Category Archives: Global Politics

Middle East – Kurds unite in bid to rescue Iraq’s Yazidi minority – France 24

Pray that they succeed! Though Peace is still the answer.

Kurdish fighters from Iraq, Syria and Turkey were coordinating operations in northern Iraq Wednesday to reclaim areas lost to jihadists and rescue thousands of Yazidi civilians stranded in nearby mountains.

The fate of the civilians from the Yazidi minority, who fled to the Sinjar mountains after an attack by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) group at the weekend, has sparked international concern.

On Tuesday a Yazidi lawmaker broke down in tears during a parliamentary session as she urged the government and the international community to save her community from being massacred or starved into extinction.

“Over the past 48 hours, 30,000 families have been besieged in the Sinjar mountains, with no water and no food,” said Vian Dakhil.

via Middle East – Kurds unite in bid to rescue Iraq’s Yazidi minority – France 24.

AKA: We’ll do it when no one is watching! Government drops enough hint to allow confined field trials of GM crops – The Times of India

A day after allaying members’ concerns over genetically modified crops in Parliament, the government on Wednesday dropped enough hint that it may eventually give its nod for ‘confined’ field trials of certain varieties of GM crops including rice, brinjal, chickpea, mustard and cotton.

“We are not saying no to science. Nobody can say no to science. We have to take proper caution. We have to take proper action. But you cannot deny, we are not living in the Galileo times,” said environment minister Prakash Javadekar on sidelines of a function here.

via Government drops enough hint to allow confined field trials of GM crops – The Times of India.

40,000 Iraqis stranded on mountain as Isis jihadists threaten death | World | The Guardian

{No one cares, no one will help?}

Tens of thousands of members of one of Iraq’s oldest minorities have been stranded on a mountain in the country’s north-west, facing slaughter at the hands of jihadists surrounding them below if they flee, or death by dehydration if they stay.

UN groups say at least 40,000 members of the Yazidi sect, many of them women and children, have taken refuge in nine locations on Mount Sinjar, a craggy mile-high ridge identified in local legend as the final resting place of Noah’s ark.

At least 130,000 more people, many from the Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar, have fled to Dohuk, in the Kurdish north, or to Irbil, where regional authorities have been struggling since June to deal with one of the biggest and most rapid refugee movements in decades.

Sinjar itself has been all but emptied of its 300,000 residents since jihadists stormed the city late on Saturday, but an estimated 25,000 people remain. “We are being told to convert, or to lose our heads,” said Khuldoon Atyas, who has stayed behind to guard his family’s crops. “There is no one coming to help.”

Another man, who is hiding in the mountains and identified himself as Nafi’ee, said: “Food is low, ammunition is low and so is water. We have one piece of bread to share between 10 people. We have to walk 2km [1.2 miles] to get water. There were some air strikes yesterday [against the jihadists], but they have made no difference.”

via 40,000 Iraqis stranded on mountain as Isis jihadists threaten death | World | The Guardian.

Why There Aren’t Any Photos of Hamas Fighters (and Why the NYT, Tyler Hicks and Photographers Have Been Unfairly Blamed) — BagNews

I can understand if the New York Times, Tyler Hicks and other conflict photographers are frustrated. Working conditions in Gaza are surely hard enough without the drumbeat of allegations and personal intimations, from the conservative media to the Israel lobby to pundits like David Frum, promoting the idea that Western photographers are somehow willfully choosing not to photograph Hamas fighters, concentrating instead on churning out photo after photo of wounded and dead Palestinians. If the Hamas fighter black hole has grown darker and uglier recently, it also remains overtly fuzzy and presumptuous. The gist of the argument is that Hicks and the other Western photographers could easily seek out and photograph Hamas fighters, and thus balance out the coverage, but they have been too bullied and intimidated to do so.

via Why There Aren’t Any Photos of Hamas Fighters (and Why the NYT, Tyler Hicks and Photographers Have Been Unfairly Blamed) — BagNews.

Interview with Sociologist Eva Illouz about Gaza and Israeli Society – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Illouz: The only response is to create a vast camp of people who defend democracy. The right-left divide is no longer important. There is something more urgent right now: the defense of democracy. The voice of the extreme right is much louder and clearer than it was before. That’s what’s new: a racist right that is not ashamed of itself, that persecutes dissenters and even people who dare express compassion for the other side. The real danger to Israel and its sustainability comes from within. The fascist and racist elements are no less a security threat than the outside enemies.

via Interview with Sociologist Eva Illouz about Gaza and Israeli Society – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Israel Suspends Attack in Parts of Gaza, but Strike Kills Girl – NYTimes.com

Minutes after Israel began a unilateral and partial cease-fire in Gaza on Monday, the air force struck a house in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, killing a girl, 8, and wounding at least 29 others.

More than six hours later, there was still no official comment about the strike from the Israeli military, which continued to withdraw many of its ground forces from populated areas in Gaza, about why it struck the house.

After sharp criticism from the United States and the United Nations of its strike outside a United Nations school on Sunday, which killed seven people in addition to its intended targets, three Islamic Jihad fighters on a motorcycle, Israel announced a unilateral cease-fire to last from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Israel said the cease-fire was intended to assist humanitarian relief efforts.

