February 2010
152 posts
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Two Afghan women are publicly flogged by local... →
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 12:00 Description:
DMTX. According to reports by Afghan media, ordered by a local warlord called Fazl Ahad, two Afghan women were…
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17 dead in Afghanistan suicide attacks →
Date: Friday, February 26, 2010 - 06:00 Description:
Suicide bombers attacked in the heart of Kabul on Friday, triggering a series of explosions and gunbattles that…
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From Rebel Disunity to Segmented Peace in Sudan →
If you follow Sudan or American diplomacy you’ve heard about Khartoum’s deal with the Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) signed in Doha. Wow, it sounds terrific,…
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Historic Reconciliation Between Rwanda and France... →
A new chapter in Euro-African relations was opened today as French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Rwanda in an effort to mend severely strained ties; and by all accounts the diplomatic…
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The US Supreme Court and the Congo →
The US Supreme Court will soon rule on a case of great importance to the Congo. Well, not really, but it does reveal an interesting loop hole in international diplomacy and law. In Holder v….
Kabul explosion kills French film-maker and... →
Date: Friday, February 26, 2010
Description: At least 17 people, including foreigners, have been killed and more than three dozens of others wounded in a series of…
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WatchListen to voices of people from around the world asking for Afghan people to be put first. They have joined the call for aid delivery to be separated from military objectives. If you are in the USA you can sign the petition now - more countries will follow http://act.oxfamamerica.org/site/PageNavigator/advo_afghanistan
Guinea’s junta hires ex-war crimes prosecutors --... →
Two former war-crimes specialists were recently
hired as consultants for Guinea’s military junta after it was accused of
massacring civilians — and produced a secret report downplaying the…
VIDEO: Young people help to improve sanitation in... →
via youtube.com
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 22 February 2010 Sanitation is among the most urgent concerns in Haiti following Januarys earthquake. UNICEF estimates that…
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Guinea’s junta hires ex-war crimes prosecutors -... →
Two former war-crimes specialists were recently hired as consultants for Guinea’s military junta after it was accused of massacring civilians — and produced a secret report downplaying the violence, Foreign Policy has confirmed.
David M. Crane, the former U.N. prosecutor for the Special Court in Sierra Leone, and his chief investigator, Alan W. White, were once on the front lines of...
Pulling Security in the Baji Bast Pass →
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Description: Whilst the media’s attention focuses on Operation Moshtarak, counting the casualties as the public debates if the war is…
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D.R of Congo: Two closest capital cities in the... →
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Presidential Decree De-Fangs Afghanistan’s... →
A move by Hamid Karzai threatens to undermine the Afghan election process. A view from our correspondent in Afghanistan.
Eleven days ago, I heard a rumor that the office of President…
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The legacy of the London Conference: the UN and... →
On January 28, 2010, during the London Conference on Afghanistan—which was intended to focus on security issues—President Hamid Karzai presented a list of top Taliban figures who are on the UN’s…
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Banning Cluster Bombs Moves One Step Closer →
It’s pretty hard to find a weapons system that is kind and merciful. But there’s something particularly disgusting about cluster bombs. These nasty weapons, some about the size of a Diet Coke…
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Chinque Chantiers: Hiccups in the China-Congo deal →
There was a good article in the Africa-Asia Confidential newsletter last week on the Congo-China deal. (You can read it for free here). According to a parliamentary commission, some $23 million…
Welcoming Message! →
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Somali Media Centre (SMC) which is simply created to bring together Somali and non-Somali journalists. The Centre will strive to become an exciting…
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Reform of security forces in Guinea must deliver... →
Amnesty International on Wednesday warned that Guinea risks a new era of human rights violations if urgent reforms of the security forces do not take place and the perpetrators of last year’s massacre continue to escape justice. In a new report examining the “Bloody Monday” massacre on 28 September 2009 and its aftermath, Amnesty International outlines a series of reforms for...
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London Summit on Afghanistan « Mahassany's Blog →
London Conference – What does it mean for Afghans?
Was it really a honest effort Or PR reinforcement for Karzai or Election Campaign for Gordon Brown?
In, 2004 when for the first time Afghans were experiencing direct vote for electing their president, Mr. Karzai with the support of international community won the first 5 year term election. Karzai had not only had the majority of votes from...
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The price of peace →
As expected, the CNDP is not happy about not getting any cabinet positions in PM Muzito’s new government line-up. ” A violation of the peace deal,” they called it in their press statement. Kabila’s…
Oxfam distributing hygiene kits at Ecole... →
via flickr.com
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Sandeep Gopalan: Another Opportunity in... →
Contrary to popular opinion, Mullah Baradar’s capture by the CIA acting in concert with the Pakistanis is not a game-changer. At best, it presents the Taliban with a minor inconvenience. Baradar was the deputy defence minister during Taliban rule in Afghanistan and was quoted as claiming just a few months ago that “in every nook and corner of the country a spirit for jihad is...
Twitter Blog: Hello, Haiti →
Monday, February 22, 2010
If you have been following the events in Haiti since the devastating quake last month, then you know of the initial bursts of compassion. International dialogue…
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YEMEN: Children hit hardest by northern conflict
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SANAA, 23 February 2010 (IRIN) - Hundreds of children have either been killed or used as child soldiers in fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi-led Shia rebels in the north of the country since August 2009, according to a new report by Seyaj Organization for Child Protection (SOCP), a local child rights NGO.
