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North Korea TV hides anti-US message in kids' cartoon

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North Korea TV hides anti-US message in kids' cartoon

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North Korea state television programming bring fable to life in a cartoon rendition. In searching for more productive, appealing and informative television to provide to youthful viewers, the network approved of this fable due to the underlying representations. In this fable, "The Hedgehog defeats the Tiger," a small hedgehog stands up to a bully tiger and defeats him by jamming his spines into the tiger's nose. With recent and ongoing tensions between American and North Korea, the station took the opportunity to portray bully America being defeated by the sharp and quick witted hedgehog.  Kim Jong-son, a worker at the Pukchang Thermal Power Complex, told reporter that after watching these cartoons, he is "very proud of the invincible might of his country."

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A children's cartoon about a group of forest friends which aired today on North Korean state television appears to have come with an anti-America message.

To the outside observer, the home-produced cartoon "The Hedgehog Defeats the Tiger" looks like an earnest tale in which the tiny hedgehog uses his spines and his sharp wits to defeat the bullying big cat.

But in the bewildering world of the North Korean media, it appears that nothing happens by chance, and it looks like the programme was aired during Korean Central Television's children's hour as a commentary on recent tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.

In the cartoon based on an old folk fable, a group of forest friends led by a rabbit wearing a red armband are confronted by an arrogant, strutting tiger who tries to bully them into submission.

But he reckons without the tiny yet wily hedgehog, who curls into a ball for defence and defeats the tiger by digging its spines into his nose. As the bully flees, the somewhat fickle animals - who were initially but reluctantly on the side of the tiger - fete the victorious hedgehog for his bravery and tactical genius.

Who's the orange tiger?

This might have passed the world by if it were not for the publication of an article by state news agency KCNA, in which the cartoon is praised as a story for the ages, in which the orange tiger could be America, the other animals are the nations of the world, and the brave yet decidedly dangerous hedgehog represents North Korea.

Under the headline "US had better refrain from running amok", Kim Jong-son, a worker at the Pukchang Thermal Power Complex, told KCNA that current American "ignorance" of North Korea "makes me remember the fairy tale 'The Hedgehog Defeats the Tiger'".

"In sharp contrast to the brave hedgehog, the characters of big animals winced at the swashbuckling tiger, reminding me of the present reality where no-one questions America," Mr Kim said. "Watching them, I am very proud of the invincible might of my country".

In the past, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has urged the state-run studios making children's television to improve their quality and provide programming of greater relevance to young people in the country. "The Hedgehog defeats the Tiger" appears to be the result of this guidance.

But one constant remains for the youngsters watching state TV - Story-Telling Grandfather is still one of the few times you'll see facial hair in the country's tightly-controlled media.
Reporting by Alistair Coleman Next story: Ukrainian man survives three days at sea on inflatable
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North Korea TV hides anti-US message in kids' cartoon - BBC News

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A children's cartoon about a group of forest friends which aired today on North Korean state television appears to have come with an anti-America message. To the outside observer, the home-produced cartoon "The Hedgehog Defeats the Tiger" looks like an earnest tale in which the tiny hedgehog uses his spines and his sharp wits to defeat the bullying big cat.

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Australian channel apologises for 'racist' rugby video

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Australian channel apologises for 'racist' rugby video

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An Australian sports show host recently apologized for showing clips of children attempting to pronounce "funniest" surname in the National Rugby League. This name belonged to a Polynesian player. Reactions from players and family members were great disappointment and disgust as releasing and discussion of this clip created a platform for casual racism. Fearful of what implications it would have for others who share this common surname, especially children, representation of New Zealand and Samoa spoke out causing host, Matty Johns to apologize. The fear in publicizing this clip is that it allows "casual racism" to become acceptable and tolerated.

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An Australian television channel has apologised and deleted a video after it was accused of "casual racism" against Pacific Islanders.

The clip, on the popular Fox Sports Matty Johns Show, showed small children attempting to pronounce the 'funniest' player names in the NRL (National Rugby League), most of which being Pacific Islander surnames, 9News network reports.

But the "Footy Kids in Cars" video has not gone down well with players. Former Samoa international Frank Puletua told 9News he was "disappointed that a segment like that got to air without any sort of thought about how it might be perceived by people in Pacific Island league communities."

Most vocal was Anastastia Nimo Tagataese, wife of current player Sam Tagataese, who wrote in a Facebook post that "casual racism is not OK".

Writing that she believed there was no malice intended in the video, she told her social media followers that "having parents laugh with their children because they are unable to pronounce Pacific Islander surnames is completely disrespectful".

Not innocent fun

Nigel Vagana, who has represented both New Zealand and Samoa as well as serving a stint for the Warrington Wolves in the UK, criticised any idea that the segment was innocent fun, saying that such things could normalise abuse against Polynesian children in schools.

"Are we saying it's alright for those kids to go to school and be mocked by their surname because it was okay on TV the night before?" he asked New Zealand's Stuff news website.

Addressing the incident on his Monday night show, Matty Johns said "it was never the intention to disrespect anybody, particularly people in the Polynesian community.

"I'd like to apologise for any hurt or offence we have caused, and we have caused offence and we have caused hurt and I acknowledge that," Sportingnews.com quoted the Fox Sports presenter as saying.
Reporting by Alistair Coleman Next story: Fake branches bring disqualification from Russian garden competition
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Australian channel apologises for 'racist' rugby video - BBC News

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An Australian television channel has apologised and deleted a video after it was accused of "casual racism" against Pacific Islanders. The clip, on the popular Fox Sports Matty Johns Show, showed small children attempting to pronounce the 'funniest' player names in the NRL (National Rugby League), most of which being Pacific Islander surnames, 9News network reports.

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Nurcihan Allison
In the small town of Charlottesville, Virginia a protest against the removal of a statue of Civil War General Lee ended in violence. The clash was between White Supremacist groups such as Neo-Nazis and the KKK and Left Wing supporters that wanted to see the statue of Gen. Lee removed. The protest turned fatal when a car plowed into the crowd killing one and injuring many. After the crowds dispersed many new organizations blasted president Trump for not completely condemning all those that protested the removal of the Gen. Lee statute. Many are claiming that president Trump has divided the country further with he’s remarks “may sides were wrong” and tensions in the US seem to be growing at an alarming rate. It is expected that similar protests and violence may be seen in cities across the country.

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Edward Nelson

Recent attacks in Ghana involving militias, consisting of mostly children have claimed up to 250 people. Many of the deceased were children. These attacks bring to light the terrible issues of child soldiers and ethnic attacks. The attacks targeted the Luba and Lula ethnic groups, and appear to have the goal of the complete genocide of these groups. Survivors of the attacks have both psychological and physical wounds. The UN is recognizing this issue and calling for prosecution of groups involved

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Three months of massacres that have left 62 children dead could escalate into wider ethnic cleansing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN has warned.

A total of 250 people have died in targeted killings with government forces and militias made up of children among those being blamed as complicit by international investigators.

The accounts of almost 100 survivors who managed to escape from the Kasai province into neighbouring Angola form the basis of a report published by the UN Human Rights Office.

Interviews with 96 refugees, many bearing horrific injuries and scars, show how local security forces "actively fomented, fuelled, and occasionally led, attacks on the basis of ethnicity", according to the report.

UN satellite images chronicle how the ethnic cleansing has ravaged villages that were intact in May 2016 and now appear deserted and derelict.

Survivors include a seven-year-old boy whose fingers were chopped off, a woman raped just after giving birth and a woman who hid from her attackers in a forest following a vicious assault in which she lost an arm.

A team of human rights investigators said they were able to confirm from the accounts that a new militia group, called the Bana Mura, had been formed in April this year with the apparent backing of the government.

This group was responsible for 150 of the 251 murders carried out between 12 March and 19 June this year and documented in the report.

"Survivors have spoken of hearing the screams of people being burned alive, of seeing loved ones chased and cut down, of themselves fleeing in terror," said UN high commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein.

"Such bloodletting is all the more horrifying because we found indications that people are increasingly being targeted because of their ethnic group. Their accounts should serve as a grave warning to the government of DRC to act now to prevent such violence tipping into wider ethnic cleansing."

According to the witnesses, Bana Mura militia carried out well-planned attacks aimed at "eliminating the entire Luba and Lula populations in the villages they attacked" with officials from the national army sometimes seen leading the groups, the report found.

In the village of Cinq, 90 patients and staff who had taken refuge in a health centre were either shot or burnt alive inside the surgery. Others were beheaded.

Among the survivors was a mother who was raped four hours after giving birth and her newborn baby who was injured by flying bullets.

The woman said: "I did not end up like the others because I lay on the ground pretending to be dead ... and I hid my baby under my body."

Another woman who escaped from the village of Mwakapenga, attacked by the Bana Mura in mid-May, lost her whole family. "Two attackers entered my house, shot dead my husband, my 13-year-old daughter and my 17-year-old son. My youngest daughter was hacked by machete ... she was only three-years-old."

Violent unrest has been escalating in the region since August 2016 when security forces killed a local chief called Kamwina Nsapu, spawning the militia group of the same name. Thousands have been killed in the ongoing feud and the UN identified 80 mass graves in the region in the last year.

The Kamwina Nsapu was reported to have been accompanied by children as young as seven while carrying out the atrocities. Witnesses said groups of girls called "Lamama" went with the groups and were ordered to drink the blood of victims, an act believed to be part of a magic ritual that would render the group invincible.

All the refugees interviewed by the rights investigators said they were convinced by the magic powers of the group. The report said: "This generalised belief, and resulting fear, by segments of the population may partly explain why a poorly armed militia, composed to a large extent of children, has been able to resist offensives by a national army for over a year".

But since April the violence has taken on a more pronounced ethnic dimension. The refugees described how the Kamwina Nsapu militia attacked military, police and public officials and the report claimed the group were responsible for 79 deaths.

As part of the findings 22 murders were attributed to soldiers from the national army.

The UN has urged the government in the DRC to ensure "those who organised, recruited and armed the Bana Mura or other militias are identified and prosecuted".

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Democratic Republic of Congo: 250 killed in 'ethnic' massacres, says UN

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Three months of massacres that have left 62 children dead could escalate into wider ethnic cleansing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN has warned. A total of 250 people have died in targeted killings with government forces and militias made up of children among those being blamed as complicit by international investigators.

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Jordan king to meet Abbas in Ramallah in bid to ‘revive’ peace talks

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Jordan king to meet Abbas in Ramallah in bid to ‘revive’ peace talks

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Sheryl Magnuson

King Abdullah II of Jordan will meet Monday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, on his first visit to the West Bank in five years.   The Jordanian ruler and the PA president would discuss efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This would mark the first time in five years that Jordan’s king has visited the PA. The visit will last a few hours. Jordan was a key player in efforts to calm tensions after Israel installed metal detectors and other security measures at the Temple Mount following a July 14 terror attack there in which three Arab Israelis shot dead two police officers using guns they had smuggled into the holy site

http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-king-to-meet-abbas-in-ramallah-in-bid-to-revive-peace-talks/

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Extreme weather 'could kill up to 100,000 a year' in Europe by 2100

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Extreme weather 'could kill up to 100,000 a year' in Europe by 2100

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Carolina Londono

Experts are saying that their findings are showing dangerous signs for the future if nothing is done to cut greenhouse emissions and improving policies are not improved. Between 1981 and 2010 , estimated deaths caused by climate was 3000 per year. If nothing is done, that number can increase up to 152,000. The increase in weather issues will be: heat waves, cold snaps, wildfires, droughts, river and coastal floods and windstorms .