Continue reading the main story

RELATED COVERAGE

Questions of Weapons and Warnings in Past Barrage on a Gaza ShelterAUG. 3, 2014

Airstrike Near U.N. School Kills 10 as Israel Shifts Troops in GazaAUG. 3, 2014

But the cease-fire was to take place only in areas where Israel was not engaged in military activity. Israeli Army officials said that east Rafah, in southern Gaza, far from Gaza City itself, was the only urban area where troops and tanks were engaged in fighting on Monday, with most of the rest of the Israeli troops pulled back closer to the border with Israel and some redeployed in staging areas inside Israel itself.

via Israel Suspends Attack in Parts of Gaza, but Strike Kills Girl – NYTimes.com.

70 bodies found in Rafah as death toll hits 1,830 | Maan News Agency

The death toll on the 27th day of Israel’s offensive on Gaza hit at least 120 on Sunday as health officials reported that over 70 bodies had been recovered in Rafah, a day after the city came under fierce, prolonged bombardment by Israeli forces.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma’an that the bodies of 70 Palestinians had been recovered from the city in southern Gaza, while 55 other Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks across the Strip Sunday.

The continuing attacks brought the total death toll in the assault to 1,830 with nearly 10,000 injured.

via 70 bodies found in Rafah as death toll hits 1,830 | Maan News Agency.

61 Palestinians killed since midnight in the 26th day of the Israeli offensive in Gaza

At least 61 Palestinians were killed overnight in the Gaza Strip in different Israeli attacks, many of them children and elderly. 35 of them were killed in Rafah, which has been suffering ongoing attacks since yesterday at noon.

Medical sources reported this morning about the killing of three Palestinians in Israeli airstrikes that targeted their home in the Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip. They have been identified as Amr Tarek Hassan Kandil, Wael Nihad and Mohammad Tayseer Hassan Kandil. The medical source informed that the martyrs were directly hit by the rocket on their house.

This morning at dawn local sources reported the killing of 23 people in several Israeli attacks against residential buildings in the west of Rafah. There were also more than 40 people injured.

via 61 Palestinians killed since midnight in the 26th day of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Qassam: Missing soldier likely killed by Israeli shelling | Maan News Agency

Hamas’ military wing said early Saturday that it has no information on the whereabouts of the Israeli soldier missing in Gaza, and suggested that he had been killed by Israeli shelling.

The al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that it had lost contact with a group of militants that could have captured a soldier amid clashes with Israeli troops early Friday.

“We lost contact with a group of fighters … when Israeli occupation forces penetrated east of Rafah. We suspect they were all killed by Israeli shelling, including the soldier, who, supposedly, was abducted by the group.”

The statement went on to explain Hamas’ understanding of the chronology of events that led to the collapse of the ceasefire on Friday.

“What happened east of Rafah Friday morning was that occupation forces took advantage of the alleged humanitarian ceasefire to penetrate our land for more than two kilometers. We estimate that our fighters who were in the area clashed with the Israeli troops around 7:00 before the alleged ceasefire went into effect.”

“Then, Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling targeted Palestinian civilians after 10:00 a.m., breaching the ceasefire under the pretext of searching for a missing soldier.”

The account differs significantly from Israeli army statements about the collapse of the ceasefire.

via Qassam: Missing soldier likely killed by Israeli shelling | Maan News Agency.

WHO | WHO Director-General assesses the Ebola outbreak with three West African presidents

First, this outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it. If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries. As I said before, this meeting must mark a turning point in the outbreak response.

In addition, the outbreak is affecting a large number of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers, one of the most essential resources for containing an outbreak. To date, more than 60 health care workers have lost their lives in helping others. Some international staff are infected. These tragic infections and deaths significantly erode response capacity.

Second, the situation in West Africa is of international concern and must receive urgent priority for decisive action at national and international levels. Experiences in Africa over nearly four decades tell us clearly that, when well managed, an Ebola outbreak can be stopped.

This is not an airborne virus. Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, also after death. Apart from this specific situation, the general public is not at high risk of infection by the Ebola virus.

At the same time, it would be extremely unwise for national authorities and the international community to allow an Ebola virus to circulate widely and over a long period of time in human populations.

Constant mutation and adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes. We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more surprises.

Third, this is not just a medical or public health problem. It is a social problem. Deep-seated beliefs and cultural practices are a significant cause of further spread and a significant barrier to rapid and effective containment. This social dimension must also be addressed as an integral part of the overall response.

Fourth, in some areas, chains of transmission have moved underground. They are invisible. They are not being reported. Because of the high fatality rate, many people in affected areas associate isolation wards with a sure death sentence, and prefer to care for loved ones in homes or seek assistance from traditional healers.

Such hiding of cases defeats strategies for rapid containment. Moreover, public attitudes can create a security threat to response teams when fear and misunderstanding turn to anger, hostility, or violence.

Finally, despite the absence of a vaccine or curative therapy, Ebola outbreaks can most certainly be contained. Bedrocks of outbreak containment include early detection and isolation of cases, contact tracing and monitoring of contacts, and rigorous procedures for infection control.

Moreover, we do have some evidence that early detection of cases and early implementation of supportive therapy increases the chances of survival. This is another message that needs to be communicated to the public.

via WHO | WHO Director-General assesses the Ebola outbreak with three West African presidents.