Kosovo's independence is legal, court finds
[Jul 24, 2010, 00:38], [CNN]
(CNN) -- Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February 2008 was legal, the International Court of Justice ruled in a 10-4 vote Thursday.
There were celebrations in Pristina, with fireworks being set off in the capital of Kosovo after the finding was announced, journalist Vlora Rrustemi told CNN.
But Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic expressed disappointment, saying Belgrade had hoped for a "peaceful compromise solution" that did not create "dangerous secessionist precedents" elsewhere in the world.
The U.N. General Assembly asked the court to clarify the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence, based on a request from Serbia, and the court held hearings last December.
Serbia maintains Kosovo's move for independence was illegal and that it remains a part of the Serbian republic.
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Canadian Tamils head to the polls on June 20 to elect council
[Jun 16, 2010, 00:52], [Digital Journal]
Toronto - On June 20, Tamils across Canada will head to the polls to take part in a nationwide election to vote for the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT). Several Canadian Tamil organizations are working together to help form this national council.
In December 2009, Digital Journal reported on the more than 50,000 Canadian Tamils who took part in a national referendum. Approximately 99.8 percent voted in favor of a separate Tamil state within the nation of Sri Lanka. A referendum also took place around the world, including France and Norway.
On June 20, 2010, thousands more are expected to take part in a nationwide election to elect 51 candidates, who have submitted their nomination documents and papers, to the national, provincial and regional levels of the NCCT, according to a press release e-mailed to Digital Journal.
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New York Times Runs Correction on M.I.A. Feature
[Jun 4, 2010, 02:07], [www.theboombox.com]
M.I.A.'s distaste for her recent feature in The New York Times Magazine hasn't been much of a secret. The enraged Sri Lankan singer responded to the less-than-flattering piece by tweeting the phone number of the article's author Lynn Hirschberg and later penning a diss track, titled 'I'm a Singer.' M.I.A.'s most rational response to the entire ordeal, was the threat of posting the unedited transcript of the interview on her website, but the New York Times decided to help her out a bit, by running a small correction on the piece on Thursday (June 3).
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Internal security meet: Multiple security threats must be put down - PM
[Feb 7, 2010, 18:35], [mangalorean.com]
New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) Emphasising that the road ahead to securing India was hard and there was a lot to achieve, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said multiple threats such as leftwing extremism and insurgencies in the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir required a firm hand to put down.
"Hostile groups and elements operate from across the border to perpetrate terrorist acts in our country. The state of Jammu and Kashmir bears the brunt of the acts of these groups. There is insurgency and violence in the northeast. Many states are affected by leftwing extremism, which I have in the past referred to as the greatest threat to our internal security," said Manmohan Singh, inaugurating the internal security conclave of chief ministers here.
"There are also those trying to divide our society on communal and regional lines. Each one of these threats requires a strong effort, determination, hard work and continuous vigilance to tackle. These threats to our society, to our polity and our country constitute a challenge that we must and we shall meet effectively at all costs," he said.
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Cohn: How Canada can help rebuild Haiti
[Jan 20, 2010, 05:32], [Toronto Star]
It's human nature to hope for the best in Haiti.
We tell ourselves that life for Haitians can't possibly get any worse, that people will pull together at a time of such unbearable sorrow. Believing in the power of redemption, we give it our best shot.
But history tells us Haiti is a long-shot.
Once again, Canadians are donating generously, humanitarian workers are on the ground and our troops are being deployed as part of Canada's DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team).
We have no choice but to help Haiti rebuild. An epic disaster seizes the front pages, electrifies the internet, energizes NGOs and boosts their cash flow. Canada will host a meeting of foreign ministers next Monday to pin down donors, so we are on track for yet more feats of fundraising – and that is good news for Haiti's future.
But past experience in other conflict zones suggests that any new foundation will ultimately crumble unless we look beyond infrastructure – and focus on political structures.
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Chaos as overburdened Haiti airport can’t cope with volume of aid flights
[Jan 15, 2010, 02:37], [Times on Line]
Haiti’s tiny airport buckled under the burden of global sympathy last night as controllers called a halt to incoming relief flights, unable to cope with the volume of traffic heading to the earthquake zone.
With roads cracked and blocked with rubble, a ruined port and no heavy-lifting equipment to be found across the capital, aid workers warned that thousands may die for the want of emergency supplies sitting hundreds of miles away on an airstrip on the Dominican side of the island.
All flights were suspended after air traffic controllers declared that Haitian airspace was saturated by the rush of aircraft trying to deliver supplies. Among 11 aircraft that were turned back was one containing a team of British firefighters and rescue dogs sent to search for survivors.
“It’s chaos,” said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which oversees the international response to major disasters. “It’s a logistical nightmare.”
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76 journalists killed in 2009: watchdog
[Dec 30, 2009, 03:00], [AFP]
PARIS — The number of journalists killed because of their work rose to 76 this year from 60 in 2008, the media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday.
"Wars and elections have been the main threats to journalists in 2009", said Jean-Francois Julliard, secretary general of the watchdog group (Reporters sans frontieres - RSF).
"Violence committed against journalists pre- or post-election have been especially high in 2009 in countries with weak democracies."
The year also saw an increase in the number of journalists kidnapped (33 compared with 29 in 2008) and physically attacked or threatened (1,456 compared with 929) and more bloggers were censored (151 in 2009 against 59 in 2008).
"Each time the Internet or new media (social networking websites, mobile telephones, etc.) play a major role in the circulation of information, the consequences are severe", Julliard said.
He added that the main concern for 2009 was from the massive exodus of journalists in countries such as Iran or Sri Lanka.
Is China a global partner or strategic rival of U.S.?
[Nov 4, 2009, 00:41], [CNN]
1: China today, say many analysts, is in a comparable position to U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century... an emerging power that the dominant global power of the time is trying to downplay. Then it was Great Britain vs. the United States. Now it is the United States vs. China.
2: China's rapid economic expansion continues to outpace growth in the United States, 8.9 percent in the last quarter versus 3.5 percent in the United States giving Beijing huge economic leverage.
3: China is on the brink of overtaking Japan as the world's second biggest economy and could overtake by some estimates (PricewaterhouseCoopers) the U.S. economy in overall size (though not GDP a head) by 2025 and be 130 percent bigger than the U.S. economy by 2050
4: China is the world's biggest exporter, recording a trade surplus in the last 12 months of $250B. The United States is the world's biggest importer, with a trade deficit of $575B over the last year. By one reckoning, one in every eight dollars of the U.S. trade deficit is due to just one company, Wal-Mart, which is the biggest single importer of Chinese goods into the U.S.
5: China is the world's largest creditor nation, holding as much as $2 trillion in U.S. dollar denominated assets. The United States is the world's largest debtor nation. Some say that gives Beijing huge leverage over the U.S. economy. either by giving it the ability to abruptly sell its U.S. assets which could cause the dollar to plunge on the global foreign exchanges (note the U.S. did this to Britain during the Suez crisis in 1956 forcing Anglo-French forces to withdraw from Egypt) or by enabling Chinese companies to buy huge swathes of the U.S. economy (witness Chinese efforts to profit from the wreckage of the U.S. auto industry).
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'Thousands buried' in Indonesia earthquake rubble
[Oct 1, 2009, 05:18], [News.com.au]
THOUSANDS remain buried in rubble following the Indonesian earthquake which struck near the city of Padang on Sumatra island yesterday.
The earthquake has killed between 100 and 200 people, but the death toll was expected to rise sharply, Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the national disaster agency, said.
About 500 houses had caved in, according to officials in the area.
By this morning there were still "thousands of people trapped in the rubble of buildings", said Rustam Pakaya, the head of the health ministry's disaster centre in Jakarta.
The 7.6 magnitude quake hit Padang, West Sumatra, yesterday afternoon.
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UN Security Council Calls for Appointment of Special Representative on Sexual Violence
[Oct 1, 2009, 05:14], [VOA]
The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution creating new tools to combat sexual violence against women and children in conflict situations. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chaired Wednesday's meeting, which came on the last day of the United States' presidency of the council.
Secretary Clinton said that during her July trip to Africa, she met victims of sexual violence in the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than a 1,100 rapes are reported each month.
"The physical and emotional damage to individual women and their families from these attacks cannot be quantified nor can the toll on their societies," said Hillary Clinton. "The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn't just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group. It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings. It endangers families and communities, erodes social and political stability, and undermines economic progress. We need to understand that it holds all of us back."
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Transcript: U.N.'s Ban Ki-moon On Nukes, Reform, His Image
[Jul 14, 2009, 09:12], [WSJ]
WSJ: Many of your critics say you travel too much, that you are not in New York enough and delegate too much in New York on management issues and not enough to your representatives abroad. And that by traveling too often you are devaluing the impact of a Secretary General visit. Also that your timing is off, in Sri Lanka you arrived after the fighting, almost putting a seal of approval on what the Sri Lankan government had done.
Mr. Ban: I am aware of that kind of sentiment, even criticism. I have been on the road maybe average one-third of my time trying to attend multilateral meetings or very crucial events where I can really send out some messages. But when you have 192 member states who want to invite me to their events, I have been refraining from meeting on a purely bilateral purpose. I try to be more often in headquarters. However I delegate my authority, the tendency is for people looking to the head, of course. But they know what they should do, all these under-secretaries general or assistant secretaries-general. So it doesn't involve me much in my direct intervention in the daily activities. With global communications I can be reached wherever I am.
WSJ: But on Sri Lanka. I'd be interested to hear your view about what you accomplished on Sri Lanka.
Mr. Ban: If you look at my timing of my visit to Sri Lanka you may argue that I was there after everything had finished. A long time before this crisis began I have been urging the Sri Lanka government to protect the civilian population, not to use heavy weapons. I have been talking to them all the time. Sometimes I issued a strong statement, urging and criticizing them. On my visit, first of all I called for unimpeded access to internally displaced camps. That has been done. Then [the Sri Lankan president] assured me that 80% of these people would be resettled by the end of this year. It was very difficult to agree with him on a joint communique. I conveyed the importance of full accountability, taking into consideration the view of the international community and non-governmental organizations. I strongly urged them that before there was an external imposition on them to be committed to accountability. In the end [the Sri Lankan president] agreed to full accountability and I am sure he will take action soon.
WSJ: At least 10,000 civilians died. Wouldn't it have made a difference if you had made public statements while the killing was going on as opposed to a joint communique after the fact?
Mr. Ban: That's what I said. Whatever the number may be, it was totally unacceptable. Unfortunately there was a high number of civilian casualties. At this time I would like to make it quite clear that there were some allegations that the United Nations closed our eyes to this [reported figure of] 20,000 civilian casualties and tried to underestimate this number. First of all that is totally not true. We have never done that. I should not be responsible for that. It's totally not true. Whatever the number might be, this is an unacceptable one. In these extreme conditions, it was not possible to know the exact number of people who had been killed. That is what I can tell you at this time.
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'Backdown' on Tamil Tigers ban
[Jun 11, 2009, 04:46], [AAP]
THE Federal Government is believed to have backed away from plans to ban Sri Lankan guerilla group the Tamil Tigers in Australia. ABC Radio said it has seen evidence that Labor secretly tried to declare the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a terrorist organisation late last year. The Government had reportedly prepared a media campaign and warned state counter-terrorism officials to be ready to explain the decision to local Tamil communities. Despite most of the states and territories agreeing with the move, it was abandoned without explanation. "We will be shocked to hear if the Tamil Tigers are banned in Australia," he said. "The Tamil community will also be disappointed very much. "They will take this as a message to the Sri Lankan government: your genocide is accepted by the international community."
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Voices of Tamil-Canadians on Parliament Hill
[Apr 10, 2009, 11:26], [The Dominion]
"Since January, hundreds have been killed every day, including civilians – women and children! The dead are being left on the ground. There is no burial. The bunkers are full of blood because it is the rainy season so people cannot go inside the bunker. The Safety Zone is not being respected. The Sri Lankan Defense Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been saying that hospitals are a legitimate target, which is a war crime under the Geneva Convention."
"We have asked the Canadian government peacefully over the last four months by writing letters and petitions, gathering in numbers peacefully but nothing has happened. After the news [last week] that 1800 people had been killed, we could not stand it any longer. So we had to come and bring it to their attention. Until the Canadian government takes political and economic action and declares an embargo on Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan government is not going to listen."
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Tamils protest in Canada
[Apr 10, 2009, 11:16], [AFP]
The world's largest Tamil expatriate community here in Canada clogged the streets of its capital Thursday for a third day of protests, demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
The crowd of thousands at its peak halted traffic as they waved Tamil Tiger flags and the Canadian Maple Leaf, and shouted their support for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
One woman was bloodied in a brief scuffle with police in front of parliament, several announced a hunger strike, while others screamed "stop the genocide of Tamils."
"We're urging the Canadian government to press for peaceful negotiations between the Tigers and the Sri Lankan government to bring an end to the war in our homeland," protestor Vino Mahalingam told AFP.
"The situation back home is critical," he said. "This is our last hope."
UN urged to use the R2P doctrine against Sri Lanka
[Apr 1, 2009, 18:55], [Express Buzz - India]
PUCL (People’s Union for Civil Liberties) urged on Tuesday the UN Human Rights Commission to intervene immediately in the Lankan Tamil issue by invoking the UN clause of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) doctrine to stop the annihilation of Tamils and prevent the death of democracy in Sri Lanka.
Dr.V.Suresh President PUCL Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry said, “ Indian government can no longer escape, by saying we cannot interfere in the affairs of a sovereign country. Under the R2P doctrine, which came into force, post Rwanda crisis in December 2001 as per the recommendations of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, when a state fails in its responsibility to protect its citizens, the responsibility falls on the international community to intervene and protect the citizens from harm.”
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