Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer sexually assaulted by Israeli govt thugs

Democracy Now! Meanwhile a prominent Palestinian journalist has been hospitalized after being strip-searched and assaulted by Israeli officials at a border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. The journalist, Mohammed Omer, was on his way back to Gaza after visiting London where he won the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for journalism. Omer is the Gaza correspondent for the Inter Press Service and has been a guest on Democracy Now. According to Omer, Shin Bet officials interrogated him, pointed an M16 gun at his face then forcibly removed all of his clothing. Then officials pinned him to the floor and searched every cavity of his body. He began vomiting and fainted. He was then dragged on the floor with his head banging on the ground. He woke up in a Palestinian hospital

A bequest for Panama’s poor children – blocked by family

But Lucom, a native of rural Pennsylvania who spent much of his life in Palm Beach, Florida, surprised everyone in his will, which was disclosed upon his death two years ago at the age of 88. After doling out relatively small portions of his tens of millions of dollars to survivors, he left the rest to a foundation he had dreamed up in secrecy to aid the poor children of Panama, where he spent the final years of his life.

Morgan Tsvangirai leaves Dutch Embassy

HARARE, ZIMBABWE – Zimbabwe’s opposition leader emerged from his refuge at the Dutch Embassy Wednesday to call for African leaders to guide talks to end Zimbabwe’s crisis, saying a presidential runoff this week was no solution.

Exxon Valdez $2.5 billion oil spill ruling overturned

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the nation’s worst tanker spill.
By a 5-3 vote, the high court ruled that the punitive damages award should be slashed — limited by the circumstances of the case to an amount equal to the total relevant compensatory damages of $507.5 million.

Barack Obama Inc.: the birth of a Washington machine – Ken Silverstein

Meanwhile, Obama, Durbin, and three other farm-state senators opposed a proposal this year by the Bush Administration to lower stiff tariffs on cheaper sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil and other countries. To lower such tariffs, the senators suggested, would leave the nation dangerously dependent on foreign ethanol. “Our focus must be on building energy security through domestically produced renewable fuels,” wrote the senators in a letter to Bush. That Obama would lend his name to such an argument—with its dubious implication that Brazilian ethanol is a national-security liability comparable to Saudi crude—indicates that he is at least as interested in protecting domestic producers of ethanol as he is in weaning America from imported petroleum.

Architecture for Humanity

 

Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crisis and brings design services to communities in need. We believe that where resources and expertise are scarce, innovative, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference.

By tapping a network of professionals willing to lend their time and their talents to helping those who would not otherwise be able to afford their services, we support community development, help communities rebuild after disaster and provide pro bono design services to community partners around the world.

Confident Expectation – an African American Peace Corps man & wife comes to Guyana

I love life. God has me here for a purpose, and I am enjoying this journey.

Arthur Chung dies in Guyana

the most accurate source for breaking news and propaganda in Guyana has done it again. and we speak of anti-government blogger livinguyana

Guyana’s first President Arthur Chung died this morning in Georgetown. He was 90 years old. He was born on January 10 1918.

Morgan Tsvangirai Seeks Refuge At Dutch Embassy

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has gone into hiding in the Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe, a day after he announced he was pulling out of the presidential run-off election.

Morgan Tsvangirai press statement on quitting Zimbabwe election runoff

The MDC won the March 29th elections despite conditions that were far from free and fair. Our party’s message of peaceful, democratic change and rebuilding a New Zimbabwe enjoys the support of the vast majority of Zimbabweans.

Our election victory confirmed this to Mugabe and since that date, he and his supporters have been waging a war against the people of Zimbabwe

Ogaden refugees vow never to return

by Jean-Marc Mojon Fri Jun 20, 12:30 PM ET

Halimu, a 20-year-old with a disability, feels she escaped hell when she and three friends embarked on a three-month odyssey to flee Ethiopia’s conflict-torn Ogaden region.

Now that she has reached the safety of the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya, she cannot contemplate ever returning to her village.

Archfred Chipiyo attacked, kidnapped & murdered in Zimbabwe

TimesOnline: Archfred Chipiyo was one of three men discovered by the roadside in Harare today with their skulls smashed after they were abducted by loyalists of the president’s Zanu-PF party on Tuesday. The body of a fourth man was later discovered nearby.
Archfred Chipiyo was kidnapped on Tuesday night after armed security forces raided the home of his father, Suleiman, the MDC chairman in the Chinunwiza district. Suleiman Chipiyo escaped from the scene with a number of other activists, but his son and three others were left in the house, surrounded, and badly beaten up before being abducted. One of those killed was believed to have been a passer-by caught up in the attack by chance.

Jack Stone released by Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

Thu Jun 19, 2:58 PM ET
Militants from Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta said they released an American oil worker captured in an attack on an offshore oil facility earlier on Thursday.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said U.S. captain Jack Stone from oil services company Tidex was freed at 12:45 p.m. EDT.
(Reporting by Randy Fabi and Nick Tattersall)

UK Chagos Support Association notice

UK Chagos Support Association. The UK Chagos Support Association has just circulated this notice. I thought you would want to know, in case any of you will be in London in late June.

“As you probably already know, the Foreign Office Appeal to the House of Lords begins on Monday 30th June. If anyone wants to show support for the Chagossians, they will be meeting up from 9.00 outside the Houses of Parliament to attend the hearing.”

Kelsang Chung, Ngawang Sangmi and Tashi Dolma arrested in Nepal

Nepal-Leader-Arrest
Succumbing to Chinese pressure, Nepal has arrested three top pro-Dalai Lama Tibetan leaders along with 700 activists from different parts of the capital, Kathmandu.
The police raided the residences of Kelsang Chung, Director of the Tibetan Reception Centre, Ngawang Sangmi, President of Regional Tibetan Women’s Association and Tashi Dolma, vice-president of RTWA and arrested them Thursday, PTI reported here quoting Superintendent of Police Sarvendra Khanal said.

United Nations message on World Refuge Day

U N I T E D  N A T I O N S | N A T I O N S  U N I E S

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL — MESSAGE FOR WORLD REFUGEE DAY

Intolerance, political breakdown and war have long, pernicious histories. Yet the fragility of political systems, the devolution of societies into catastrophic violence have also provoked a humane reply, the protection of those forced to flee their countries in escape from persecution. Granting asylum can be traced back thousands of years and is one of the earliest hallmarks of civilization. Today, the principle is firmly recognized in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which this year marks its 60th anniversary: “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

Rafia Abdul-Jabbar arrested in Amarah

BAGHDAD – Iraqi troops on Thursday arrested the top official in Amarah, a Muqtada al-Sadr loyalist, officials said, drawing swift condemnations from followers of the anti-U.S. cleric and raising tensions as a military operation against Shiite militias got under way.
Rafia Abdul-Jabbar, who also was acting deputy governor for Maysan province, was seized from his office Thursday morning along with a member of the provincial council, a local official said.

Thabo Mbeki in Zimbabwe meeting Robert Mugabe

AllAfrica: South African President Thabo Mbeki headed to Zimbabwe on Wednesday to hold talks with Robert Mugabe ahead of next week’s presidential run-off poll. Mbeki also met with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangerai as well as United Nations envoy Haile Menkerios before setting out to Bulawayo to meet Mugabe.