U.S. Claims Somali Aid Shortage Not Political →
In my previous post, “Somalia, Too Many Get Caught in Crossfire of U.S. Policy,” I questioned the logic of the U.S. falling short on humanitarian funding to Somalia, a shortfall which has…
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NYT VIDEO: Covering a Global Crisis →
NY Times Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof explains how to stay safe and get the story right while covering a global humanitarian crisis. Good tips here for bloggers and journalists alike.
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Hariharan's MI blog: UN Arms Trade Treaty &... →
The United Nations is poised to bring an international agreement on global arms trade and finalise ‘a strong and robust’ Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) at the conference to scheduled for July 2012. Already 153 nations have voted in favour of the resolution towards this while 19 countries including India abstained while one voted against it. Can ATT help to check the rising tide of terrorism and other...
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A Life Revealed - National Geographic Magazine →
She remembers the moment. The photographer took her picture. She remembers her anger. The man was a stranger. She had never been photographed before. Until they met again 17 years later, she had not been photographed since.
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BBC News - Today - Congo's fears →
There hasn’t been an ‘official’ war in the Democratic Republic of Congo for seven years. But, for most of last year, government forces have been going all-out to rid the east of the country of one of its most notorious rebel Hutu militias.
But the military operation to defeat them has caused more than nearly a million people to flee their homes and led to a record rise in...
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3things Australia - Poverty and politics in... →
The war in Afghanistan is a war fought on many fronts. One of them is where Afghans are losing the fight against poverty, dislocation and disempowerment. On January 28th, London held a conference on Afghanistan. World leaders including Obama, Merkel and Hatoyama were in attendance. In acts of yet more compassion for the Afghans, they threw money at a bucket named ‘Poverty in Afghanistan’. As...
Haiti PM: Gov't to take land for temporary camps |... →
Aid agencies have criticized the government for dragging its feet on the thorny land issue as relief agencies work against the clock to find temporary settlements for the homeless before the…
CNDP tighten control over Masisi →
As mentioned in the last post, the CNDP will probably not be very happy that they didn’t get a ministerial position during the cabinet re-shuffle on Saturday. Up until the last minute, they…
Coup in Niger: Bloggers sigh in relief at the... →
Kabila shuffles his cabinet: analysis →
After months of waiting and rumor-mongering, President finally shuffled his cabinet today. (A full list of the new cabinet can be found here.) He trimmed it down from 54 to 43 members, mostly but…
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Taliban Capture Could Reduce Chances of Peace →
So what do you do when you catch the number two commander of the Afghan Taliban, potentially by accident?
Apparently, if you are Pakistan, you report it as the sovereign result of increased…
Congo: The Coltan Conflict is in Our Hands (and... →
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Somalie : les transferts d’armes doivent être... →
Le 21 janvier 2010 est sorti le nouveau rapport d’Amnesty International, intitulé « Somalie : Reexaminer les conditions de l’aide internationale à destination de l’armée et de la…
Africa: When language reflects life →
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Niger New Coup Follows Old Coup →
Not long ago, Niger President Mamadou Tandja was talking amnesty for rebels. Now, members of his own military have captured him and taken power.
Back in 1999, a military junta assassinated…
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Blood Coltan →
WATCH how your mobile phone is fueling conflict in the Congo
Haiti earthquake reconstruction could hit $14... →
Features and Web Stories Feb 16, 2010 Haiti reconstruction cost may near $14 billion, IDB study shows New IDB study raises estimates to between $8 billion and $14 billion, making Jan. 12…
American Airlines resumes commercial flights to... →
American Airlines on Friday morning resumed commercial flights to Haiti as the first major carrier to restart paid flights into the ravaged capital.
American will offer three flights a…
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Port au Prince, Haiti, 2010. - Jack Rice Blog: In... →
via jackrice.org
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H20 or Al Qaeda: Yemen's Gravest Security Threat →
A humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions is brewing in Yemen. While the West has turned its sole attention to countering the presence of al Qaeda fighters within its borders, Yemen…
In Somalia, Too Many Get Caught in Crossfire of... →
Recently the U.S. defended its falling short of promised funding for humanitarian emergencies in Somalia on the grounds that too much of the aid was falling into the hands of the radical…
Dick Cheney's Waterboarding Confession →
You won’t find too many people willing to brag about being torturers. Sure, there’s Sayed from Lost. And that really large man from the opening scene of Slumdog Millionaire. But advocating…
UN Too Late Coming Out Against Militarization of... →
From afar or from inside an armored humvee, marrying war-making and humanitarian aid seems to make a lot of sense. The NATO militaries have arguably the fastest logistics systems in the…
Citadel of Herat →
This citadel, which has been suggested as another possible site for Alexander’s fort, is known today as the Citadel of Herat or Qal’a-ye Ikhtiyar al-Din. The name Ikhtiyar al-Din, which…
(VIDEO) Oxfam's cash-for-work program in Haiti:... →
via youtube.com
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