Israeli minister: Cut ties with Palestinians

August 07, 2011 — JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's foreign minister on Sunday accused the Palestinian Authority of planning "unprecedented bloodshed" next month after an expected symbolic U.N. endorsement of Palestinian independence.

Accenting his warning, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for Israel to sever ties with the West Bank-based government. Lieberman's allegation runs counter to other Israeli assessments and stands in stark contrast to public and private statements by the Palestinians.

"They say they don't want violence, but the Palestinian Authority is planning unprecedented bloodshed," his spokesman Tzachi Moshe quoted Lieberman as saying. "They are going to send waves of people to storm roadblocks," Lieberman said, according to his spokesman. "Israel should cut all ties with them."

Palestinian spokesman Ghassan Khatib denied the Palestinians were preparing for violence. "These Israeli predictions of violence aren't true. Israel is trying to fuel a fake picture of what will happen in September."

"In September, we will request the international community's help — legally and according to law — from the U.N. to help us end the illegal occupation. What is illegal here is the occupation, not the attempts to end it," Khatib said.

Lieberman did not provide evidence for his claim that Palestinians were getting ready for violent demonstrations. Moshe said Lieberman drew his conclusions from intelligence reports and public statements by Palestinian officials.

He said the foreign minister would ask the government to cut ties with the Palestinian Authority when the Cabinet convenes again next Sunday. With peace talks stalled since 2008, the Palestinians have said they will instead ask the U.N. to recognize their state in September. Israel and the United States strongly oppose the move, saying Palestinian statehood should be achieved through negotiations.

One Israeli fear is that Palestinians will re-enact scenes from June, when some 20 protesters were killed after thousands rushed Israel's border from Syria. On Sunday, Lieberman said the Palestinians were planning to have tens of thousands of protesters storm Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, an act that would likely end with violence.

An internal Israeli parliamentary report released last week predicted a low likelihood of violence erupting, because the Palestinians believe it would be counterproductive to their cause. The report, which was based on intelligence reports, said mass peaceful demonstrations were likely instead.

However, defense officials fear a lone violent event could touch off more widespread clashes. In anticipation, the report recommended calling up some military reserve units. West Bank Hamas leader Hassan Youssef told Israel's Channel 2 TV Sunday that Palestinians are planning marches and demonstrations in September. Asked if they could turn violent, he warned of increasing frustrations.

"If their backs are to the wall, the Palestinian people can erupt at any moment," he said. Youssef was released from an Israeli prison last week after serving six years. Hamas is a rival to the Palestinian Authority.

Kenyans find unity in helping those in drought

August 07, 2011 — NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Hashim Mohammed Elmogo spontaneously decided to donate his entire July salary of $376 to help those suffering from hunger after seeing a scrolling headline on television about a young child trying to nurse from his dead mother.

"I am very touched by the images of starving children and emaciated women," says the 36-year-old police constable. "We need to do all we can to ease the situation and save our fellow Kenyans." Friends who heard of his generosity have since pledged to support him financially through the month of August.

Three years ago, postelection violence led Kenya to the brink of civil war and left the country divided along tribal lines more than ever before. Now in a show of unity, ordinary Kenyans — majority of whom live on less than a $2 a day — have contributed more than $1.3 million in a little over a week. Corporate donations to the "Kenyans for Kenya" drive brought in another $4 million for the relief effort.

While famine in neighboring Somalia has killed tens of thousands, there have been hunger-related deaths in Kenya as well. At least five people have died in Turkana, the hardest hit area located in northern Kenyan near the border with Ethiopia.

Joseph Kimeu, 31, a driver for a non-governmental organization, donated $1 to the fundraising effort. "The way I see those kids they are like my kids," he says. "If my kids are eating and I see another kid starving I feel like it's not good for a human being. Especially if you are a Kenyan, I feel it is still my family. They are my family too and that's why I gave."

Critics accuse the Kenyan government of being slow to respond. Kenya's well-paid legislators — who include government ministers — are preoccupied fighting a move by Kenya's tax authority ordering them to pay back taxes for their hefty allowances.

Currently 2.4 million people are receiving food aid in Kenya. The U.N.'s World Food Program is feeding 1.6 million and the government of Kenya another 800,000. But the U.N. says the number of those needing food assistance is expected to rise to about 3.2 million by mid-August.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua in a statement said the Kenyan government has allocated $11.3 million (10.5 billion shillings) to aid the people affected by drought. The distribution of the resources has been slow due to logistical problems, he said.

Ikal Angelei, a program officer with Friends of Lake Turkana, said fundraising done by Kenyans is a commendable but says the government needs to implement long-term solutions to help the Turkana people withstand the recurrent droughts in the region.

Angelei said it shows bad management by government when people in parts of Kenya are going hungry while there are other parts of the country that have such bountiful harvests that food is rotting in the farms.

"My only problem is when people are not starving, food security is no longer an issue and no one sees the need to discuss the root causes and the structures needed to tackle the issues," Angelei said. "So really it is a great effort but unfortunately may be repeated again in a year if we don't tackle the underlying issues."

In another troubling sign, eight women in Turkana were killed by Merille tribesmen from Ethiopia on Friday because of conflicts over pasture and water, Angelei said. Kenyans fought along tribal lines following disputed presidential election late 2007 which international observers said was flawed.

More than 1,000 people died when tribal alliances supporting President Mwai Kibaki and those of opposition candidate Raila Odinga engaged in reprisal attacks after Kibaki was announced winner. Peace was restored after former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan brokered a political agreement in which Odinga became prime minister and Kibaki retained the presidency.

Sadr warns against US presence in Iraq

Sun Aug 7, 2011

Iraq's influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has issued a warning that any US training mission in Iraq after 2011 will be confronted by “military means”.

"We will treat anyone that stays in Iraq as an oppressive occupier that should be resisted through military means," AFP quoted Sadr as saying in a letter released by his office on Saturday.

The Shia cleric's statement came in response to Baghdad's tendency to open talks with US military officials for a post-2011 US training mission in Iraq.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced that Iraqi politicians have agreed to let Baghdad start negotiations with Washington on a military training mission in Iraq after 2011.

"The government that agrees to their stay, even if it is for training, is a weak government," the letter added.

Back in June, the Iraqi cleric threatened to take up arms against US troops unless the US military forces withdraw from Iraq before the end of the year.

Around 47,000 American soldiers are now stationed in Iraq, all of whom must leave the country by the end of 2011 under the terms of a 2008 bilateral security pact between Washington and Baghdad.

The agreement, known as Status of Forces Agreement, also forced Washington to end its combat operations in Iraq in August 2010.

Despite the United States' claim that it no longer engages in combat actions in the country, there have been numerous reports of US troops' involvement in military operations in Iraq.

Many observers believe that Washington has no intention to leave Iraq as American troops have built several bases in the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192743.html.

Fresh anti-govt. rallies held in Bahrain

Sun Aug 7, 2011

Anti-government protesters have taken to the streets in Bahrain, demanding the release of female prisoners, and calling on the country's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to resign.

Despite a strong military crackdown by Saudi-backed regime forces, the protesters staged demonstrations in several villages including Sitra, Ma'meer, Karzakan and Sanad.

During the rallies, the demonstrators chanted slogans against the Bahraini regime, and demanded that the king step down from power.

The development comes amid reports that two prominent female prisoners in Bahrain have gone on hunger strike.

Roula al-Saffar, head of the Bahrain Nursing Society and Jalila al-Salman, deputy head of the Bahrain Teachers' Association, were arrested several months ago for taking part in anti-regime protest rallies.

The two female prisoners went on hunger strike to protest against their imprisonment and torture.

Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters have been holding peaceful anti-government rallies throughout the country since February, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa family.

Scores of people have been killed and many more have been arrested and tortured in prisons in a government-sanctioned crackdown on peaceful protests since the beginning of the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, several women, including doctors, university professors and students have been kidnapped or detained by Bahraini security forces.

According to Bahrain Center for Human Rights -- a non-governmental organization -- there are currently over 1,000 political detainees inside the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192751.html.

Egypt military police disrupt Ramadan celebration

CAIRO (BNO NEWS) — Egyptian military police forcefully broke up a gathering held in downtown Cairo to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Al-Ahram state-owned newspaper reported on Saturday.

Tens of people on Friday responded to an open invitation to have an iftar, the evening meal that breaks the daytime fast during Ramadan, in Tahrir Square with no intention to stage a sit-in or to protest. However, they were forced to move the celebration in front of the Omar Makram Mosque since security forces have been heavily present in the square.

“We took our food and headed towards Omar Makram after security personnel prevented us from staying in the square. We had our breakfast and everything was normal for a while,” Activist Salma Said told Tahrir TV.

She said that the military police then forced people out after they started chanting some pro-revolution slogans. “But the military police beat us up viciously; I was even kicked in the back in the process. An 11-year-old kid and his sister were beaten too. They were merciless. Another girl were beaten badly and her veil was taken off,” Said added.

Said deplored the “unnecessary use of force”, saying protesters will once again stage a sit-in that will last until the revolution’s as yet unmet demands are fulfilled, according to the newspaper.

Last Monday, hundreds of military police and central security forces stormed Tahrir square to end a three-week old sit-in, beating and arresting hundreds of people.

Several small groups refused to leave the square after 26 major political groups decided on Sunday to halt their sit-in during Ramadan. The sit-in was launched on July 8 to protest that the demands of the revolution have not been met.

Among the protesters’ demands are the immediate release of all civilians who have been sentenced by military courts and their retrial before civilian courts. They are also asking for the prosecution of those implicated in the killing of protesters during the January 25 Revolution.

According to Amnesty International, at least 840 people were killed and over 6,000 people were injured in the violent repression that took place during the January uprising.

Ousted President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt in a 30-year-long regime, stepped down after the uprising. He appeared in court on August 3 facing charges of ordering the killing of peaceful protesters during the uprising.

Former Interior Minister Habib Ibrahim al-Adly and six other former senior officials also face charges over the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters. If convicted, they face possible death sentences.

The trial of Mubarak and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, will resume on August 15.

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19311/egypt-military-police-disrupt-ramadan-celebration/.

Ukraine's opposition calls for the creation of 'Resistance Committee' after Tymoshenko's arrest

KIEV (BNO NEWS) — Ukraine’s leading opposition party called for the creation of a nationwide Resistance Committee after its leader Yulia Tymoshenko was arrested, Batkivshchyna party’s first deputy chairman, Alexander Turchinov, said on Saturday.

“The Resistance Committee should unite all the political parties and non-government organizations that consider independent Ukraine, freedom, democracy, European prospects and well-being of the people as the main values,” Turchinov said in a statement, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko was arrested on Friday during a court hearing over charges of abuse of power in connection with a 2009 gas deal with Russia. She says the charges against her are politically motivated.

Turchinov, who is a former Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, said that Tymoshenko’s arrest became a turning point, preceding the collapse of democracy. “Having put Tymoshenko behind the bars without any legal grounds, the regime showed that it would not stop at anything to eliminate its opponents,” he said, according to RIA Novosti.

The arrest came after prosecutor Lilia Frolova asked the court to keep Tymoshenko, who had only faced travel restrictions, in custody, saying that she had obstructed the investigation into the case.