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Extreme weather could kill up to 152,000 people each year in Europe by 2100 if nothing is done to curb the effects of climate change, scientists say.

The number is 50 times more deaths than reported now, the study in The Lancet Planetary Health journal said.

Heat waves would cause 99% of all weather-related deaths, it added, with southern Europe being worst affected.

Experts said the journal's findings were worrying.

If nothing is done to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to improve policies to reduce the impact against extreme weather events, the study by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre says:

Deaths caused by extreme weather could rise from 3,000 a year between 1981 and 2010 to 152,000 between 2071 and 2100

Two in three people in Europe will be affected by disasters by 2100, against a rate of one in 20 at the start of the century

There will be a substantial rise in deaths from coastal flooding, from six victims a year at the start of the century to 233 a year by the end of it

The research analysed the effects of the seven most dangerous types of weather-related events - heat waves, cold snaps, wildfires, droughts, river and coastal floods and windstorms - in the 28 EU countries as well as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

The team looked at disaster records from 1981 to 2010 to estimate population vulnerability, and combined this information with predictions of how climate change might progress and how populations might increase and migrate.

Warnings are Europe sizzles in 44C heat

What is climate change?

"Climate change is one of the biggest global threats to human health of the 21st century, and its peril to society will be increasingly connected to weather-driven hazards," said Giovanni Forzieri, one of the authors of the study.

"Unless global warming is curbed as a matter of urgency and appropriate measures are taken, about 350 million Europeans could be exposed to harmful climate extremes on an annual basis by the end of the century."

Paul Wilkinson, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was not involved in the study, said the findings were "yet another reminder of the exposures to extreme weather and possible human impacts that might occur if emissions of greenhouse gases continue unabated.

"It adds further weight to the powerful argument for accelerating mitigation actions to protect population health."

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Extreme weather 'could kill up to 100,000 a year' in Europe by 2100 - BBC News

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Extreme weather could kill up to 152,000 people each year in Europe by 2100 if nothing is done to curb the effects of climate change, scientists say. The number is 50 times more deaths than reported now, the study in The Lancet Planetary Health journal said.

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Passenger jet flew over test zone 10 minutes before North Korean missile hit

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Passenger jet flew over test zone 10 minutes before North Korean missile hit

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Carolina Londono

On August 1, a commercial airplane past over the Sea of Japan, and ten minutes later North Korea through an intercontinental ballistic missile that passed through the same path. Air France says they analyze the dangerous fly zones, and adapt accordingly. North Korea tests a lot of missiles in the area where Japanese fisherman ships are found. The issue with this is that North Korea does not share they missile testing plans, therefore anyone is this area is in danger.

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A commercial airplane passed the spot in the Sea of Japan where a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile would make impact 10 minutes before it hit, ABC News reported Tuesday.

The missile test was on Friday, and according to the report, the flight was Air France 293 carrying 323 people from Paris to Tokyo.

In a statement to ABC News, Air France said the flight was not in any danger and that Pyongyang's missile test zones "don't interfere in any way with Air France's flight paths."

"Moreover, in cooperation with the authorities, Air France constantly analyzes potentially dangerous flyover zones and adapts its flight plans accordingly," the statement says.

But the Pentagon has warned that such tests could pose a threat to commercial aircraft and ships in the sea, because North Korea does not announce its weapons tests ahead of time.

On Monday, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said there had not been any close call with the latest test, but said the tests still caused concern.

"It's an area where you have Japanese fishing boats, you have vessels engaged in commerce. That's a problem when missile tests fall from the sky and land in places where they can hit innocent ships," said Davis.

In March, a Chinese passenger jet carrying more than 200 people flew through the flight path of a North Korean rocket. Pyongyang had not given any warning prior to the launch.

Pyongyang has dramatically increased the frequency of its missile tests. The July 4 launch marked the reclusive regime's first successful test of an ICBM.

North Korea conducted another test on Friday of an ICBM that the country's government says is capable of striking the mainland U.S.
- Ellen Mitchell contributed.

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Passenger jet flew over test zone 10 minutes before North Korean missile hit: report

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A commercial airplane passed the spot in the Sea of Japan where a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile would make impact 10 minutes before it hit, ABC News reported Tuesday. The missile test was on Friday, and according to the report, the flight was Air France 293 carrying 323 people from Paris to Tokyo.

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Loss of Fertile Land Fuels ‘Looming Crisis’ Across Africa-NY Times Josephine Noone

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Loss of Fertile Land Fuels ‘Looming Crisis’ Across Africa-NY Times Josephine Noone

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According to the World Bank, seventy percent of the population in Africa is dependent on agriculture. Land degradation has been caused by over-farming and over-grazing of the land due to population increases and an increased demand for meat due to economic growth. This land degradation has been compounded by drought caused by rising temperatures. This is leading to conflicts over land and increasing violence as herders invade lands owned by farmers and ranchers, as well as nature/wildlife preserves. Recent violence in Kenya’s Laikipia County also appears related to upcoming elections on August 8th. It is believed that some political leaders are trying to scare farmers in the region so that they leave their land and cannot vote in the election. That will allow rival political groups, largely divided along ethnic/tribal lines to win the elections and gain political and economic power as well as access to land.

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LAIKIPIA, Kenya - The two elders, wearing weather-beaten cowboy hats with the strings cinched under their chins, stood at the edge of an empty farm, covering their mouths in disbelief.

Their homes - neat wooden cabins - had been smashed open. All their cattle had been stolen. So had their chickens. House after house stood vacant, without another soul around. It was as if some huge force had barreled into the village and swept away all the life.

Sioyia Lesinko Lekisio, one of the elders, had no doubts who did this. Swarms of herders from another county had invaded, attacking any farm or cattle ranch in their path, big or small, stealing livestock, ransacking homes and shooting people with high-powered assault rifles.

"There's nothing we can do about it," he said. "They want our land."

Kenya has a land problem. Africa itself has a land problem. The continent seems so vast and the land so open. The awesome sense of space is an inextricable part of the beauty here - the unadulterated vistas, the endless land. But in a way, that is an illusion.

Population swells, climate change, soil degradation, erosion, poaching, global food prices and even the benefits of affluence are exerting incredible pressure on African land. They are fueling conflicts across the continent, from Nigeria in the west to Kenya in the east - including here in Laikipia, a wildlife haven and one of Kenya's most beautiful areas.

Large groups of people are on the move, desperate for usable land. Data from NASA satellites reveals an overwhelming degradation of agricultural land throughout Africa, with one recent study showing that more than 40 million Africans are trying to survive off land whose agricultural potential is declining.

At the same time, high birthrates and lengthening life spans mean that by the end of this century, there could be as many as four billion people on the continent, about 10 times the population 40 years ago.

It is a two-headed problem, scientists and activists say, and it could be one of the gravest challenges Africa faces: The quality of farmland in many areas is getting worse, and the number of people squeezed onto that land is rising fast.

"It's a looming crisis," said Odenda Lumumba, head of the Kenya Land Alliance, a group that works on land reform. "We are basically reaching the end of the road."

More than in any other region of the world, people in Africa live off the land. There are relatively few industrial or service jobs here. Seventy percent of Africa's population makes a living through agriculture, higher than on any other continent, the World Bank says.

But as the population rises, with more siblings competing for their share of the family farm, the slices are getting thinner. In many parts of Africa, average farm size is just an acre or two, and after repeated divisions of the same property, some people are left trying to subsist on a sliver of a farm that is not much bigger than a tennis court.

A changing climate makes things even harder. Scientists say large stretches of Africa are drying up, and they predict more desertification, more drought and more hunger. In a bad year, maybe one country in Africa will be hit by famine. This year, famine is stalking three, pushing more than 10 million people in Somalia, Nigeria and South Sudan to the brink of starvation.

But much of Africa's farmland is in danger for another, perhaps simpler, reason: overuse. Fast-growing populations mean that many African families can't afford to let land sit fallow and replenish. They have to take every inch of their land and farm or graze it constantly. This steadily lowers the levels of organic matter in the soil, making it difficult to grow crops.

In many areas, the soil is so dried out and exhausted that there is little solace even when the prayed-for rains finally come. The ground is as hard as concrete and the rain just splashes off, like a hose spraying a driveway.

"There are going to be some serious food-security issues," said Zachary Donnenfeld, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. "More and more countries will be reliant on food imports. You'll increasingly see the international community come into more rescue-type situations."

The fact that several of Africa's biggest economies have grown impressively in the past 10 years may seem like an answer, but analysts say the newfound affluence may actually compound these pressures.

As people gain wealth, they consume more - more energy, more water and usually more meat, all of which intensify the pressures on the environment. In Kenya, a piece of meat is one of the first things people treat themselves to when they get a little extra cash, and as the nation's economy grows, so does the taste for beef. Cows have always been a traditional form of wealth; now they're big business. In the past 15 years, the number of cows in Kenya has shot up by more than 60 percent to around 20 million, driving a scramble for grazing lands.

Some parts of Kenya are now so overgrazed by cows and goats that all the grass roots have been eaten, leaving large stretches of bare earth, as measured by NASA satellite imagery that tracks net levels of carbon dioxide absorption. Herders from bare-earth zones in Kenya are often the ones invading ranches.

Private investors are tramping in as well. Since the 1990-2005 period, global food prices have increased by 50 to 75 percent. Many foreign companies and local businesspeople have speculated that despite soil degradation, African farmland is destined to become more valuable. Small landholders across the continent are increasingly getting priced out or even evicted to make way for big commercial farms. This has led to conflict even in usually peaceful places, like Malawi, where a land-defense movement recently started to fight back against foreign-owned tea plantations.

Farmland is also rapidly vanishing into housing tracts and shopping centers to serve Africa's growing and more affluent population. This is happening everywhere: quiet fields' suddenly being transformed by an army of tractors into a set of neat houses or a colossal mall.

And then there's the battle to protect Africa's wildlife. In the past decade, ivory poachers have slaughtered more than 100,000 elephants and rhinos. Cheetah and lion populations are also falling. Wildlife habitats are being threatened across the continent, in great part because of new farms and new fences, and activists say something drastic needs to be done to protect endangered species.

But just about every acre set aside for a wildlife reserve takes an acre of potential farmland or grazing land off the table (some wildlife refuges tolerate grazing, but it often gets quickly out of control). Scientists say that there still is fertile unspoken-for land available in Africa, but that it tends to be deep in rain forests, like in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And that raises another problem. Cutting down all those trees to make way for farms could have serious consequences for the climate of the entire earth, since rain forests soak up carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels.

Laikipia County, a few hours' drive north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, is a microcosm of many of these complicated issues. On this one rugged plateau, poor herders, rich landowners, large- and small-scale farmers, commercial cattle ranchers, tour operators, passionate wildlife activists, elephants, lions, hyenas, cows, goats and zebras are all competing for the same space.

People have always fought over territory, and Laikipia is no exception, with cattle-rustling and battles over pastureland part of its history. But many residents say this past year has been the bloodiest ever. At least 80 people have been killed, and the violence has not stopped. In mid-July, a large group of herders killed a half-dozen police officers and stole their weapons.

One reason is political meddling connected to Kenya's national and local elections, scheduled for August. But the continentwide land issues seem to be emerging from the background into the foreground, which may explain why Laikipia is becoming more violent.

"These ideas of land-abundant Africa are increasingly outdated," said Thomas Jayne, a leading agricultural economist based at Michigan State University. "Land disputes are going to become more and more common, and more and more severe."

"Laikipia," said Dr. Jayne, who conducts research across the continent, "is just the tip of the iceberg."

'Dangerous and Disturbed'

Kenya is one of Africa's most developed nations, with some of the best infrastructure and a fast-growing middle class. But as long as anyone can remember, Laikipia has been a bit lawless. Many farmers live on isolated properties and have been shot at by armed herdsmen. They've had their livestock stolen. They've ducked rocks and spears.

One farmer said such attacks used to happen from time to time, especially to newcomers, and he called it Laikipia hazing. But this past year has been different. Waves of young pastoralists from neighboring counties, moving in groups armed with AK-47 assault rifles, have invaded dozens of farms and ranches, bringing tens of thousands of skinny, ragged cows from drought-stricken areas.

Maria Dodds described an all-out assault on her family's cattle ranch in January and February. She said gunmen were so close to her house that she could see them raising their weapons and shooting at her. They shot to death one of her employees, Kariwo Lotome, an old cattleman who had been working for her for years.

Nancy Nakalee, his widow, now penniless, stared at her feet as she spoke of her dead husband.

"I can still see his face," she whispered.

As the ranch fell under siege, dozens of police officers arrived. When some began firing military-grade mortar rounds at the invaders from her garden, Ms. Dodds said, she found herself cheering them on.

"I was yelling, 'Shoot another, shoot another!"' she said.

She shook her head, laughing but also disgusted with herself. "It makes you rabid."

It is not clear how many herders were killed in the firefights. Ms. Dodds said the police were trying to "wing them," and not actually hit them, because that would only exacerbate the situation.

Her son now patrols the family ranch in a flak jacket and operates a new drone they bought for surveillance. The herders throw rocks at it.

About an hour away from that ranch lies the small village of Nadungoru, the one where Mr. Lekisio stood on an empty farm in disbelief. It is a stunningly beautiful place of thick green grass, wide-open skies and little wooden cabins, which, on a recent day, stood empty. The invading herders had stolen all of Mr. Lekisio's cows and ransacked his house.

"We feel bad, bad, bad, bad," he said.

The Kenyan government has deployed hundreds of police officers and soldiers, some in bulletproof cars and Humvees, declaring parts of Laikipia "dangerous and disturbed," which is like a local state of emergency that gives officers more power to crack down on invaders.

But Laikipia's farmers say they've never seen such timid men in uniform. So they sometimes confront the herders themselves.

Tristan Voorspuy, a former British military officer, lived on a ranch that was invaded in March. The security forces were doing little to help him, so he rode on horseback to the young trespassers in hopes of asking them to leave.

The men shot him in the face. They killed his horse, too.

The next month, Kuki Gallmann, the Italian-born author of the best-selling book "I Dreamed of Africa" and one of Kenya's celebrities, was rumbling across her property, the Laikipia Nature Conservancy. At 88,000 acres, it is one of Kenya's biggest pieces of privately owned land. Ms. Gallmann, 74, has set aside the expanse for protecting wildlife like elephants, leopards, lions and buffaloes, as well as the rare species of trees and plants that thrive in the gorges and hillsides of her sculpted property.

As she drove, with a contingent of armed wildlife rangers behind her, shots rang out. Several bullets flew threw Ms. Gallmann's car door and tore into her stomach. She remains at her Nairobi home, convalescing, with severe internal damage. She said many of the recent invaders came with no livestock, and she called them a militia.

On another Laikipia ranch, Anne Powys, whose hands shook as she sat by a window, surrounded by old pictures and dusty books, said she could not count on anyone protecting her. So she has made a choice: She is trying to make peace with her attackers.

She paid the same young men who had burned down her eco-lodge, which she said was part of her soul, to help clean it up.

"Isn't that insane?" she said.

Whites in a Black Country

A few months ago, a group of tourists staying at a fancy Laikipia lodge had to be airlifted to safety because heavy gunfights between the police and armed herders were coming closer and closer. On social media and in popular gathering spots, when some Kenyans talk about the crisis, one word keeps coming up: "mzungu," which means "foreigner" or, more commonly, "white man."

Some Kenyans see Laikipia's land problems as a black-white issue because most of the biggest ranches and wildlife conservancies are owned by a handful of families of European descent. Kenyans have complained about the size of the white-owned farms, saying many were stolen or unfairly acquired from Africans during colonial times. Some people in Kenya, black and white, are now making comparisons to Zimbabwe, where the government seized land from wealthy whites and redistributed it, often to well-connected elites. In many cases, the farms were run into the ground.

Trespassing pastoralists in Laikipia, who were brazenly grazing their herds on others' land, said they weren't necessarily targeting whites. Instead, they said they simply needed grass to keep their herds alive, because their own areas had already dried up.

"We know taking another man's land is like taking his wife," said Parashuno Lekadero, a herder who stood on a farm in Laikipia that he had recently invaded. There were no police officers for miles, and he spoke confidently and openly, knowing he had little chance of getting in trouble.

"There's a drought," he said. "We have many animals. We need the land."

Much of eastern Africa is in the grip of an intense drought, with pasturelands drying up, and the white-owned properties in Laikipia tend to have the best grass. This is because the white farmers are relatively wealthy and have invested in their properties, building dams, creating watering holes, pumping from springs and caring for their paddocks. All that keeps the pastures healthy, attracting the invaders.

But it's not like all of the 30 or so white-owned properties are luxurious. Warren Evans, a cattle rancher, lives in a low-slung house with farm machinery rusting on his lawn. The other day, as he sat down for a lunch of hot-dog stew, a muddy wart hog blasted through his living-room door and he jumped up to shoo it out.

Mr. Evans said that his family was hardly at the top of Kenya's socioeconomic pyramid and that "you can't pin the burden of history on 30 farmers."

Some white families now have second thoughts about staying.

"For the first time ever, you get that vibe that you're a mzungu - what are you doing here?" Ms. Powys said. "It's a bit grandiose to think we can continue to live like this when thousands of people out there don't have any land."

"It is Zimbabwe-esque," she said. "We're white people in a black country. If we're not welcome, what's the point?"

The Election

As a leading newspaper in Kenya recently said, "elections have the tendency to bring out the worst in Kenyans," and in August, they are happening nationwide.

Kenya is a democracy, but many describe it as more of an ethnocracy. Kenyans vote overwhelmingly along ethnic lines, and elections stir up ethnic tensions. Several elections have erupted in bloodshed, the worst in 2007 and early 2008, when more than 1,000 people were killed after government agents appeared to have rigged the votes and outrage exploded.

Political violence here is fueled by a cocktail of factors, including ethnic grievances, tensions over land ownership, friction between the classes and the quest for power. Firearms in rural areas, especially in northern Kenya, not too far from the Somali border, make matters even worse.

The Kenyan authorities say this dangerous mix is brewing in Laikipia. Several politicians have been arrested and questioned over inciting violence against landowners. Mathew Lempurkel, a member of Parliament representing a district here and a midtier figure in the country's leading opposition party, has been widely portrayed as the chief villain. Regarded as a brilliant mobilizer by even his detractors, he was arrested in March and again in July, accused of instigating herders to storm ranches. Several farmers said he provided the herders with cash, Red Bull and a cheap liquor called Trigger to rile them up.

Some contend that Mr. Lempurkel is trying to displace people in Laikipia who are not members of his ethnic group, the Samburu, so that he can bring Samburu into his district and get more votes. Many of the invading herdsmen are young Samburu, and ecologists say that in recent decades, the group's land has been thoroughly overgrazed, driving the herders to new areas, whether others are already living there or not.

Mr. Lempurkel, who declined to comment for this article, has publicly denied any role in the invasions, saying this was a problem of drought and climate change.

But it seems there is some larger hand. Many fences have been dismantled with bolt cutters, not equipment the average herdsmen carries. And Ms. Dodds said that during the fighting on her ranch, a mysterious truck brought the herders tea, sugar and other supplies so they could extend their siege. The truck, she said, was later traced to a paramilitary police officer.

In Search of Safety

Africa's land pressures may seem overwhelming, maybe even unstoppable. But scientists say there are solutions within reach. For example, the continent has the highest fertility rates in the world, but more African governments are pushing contraceptives, saying the best answer for densely populated countries is smaller families.

For arid regions, there are proven ways to replenish dry or overgrazed land, including spreading new types of grass seeds by airplane. Another approach would be a national plan letting herders graze certain areas at certain times but forbidding them from others, which would allow ruined pastureland to regrow.

But the issue, ecologists say, is that little of this is being done.

"The problem is too many people, too many cattle and too little planning," said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, a wildlife activist in northern Kenya.

In the Nadungoru village, just about everybody has given up on the Kenyan government, even government employees.

At a new school, two teachers from another part of the country said they had been begging their bosses to transfer them to a safer area.

David Mbatia, one of the teachers, said he was afraid that the herdsmen who had invaded farms might kill him. The nearest police station was five miles away.

"At night, what if they knock at your door and you scream?" he asked. "Who will come?"

He said a big part of the problem was that the government was not enforcing a law requiring parents to send their children to school.

"I saw a 12-year-old herding cows, and he had been turned into a slave," said the other teacher, Charles Mwangi. "He has been denied the right to go to school, to see the light, and so he is uneducated, manipulated and brainwashed."

Outside the school, Mr. Lekisio and his comrade were waiting. They slowly led me around the village one last time, pointing out each smashed padlock, each knocked-down fence. The village was eerily quiet; we were the only ones there.

As we were finishing, Mr. Lekisio tilted his head.

"We should go," he said.

There was a pause in the wind, and in it, we could hear the faint tinkling of cowbells.

"That's the Samburu," Mr. Lekisio said.

The invaders weren't far away.

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Loss of Fertile Land Fuels 'Looming Crisis' Across Africa

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LAIKIPIA, Kenya - The two elders, wearing weather-beaten cowboy hats with the strings cinched under their chins, stood at the edge of an empty farm, covering their mouths in disbelief. Their homes - neat wooden cabins - had been smashed open. All their cattle had been stolen. So had their chickens.

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Peter Morrison

On Sunday, there were more protests that occurred in Venezuela. The protests were in response to a new election that will give power to the Venezuelan President. This power will allow him to rewrite the country's constitution and it is not supported by the U.S. and many other countries in South America. The president declared success while many people in Venezuela no longer have access to everyday things like food and water. As of right now, there have been 113 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result. The article features many pictures of these horrible occurrences. They are very sad and graphic.

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A new round of deadly protests engulfed Venezuela on Sunday, as the government held internationally criticized elections for a new political body that will have the power to rewrite the country's constitution.

Demonstrators and police met in a series of clashes, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 people.

Protesters set up barricades as they defied a ban on rallies, with barbed wire and burning tires blocking streets. In one incident captured on video, a roadside bomb detonated near a group of police on motorcycles in the capital of Caracas and left several officers injured.

Opponents of the vote, which has been deemed as illegitimate by the U.S. and a host of countries in South America, view the election as embattled President Nicolas Maduro's attempt to consolidate power and remove his political opposition from office. The new Constituent Assembly has extremely far-reaching powers to reshape the country's political institutions and potentially dissolve the opposition-led National Assembly.

In response to the election, the U.S. announced that it would be issuing sanctions on Maduro and accused him of undermining democracy in the hemisphere.

Despite the international condemnation, reports of low turnout and public opposition, Maduro on Sunday declared the result a huge victory and plans to go ahead with establishing the Constituent Assembly. The opposition, meanwhile, called for fresh protests on Monday amid fears that the crisis will continue to spiral.

Venezuela's political turmoil is occurring amid a crippling economic crisis that has led to shortages of basic necessities and long lines to buy whatever food is available.

Although Sunday was one of the deadliest days in Venezuela's ongoing political and economic crisis, there have been months of protests and violent confrontations. Thousands have been injured in the demonstrations and at least 113 people killed.

Photojournalists in the country have captured scenes of fiery melees, injured demonstrators and a polarized country that is increasingly being plunged into unrest and uncertainty.

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Harrowing Images From Venezuela's Deadly Protests

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A new round of deadly protests engulfed Venezuela on Sunday, as the government held internationally criticized elections for a new political body that will have the power to rewrite the country's constitution. Demonstrators and police met in a series of clashes, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 people.

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Patrick Wallace
Here is a link to an article that I found to be extremely sad and it is a topic that I am surprised wasn't represented more in our course book, Affirming Diversity.

The article describes a new 24 year-old mother, Erika Colombatto of Turin, who died in a surgery to reduce her weight in her stomach.  As much as I hate using the new coined phrase, body shaming, it is a growing problem in our country that has serious effects on one's emotional development.
What does that say about our society where one feels, the only way to experience relief from pressures of society to conform to a certain body image, is to be have your body surgically altered.  Unfortunately this form prejudice cause poor Erika to lose her life. And she was 24! Think of what an 11 year old has to suffer through during school. More attention and awareness of body shaming needs to be brought into the forefront.

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Una giovane mamma torinese è morta in una clinica di Ponte San Pietro a Bergamo, dove era stata sottoposta a un intervento di riduzione dello stomaco. Si chiamava Erika Colombatto, aveva 23 anni e una figlia di 9 mesi che ora è rimasta sola con il papà, Younes, che da quel giorno non si dà pace. "Non sono riuscito a fare niente ma ti amo tanto", scrive sulla sua pagina Facebook l'uomo.

Ieri sono stati celebrati i funerali della donna che si era sposata un anno fa ed era originaria di Ciriè. Il marito e il padre della donna però vogliono vederci chiaro e andare a fondo su questa vicenda: "Voglio sapere cosa è successo", dice il marito. Colombatto era stata ricoverata alla clinica San Pietro di Ponte San Pietro un mese fa. Aveva già subito quattro interventi e cinque anestesie. Il suo cuore ha smesso di battere durante l'ultima operazione. Ufficialmente il referto medico parla di "arresto cardiaco" in sala operatoria.

Ora gli amici e la famiglia hanno lanciato un appello per far luce su quella vicenda contattando anche le altre donne che sono state ricoverate nella clinica nello stesso periodo di Erika. "Stiamo contattando tutti perché non si può morire così", scrivono gli amici che hanno anche creato un gruppo su Facebook.

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Mamma muore a 24 anni durante un intervento per perdere peso dopo la gravidanza

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Una giovane mamma torinese è morta in una clinica di Ponte San Pietro a Bergamo, dove era stata sottoposta a un intervento di riduzione dello stomaco. Si chiamava Erika Colombatto, aveva 23 anni e una figlia di 9 mesi che ora è rimasta sola con il papà, Younes, che da quel giorno non si dà pace.

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Chilean lawmakers vote to ease abortion banBy: Melissa Rodriguez

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Chilean lawmakers vote to ease abortion banBy: Melissa Rodriguez

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On August 2, the lawmakers in Chile voted to lessen the restrictions on abortion. Abortion has been illegal in Chile since 1989, making this a successful victory for pro-choice activists. In certain cases, such as rape, or if there is a complication early on in the pregnancy, it will be legal to obtain an abortion once the Constitutional Court reviews the bill one final time.

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The vote is a major victory for pro-choice supporters who have fought for decades against Chile's draconian ban on abortion. Since 1989, abortion has been illegal without exception.

The strict law was implemented by dictator Augusto Pinochet as one of his last acts in office. Activists have long criticized the ban.

"The illegality of abortion in Chile takes a devastating toll on women's health and lives," a Human Right's Watch report stated. "The consequences of illegal abortion constitute a leading cause of maternal mortality in this country."

The bill passed Wednesday decriminalizes abortion in cases of rape, if the mother's life is at risk or if the fetus presents a deadly birth defect.

"A bill has been approved that opens up options for women," said Claudia Pascual Grau, Chile's minister of women and gender equity. "We have generated safe health benefits, an accompanying program that is with all women, regardless of the decision they take."

Chile's lower Congressional house, the Chamber of Deputies, had 70 votes in favor, 45 votes against and 1 abstention. The Senate approved the bill by 22 votes in favor and 13 against.

Despite the mandate, Chile's conservative Independent Democratic Union party did object. "Our constitution today protects the life of the unborn, so this bill violates the constitution," the organization said in a tweet.

The bill will now go to the Constitutional Court for final review.

The vote is an important triumph for President Michelle Bachelet, who campaigned on easing the abortion ban and has long championed women's rights.

In 2011, Bachelet unapologetically supported abortion in the case of an 11-year-old girl who became pregnant after being raped by her mother's boyfriend -- an incident that rattled much of the conservative country.

Bachelet was President of Chile from 2006-2010 and was again elected in 2013. Between her terms, she was tapped to become the inaugural Executive Director of UN Women, a United Nations agency created to promote gender equality around the world.

"Today women recover a basic right that we should never miss: decide when we live moments of pain," President Bachelet said in a tweet after the vote.

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chilean lawmakers vote to ease abortion ban - cnn.com

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Chilean lawmakers vote to ease abortion ban

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The vote is a major victory for pro-choice supporters who have fought for decades against Chile's draconian ban on abortion. Since 1989, abortion has been illegal without exception. The strict law was implemented by dictator Augusto Pinochet as one of his last acts in office. Activists have long criticized the ban.

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Where the Living Play Dead For a Day to Laugh in the Face of Death 

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Where the Living Play Dead For a Day to Laugh in the Face of Death 

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Carlie VanPatten
In a small village in Southwest Spain, many locals (and others who come to join in the pilgrimage) take part in a one day funeral ritual celebrated every July 29th. Participants can either walk, choose to lay in a coffin, or be a pallbearer. The festival is to thank Saint Martha and is a celebration for those who came close to facing death and bounced back. In a way, it is a chance for these people to express their gratitude. No one is certain of its origin, but being this was a feudal society much into the 20th century, people relied on local healers and faith.

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SANTA MARTA DE RIBARTEME, Spain - Inside a small church in this tiny Galician village, Pilar Domínguez Muñoz adjusted her dress, put on her sunglasses and stepped into her coffin.

Her daughter, Uxía, watched anxiously as pallbearers hoisted her mother onto their shoulders. But Ms. Domínguez Muñoz seemed to rest peacefully as they paraded her through the streets to the sound of a brass band.

She was, after all, perfectly alive. So was her daughter. But then, that was the point.

Ms. Domínguez Muñoz was among nine people who took part in the extraordinary funeral ritual, celebrated every July 29 in Santa Marta de Ribarteme, a village of a few hundred residents perched high in northwestern Spain.

Morbid though it may seem, the festival is a celebration for those who in the previous year snatched life back from the jaws of death. It is performed on the feast day of the local parish's most important saint, Martha, whose brother Lazarus was raised from the dead when Jesus visited their home in the Bible's account.

"I know some people think we're crazy, because even my mother told me so when I decided to take part a few years ago," said Karina Domínguez, who had previously staged her own funeral and was a pallbearer this year.

Some devotees enact their own death after surviving a serious accident or illness, while others do so to thank the saint for saving a relative.

Ms. Domínguez Muñoz was taking part for the second consecutive year because she wanted to show gratitude for her daughter's improved health. Uxía suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease.

"Last year, I was in my coffin and she was in her wheelchair, with both ankles broken," Ms. Domínguez Muñoz said. "My daughter is walking today thanks to Santa Marta."

The funeral march, which dates to medieval times, is an example of both pagan and religious fervor in Galicia, where legends abound about the healing powers of local witches, or meigas.

Though the festival in this village is unusual, healing - both physical and spiritual - is at the heart of some of the world's main Catholic pilgrimages, like Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal.

Xosé Manuel Rodríguez Méndez, a town hall official, said the feast observed "the victory of life over death." The origins of the feast are unclear, but he suggested that it was also linked to the poverty and isolation of villages around his region.

"This was a feudal society well into the 20th century, where people relied on their faith and local healers because they had no access to modern medicine," he said.

The pilgrimage has drawn larger crowds in recent years, to the point that the local authorities said they would lobby to add the event to the long list of official Spanish feasts that also receive public subsidies for tourism activities.

This year, the village church charged for the first time for renting coffins, 100 euros for each coffin, which the priest, the Rev. Alfonso Besada, also justified as a way to weed out flaky participants who join "just for the folklore" rather than because of any religious faith.

To gain salvation, "doing this on its own isn't enough, you also of course need to go to Mass and confession," he said.

Ms. Domínguez Muñoz, however, was upset to have to pay for her funeral. "I'm here for Santa Marta and certainly not because of any priest," she said.

A few hours before the coffin procession, devotees had already gathered around the church, for an outdoor Mass, as well as to line up to touch the saint's statue.

Many rubbed a white kerchief on Martha's feet, before then touching their own face with it. A few then started the procession on their knees, while others walked holding a long burning candle.

Marching right behind the coffins, a small chorus of faithful repeatedly sang a hymn glorifying Martha.

Some felt uneasy about watching living corpses.

"I love everything about this pilgrimage, but not these coffins," said Josefa Díaz Domínguez, a pensioner. "I'm sure God doesn't ask anybody to go this far."

Bernardo Alonso, a graphic designer, said that he was impressed by the procession, but too scared to ever step into a coffin himself. "We all live with our own individual fears, but I think you must feel completely desperate to lie down in a casket," he said.

In fact, 11 people were scheduled to join this year's procession, but two coffins stayed behind in the church, including a small white coffin that had been saved for a child.

Marta Domínguez, the sacristan of the church, said no-shows were rare, and were either because of a last-minute panic attack or a serious physical problem. Last year, she said, "somebody had to cancel because of their chemotherapy."

By the time the procession began, a drizzly morning had turned into a hot summer noon. Lying in their coffins, some devotees used an umbrella to protect their faces from the beating sun while others cooled themselves down with a hand or small electric fan.

One of the living dead wore a white Panama hat. Ms. Domínguez Muñoz kept one arm dangling from her coffin, to clutch the hand of one of her pallbearers.

After the coffins returned to the church, their occupants stepped out, shook their heavy limbs and wiped away the sweat and tears. Marcos Rodríguez, 38, said he felt "huge relief" as he embraced his 6-year-old son, Nicolás, who looked both happy and confused about why his father kept sobbing.

Last July 29, Nicolás successfully underwent brain surgery. "I promised Santa Marta I would thank her if she saved my son," Mr. Rodríguez said.

"I've been crying a lot today, remembering what happened to Nicolás, but if I have ever to face such a terrible situation again, I will of course do this once more."

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Where the Living Play Dead for a Day to Laugh in the Face of Death

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SANTA MARTA DE RIBARTEME, Spain - Inside a small church in this tiny Galician village, Pilar Domínguez Muñoz adjusted her dress, put on her sunglasses and stepped into her coffin. Her daughter, Uxía, watched anxiously as pallbearers hoisted her mother onto their shoulders.

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Valerie Cetrulo

The body of a Kenyan election official, Cris Msando, was found in a forest outside of Nairobi. The body was shown to have deep scratches and cuts, indicating torture. An autopsy determined that he was strangled to death. He was found with a female companion. Msando was entrusted to run Kenya's computerized voting system in an election next Tuesday. The United States and United Kingdom have offered assistance in investigating the murder of Msando and his companion.

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The Kenyan election official whose body was found earlier this week had been severely tortured and strangled to death, an autopsy has found.

Chris Msando had deep scratches and cuts on his back and hands, the chief government pathologist said.

Mr Msando was in charge of Kenya's computerised voting system for next Tuesday's presidential elections.

His body was discovered next to the corpse of a woman in a forest on the outskirts of Nairobi at the weekend.

Africa Live: More on this and other stories

Eight things about the Kenyan elections

Kenyatta: 'The digital president'

"There was no doubt that he was tortured and murdered," Wafula Chebukati, chair of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), said on Wednesday.

An autopsy on the body of the woman found alongside Mr Msando, thought to be that of his companion Carol Ngumbu, will take place on Thursday.

The investigation is still ongoing, government spokesperson Eric Kiraithe confirmed, dismissing earlier reports that three suspects had been arrested.

In a joint statement, the United States and the United Kingdom said they were "gravely concerned" by the murder, calling for "free, fair, credible and peaceful elections" in Kenya.

The two countries also offered assistance in the investigation. Mr Msando's family urged the Kenyan government to accept the offer in order to "conclude the matter with urgency".

"We are deeply devastated at the tragic loss," the family said in a statement.

"Chris Msando was a loving family man, who cherished and adored his wife and children."

The family also asked social media users to be mindful of what they post, saying: "A lot of the information out there is false and meant to injure and paint the family in a bad light."

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Kenyan election official Chris Msando 'tortured to death' - BBC News

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The Kenyan election official whose body was found earlier this week had been severely tortured and strangled to death, an autopsy has found. Chris Msando had deep scratches and cuts on his back and hands, the chief government pathologist said. Mr Msando was in charge of Kenya's computerised voting system for next Tuesday's presidential elections.

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This article shows stories from specific people in Ghana, who's children are suffering or suffered from malnutrition. It explains that the first 1,000 days are the most important to a child's life. With the destruction of malnutrition, many of these children's lives are being ruined or they pass away early on. The worst part is that things are not getting better. These women and families are struggling to provide for their children. They have little to no income which results in little to no food.

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Across Ghana, the irreversible effects of child malnutrition can be seen among thousands of children affected during their critical first 1,000 days of life.
This is the time in a child's life that will determine their health as adults, their ability to learn in school and to perform in future jobs.

A group of photographers and researchers organised by UBELONG went to Ghana to uncover the complex stories behind this problem.

Nana Agya Kwao, 76

Nana has been the chief of the farming community of Bentum for 35 years, although two years ago he sold most of the farming land in the area to a developer.

As a result, most local villagers lost their livelihoods, and now struggle to feed their families.

The signs previously used to identify farm boundaries lie discarded by the road.

"I am very proud to be the chief," he says. "It's not easy. No-one will take my land. I know my people in Bentum cannot farm anymore.

"But whatever you do for food, is on you."

Kate Afful, 40

While at home with her mother, Kate tells the story of how one of her daughters died aged two.

Ever since her husband died, a decade ago, she has struggled to find work and take care of her four children.

They are malnourished and often get sick as they eat only banku, a Ghanaian dish of fermented corn and cassava dough.

"God took my two-year old daughter. She was not feeling well, so I put her to bed. Later that evening, there was a bad storm," she says.

"The sky was loud and angry. I heard an explosion in the clouds. When I went to check on my baby, she was dead. I believe the thunder killed my baby."

Hannah Abekah, 23

Hannah stands surrounded by the yellow buckets of rainwater she collected the night before.

She never attended school, and started working at a very early age as a fishmonger. She is married to a fisherman who is often away for weeks.

"My kitchen is empty. I have no food," she says. "My children don't even eat the little food I give them. I don't know about malnutrition. I just pray my children become great people".

Rebecca, 17

Rebecca's children receive over-the-counter medical remedies from the local shop, instead of professional healthcare at the hospital.

Like many women in the village, Rebecca doesn't receive much support from the father of her children. She feels she has nowhere to turn.

"Women don't support each other here, it's not something we do."

Beatrice Amponfi (right) and Joy Glii (left)

Beatrice and Joy are in charge of the childcare and malnutrition unit at the Kasoa Clinic.

A few community nurses cover an area with more than 30,000 people, and Beatrice estimates only about 20% of the malnourished children are brought to this clinic.

"Women with malnourished children have problems that they cannot openly discuss with friends or family. There is a stigma associated with having a malnourished child," she says.

"So, we mostly identify malnutrition cases by talking to neighbours. Our most important job is to provide a safe environment to counsel them about their children, so that they don't feel embarrassed about bringing them here.

"But our effort is just a drop in the ocean."

Christy Ansah, 32

Christy stands with her youngest daughter besides the farm where she used to work in Bentum, a community plagued by poverty and child malnutrition.

When the village chief, Nana Agya Kwao, sold all the farming land in the community, it meant she could no longer work.

"No-one here can access their farms. I was able to feed my four children before, but there is no food anymore and no jobs in this village," she says.

"I struggle to earn a quarter of what I made before."

Mary Essil, 27

Mary holds a bottle of glucose that a nurse gave her at the clinic, to combat the malnutrition symptoms of her newborn baby.

She could not breastfeed her son, who was very small at birth.

Despite giving glucose to her baby, he died six weeks later, at just two months old.

Local tradition mandates that when a baby dies of malnutrition, the baby is taken away. Mary and her husband were not allowed to attend their son's funeral.

This project was organised and produced by UBELONG, a social venture based in Washington DC in partnership with Newton Europe, a UK-based consulting company.

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In pictures: The first 1,000 days of hunger - BBC News

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Across Ghana, the irreversible effects of child malnutrition can be seen among thousands of children affected during their critical first 1,000 days of life. This is the time in a child's life that will determine their health as adults, their ability to learn in school and to perform in future jobs.

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Migrants rescued for trailer in Mexico en route to the US

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Migrants rescued for trailer in Mexico en route to the US

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Catherine DiFede

Mexican officials on Sunday were attempting to return almost 200 Central American migrants to their home countries after they escaped an abandoned trailer.

The migrants were found Saturday in a trailer in Veracruz state, about 400 miles from the U.S. border, Mexico's National Institute of Migration said. The rescue came a week after 10 undocumented immigrants died in a packed, overheated trailer in San Antonio, Texas.

Officials told AFP news service the 178 occupants of the truck Saturday apparently realized they had been abandoned by the traffickers and a few escaped, seeking help from local residents who provided food and water.

The Central Americans were shuttled to a migration center for medical assistance before the process began to return them to their home countries, the migration agency said.

No arrests were immediately reported. In the San Antonio case, a Florida trucker is facing charges that could bring the death penalty. James Mathew Bradley Jr., 60, told police he was unaware of the human cargo packed in his rig.

But one passenger told authorities about 100 people stuffed in the trailer Bradley was hauling took turns breathing through a hole in the wall. More than two dozen survivors were rushed to hospitals, some in critical condition.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly — who is leaving the post to serve as chief of staff to President Trump — said the Texas tragedy demonstrated the "brutality" of the human smuggling rings.

"These smugglers have no regard for human life and seek only profits," Kelly said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/30/178-migrants-rescued-trailer-mexico/523618001/

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German cable car collision leaves dozens stranded in mid-air

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German cable car collision leaves dozens stranded in mid-air

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Tatiana Newcomer

A car hit a support pillar and came to a stop over the River Rhine in Germany. As a result, 75 were left suspended in mid-air. They were as high as 130 feet.

Cranes were used to reach the trapped passengers by fire crews. There were a total of 32 cars. It is believed that the cars were in the middle of an operation when the accident happened.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40770120

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40770120

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Brianne Woop
A private school in Madrid, which segregates the sexes, is being investigated for sexual discrimination. They had offered boys to only attend a game at a stadium, while girls were offered to visit a soup kitchen for the poor. They also had a crochet class, but only girls could be a part of it. This is breaking the law, as all students should have equal opportunities.
This article shows that sexual discrimination is out there, and continuing in the schools all around the world.

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Photo: belchonock/ Depositphotos

A school in the Madrid suburb of Alcorcón is being investigated after it emerged that while boys were offered an extracurricular trip to the Real Madrid stadium, female pupils were offered crochet classes.

The Madrid regional education department, which funds the privately run Juan Pablo II Catholic school , said inspectors will be dispatched to the school to investigate claims of sexual discrimination.

The school is part of the Educatio Servanda chain of institutions, and is one of 18 government-subsidized private schoolsin the Madrid region that segregates the sexes.

Claims made on Cadena SER radio station include the fact that the school offered boys-only trips to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium while the girls outing was a visit to a soup kitchen for the poor.

READ ALSO: Police seize anti-trans campaign bus declaring 'boys have penises'

It was also claimed that a lunchtime crochet class was offered exclusively for girls. The school could face fines if it is found that it breached the regulation that boys and girls must be given the same opportunities at school.

Juan Carlos Corvera, chairman of the foundation that oversees the Juan Pablo II and other Catholic schools, denied allegations of sexism in education. "Every pupil, according to his or her taste, chooses which activity they prefer," he said.

It isn't the first time the school has come under the spotlight.Last year the school principal, Carlos Martínez, was fined by Madrid's education department for sending out a letter to parents attacking a law that obliges schools to discuss the issues of gender identity in the classroom.

In the letter he compared recent legislation guaranteeing the rights of the capital's LGBT community with "fanatical terrorism."

READ MORE: Ikea vows to redesign sexist baby changing signs in Spanish stores

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Madrid school in sexism row over knitting for girls and football for boys

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Photo: belchonock/ Depositphotos A school in the Madrid suburb of Alcorcón is being investigated after it emerged that while boys were offered an extracurricular trip to the Real Madrid stadium, female pupils were offered crochet classes.

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Trump's decision to ban transgender people from the Military has made Italian News.

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Trump's decision to ban transgender people from the Military has made Italian News.

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Patrick Wallace
I am posting this article from the Italian news site La Repubblica because I still am amazed at just how broadcasted American controversy is around the world.  The decision to ban transgender people from the United States military was made by an American president and effects American troops, and yet the decision was posted on an Italian news site.

I can come to two conclusions as to why this is.  One, Italy must be facing the same related issue in their own country, transgender rights, and therefor the article relates to them.

Or, Italian newspapers are anti-trump supporters and are looking to post articles that make him look bad.  Articles like this should garner many more readers.

Either way, it is shameful that our country has made such a decision. Other countries look to us as leaders in movements such as GLBT rights and here we are going backwards.  What message is this sending the world if The United States of America doesn't support their own transgender people?    How do decisions like this impact the psyche of our transgender brothers and sisters?  Will Italians look at Americans differently now or will this just be classified as a "Trump" thing.

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WASHINGTON - Il presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump va ancora una volta in direzione opposta rispetto al suo predecessore Barack Obama e decide che le persone transgender non potranno servire nelle forze armate americane. Lo annuncia lo stesso Trump via Twitter.

LEGGI ANCHE Trump revoca norma Obama su uso bagni per studenti transgender

"Dopo aver consultato i generali e gli esperti militari, siete avvisati che il governo degli Stati Uniti non accetterà né permetterà che individui transgender servano in alcuna unità dell'esercito. Il nostro esercito deve essere concentrato su vittorie schiaccianti e decisive e non può sostenere il tremendo costo medico e il disagio che i trangender nell'esercito comportebbero", scrive Trump.

Dal primo luglio 2016 è in effetti caduto il divieto per i transgenger nelle forze armate, ultima tappa di un percorso avviato nel 2010 con l'abolizione del cosiddetto "don't ask don't tell": la regola per la quale nessun militare deve dichiarare la propria omosessualità pena la radiazione. Ma le regole per permettere il reclutamento delle persone transgender non erano ancora state rese effettive e l'avvio del reclutamento aveva subito uno slittamento di sei mesi. Rinvio deciso dal segretario alla Difesa Jim Mattis in attesa di decisioni.

Secondo il National center for transgender equality, ci sarebbero circa 134.000 veterani transgender e oltre 15.000 transgender sarebbero al momento in servizio nelle forze armate statunitensi. Le forze armate, con le regole imposte dall'amministrazione Obama, avrebbero coperto i costi medici della transizione per le persone già in servizio e le nuove reclute sarebbero state ammesse 18 mesi dopo la fine della loro transizione. Secondo uno studio della Rand corporation, le transizioni costerebbero tra i 2 e i 4 milioni di dollari all'anno; ogni anno, il Pentagono spende circa 6 miliardi di dollari in spese mediche per i membri attivi delle forze armate.

"Sembra una vigliaccata", è il commento via Twitter di Chelsea Manning, l'ex soldato, oggi soldatessa, dell'esercito americano condannata per aver passato una valanga di documenti segreti a Wikileaks poi graziata da Barack Obama. "Quindi, le forze armate più grandi più forti più $$$ (ricche ndr) sulla terra si lamentano per qualche persona trans ma finanziano gli F35? Suona come vigliaccheria", ha scritto.

so, biggest baddest most $$ military on earth cries about a few trans people ?? but funds the F-35? ?? sounds like cowardice ?????? #WeGotThis
- Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) 26 luglio 2017

E molti giornalisti, oggi, ricordano un tweet di giugno di Ivanka Trump, la figlia del presidente: "Sono orgogliosa di sostenere i miei amici americani della comunità lgbtq (ovvero lesbiche, gay, bisessuali, transgender e queer) che hanno reso un contributo immenso alla nostra società ed economia". Come candidato, Trump si era definito un sostenitore dei diritti della comunità lgbtq.

Il Pentagono ha fatto sapere che fornirà "nel prossimo futuro" indicazioni all'esercito Usa. "Continueremo a lavorare da vicino con la Casa Bianca in conseguenza del nuovo orientamento fornito dal comandante in capo sui trans che prestano servizio nell'esercito", ha dichiarato il portavoce del Pentagono, il capitano della Marina Jeff Davis, rimandando tutte le domande sui commenti di Trump alla Casa Bianca.

E critiche al presidente usa sono arrivate anche dal senatore John McCain, eroe di guerra e veterano del Vietnam. Rientrato in Senato per il voto sull'abolizione dell' Obamacare dopo che gli è stato diagnosticato un tumore al cervello, McCain ha attaccato Trump: la sua dichiarazione sui transgender "non è chiara. A chi ha i requisiti medici dovrebbe essere consentito di servire" nelle forze armate.

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Trump, no ai transgender nelle Forze armate: "Dobbiamo essere concentrati sulle vittorie"

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WASHINGTON - Il presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump va ancora una volta in direzione opposta rispetto al suo predecessore Barack Obama e decide che le persone transgender non potranno servire nelle forze armate americane. Lo annuncia lo stesso Trump via Twitter.

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The German mosque that attracts women imams, gays, and death threats

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The German mosque that attracts women imams, gays, and death threats

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Peter Morrison

Within Germany, there is a mosque that is making news all across Europe. The "liberal mosque" as it is called has allowed women prayer leaders, homosexuals, and those with new mindset in. The more traditional people of the Muslim religion are not viewing this mosque as an actual place of worship in the religion and are not supportive in many ways. Recently, the mosque has received death threats and letters that threaten the building and the members. The article is especially interesting because Germany is a safe haven for many refugees, which in fact have not been at mosque in the recent months (according to Politico). The new mosque crosses barriers between the west and the east and is very interesting to see. Definitely keep an eye on this as it develops!

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BERLIN - As attendees filed out of the Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque - tucked away in a room on the third floor of a Protestant church in Berlin's Moabit district - two women whispered furiously at the foot of the stairs.

It was the mosque's opening day, a Friday in June, and Turkish-German women's rights activist Seyran Ateş, one of the mosque's founders, has just delivered the inaugural sermon.

To Elham Manea, the Yemeni-Swiss political science professor who led that morning's prayers, the mosque - which bans burqas, welcomes homosexuals and allows men and women to pray in a mixed congregation - reflects the social reality "that men and women are equal." The message "is love, for this religion and for our society," she said, speaking in rapid-fire Arabic, waving her hands in front of her bright green robe.

Somaya al-Thaar, a 37-year-old Yemeni-German, raised her eyebrows under her hijab. "I'm not against women being imams," she said. "This is Germany. Do what you want. But they don't have anything substantive."

The mosque "is just for show," she added, scrolling through her Facebook feed, where her post about the woman-led prayers had already generated 700 comments, many with laughing or shocked emojis. Most dismiss the mosque as a Potemkin village of liberalism for the European media.

Ateş would receive so many death threats that the police put her under 24-hour protection.

The hushed discussion at the foot of the stairs is part of a passionate debate among Germany's Muslims sparked by the unveiling of the country's self-proclaimed "first liberal mosque." The opening captured the attention of Western journalists, who heavily outnumbered actual worshippers on opening day, snacking on pretzels in the middle of Ramadan as they listen to an "Islamic hymn," performed in English.

Among Berlin's Muslim population, it has raised controversial questions about the proper role of Islam in European society and to what degree it can or should be liberalized. Within a few weeks of the mosque's opening, Ateş received so many death threats that the police put her under 24-hour protection.

* * *

A controversial topic across most of Europe, the debate on Islam's place in the West is especially fraught in Germany, which has taken in more than 1 million refugees and asylum seekers from Muslim-majority countries since 2015. Their ability to integrate in German society is emerging as a key issue in the country's upcoming election in September.

For those on the liberal side of the Muslim divide, the mosque offers a useful counter-point to far-right politicians' portrayal of Islam as intolerant and prone to violent extremism.

Islamic authorities in both Egypt and Turkey have strongly condemned the gender desegregation at Ateş' mosque - a position shared by many Muslims and newly arrived refugees in Berlin - but a small number of German Muslims have embraced it.

Arwa al-Khutabi, a Muslim woman from Yemen, said she hopes liberal Islam will gain traction and loosen the hold of more conservative, hard-line religious centers by providing social services, especially among the newly arrived refugees.

"Most of the mosques here are Muslim Brotherhood or Salafi," said al-Khutabi, 46, who moved to Germany in 2005 to complete a Ph.D. in history at the Free University of Berlin and has since become a citizen. Most people don't attend them, but refugees will go if the mosques give them help. She attended the opening sermons at Ateş' mosque to show her support, she said.

The danger is that most mainstream mosques also promote fundamentalist teachings, which can create parallel societies and discourage integration, she cautioned. "If Muslims want to integrate, they have to liberalize," she said.

Unless liberal mosques like Ateş' can match the kind of social support offered by more mainstream, more conservative mosques, they won't be able to compete, she said. "This mosque is tiny. It's just a symbol. There is no Gulf monarch helping the liberals."

* * *

Wahhabi mosques are a source of extremist ideology, agreed Ali Taouil, the 48-year-old leader of a Shiite mosque in Neukölln, a district known for its high concentration of immigrants. Taouil moved to Germany from Lebanon in 1990 and became a citizen 10 years later.

But although hard-line mosques "brainwash youth with extremist ideas," Taouil said he has no qualms sitting with them for iftar, the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan. Another cause of youth radicalization is alienation, he said, and a sense of exclusion from German society for being Muslims. That's why he believes in engaging mosques across the sectarian and political spectrum. "The problems outside Germany should be left outside Germany. Let's be brothers here," he said. "Our goal is to be together."

The founder of the liberal mosque, however, went too far, he said. She "wants to bring a new Islam that's far from all our Islams. It's wrong. It's not about tradition. It's fiqh [jurisprudence]. It's theology."

Taouil agreed on the need for a debate on how to reform Islam, but he stressed that religious scholars with decades of authority should be the ones to initiate change. Ateş does not have the authority, he said, for the sudden, radical departure from the religion's core principles she preaches at Ibn Rushd-Goethe.

"We can't just choose whatever rules we want," he said, comparing the situation with walking down a Berlin street and respecting red and green traffic lights. "Freedom is not without limits. Religion must have rules, just like the street needs lights."

* * *

Tucked away in an old, graffiti-covered building a few blocks from Ateş' mosque, Ahmad al-Hammoud manages refugee cases at Dar al-Hikma, or Haus der Weisheit, a cultural center and mosque that also acts as a help center for refugees.

Al-Hammoud, a 59-year-old Palestinian-German who moved to Berlin in the late 1970s, said he and many other immigrants who've lived in Germany for decades still feel like foreigners. His children are engineers who speak German better than Arabic, he said, but his family still feels ostracized.

"[Germans] say that integration just means respecting the law, but as Muslims, they will not accept us unless we leave part of our religion," al-Hammoud said. "For example, homosexuality. They want us to accept it. I cannot."

Most Germans don't understand that Islam is necessarily a social religion, not a purely personal one, al-Hammoud said.

"They want Muslims to just pray and nothing else. They want to separate religion from society. They think wanting to live by Sharia means terrorism. No!" al-Hammoud said. "Islam influences everything. It teaches a way to live."

Muslims living in Germany will have to learn to privatize religion to some extent, he conceded, out of respect for German law and values. All they can do is "live as much as we can in accordance with Islam, given the reality that we are in Europe," he said.

* * *

For the bulk of Berlin's newly arrived Syrian refugees, the debate is moot. While many won't attend the liberal mosque because they are skeptical of its tradition-bending practices, a greater number are not regularly attending any mosque at all, said Samer Serawan, a 38-year-old Syrian who arrived in 2015.

That's not because they've lost their faith or become liberal, Serawan said, but because they're busy learning German, working or looking for housing.

"Identity is very important, but now is not the time for refugees to think about it," said Serawan, who leads alternative tours of Berlin from a refugee's perspective. "I lost everything. I'm only thinking about how to stand up again."

There's a difference between dropping conservative social norms, which many refugees do upon arrival in Germany, and losing the basics of your faith, he said. "In the Arab world, we are controlled by traditions and customs. When you come here, the law replaces all that."

Taouil, the leader of the Shiite mosque, feels much the same way. The idea of freedom functioning best within a strong legal framework was something he learned in Germany, he said. "Some of the Syrians have a wrong view of democracy. They think it means, 'I can do anything I want.' That's a mistake. Without law, there is no democracy," he said.

Respect for the law is what enables people of different morals, religiously based or not, to coexist. "My neighbors are gay, for example, and in Islamic jurisprudence, that's not right. It's a sin," Taouil said. "But I have no problem living next to them."

There may be tension between Islamic and liberal German values, he said, but in Germany, people with different values can live equally under the law, without forcing each other to change. "That's the point of democracy," he said.
Alice Su is a journalist based in Amman, Jordan. She tweets at @aliceysu. Reporting for this piece was supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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The German mosque that attracts women imams, gays and death threats

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BERLIN - As attendees filed out of the Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque - tucked away in a room on the third floor of a Protestant church in Berlin's Moabit district - two women whispered furiously at the foot of the stairs.

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by Josephine Noone
After the death of Venezuela's Socialist President Hugo Chavez in 2013, Nicolas Maduro, who is also a member of the United Socialist Party, was elected President of Venezuela. Hugo Chavez used oil export revenues, which make up about 95% of Venezuela's exports, to finance social programs for Venezuela’s poor people. However, falling oil prices have led to cut backs in social programs and the United Socialist Party has lost support. The National Assembly is controlled by the opposition party, the Democratic Unity Roundtable. They have been opposing President Maduro and so he used the Supreme Court to take over the powers of the National Assembly on March 29th. Since that time, mass protests have been escalating as the opposition accuses President Maduro of trying to establish dictatorial powers and over 100 people have died in the protests.  Now President Maduro has called for the election of a constituent assembly with the power to rewrite the constitution. The opposition sees this as a ploy to take power away from the opposition-controlled National Assembly. As elections approach violence is escalating. The US government opposes the election and has imposed sanctions on high ranking Venezuelan government officials.

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Venezuela is banning protests that could "disturb or affect" Sunday's controversial election for a new constituent assembly.

Prison terms of between five and 10 years could be imposed on those contravening the ban, Interior Minister Néstor Reverol said.

More than 100 people have been killed in protest-related violence since April.

The opposition sees it as a move towards dictatorship.

President Nicolás Maduro said his opponents should "abandon the road to insurrection" and added that he would be willing to begin a "roundtable dialogue in the next few hours".

A 48-hour general strike is currently taking place. A 49-year-old died in a protest in the northern Carabobo state on Thursday.

The opposition has also vowed to go ahead with a mass protest on Friday, despite the new measures.

The ban on activity will be in force from Friday until Tuesday.

Airline stops flights to Venezuela

What is behind the crisis in Venezuela?

Crisis-hit Venezuelans leave for Brazil

"National meetings and demonstrations, concentrations of people and any other similar act that may disturb or affect the normal development of the electoral process are prohibited throughout the country," Mr Reverol said in a television address.

He said there would be high security on the streets during the election period, and 96 places across the country would be designated for "processing electoral crimes".

Opposition politicians turned to Twitter to encourage people to fight against the ban by protesting on Friday, calling the demonstration the "taking of Venezuela".

The new constituent assembly, comprising 545 members, will rival the National Assembly, currently controlled by the opposition, and will have the power to rewrite the constitution.

President Nicolás Maduro justifies the new institution as a way of bringing peace back to the divided nation.

On Wednesday, the US imposed sanctions on 13 senior Venezuelan officials, including Mr Reverol.

The sanctions freeze the US assets of those targeted and stop American entities from doing business with them.

President Donald Trump promised "strong and swift economic actions" if the poll goes ahead.

Mr Maduro responded by describing the US as imperialists bent on ruling the world and called the sanctions "illegal, insolent and unprecedented".

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Venezuela crisis: Bans on protests that 'disturb' election - BBC News

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Venezuela is banning protests that could "disturb or affect" Sunday's controversial election for a new constituent assembly. Prison terms of between five and 10 years could be imposed on those contravening the ban, Interior Minister Néstor Reverol said. More than 100 people have been killed in protest-related violence since April.

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Letter from Africa: Freed Boko Haram 'wives' return to captorsBy Melissa Rodriguez                               This article explains the kidnappings by Boko Haram and how the women who were abducted feel as though it is their home. It mentions how these women go back to the adbuctors and why. They return to Boko Harams hide out in Nigeria and speak about a 25 year old woman named Aisha. She was kidnapped when she was about 21 years old and married someone who was romantic and gave her nice gifts. She was eventually released from captivity and after a short time, voluntarily returned to the hide out. Some of the women were treated worse than others. The women begin to miss their husbands that they marry in the camp and return. 	

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Letter from Africa: Freed Boko Haram 'wives' return to captorsBy Melissa Rodriguez                               This article explains the kidnappings by Boko Haram and how the women who were abducted feel as though it is their home. It mentions how these women go back to the adbuctors and why. They return to Boko Harams hide out in Nigeria and speak about a 25 year old woman named Aisha. She was kidnapped when she was about 21 years old and married someone who was romantic and gave her nice gifts. She was eventually released from captivity and after a short time, voluntarily returned to the hide out. Some of the women were treated worse than others. The women begin to miss their husbands that they marry in the camp and return. 	

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In our series of letters from African journalists, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks at why some Nigerian women have gone back to the militant Islamists who abducted them.

When news emerged that some of the Chibok schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram in 2014, had declined to return home with the batch of 82 freed in May, the world found it difficult to believe.

Not even the release of a Boko Haram video showing some hijab-clad, Kalashnikov-wielding girls saying they were happy in their new lives, was enough to convince people. "They must have been coerced," some said.

"It must be Stockholm syndrome," others said. What else could explain why any girl, any woman, would choose to remain with such horrible men?

Yet, some women rescued by the Nigerian military from captivity are willingly returning to Boko Haram's Sambisa forest hideout in north-eastern Nigeria to be with these same horrible men.

What we know about Chibok abductions

'Fairytale life'

In January, I met Aisha Yerima, 25, who was kidnapped by Boko Haram more than four years ago. While in captivity, she got married to a commander who showered her with romance, expensive gifts and Arabic love songs.

The fairytale life in the Sambisa forest she described to me was suddenly cut short by the appearance of the Nigerian military in early 2016, at a time her husband had gone off to battle with other commanders.

When I first interviewed Aisha, she had been in government custody for about eight months, and completed a de-radicalisation programme run by psychologist Fatima Akilu, the executive director of the Neem Foundation and founder of the Nigerian government's de-radicalisation programme.

"I now see that all the things Boko Haram told us were lies," Aisha said. "Now, when I listen to them on the radio, I laugh."

The pull of power?

But, in May, less than five months after being released into the care of her family in north-eastern Maiduguri city, she returned to the forest hideout of Boko Haram.

Over the past five years, Dr Akilu has worked with former Boko Haram members - including some commanders, their wives and children - and with hundreds of women who were rescued from captivity.

"How women were treated when in Boko Haram captivity depends on which camp a woman was exposed to. It depends on the commander running the camp," she said.

"Those who were treated better were the ones who willingly married Boko Haram members or who joined the group voluntarily and that's not the majority. Most women did not have the same treatment."

Aisha had boasted to me about the number of slaves she had while in the Sambisa forest, the respect she received from other Boko Haram commanders, and the strong influence she had over her husband. She even accompanied him to battle once.

"These were women who for the most part had never worked, had no power, no voice in the communities, and all of a sudden they were in charge of between 30 to 100 women who were now completely under their control and at their beck and call," Dr Akilu said.

"It is difficult to know what to replace it with when you return to society because most of the women are returning to societies where they are not going to be able to wield that kind of power."

Still in shock

Apart from loss of power, other reasons Dr Akilu believes could lead women to willingly return to Boko Haram include stigmatisation from a community which treats them like pariahs because of their association with the militants, and tough economic conditions.

"De-radicalisation is just one part of it. Reintegration is also a part of it. Some of them have no livelihood support built around them," Dr Akilu said.

"The kind of support you have in de-radicalisation programmes does not follow you when you leave. They often come out successful from de-radicalisation programmes but they struggle in the community and it is that struggle that often leads them to go back," she said.

Recently, I visited Aisha's family, who were still in shock at her departure and worried about her wellbeing.

Her mother, Ashe, recalled at least seven former Boko Haram "wives" she knew, all friends of her daughter, who had returned to the Sambisa forest long before her daughter did.

"Each time one of them disappeared, her family came to our house to ask Aisha if she had heard from their daughter," she said. "That's how I knew."

Some of the women kept in touch with Aisha after they returned to Boko Haram. Her younger sister, Bintu, was present during at least two phone calls.

"They told her to come and join them but she refused," Bintu said. "She told them she didn't want to go back."

Life on track?

Unlike some former Boko Haram "wives" I've met, who are either struggling to survive harsh economic conditions or dealing with stigma, Aisha's life seemed to be on track.

She was earning money from buying and selling fabric, regularly attending social events and posting photos of herself all primped up on social media, and had a string of suitors.

"At least five different men wanted to marry her," her mother said, pointing out that there could be no greater form of acceptance shown to a woman, and presenting this as evidence that her daughter faced no stigma whatsoever from the community.

"One of the men lives in Lagos. She was thinking of marrying him," she said.

