Pope Benedict Calls for Respect of
Human Rights During UN Address
Pope Benedict XVI has called on all nations to protect and
respect human rights during his address to the United Nations General Assembly.
In a speech about the importance of dialogue, diplomacy and human rights,
Pope Benedict said every state has a duty to protect its people from grave
and sustained violations of human rights and from the consequences of humanitarian
crises, whether natural or man-made.
Consumer Reports' Investigates
the Truth
Behind Labels that Imply "Made in the USA"
Whether motivated by patriotism or recent health and safety
alerts regarding goods made abroad, consumers may look to find domestic-made
goods, but finding a product’s homeland on the label isn’t always
easy, says Consumer Reports.
Scientists Find Black Hole's Point of No Return
By a score of 135 to zero, scientists at MIT and Harvard have
found that a certain type of X-ray explosion common on neutron stars is never
seen around black holes, as if the gas that fuels these explosions has vanished
into a void.
Women Make the News 2008: UNESCO’s Global Action to Promote Gender Equality in the Media
Women Make the News, UNESCO’s global operation to promote
gender equality in the media, will be launched for the eighth year on the
occasion of International Women’s Day (8 March) 2008 with the aim of
encouraging news media to give editorial responsibility to women editors
and journalists on that Day.
International Year of Languages
to Be Launched at UNESCO
International Mother Language Day, celebrated on 21 February
every year since 2000, will also mark this year the start of the International
Year of Languages proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, which
has entrusted its coordination to UNESCO.
Guatemala's Mayan Indians Endure Poverty
Isabel Rosario Lopez rises at dawn to prepare breakfast for
a bustling household of six children. This day, she has a guest helping her
prepare a meal. She spends her day in her mountain village tending to her
home and weaving beautifully intricate textiles, a tradition passed down
by Mayan women for centuries. Her husband toils in the surrounding cornfields
or weaves baskets and sells firewood for income.
UNICEF Launches Podcast Series on Education in Emergencies and Post-crisis Countries
UNICEF launched the first in a series of podcast discussions
on education in emergencies and post-crisis transition countries, with the
participation of leading figures from the academic, development, media and
humanitarian communities.
Entitled 'Beyond School Books', the podcast series highlights the important
role of education in countries affected by conflicts or natural disasters
or those in post-crisis transition.
Editorial -- A True Reform Needed
at the UN
Since 1945, as of its inauguration after the end of World War
II, the United Nations Organization has been struggling to stop wars, discrepancies
among members, world hunger, health crisis, human rights violations, and
the destruction of the environment.
Development Workers from
War-Affected Nations Warn on Hunger
With wars and armed conflicts dominating the political agenda of the United Nations' 62nd General Assembly, the anti-poverty agency, ActionAid, says that the UN must do more to address the hidden costs of war: increased hunger and poverty. Of the 39 countries facing food crises in mid 2006, 25 were caused by conflict.
Sudanese
Cameraman Sami Al-Haj
in Critical Condition in
Guantanamo
Reporters Without Borders voiced “deep concern” about
Sudanese cameraman Sami Al-Haj, a Guantanamo detainee since June 2002, whose
lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said after recovering his notes from US military
censors that his client’s health has worsened considerably in recent
days. Referring to the death of four prisoners in just over a year, Al-Haj
told him he feared for his survival.
100
Journalists Killed in 2006, the Most Brutal
Year in the Modern Media’s History
With 100 journalists killed, 2006 was the most savage and brutal year in the
history of the modern media. The figure is largely due to the targeting of local
journalists in Iraq, which saw 46 journalists killed. However, the murder of
journalists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Mexico, and Sri Lanka
also added to the overall figure, according to the International Press Institute.
Infidel,
a Book by Muslim Dissident Ayaan Hirsi Ali
An award-winning humanitarian and courageous
freedom fighter, Ayaan Hirsi Ali stands as one of the most influential
and outspoken political figures of our time. Yet, she is also demonized
by conservative Muslims worldwide, including members of her own clan
and family, for speaking out against the injustices of the Islamic faith.