The former prime minister is accused of illegally forcing state energy company Naftogaz to sign a gas supply contract with Russian gas company Gazprom in 2009, which the state says required approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. The agreement ended a three-week standoff between Russia and Ukraine over the price of natural gas.

Tymoshenko, the country’s top opposition leader, has criticized her trial as an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych, who narrowly beat her in the presidential election in February 2010, to bar her from elections.

The court adjourned the hearing until August 8.

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19310/ukraines-opposition-calls-for-the-creation-of-resistance-committee-after-tymoshenkos-arrest/.

UN warns of measles outbreak in Somali refugee camps in Ethiopia

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — The United Nations on Saturday voiced alarm after an outbreak of suspected measles was reported at Somali refugee camps in Ethiopia.

So far there have been 47 official cases and three deaths from suspected measles in the Kobe camp of 25,000 people over the past week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a news release. Other suspected cases have also been reported in the other two refugee camps in the area.

“This situation is alarming and we cannot afford to wait. We must act now, urgently and decisively, to arrest and turn around this situation,” Moses
Okello, UNHCR’s Representative in Ethiopia, said.

Health experts said high rates of acute malnutrition, low vaccination coverage in Somalia and overcrowding in the camps are some of the aggravating factors associated with this outbreak. “The mix of measles and high levels of malnutrition can be fatal,” the UNHCR warned.

According to the latest figures, Ethiopia hosts a total of 237,500 refugees, mainly from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan. Over 800,000 Somalis have fled their country in recent years due to war and drought.

The United Nations on Wednesday declared a famine in three more areas of Somalia, bringing to five the number of regions with famine conditions in the Horn of Africa country where acute malnutrition and starvation has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

According to the UN, the drought in the Eastern Horn of Africa is expected to continue until early 2012, and the number of people in acute livelihood crisis is expected to increase from 8.8 million in the coming months.

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19309/un-warns-of-measles-outbreak-in-somali-refugee-camps-in-ethiopia/.

Al-Shabaab militants withdraw from Somali capital

MOGADISHU (BNO NEWS) — The Somali militant group Al-Shabaab on Saturday retreated from the country’s war-ravaged capital following fierce clashes with government forces and their allies.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Al-Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia, retreated from Mogadishu after heavy fighting early Saturday with government and African Union forces. “Al-Shabaab and al Qaida are a menace to Somalia and it is happy news that we defeated them in Mogadishu,” the president told reporters, according to CNN.

He also warned of possible suicide bombings and advised Mogadishu residents not to rush to areas vacated by Al-Shabaab fighters, saying the group may have booby-trapped the area.

Al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage confirmed the fighters left the city but said the fighting was hardly over.

“The reasons we withdrew from Mogadishu is we have made changes in our tactics of war,” he told the group’s radio station, Andalus, as quoted by CNN. “We withdrew because we want to save lives of the poor civilians but we will launch operations against government (and African Union) forces in the coming hours.”

Some believe the Islamists withdrew because of funding woes and drought-related issues. The war-ravaged Horn of African country is experiencing severe droughts and the United Nations has already declared famine in five areas, including Mogadishu.

In early July, Al-Shabaab announced that they were lifting a ban on international and local aid agencies in order to assist the drought affected people. The group imposed the ban in 2009, alleging that foreign aid agencies are pro-Somalia government.

The United Nations humanitarian agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, estimated that 10 million people across the Horn of Africa are facing a severe food crisis following a prolonged drought in the region.

Al-Shabaab was the militant wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts that took over most of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006. Despite efforts from the Somali and Ethiopian government, the group has continued its violent insurgency in southern and central Somalia.

In addition, the al Qaida-linked group was likely responsible for a wave of five coordinated suicide car bombings in October 2008 that simultaneously hit targets in two cities in northern Somalia, killing at least 26 people and injuring 29 others. Al-Shabaab has been accused of conducting the twin suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, on July 11, 2010, that killed more than 70 people.

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19306/al-shabaab-militants-withdraw-from-somali-capital/.

General threatens to hit Saleh's palace

Sun Aug 7, 2011

A Yemeni army general who has joined the revolutionaries has threatened to attack Ali Abdullah Saleh's palace if regime troops continue to attack his forces.

General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar made the threat on Saturday, a day after Republican Guards led by Saleh's son carried out attacks on the headquarters of Ahmar's forces.

Powerful tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar said the regime forces were sparking a war by carrying out “provocative measures.”

He accused Saleh loyalists of violating a truce that ended deadly clashes in the capital Sana'a in May.

Sadiq al-Ahmar is the head of an alliance of tribal leaders who have promised to protect anti-regime protesters.

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for regular demonstrations in Yemen's major cities since January, calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in office since 1978.

The protesters also say Saleh should be tried for the crimes he has committed against the people of Yemen.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192713.html.

Province of Chechnya. Kadyrov is afraid of free Caucasus and speaks about the unity with Russians

3 August 2011

The ringleader of the minions in the Province of Nokhchicho (aka Chechnya/Ichkeria), Ramzan Kadyrov, proposed to consolidate different ethnic groups and religions in Russia, under a new status of a "Russian National Idea".

Quoting the word of his mentor Putin, Kadyrov said on Wednesday, in Kislovodsk, at a meeting with representatives of pro-Putin's youth organizations, that "the issue of friendship and unity between the people was fundamental for Russia".

The ringleader of the minions expressed deep regret that there were representatives of the parties, various movements and social organizations, who were still hanging onto the idea of splitting the North Caucasian region from Russia and cutting off a part of the country (ethnic riots in Moscow last December) to avoid " tragic consequences".

