago he learned that his first wife and two sons would soon join him in eastern Cameroon, where he took refuge from atrocities back home in the Central African Republic. For the longest time, Idris had not even known if they were still alive.

The 35-year-old husband and father has imagined this moment many times. He has tried to prepare himself mentally. Still, he feels an urge to cry as he watches his wife and children enter the community shelter here in Gado-Badzere, soon after they arrived by bus from a transit site near the border.

Idris swoops the kids up his arms. “My God saved me and my family!” he says triumphantly.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Mother Earth, The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

18/11/2014

Little Book, Big Data

Human Wrongs Watch

The Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published a comprehensive pocketbook of nutrition-related data covering all regions of the world ahead of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) taking place in the Italian capital on 19-21 November 2014. 

Source: FAO

Source: FAO

Food and Nutrition in Numbers – a pocket-sized compendium dedicated to the state of nutrition worldwide— offers diverse data and visualizations highlighting trends on such topics as micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases from 1990 to the present.*

Additionally, it offers indicators on the links between nutrition, health and the environment.

read more »

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

18/11/2014

INTERPOL Operation Targets ‘Most Wanted’ Environmental Fugitives

Human Wrongs Watch

Nine fugitives are being pursued as part of a United Nations-backed joint INTERPOL global operation targeting individuals wanted for serious environmental – including wildlife – crime.

CITES is supporting INTERPOL’s Operation ‘INFRA-Terra’ (International Fugitive Round Up and Arrest), targeting nine fugitives wanted for environmental crime, in particular wildlife crime. Credit: INTERPOL/CITES

Operation INFRA-Terra (International Fugitive Round Up and Arrest) is supported by the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), which is a collaborative effort of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the World Customs Organization. INTERPOL is leading the operation, which is the first of its kind.

read more »

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

18/11/2014

DR Congo Declares End to Ebola Outbreak, as Top Footballers Join Global Fight against Deadly Virus

Human Wrongs Watch

The United Nations on 17 November 2014 praised the end of an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as some of the world’s top football players, including Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Neymar Jr, announced they are joining the Organization’s fight to help raise global awareness in the fight against the deadly virus.

Ebola treatment centre outside an Ebola virus disease (EVD) case management centre run by Médecins Sans Frontières in the town of Guéckédou, Guinea. Photo: UNICEF/Suzanne Beukes

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Moustapha Soumaré praised the DRC authorities for their rapid and coordinated response, despite enormous logistical challenges, and paid tribute to the bravery of aid teams, in particular to the eight health workers who died in the early days of the outbreak.*

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO) there had been 66 cases of Ebola reported in the DRC, including the health-care workers. In total, 49 deaths have been reported before authorities in that country declared the end of the outbreak, which is unrelated to the Ebola outbreak that originated in West Africa.

read more »

Posted in Africa, The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

18/11/2014

Complications of Premature Birth, World’s Number One Killer of Young Children

Human Wrongs Watch

Marking the fourth World Prematurity Day on 17 November 2014, the United Nations has underscored that the complications of preterm birth outrank all other causes as the world’s number one killer of young children.

A health worker places a preterm newborn into an incubator to improve the chances of survival. Photo: IRIN/Sean Kimmons

“On World Prematurity Day, I urge all partners to recognize the vital importance of addressing prematurity as we strive to improve women’s and children’s health,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in remarks on the Day.*

“Intensifying our focus on prematurity will sustain gains in child survival, accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs], and help lay the groundwork for ending all preventable deaths of women and children by 2030,” he added.

read more »

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

« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »