Bangladesh’s government votes to allow garment workers to form trade unions without approval from their bosses. [The Guardian] Rios Montt is found guilty of genocide in Guatemala and sentenced to 80 years in prison. [Huffington Post] Over 5,000 refugees displaced by violence in Myanmar have been evacuated to higher ground in preparation for Cyclone Mahasen. [...]
Tag Archives: refugees
Signs of the NY Times: Myanmar hangs in the balance. Syrian refugees. African self-reliance. The end of Fayyadism.
Op-Ed contributor Aung Zaw, founding editor of the Irrawaddy Publishing Group, is warning his home country of Myanmar that a precious opportunity may soon be lost. The two-year old democracy is struggling for its acceptance in the greater community of nations, yet recent examples of religious and racial discrimination and violence, along with government in-fighting, [...]
Press Review: Burma Police allow violent riots against minorities & Executions on the rise in Taiwan
A video of riots in Burma shows police standing by as Buddhist rioters violently attack minority Muslims. [BBC] Human rights activists in Taiwan express horror at the government’s increasing use of the death penalty in recent months. [BBC] At least 185 people are dead after fighting between the Nigerian government and Islamist extremists in the [...]
Press Review: UNICEF forced to abandon Syrian refugee camps & Extreme weather harder to predict
The president of Refugees International assesses the situation at refugee camps on the Turkish border to Syria. [Huffington Post] Simple geolocation technology helps nonprofits reduce infant and maternal mortality. [The Guardian] Extreme weather caused by global warming is getting harder to predict. [The Guardian] After receiving less than 20% of the funds it requested, UNICEF [...]
Press Review: Conflict-free smartphones & Educating girls in India
Despite its rising economic status, India fails to provide educations for girls and other marginalized groups. [The Guardian] George Monbiot searches for a smartphone made with conflict-free minerals. [The Guardian] The Congolese government expresses doubts about signing a peace agreement with M23 rebels on March 15. [Washington Post] Three challenges that all women face as [...]
Press Review: Child executions in Yemen & Google ads help illegal ivory trade
After violent elections in 2007, millions of Kenyans vote in mostly peaceful elections. [BBC] The number of Syrians seeking refuge in underfunded camps in Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon is expected to tip the one million mark this week. [Washington Post] At the two-year anniversary of Syria’s uprising, the country needs fewer arms—not more. [The [...]
Israel secretly repatriated 1,000 to Sudan, without informing UN
‘The Haaretz’ reported on Feb 26, 2013: Though Israel claims the people’s return was voluntary, this claim was rejected by UNHCR, which says there is no ‘free will from inside a prison.’ Israel has “voluntarily” returned at least 1,000 people to Sudan, an enemy country that has vowed to punish any of its citizens who [...]
Signs of the NY Times: Asylum in Germany? Morsi visits Obama. Obama’s failed foreign policy. Clear skies over Japan.
Op-Ed Columnist Roger Cohen has written a scathing criticism, couched as book review, of Obama’s foreign policy during his first term. “The Dispensable Nation” by Vali Nasr, the ex-White House advisor and current dean at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, comes down hard on the President for letting electoral pandering affect foreign policy, [...]
Press Review: Land grabs in Burma & Diplomacy hindering help for Syrian refugees
Western leaders encourage investment in Burma, while the Burmese government routinely seizes land from its citizens to sell to foreign investors. [Washington Post] Diplomacy by wealthy nations and inefficient methods of aid agencies are effectively stopping relief efforts to Syrian refugees. [The Economist] Big oil companies looking for oil in risky areas of the Arctic [...]
Signs of the NY Times: Not too late for Global Cooling? The Taliban of Timbuktu. Gold and the Environment.
Op-Ed contributor Thomas E. Lovejoy – who in 1980 introduced the scientific community to the term “biological diversity” – is another widely respected scholar screaming for more attention to be paid to global warming. But unlike authors of many recent articles on the subject, he still has hope. Although he claims that the pre-determined allowable [...]
Press Review: Beijing’s off-the-charts air pollution & Western intervention in Mali
Four-hundred indigenous villagers are ready to fight to the death in a looming confrontation with the Ecuadorian government and Petroamazonas, one of South America’s largest oil companies. The oil company plans to begin prospecting on the community’s land starting January 15. [The Guardian] Beijing’s noxious air pollution reached new highs over the weekend as it [...]
Europe’s Shame: Mayor of Lampedusa criticizes the EU for its immigration policies and treatment of migrants
With its tropical climate and breathtaking shores, the island of Lampedusa may well be described as an idyllic paradise, somewhere off the Italian mainland in the Mediterranean Sea. Contrary to this blissful image and as far as human rights and immigration are concerned, however, Lampedusa has become Europe’s shame. Since the 2000s, the Italian [...]