According to him, "any talk about cutting pieces of the Russian territory must be nipped in the bud and severe penalties should be imposed for speaking out on secession of certain areas from the rest of the country".

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/08/03/14893.shtml.

Protesters throw fruit at Chile's rescued miners

August 06, 2011 — COPIAPO, Chile (AP) — It has been a bittersweet anniversary for Chile's rescued miners, who were honored as heroes in their hometown only to come under attack by anti-government protesters who threw fruit and small stones at them, accusing them of being ungrateful, greedy sellouts.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and his ministers joined most of the 33 miners Friday at a Catholic Mass and then the inauguration of a regional museum exhibit recognizing their remarkable survival story.

But the events were marred by scuffles between riot police and students, teachers, environmentalists and other miners, all trying to make Pinera bow to their pressure on issues from reforming public education and increasing miners' pay to stopping controversial dams and power plants.

Some of the activists threw oranges and apples at the miners, accusing them of getting too cozy with Pinera's government and trying to cash in on their fame. The treatment shocked rescued miner Omar Reygadas into silence. His son told The Associated Press in an interview that his father was deeply hurt to be accused of selling out to the government. Other activists shouted that the miners were trying to get rich with their $17 million lawsuit accusing Chile's mine regulator of failing to enforce safety requirements.

"My father was saddened, deeply saddened. He doesn't understand how people could act this way," said his son, also named Omar Reygadas. "When I got home I found him sitting alone, very sad. I asked him what happened and at first he wouldn't say anything, but gradually he let on what happened."

Some Chilean newspapers called the attack a low blow, especially considering how many of the miners still suffer from psychological problems after being stuck for 69 days underground. "They aren't heroes ... they're victims who are simply trying to recover from their tragedy," El Diario de Atacama, Copiapo's hometown newspaper, printed Saturday under a picture showing riot police with a confiscated box of oranges and apples activists had thrown at the honorees.

"We have become accustomed to judging the 33 of Atacama, forgetting that they've only been victims of the terrible circumstances that confront hundreds of Chileans every day." Psychologist Alberto Iturra, who was part of the medical team that participated in the mine rescue, criticized the incident, saying the attack on the miners was "irrational, crazy."

He said the incident is "part of a process of alienation — which implies not distinguishing spaces, people or anything, not being conscious of what they're doing — that the students suffer from." The miners were clearly grateful for Pinera's leadership of the rescue mission, which succeeded in bringing them all out alive more than two months after the Aug. 5, 2010 collapse. "I wouldn't be here talking with you today" if Pinera hadn't become personally involved, miner Jose Fuentes told the AP. "We were down there praying that he would do it."

But Pinera's ministers also are defending the government against the miners' suit, saying that they have to protect the Chilean taxpayers. Pinera's popularity has plunged to 26 percent, the lowest of any president since Chile recovered its democracy in 1990, as protests have roiled the country. Environmentalists hope to block hydroelectric dams in southern Patagonia and a huge coal-fired energy plant in northern Chile. Unionized miners have briefly paralyzed the nation's largest copper mines, costing companies millions of dollars in lost production. Mapuche Indians have occupied ancestral lands, setting off violent confrontations with police and landowners. Striking high school and university students have taken over their schools and stopped classes for more than two months.

At the museum on Friday, Pinera appealed for an end to the unrest. "The time of the protests, the strikes, the takeovers, the violence has passed. Now has come the time to construct and not keep destroying, the time of dialogue and not of intransigence; the time of solutions and not of confrontation, the time of unity and not of division," Pinera said.

Blowing the Whistle on the U.N.'s Big Secret

By Shannon Liao
August 5, 2011

Film shines light on human trafficking.

Sprinkled across war-torn Bosnia are brothels and rape houses poorly disguised as restaurants, clubs, and hotels. Inside, underage Eastern European girls live in torment, forced to do “tricks” to pay off debts they have “incurred.”

Director Larysa Kondracki knew that she wanted her first movie to be about human trafficking, though she didn’t decide on the exact plot for the movie until she came across Kathryn Bolkovac’s story.

Bolkovac was an American police officer who served as a U.N. peacekeeper in Bosnia, where she discovered that 10 percent of her fellow peacekeepers were involved in the sex trafficking of underage Eastern European women.

“I came in as a naïve Midwestern cop wanting to do the right thing, wanting to bring justice to a lawless world, and I found lawlessness within my own ranks … in the end it was a real awakening for me,” said Bolkovac in the press notes for the new film “The Whistleblower.”

Bolkovac wrote in a report published by the Bosnian Institute that she had gone to a decaying nightclub to investigate her suspicions, a scene later recreated in the film.

Bolkovac discovered a significant amount of U.S. currency hidden in a metal gun box. It struck her that something was wrong. The only place to receive U.S. dollars in Bosnia was on American military bases.

The girls she spoke to in the club gave vague descriptions of international police officers, military men, and local police.

When these girls saw the men in blue uniforms from the U.N., they thought, “We have our savior,” only to be taken advantage of by their so-called saviors.

Bolkovac tried to help these girls, but there was only little she could do before the heavy bureaucracy she was up against shut her down. In the end, she was fired and her life was threatened.

“I packed everything I owned, including the evidence I’d collected over the last two years, and next morning I drove nonstop out of the country,” she said in the Bosnian Institute report.

Director Kondracki explained that Bolkovac’s story covered everything—the trafficking industry, what victims felt like, what the U.N. was doing, and how one lone woman made a difference.

Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz, who plays Bolkovac in the film, stated in the press notes that Bolkovac wasn’t thinking about morality when she blew the whistle on one of the biggest cover-ups of the U.N. “I think it’s just purely who she is. She is one of those people who cannot be anything other than who she is.”

Originally, Weisz had rejected the film offer. But years passed, and she remained haunted by the storyline.For her, Bolkovac is an ordinary woman who has done extraordinary things, a theme that Weisz looks for when choosing scripts.

Bolkovac asserted that Weisz was perfect for the role. “I see a lot of thoughtfulness in her, a lot of maturity.”

Filming was done in Bucharest, Romania, in the fall of 2009 with shots of Bosnia taken through the mountains of Transylvania.

Kondracki said in the press notes, “In a story such as this, it’s more about what you don’t see, so you need to create that world.” Filming in Eastern Europe was essential.

Breaking the 'Abstract'

When people hear of human rights abuses and sex trafficking, they form in their minds an abstract idea of what is happening in some far-off country. No more, says Kondracki and co-writer Eilis Kirwan.

To put a face to the name, they’ve created Raya, played by Romanian actress Roxanna Condurache, someone audiences will get to know on a personal level.

Co-writer Kirwan stressed in the press notes that the audience must realize what these girls suffered. “It can’t stay abstract in anyone’s mind anymore.”

Bosnia isn’t the only country where human trafficking occurs.

The U.N. mission to Bosnia ended in 2002. Since then, the U.S. State Department has awarded DynCorp a $22 million dollar contract to police Iraq. DynCorp is the real-life company that contracted Bolkovac and other police into Bosnia. In the film, the name of the company is Democra.

U.N. peacekeepers on missions have reportedly committed sexual assaults and human rights violations in the Congo, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Guinea, Nigeria, Liberia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, Cambodia, Colombia, Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan, according to Bolkovac’s report.

“We have a system that works,” sneers the big-shot head of an NGO, Laura Leviani (Monica Bellucci), in the movie. “For who?” Bolkovac (Weisz) shoots back.

Kondracki wants her audience to know that atrocities are being committed.

“It’s actually much worse [than in the film] and it’s continuing to happen. We really need more people like Kathy [Bolkovac].”

“The Whistleblower” stars Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Redgrave, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Anna Anissimova, and Roxana Condurache. The film is rated R and runs at 118 minutes. It opens in theaters Friday August 5.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/the-whistleblower-film-shines-light-on-the-uns-big-secret-60002.html.

Syrian Eyewitness Says 300 Killed in Hama

By Jack Phillips
August 5, 2011

A near-week-long tank attack in the restive Syrian city of Hama has left hundreds dead, according to locals on Friday.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) quoted an eyewitness named Mohammad as saying the number of those killed has “surpassed 300“ but have likely “reached 400 already.”

The Syrian regime has deployed a large number of tank battalions to Hama, a city known has a hub for opposition activists, which have launched attacks on civilians.

To make matters worse, the eyewitness said locals “have no bread, no medicine, no blood,” according to the LCC website.

“I carried more than 27 bodies for soldiers, but I cannot even count the wounded,” the witness said, adding that many of the hundreds killed were buried in Alqusoor park.

Mohammad said that numerous people who were injured due to tank shelling bled to death as there is no blood transfusions available at the hospitals in Hama. Some people even died after a “shot in the leg,” as there is no blood available.

He added that the government cut electricity throughout the city, forcing hospitals to operate under duress. The second floor of the al-Rayyes Maternity Hospital, which was used to treat wounded, was burned due to tank fire and several doctors were arrested.

People in Hama “are trying to get medicines from pharmacies outside the city because those inside have been sabotaged,” he said.

In Syria, the government has cut telephone and Internet lines, making it difficult to relay information to the outside. A number of foreign journalists have also been detained and deported out of the country.

“We are now desperately looking for the basic supplies like fever medicines for children,” he added.

Mohammad said he could spot at least 15 tanks occupying Al-Asi square and another six tanks in areas nearby. Meanwhile, army snipers are positioned on the roofs of buildings including the police station.

“Those snipers are professionals and definitely not Syrian,” he said, citing video footage and photos taken of them.

“Tanks and snipers are ordered to shoot anyone that moves in front of them. Even animals have been shot for fun,” he added.

A number of government buildings, like the financial administration center, a justice office, and homes have been invaded or burnt, he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said that more than 2,000 people have been killed during the Syrian government’s five-month-long crackdown in response to mass protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/syrian-eyewitness-says-300-killed-in-hama-60020.html.

Tunisia to expand youth, female vote

2011-08-05

All Tunisians above 18 years of age who have an identity card will be allowed to vote in the October 23rd Constituent Assembly elections, Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE) head Kamel Jendoubi said on Thursday (August 4th), ANSA reported. The measure aims at simplifying procedures and raising voter turnout. The ISIE will conduct awareness campaigns that target the under-represented categories of women and youth voters.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/05/newsbrief-04.

Mauritania receives Libyan rebel delegation

Representatives of Libya's transitional government travel to Mauritania for meetings with President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

By Hamdi Ould Cheikh for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 05/08/11

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz met with envoys from Libya's National Transitional Council (TNC) this week in Nouakchott to discuss the African Union plan to bring an end to violence between the rebels and troops loyal to Moamer Kadhafi.

The delegation, led by Abdelmajid Seif Nasr, delivered a written message from TNC chairman Mustapha Abdel Jalil on Tuesday (August 2nd).

"We are here as members of the TNC coming to meet [Abdel Aziz] in his capacity as president of the [African Union's] ad hoc High-Level Committee on Libya," said Seif Nasr in a statement on Mauritanian television, adding that the goal of the visit was to "talk and work together on the issue of the Libyan people".

He said that the Libyan people would agree to the African initiative if it required Kadhafi and his sons to step down. "We are a peace-loving and unarmed people, and Kadhafi has attacked us with weapons and destruction," Seif Nasr said. "We have come to Mauritania to thank the President for the laudable position he has taken – that Kadhafi is no longer fit and must leave Libya."

Reactions to the visit varied. Mauritanian website El Badil wrote that Kadhafi could not simply be "brushed aside". "Actions by the rebels and NATO have failed to topple Kadhafi, and our role does not allow us to do it on your behalf."

Support for Kadhafi is not uncommon. These groups, close to Libya's Popular Committees, challenge Mauritania's official position in the crisis. Demonstrators burned a Qatari flag outside the Embassy of Qatar in Nouakchott, placing strain on relations between the two nations. Some Mauritanians also viewed the Libyan dictator's long "resistance" in the face of Western strikes as a sign of heroism.

Others questioned the motives of foreign powers in the region. Teacher Mohamed Ahmed told Magharebia: "Where Libya is concerned, it's France and Italy who want to get their hands on the oil. We've seen a certain reticence from the United States, Russia and China regarding NATO strikes; everyone knows that if the United States had really been committed, then in military terms Kadhafi couldn't have held out more than a few weeks."

Ibrahim Ould Dahi, a shopkeeper, was pleased to hear the calls for Kadhafi to leave power. "He is a dictator who has caused chaos throughout the whole of Africa," he said. "There's not a single African country where he hasn't caused rebellions, divisions and so on. I'm happy the Mauritanian president, who like other heads of state has received support from Kadhafi in the past, has changed his mind and called for him to go."

IT worker Aminetou Diarra was concerned about the proposed solutions to the crisis. "The problem of Libya seems to be a complex one; there's talk of the rebels being infiltrated by AQIM and heavy weapons filtering out into the Sahel region. If that's true, then the whole region is under threat. This kind of situation can only be tackled with perfect agreement between the powers of the international community."

Khalidou, N'Diaye, a lawyer, offered the following interpretation: "Whereas in Tunisia and Egypt there were genuine popular revolutions which swept away the Ben Ali and Mubarak regimes, this hasn't been the case in Libya, where there has been armed warfare, with aerial bombardments and so on. Kadhafi has no chance of remaining in power, now that everyone has called for him to go, even including his African counterparts who were close to him."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/05/feature-02.

Greek taxi drivers suspend strike

ATHENS (BNO NEWS) — Greece’s taxi drivers voted to end their strike on Friday, 19 days after they began their protest against the government’s plans to completely deregulate their sector, the Khatimerini newspaper reported.

Following several hours of talks, unionists decided by a vote of 16 to 6 to suspend the strike until details of the government’s plans to liberalize their sector are clear. Taxi owners and drivers, however, made it clear that they may call new strikes for September 5 if they object to the content of the government’s bill.

On Thursday, the taxi drivers received guarantees from regional governors that no more new taxi licenses would be issued until the government submits its draft law towards the end of the month.

The drivers vowed last Friday to continue with their strike after a meeting with Transport Minister Yiannis Ragousis failed to break the deadlock. The strike has damaged Greece’s tourism since protesters have been blocking ports, airports and roads.

Transport Minister Ragousis favors total liberalization of the sector but has yet to give details of his plans. The drivers want the number of licenses to be limited depending on the population of each city, according to the newspaper.

Ragousis announced a total liberalization of taxis just weeks after his predecessor, Dimitris Reppas, had announced a deregulation plan that would have placed a limit on the number of taxi licenses that would be issued.

Unionists representing taxi drivers around the country claim that relaxing limitations for entering the profession will result in an overabundance of drivers, putting a strain on a business already suffering from the economic crisis. They also say that the existing 300,000 taxis that are in circulation in the country are more than adequate to meet the public’s needs.

The recent liberalization is part of the country’s ongoing austerity reforms, which included tax hikes, wide-ranging reforms and accelerated privatizations. The approval of the program was fundamental for securing a new European Union bailout agreement.

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19291/greek-taxi-drivers-suspend-strike/.

Clashes between Yemeni government forces, tribesmen resume in capital

SANAA (BNO NEWS) — Yemeni security forces and tribesmen of tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar on Friday clashed in Hassaba district of the capital Sanaa, breaking a two-month-old truce, according to media reports.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing two huge explosions before the clashes started, according to the Yemen Post. They added that hundreds of gunshots were heard in the area and that at least 11 tanks were seen on main roads surrounding Hassaba, where similar clashes took place in May.

There was no immediate report on casualties.

An official of the Interior Ministry told Xinhua news agency that the tribesmen opened fire first. “The tension could develop into pitched street battles between the two sides again, especially after the opposition militants received military support by the defected First Armored Division,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Another official of the Interior ministry told Xinhua that the tension escalated on Thursday after the tribesmen seized one of the patrol vehicles belonging to the security forces.

Government spokesperson Abdu Ganadi said that the Yemen government is not seeking war in Sanaa with the tribes and blamed them for any escalation that could take place, as reported by the Yemen Post. Abdul Qawi Qaisi, the head of office for Sadeq Ahmar, however, said that the tribes are still sticking to the ceasefire agreement that was signed in May after 10 days of clashes.

Clashes between al-Ahmar’s militants and government troops erupted late in May following the refusal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh to sign a power-transition deal initiated by the Gulf Cooperation Council for the third time.

The president has been in Saudi Arabia since he was wounded along with other government officials in the bomb attack that hit the mosque of the presidential palace in Sanaa on June 3.

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19293/clashes-between-yemeni-government-forces-tribesmen-resume-in-capital/.

