The 100 best nonfiction books: No 34 – Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946) | Books | The Guardian

 

John Hersey’s Hiroshima stands at the head of this tradition. These 31,000 words of searing testimony were written and published just a year after the dropping of the first A-bomb on Japan in August 1945, a terrible act of war that killed 100,000 men, women and children and marked the beginning of a dark new chapter in human history.Hiroshima was the result of an inspired commission about an event of global significance from a renowned war correspondent by a magazine editor of genius. It was in the spring of 1946 that William Shawn, the celebrated managing editor of the New Yorker, and protege of its founder Harold Ross, invited his star reporter, John Hersey, to visit postwar Japan for an article about a country recovering from the shattering experience of the atomic bomb. The piece was intended to be a standard four-parter about Japan’s ruined cities and devastated lives nine months on from the country’s humiliating unconditional surrender.ADVERTISING Facebook Twitter Pinterest John Hersey driving a US army jeep in 1944. Photograph: APOn the Pacific sea voyage to Japan, however, Hersey chanced on a copy of Thornton Wilder’s novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey, the tale of five people who are crossing an Inca rope bridge in Peru when it collapses, for which Wilder had won a Pulitzer prize. Accordingly, Hersey decided to focus his narrative on the lives of a few chosen Hiroshima witnesses. As soon as he reached the ravaged city, he found six survivors of the bombing whose personal narratives captured the horror of the tragedy from the awful moment of the explosion. This gave Hersey his opening sentence, a unique point of view, and a narrative thread through a chaotic and overwhelming mass of material. In a style later developed and popularised by the “new journalism” of the 1960s, the opening of Hiroshima pitches the reader into the heart of the story, from the viewpoint of one of its victims:

Source: The 100 best nonfiction books: No 34 – Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946) | Books | The Guardian

‘I hope Merkel keeps us’: how Nujeen Mustafa travelled from Syria to Germany in a wheelchair | World news | The Guardian

A year ago, Nujeen completed a 3,500-mile journey from Syria to Germany in a cumbersome steel-frame wheelchair, an Odyssean adventure that involved dodging masked Isis fighters, navigating perilous Mediterranean waters and fending off packs of wild dogs. Now the wheelchair is folded up on the veranda and she sits on a faded beige sofa in the living room of the flat she shares with two sisters and four nieces, struggling with a crumbly German biscuit.Looking at this teenager, with her thick black-and-red spectacles, I cannot help thinking of her as a Harry Potter figure, exiled on a Westphalian Privet Drive. There are even some Dursley-esque neighbours who, Nujeen says, “aren’t such big fans of refugees”.When I suggest the comparison, she shakes her head. She likes the town she has ended up in, and the fact no one knows her here. “Harry Potter is such a lifeless book, there’s too little emotion and too much display of power,” she says, adding a barb that has a special sting coming from someone with her backstory: “It makes every boy in the world think they are the chosen one.”Nujeen Mustafa was born on New Year’s Day 1999 in Manbij in northern Syria, the youngest of a Kurdish family of 11 in a mostly Arab town. Though Muslim, she says her family were never “obsessed” by religion: she and her sisters and cousins were the only girls who didn’t cover their heads in their local high school.Her pride in her cultural identity as a Kurd is fierce, however, and shaped her view on her country’s descent into civil war. As the population divided into supporters and opponents of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, “the Kurds had their own side as they couldn’t trust anyone”, as Nujeen puts it in the memoir she has co-written with Sunday Times journalist Christina Lamb, who also co-authored Malala Yousafzai’s autobiography.

Source: ‘I hope Merkel keeps us’: how Nujeen Mustafa travelled from Syria to Germany in a wheelchair | World news | The Guardian

Civil society chilled by Egypt’s asset freeze – IFEX

The re-activation of case 173 and ongoing use of the Mubarak era Law 84 are part of a larger crackdown targeting not only human rights defenders, but also the media, trade unions, and peaceful protesters. Other measures of the case have included travel bans against 12 NGO members, including Eid and Bahgat, asset freeze requests against 13 NGO members, interrogation of 5 NGO heads in connection with the case, and the interrogation of 17 human rights defenders in connection with their human rights work. The ruling on 17 September in favor of the investigative judge’s asset freeze request indicates that the five-year-old investigation into the funding and registration of independent human rights groups could soon result in criminal charges. Under Egyptian law, prosecutors could charge human rights defenders for working without official registration or accepting foreign funding without government authorization. An amendment to the Penal Code passed in September 2014 by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi provides for a sentence of up to life imprisonment, which equates to 25 years in prison in Egypt, for the latter charge. We firmly believe that the current push against Egyptian civil society is not only unconstitutional, but also fundamentally misguided. The work of civil society groups contributes to a healthy, vibrant political climate that allows for open and critical debate of important social issues where all Egyptian citizens can be freely heard.

