The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report detailing mass rapes against the woman of Darfur. The U.N. has asked the Sudanese government to investigate the rapes and further allegations of sexual slavery, however, the Sudanese government at Khartoum has failed to look into the matter. Louise Arbour, […]
The director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Abraham Foxman, has stated that the World War I – era massacres of Armenians at the hands of Muslim Turks “were indeed tantamount to genocide.” Foxman's statement comes after weeks of turmoil and internal wrangling among pro-Jewish and Holocaust memorial organizations. Earlier this week, the ADL fired the […]
Pakistan: 50 million Pakistanis suffer from iodine deficiency, and it is severely affecting children in northwest Pakistan. Iodine is essential for healthy thyroid function, and iodine deficiency can cause developmental delays, and is the leading cause of mental retardation/learning disability. Iodine deficiency in pregnant woman, may cause infants to be born with with severe mental […]
Norway pledges funds to help UN fight female circumcision, pledging $3.4 million USD to the UN, Norway hopes to make considerable strides in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM). “Genital mutilation is a brutal violation of the basic human rights of women and children,” Norwegian Aid Minister Erik Solheim said in announcing the pledge. […]
Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as “Chemical Ali” for his use of chemical agents against civilians, and 14 other former Iraqi aids to Saddam Hussein are facing war crimes prosecution for actions committed in response to a Shi’ite uprising in 1991. It is estimated that tens of thousands were killed suppressing the uprising and buried […]
Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN In the town of Malicounda Bambara, population of around 3,000, a large crowd gathered on 5 August to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the day that the community publicly stated its commitment to abolish female genital mutilation (FGM). The declaration, which was officially made on July 31, 1997, made headlines around […]
With Hurricane Dean going to slam into the Yucatan tonight, with winds now at 150 mph and maybe intensifying, it's not a bad time to consider some of the discussion about hurricanes. (If you like to track hurricanes, there's no better place than the National Hurricane Center, with its terrific graphics and its up-to-the-hour information.) […]
The Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “informing him that the government of the Netherlands is favorably disposed to hosting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.” The United Nations narrowly passed a resolution to establish an international tribunal to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese […]
The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is not reserved to the Middle East and Africa, as the law enforcement in the UK has discovered the hard way. Female genital mutilation is on the rise in Britain, as Scotland Yard estimates that up to 66,000 girls, 74,000 according to the woman's rights group Forward, in […]
11 year old, Saraa Barhoum, Hamas TV's child star says she's ready for martyrdom. The star of Hamas television's most famous children's show, "Tomorrow's Pioneers". The very same Hamas television children's show that brought us the ‘militant Mickey Mouse look-alike’, Farfour, that was killed by an Israeli interrogator. Saraa said she was ready to be […]
This brilliant little cartoon by Kevin Kallaugher in this week's number of "The Economist" sums up the "land rush" (or, more accurately, seabed rush) that's on to claim mineral rights at the North Pole. See this article from "The Guardian" for good background on what's going on here, and this from Reuters. Also, there's an […]
There is no sleep for the weary eyed young workers of Japan, as a new generation struggles to enter into the job market and leave life in the lower class behind. While the struggle of a young and aspiring professional, or labor, is nothing new, the true gap of classes in Japan is reveling its […]
Eight military personnel were charged with the murder of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha. After an IED attack on a convoy killed one Marine, troops from Kilo company went on a house-to-house excursion that ended tragically. Three of the troops in the Haditha case had their charges dropped by Lt. Gen James […]
No matter what you say, or what you do, it all leaves a mark on the children around you. A child who witnesses violence and war, is forever scared by what they see. A child who hears nothing but negative, cannot erase the voice that says, “you can't”. But the child who witnesses peace and […]
Any time that a child spends in a refuge camp, isn't ideal, and is usually ripe for children's rights violations. However many children in refugee camps around the world, know no other life outside the camps, and Somalian children in Kenya are no exception. The question is, when and how can they leave life in […]