Thai Parliament elects first female prime minister

BANGKOK (BNO NEWS) — Pheu Thai Party Member of Parliament Yingluck Shinawatra was elected Thailand’s first female prime minister by a majority vote in the House of Representatives on Friday morning, local media reported.

A total of 296 members of Parliament voted in support of Yingluck while three Democrat members voted against her. There were 197 abstentions.

Yingluck Shinawatra, a top-party list Pheu Thai Member of Parliament and youngest sister of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, became Thailand’s 28th Prime Minister and the first female to occupy the position.

The vote in the House of Representatives came a month after the Pheu Thai party won a convincing majority in the July 3 election and formed a six-party coalition controlling 300 seats in the 500-seat House.

When the agenda moved to the election of the prime minister, Pheu Thai Member of Parliament Sanoh Thienthong proposed Yingluck for the position. She was the only candidate since the opposition did not nominate a candidate for the job. Her nomination was supported by 294 members of the House.

House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranond earlier said before the House that he would seek royal endorsement for the newly-elected prime minister once the voting was completed. Upon receiving King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s royal endorsement, Yingluck will officially assume the position and be authorized to present a cabinet line-up for royal approval. Until then, she remains prime minister-elect.

Yingluck will face an uphill task to steer the country out of years of deep-rooted divide and revitalize its economy amid the financial situation in the Untied States and Europe. Earlier she also pledged to restore national reconciliation and unity.

About 100 supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), commonly known as “Red Shirts” who remain loyal to deposed Prime Minister Thaksin, gathered outside the parliament building to show their support for Yingluck.

Thaksin, deposed in a 2006 coup, is barred from politics and lives in exile in Dubai to avoid having to serve a two-year prison term after being found guilty for violating Thailand’s conflict of interest law, a conviction that he says is politically motivated.

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19298/thai-parliament-elects-first-female-prime-minister/.

Spanish protest blocked by police in Madrid

MADRID (BNO NEWS) — Spanish police on Thursday prevented hundreds of protesters from entering Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square for the second consecutive day, El País newspaper reported.

At least 300 protesters from the 15-M movement, which has been demanding a reform of Spain’s democratic system for months, tried to enter the square for the third time within two days. A strong police presence was seen around the square since Wednesday when about 1,500 protesters tried to enter the square at night, after almost 200 protesters failed to break through police barriers earlier in the day.

Police advised shop owners in the area to close their businesses, while tourists were also prevented from accessing the square and nearby areas. The protest hampered traffic in the area, according to El País.

Last Tuesday, anti-riot police expelled a few dozen protesters who were camping at the square since mid-May to protest against high unemployment and the Spanish government’s austerity measures. The rest of the protesters had ended their sit-in in mid-June.

The 15-M protest movement was launched last May before local elections to protest against unemployment and corruption, and demand a reform of Spain’s democratic system. Dozens of protesters were injured after police tried to disperse rallies held across the country, which were attended by tens of thousands.

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19272/spanish-protest-blocked-by-police-in-madrid/.

West Bank Hamas leader, 200 Palestinian security prisoners released from Israeli jail

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) — Israel on Thursday released some 200 Palestinian security prisoners, including a prominent West Bank Hamas leader.

Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of Hamas’ founders, was released a month and half early after spending over five years in prison for his involvement in “terror activities,” Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported. The Israel Prison Service said it released the security prisoners as a gesture in honor of the holiday of Ramadan.

Palestinian sources, however, said that the prisoners had already served their sentences. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC) described the act “as an Israeli media ploy”, according to Palestine News & Information Agency.

The head of the PPC in Ramallah, Qaddura Fares, said that the Israeli government is trying to deceive the world by releasing prisoners who have already served their sentences. He added that the prisons’ administration has allegedly started to impose a series of collective punishment against the prisoners since the beginning of Ramadan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on June 23 that the country will revoke “benefits and privileges” from Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons. Netanyahu was responding to Hamas’ refusal to let the International Red Cross visit soldier Gilad Schalit.

On June 25, 2006, Shalit, a Staff Sergeant with the Israeli Defense Forces, was abducted by Hamas militants and has been held in captivity since.

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19273/west-bank-hamas-leader-200-palestinian-security-prisoners-released-from-israeli-jail/.

Egypt's military council releases 115 protesters without resorting to military trials

CAIRO (BNO NEWS) — Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Military Forces (SCAF) released more than 100 protesters arrested during rallies without conducting a single military trial. This is the first time such an act occurs since the Egyptian revolution began earlier this year.

Mona Seif, member of the No Military Trials campaign, told Al-Ahram state-owned newspaper that the military council released on Wednesday 115 individuals who were allegedly arrested on August 1. On Monday, security forces stormed Cairo’s Tahrir square to end a three-week old sit-in, beating and arresting hundreds of people.

Seif added that she suspects that the army might not have divulged the true number of those detained that day. “We have no clue whether there are others in military jails, and therefore we will continue working on this case,” Seif told the newspaper.

Among those arrested were four persons between the ages of 14 and 16.

Activists and human rights organizations have been criticizing the ruling military council in recent weeks for its use of military tribunals to prosecute over 10,000 individuals it accuses of breaking public order. They are also asking for the immediate release of all civilians who have been sentenced by military courts and their retrial before civilian courts.

Last month, the SCAF vowed to consider the No Military Trials campaign’s proposal to refer all cases against civilians who have been tried in military courts to a civil judge. They also promised to investigate allegations of torture by military police.

According to Amnesty International, at least 840 people were killed and over 6,000 people were injured in the violent repression that took place during the January uprising. President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt in a 30-year-long regime, stepped down after the mass protests.

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19274/egypts-military-council-releases-115-protesters-without-resorting-to-military-trials/.