Determined to voice the truth in Infidel (Free Press; February 6, 2007;
$26.00), her remarkable and unflinchingly honest memoir, Hirsi Ali recounts
her transformation from what she terms,
"the world of faith to the world of reason," a change she believes
is vital for the most troubled regions of the world.
A Real Gulag at Guantanamo Next Door
Just a few miles north of the U.S.
Naval Base you will find Cuba, a small country ruled by a Communist regime
since 1959. Since the early 1960s, more than 100,000 Cubans have been jailed
for political reasons, and about 12,000 have been executed by firing squads
or killed by security forces. According to Amnesty International there
are 400 political prisoners in Cuba at this very moment, most of them "prisoners
of conscience" whose crime has been to become human rights activists.
They are serving sentences of up to 28 years after well known undue processes.
Iraq,
Mexico, Deadliest Countries for Journalists
Iraq topped the list for the fourth year in a row,
with 64 journalists and media assistants killed there in 2006. The second
most dangerous country for media was Mexico, where nine journalists were
killed covering stories about drug trafficking or social violence. Meanwhile,
the Philippines was third on the list, with six journalists killed.
US: Castro
Health Crisis Signals Start of Political Change in Cuba
The U.S. State Department's senior official for Latin
America said President Fidel Castro's health crisis signals the beginning
of political change in Cuba. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Thomas Shannon says he does not believe an effort to perpetuate communist
rule on the island can succeed. Shannon says a transition effort is under
way.
Fluctuating
Fortunes for Hugo Chavez
Venezuela's fiery President Hugo Chavez is the subject
of both adulation and scorn. Some say he is headed toward despotism; others
claim he is a man of the people. And still others say he is both.
Is AIDS a Global
Security Threat?
A new study says HIV/AIDS is creating
potential risks to regional, national and global security. The study was
done by analysts at the Center on Global Change and Health at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. They say the link between public
health and national security has so far been missing.
Internet Safety:
A Growing Concern
The exploitation of children through the Internet is an increasing concern worldwide.
In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is part of a major
effort supported by the government, schools, parents and companies to do something
about it.
Plattism:
One More Slogan Against Cuban Americans
During almost 47 years, lacking a practical and
formal vocabulary, the Fidel Castro regime used the most improbable epithets
to discredit its political opponents. So we witness not only to a power
phenomenon that isolates, locks up and executes those who think differently,
but uses as well a rethoric closer to the slang of Havana's lower quarters
than to a language capable of explaining covincing reasons and intentions.
In that way adjectives such as "worm," "homeland-seller,"
"traitor," "lumpen," "antisocial," and many
other were born.
Castro Ordered Kennedy's Assassination,
According to a German Documentary
German filmmaker Wilfried Huismann spent years digging into the assassination
of US President John F. Kennedy. His documentary "Rendezvous With Death
-- Why Kennedy Had to Die," about Cuban leader Fidel Castro's role in
the murder is set to premiere Friday, January 6, 2006 on German public TV.
Political Parties Are Most
Corrupt Institution Worldwide
The public around the world perceive
political parties as the institution most affected by corruption, according
to a new public opinion survey published today by Transparency International
(TI) to mark UN International Anti-Corruption Day.
World Population in 2300 Could
Stabilize at 9 Billion, UN Estimates
The world's population three centuries from now will
stabilize at 9 billion if fertility levels continue their decline, particularly
in the developing world, but could also top more than 1.3 trillion if they
remain unchanged from current rates, according to statistics released by
the United Nations.
Stop Terror Sheikhs, Muslim Academics
Demand
Over 2,500 Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries
have signed a petition to the United Nations calling for an international
treaty to ban the use of religion for incitement to violence, according to
the English-language daily newspaper Arab News, based in Saudi Arabia.
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