Source: Civil society chilled by Egypt’s asset freeze – IFEX

#AnaTarablos: The Triumphant Video That’ll Make You Love Tripoli

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

ana-tarablos-tripoli-lebanon

If there’s anything that this blog has gotten people to think about me, it’s that I’m one of the staunchest advocates for Tripoli, one of my favorite Lebanese cities, and the capital of my mouhafazat. I know its streets all too well. I pride myself on being able to maneuver its shortcuts. I feel jubilant whenever I’m deep in conversation about it and can converse well in its history.

Tripoli also instills sadness in me when I see its current state, and the massive could-have-been that it is. I hope that future days are kinder on this city whose potential knows no bounds, which boasts some of Lebanon’s most impressive architectural and human feats, and whose imprint in our history as a country cannot be denied.

From its maarad, to its old souks, to its citadel, to the river running in its midst, to its restaurant, to its people. I’ve written about…

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Egyptian Aak 2016 – Week 37 ( Sept 12-18)

Nervana

Top headlines

  • Mexico reaches compensation deal for victims of 2015 bombing in Egypt
  • TNT traces on EgyptAir plane debris split investigators
  • US Congressmen call for Aya Hegazy’s release from prison
  • Egypt freezes assets of several human rights advocates
  • Clinton to meet with presidents of Egypt, Ukraine next week
  • Sisi and Trump to meet for first time on the sidelines of his visit to New York

 Main Headlines

Monday

Tuesday

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‘Healthy Ohio’ plan not healthy for Ohio: Wendy Patton, Policy Matters Ohio (Opinion) | cleveland.com

People could be kicked out for non-payment and locked out until they pay the debt. The Ohio Hospital Association fears higher costs due to administrative complexity. The plan is so problematic that 99 percent of the 956 comments submitted to the state about “Healthy Ohio” opposed key provisions of the proposal.The largest number of comments came from Ohioans worried about their own care: people with rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes, parents with mentally ill or developmentally disabled children. The next largest group of commenters was health-care providers: doctors, dentists, psychologists, hospitals, physician groups and free clinics. Advocates for vulnerable groups – youth in foster care, domestic violence victims, people with breast cancer — submitted comments. The concern of the faith community was enormous.

Source: ‘Healthy Ohio’ plan not healthy for Ohio: Wendy Patton, Policy Matters Ohio (Opinion) | cleveland.com

Dolphins sit out anthem after police union says they have forfeited free speech | Sport | The Guardian

Foster has dismissed criticism of the protests. “They say it’s not the time to do this,” Foster said last week. “When is the time? It’s never the time in somebody else’s eye, because they’ll always feel like it’s good enough. And some people don’t. That’s the beautiful thing about this country. If somebody feels it’s not good enough, they have that right. That’s all we’re doing, exercising that right.”The Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has said he supports his players’ stands. “I don’t think it was any lack of respect. I think everybody here — our team and our whole organization — respects the flag and what it stands for, and the soldiers and everything,” he said. “But these guys are making a conversation of something that’s a very important topic in this country, and I’m 100% supportive of them.”The Broward Sheriff’s Office have made no comment on the union’s requests but Miami-Dade police, who also provide security at Dolphins games, said they had no intention to change their policies. “[The department] have contractual obligations with Hard Rock Stadium to provide public safety. The safety of our residents and visitors is our primary concern,” it said in a statement.

Source: Dolphins sit out anthem after police union says they have forfeited free speech | Sport | The Guardian

World’s oldest fish-hooks found on Okinawa, Japan

Hooks, approximately 23,000 years old, were made from the shells of sea snails and found in Sakitari cave on island

Source: World’s oldest fish-hooks found on Okinawa, Japan

Researchers believe this and the other findings of their excavation indicates the island has been nearly continuously occupied since 35,000 years ago. As well as the fish-hooks and remains of animals, researchers also found human remains, seashell beads, as well as something they believe might have been a grindstone.

The discovery of the charred remains of the crab is also significant, say the researchers, in that it provides evidence of seasonal eating habits. The size of the crab remains indicate they were captured in the autumn when they were larger and were migrating downstream for reproduction, which is “also the season when they are the most delicious”.

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