Poland to hold parliamentary elections on October 9

WARSAW (BNO NEWS) — Polish President Bronislaw Komrowski announced on Thursday that the country’s parliamentary elections will take place on October 9.

“According to the article 98 of the Polish Constitution, from today August 4, we officially start the election calendar,” Komrowski said, signaling the start of the election campaign, as reported by The News.

Komrowski said the election will be held over one day after politicians were debating whether to hold voting over two days to ensure a higher turnout. “The new laws introduce the possibility to vote with a representative and by mail for Polish people living abroad,” he added, explaining the new solutions to attract voters.

The largest opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), had called for the election to be held at the end of October, but the President’s Office commented that this would clash with the Catholic holiday of All Saints’ Day.

Opinion polls have consistently put the ruling center-right Civic Platform, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in the lead and commentators expect a second term of office for the party.

Critics have said that having an election during Poland’s six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, which began on July 1, could distract the government. President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, however, stated that he does not have a problem with it.

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19276/poland-to-hold-parliamentary-elections-on-october-9/.

Libya: UN Distributes Ramadan Meals to 55,000 Refugees in Tunisia

3 August 2011

The United Nations refugee agency and its partners in Tunisia are distributing food for more than 55,000 Libyans who have fled the fighting in their homeland to help them prepare their evening meals during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

The logistics of the operation have gone very smoothly thanks to cooperation between all those involved, including the Government, Nasir Abel Fernandes, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) senior emergency coordinator in southern Tunisia, said today.

Some 400 staff from UNHCR and other local and international organizations, including the World Food Program (WFP), have helped pack, transport and distribute the food at more than 34 distribution points across southern Tunisia.

Well over half a million people, including migrant workers, refugees and asylum-seekers, have fled to Tunisia since fighting erupted in February between a pro-democracy movement and the four-decades-old regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi.

Most of the Libyans have few resources and are happy to receive the food. "This donation will be a great help in cutting down family expenses during Ramadan," said 72-year-old Ali as he queued for his food package in UNHCR's Al Khayr distribution center in the town of Tataouine.

Ali, who fled to Tunisia in April with a large group of relatives, said Ramadan was very important to him and his family. "Ramadan is an occasion for family reunions," he said, adding sadly: "Although the Tunisians are being very generous, we are finding it difficult to feel at home because our community network has been disrupted."

Fifteen items, including rice, pasta, couscous, oil, tomato paste, tuna, sugar and dates, are being handed out in five southern Tunisian provinces, where tens of thousands of Libyans are staying in camps or living with host families. The food will be eaten during iftar, the evening meal. During Ramadan, which started on Monday, Muslims are forbidden to eat or drink during daylight hours.

Other organizations taking part in the operation are the Tunisian Red Crescent, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent, Islamic Relief, Al Tawoon, Secours Islamique France, Secours Populaire Français, Wafa Relief and the Libyan Relief Committee.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201108031317.html.

NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars

Pasadena CA (JPL)
Aug 05, 2011

Observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars. "NASA's Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, "and it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration."

Dark, finger-like features appear and extend down some Martian slopes during late spring through summer, fade in winter, and return during the next spring. Repeated observations have tracked the seasonal changes in these recurring features on several steep slopes in the middle latitudes of Mars' southern hemisphere.

"The best explanation for these observations so far is the flow of briny water," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson. McEwen is the principal investigator for the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and lead author of a report about the recurring flows published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

Some aspects of the observations still puzzle researchers, but flows of liquid brine fit the features' characteristics better than alternate hypotheses. Saltiness lowers the freezing temperature of water. Sites with active flows get warm enough, even in the shallow subsurface, to sustain liquid water that is about as salty as Earth's oceans, while pure water would freeze at the observed temperatures.

"These dark lineations are different from other types of features on Martian slopes," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Scientist Richard Zurek of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Repeated observations show they extend ever farther downhill with time during the warm season."

The features imaged are only about 0.5 to 5 yards or meters wide, with lengths up to hundreds of yards. The width is much narrower than previously reported gullies on Martian slopes. However, some of those locations display more than 1,000 individual flows. Also, while gullies are abundant on cold, pole-facing slopes, these dark flows are on warmer, equator-facing slopes.

The images show flows lengthen and darken on rocky equator-facing slopes from late spring to early fall. The seasonality, latitude distribution and brightness changes suggest a volatile material is involved, but there is no direct detection of one. The settings are too warm for carbon-dioxide frost and, at some sites, too cold for pure water.

This suggests the action of brines, which have lower freezing points. Salt deposits over much of Mars indicate brines were abundant in Mars' past. These recent observations suggest brines still may form near the surface today in limited times and places.

When researchers checked flow-marked slopes with the orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), no sign of water appeared. The features may quickly dry on the surface or could be shallow subsurface flows.

"The flows are not dark because of being wet," McEwen said. "They are dark for some other reason."

A flow initiated by briny water could rearrange grains or change surface roughness in a way that darkens the appearance. How the features brighten again when temperatures drop is harder to explain.

"It's a mystery now, but I think it's a solvable mystery with further observations and laboratory experiments," McEwen said.

These results are the closest scientists have come to finding evidence of liquid water on the planet's surface today. Frozen water, however has been detected near the surface in many middle to high-latitude regions. Fresh-looking gullies suggest slope movements in geologically recent times, perhaps aided by water.

Purported droplets of brine also appeared on struts of the Phoenix Mars Lander. If further study of the recurring dark flows supports evidence of brines, these could be the first known Martian locations with liquid water.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory operates HiRISE. The camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., provided and operates CRISM. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/NASA_Spacecraft_Data_Suggest_Water_Flowing_on_Mars_999.html.