But, everything went awry when Aisha received yet another phone call from the women who had returned to the forest, informing her that her Boko Haram "husband" was now with a woman who had been her rival.

From that day, the vivacious and gregarious Aisha became a recluse.

"She stopped going out or talking or eating," Bintu said. "She was always sad."

Two weeks later, she left home and did not return. Some of her clothes were missing. Her phones were switched off. She took the two-year-old son fathered by the commander in the Sambisa forest, but left the older one she had with the husband she divorced before her abduction.

"De-radicalisation is complicated by the fact that we have an active, ongoing insurgency. In cases where a group has reached settlement with the government and laid down their arms, it is easier," Dr Akilu said. "But, when you have fathers, husbands, sons still in the movement, they want to be reunited, especially women."

Asta, another former Boko Haram "wife", told me that she has heard of the many women returning to the group, but has no plans to do so herself.

However, the 19-year-old described how terribly she misses her husband, and how keen she is to hear from him and to be reunited with him.

She insisted that she would not return to the forest, not even if he were to ask her.

"I will tell him to come and stay here with us and live a normal life," she said.

But as with Aisha, the desire to be with the man she yearns for may turn out to be more compelling for Asta than the aversion to a group responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in north-east Nigeria, and for the displacement of millions who are struggling to survive in refugee camps.
More from Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani:
The man who brokered the deal to release the Chibok girls

Why Nigerians love flowery language

Why piles of cash keep turning up in Nigeria

How to protect the Chibok girls

'I met the man who scammed me'

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa, on Instagram at bbcafrica or email africalive@bbc.co.uk

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Letter from Africa: Freed Boko Haram 'wives' return to captors - BBC News

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In our series of letters from African journalists, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks at why some Nigerian women have gone back to the militant Islamists who abducted them. When news emerged that some of the Chibok schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram in 2014, had declined to return home with the batch of 82 freed in May, the world found it difficult to believe.

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EU to Rule on Austria Pushing Back Asylum Seekers

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EU to Rule on Austria Pushing Back Asylum Seekers

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Since 2015-2016 the European Union has had a massive influx of asylum seekers, a ruling on Wednesday may decide their fate. The main topic to be reviewed is the “Dublin Regulation” and whether or not it applied to thousands of migrants seeking asylum. It will decide if Austria and Slovenia acted in accordance to EU guidelines by sending asylum seekers back to Croatia, the 1st country they reached in search of Asylum. The decision may have repercussions that affect the EC significantly.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40714946

Nurcihan Allison

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South African Child Virtually Cured of HIV

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South African Child Virtually Cured of HIV

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According to doctors, a 9y/o who is part of a study and was infected with HIV at birth has spent most of his life without the need for treatment. The child is part of a study that examines the effects of therapy starting at 9 weeks old. Early therapy is thought to pay a pivotal role in attacking the virus and inhibiting its ability to thrive in the human host. At this point it’s unclear whether or not the remission of HIV in the child’s body is due to treatment or genetics, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the study has stated “further study is needed to learn how ti induce long term HIV remission in infected babies.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40703306
Nurcihan Allison

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News from Africa - Sudan's 'big and beautiful' pills for women

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News from Africa - Sudan's 'big and beautiful' pills for women

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Carlie VanPatten

Prescription weight-gaining pills are sweeping Sudan. Women are purchasing them from beauty stores and off the black market, and taking them, along with skin bleaching creams, to achieve a status of power and to be seen as "marriageable". Unfortunately, there are many negative side effects to these pills including kidney and heart failure.

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In our series of letters from African journalists, Yousra Elbagir looks at how some Sudanese women are turning to black market substances in their quest for beauty.

While skin bleaching is a long-standing cosmetic staple across Sudan, a newer craze is sweeping the nation.

Many young women are turning to prescription pills in order to gain weight, and hopefully gain the curvaceous figures they see as the standard of beauty.

Away from the regulation of trained pharmacists, fattening pills are illegally dispensed by the same small shops which sell topical bleaching creams and other popular beauty fixes.

Sold individually, in small bags and emptied sweet containers, they are completely devoid of any information about medical risks.

An open secret

It is difficult to estimate how many women in Sudan use these products to gain weight, because many are reluctant to admit to it.

"Pills are handed out in the village like penny sweets," says Imitithal Ahmed, a student at the University of Khartoum.

"I've always been scared [to use them] because I've seen family members fall ill and close friends become dependent on appetite stimulants.

"My aunt is on the brink of kidney failure and has blocked arteries from taking too many fattening pills, trying to get a bigger bum.

"Everyone in the family knows why she's sick, but she won't own up to it. She's had to stop taking the pills on doctor's orders."
Yousra Elbagir: "Fattening pills are a popular niche within a much bigger trend"
'My Mama Suspects'

Pills are often rebranded and given catchy street names which allude to their effects.

From The Neighbours' Shock to Chicken Thighs and My Mama Suspects, the clinical name of pills are forgotten and replaced by promises of a bigger bottom, shapely thighs and a belly that will have your mother concerned that you might be pregnant.

Tablets range from standard appetite stimulants to allergy medicines containing the steroid hormone, cortisone.

The side-effects of taking cortisone are now a cash cow for pill peddlers. It is known to slow the metabolism, increase appetite, trigger water retention and create extra deposits of fat around the abdomen and face.

Using unregulated steroids without supervision can damage the heart, liver, kidneys and thyroid, says Dr Salah Ibrahim, Head of the Pharmacists' Union in Sudan.

He explains that cortisone is a naturally occurring hormone in the body, helping to regulate vital bodily functions. But when a man-made, concentrated version enters the body in the form of pills or topical bleaching creams, the brain gives the body a signal to stop production.

If a user suddenly stops taking the substance, their major organs can spiral into dysfunction.

Deadly consequences

Young women in Sudan are dying from kidney and heart failure caused by sudden steroid withdrawal, medical professionals say.

Fatalities are especially common among new brides, who traditionally undergo a month of intense beautification before their wedding day and then abruptly stop using fattening pills and steroidal bleaching creams. Their deaths are put down to sudden organ failure.

Yet these horrifying beauty trends continue to gain traction.

Prescription pill abuse is taking off in Sudan's conservative society, partly because it lacks the social stigma and pungent, giveaway odour of alcohol and cannabis.

University students flock to buy the potent painkiller Tramadol, which is sold for 20 Sudanese pounds ($1; 80 pence) per pill.

Some of Khartoum's roadside tea-sellers are even known to drop the painkiller in a cup of tea, upon a coded request.

Awareness campaigns have so far had very little impact.

Dr Ibrahim, Head of the Pharmacists Union, has made numerous appearances on national television to warn of the dangers of prescription pill abuse.

At university level, pharmacists are taught vigilance and trained to act in keeping with ethics and pharmaceutical law.

But in a country where pharmacists and doctors are paid very little, the temptation to sell pills to illegal vendors is overwhelming for some.

"Last time I went to the beauty shop I go to for my creams, the shop owner brought out a chocolate box full of different fattening pills," says Ms Ahmed, the Khartoum student.

"Girls are too scared to ask pharmacists and doctors about the pills they buy from beauty shops, for fear of being publicly shamed."

Police may arrest traders and block smuggling routes, but the profits for rogue pharmacists keep growing regardless. Fattening pills are poured into the black market, deemed to be the lesser evil.

Sudan isn't the only African society where being overweight is a symbol of prosperity and power, boosting the "marriageability" of young women.

But in this country, it embodies an ideal.

It defines the ultimate Sudanese woman - full-bodied and light-skinned - epitomising beauty and coveted as a wife.

The iconic status of Nada Algalaa, a Sudanese singer whose looks are widely praised and emulated, is testament in itself.

For some women, it is an ideal to be acquired by any means necessary.

More from Yousra Elbagir:
Sudan's rulers 'shirking action on cholera' Sudanese fight for their African identity How poets are fighting censorship in Sudan Why Sudanese people still feel like pariahs
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

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Yousra Elbagir: Sudan's 'big and beautiful' pills for women - BBC News

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In our series of letters from African journalists, Yousra Elbagir looks at how some Sudanese women are turning to black market substances in their quest for beauty. While skin bleaching is a long-standing cosmetic staple across Sudan, a newer craze is sweeping the nation.

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Deported Teen Allowed to Return to Germany

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Deported Teen Allowed to Return to Germany

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Valerie Cetrulo

A teenager who was born and raised in Germany was recently deported, along with her Nepalese parents. The parents had applied for political asylum and were denied. The teen, named Bivsi, was taken from her school and immediately deported along with her family. Her classmates and teachers built a case for her return, and she will be allowed to return with her parents on a student visa. Officials ruled that Bivsi was a "de facto" German. This was an interesting read because it highlights the differences in citizenship laws around the world. In Germany, being born in the country does not guarantee citizenship rights.

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A teenager who was removed from her classroom and deported to Nepal has been allowed to return to Germany on a study visa.

Bivsi Rana, 15, was born in Germany to Nepalese parents. In May she was deported with the rest of her family.

Her classmates protested and lobbied on her behalf against the deportation, drawing hundreds of people to rally under the slogan "Bring Bivsi back".

Officials called it a "unique case" and said Bivsi was "de facto German".

Mayor of Duisburg Sören Link said: "The fact that we have managed to resolve this difficult situation lifts a burden from my shoulders."

Bivsi's parents moved to Germany in 1998, fleeing civil conflict in their native Nepal, but their applications for asylum were denied. Their repeated appeals were rejected. Fearing political repercussions at home Bivsi's father, Mr Rana, initially applied for asylum under a false name and has since called this "the worst mistake" of his life.

But Bivsi herself was born and brought up in Germany.

'Kind student'

On the last Monday in May, Bivsi was in class at school in Duisburg, in north west Germany, when she was told she had to pack her things and leave. That same day she and her family were deported to Nepal, a country Bivsi had never visited before.

Class teacher Sascha Thamm told German media afterwards that all the girls in the class cried and Bivsi's best friend broke down to the extent that an emergency doctor had to be called.

Mr Thamm said Bivsi was a kind, engaged student who was good at German and science and helped teach swimming lessons.

Bivsi has been living in Nepal with her family and, according to reports, has been unable to find a new school there due to language issues.

She has now been given a study visa enabling her to return Germany while she finishes her education. Her parents can return with her.

North-Rhine Westphalia state's integration minister Joachim Stamp said: "This is a unique case and generalisations cannot be drawn from it.

"The right of the child stood in the foreground in this decision.

"Bivsi was born in Germany and grew up here - she is de facto a German child."

Bivsi is reported to be "totally happy" with the decision, and her parents are reported to be "overjoyed".

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Deported Nepalese teen Bivsi Rana can return to Germany - BBC News

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A teenager who was removed from her classroom and deported to Nepal has been allowed to return to Germany on a study visa. Bivsi Rana, 15, was born in Germany to Nepalese parents. In May she was deported with the rest of her family.

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Battle of the Languages:  Ukrainian or Russian?

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Battle of the Languages:  Ukrainian or Russian?

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Carolyn Starr
A political expert guest appearing on a Ukrainian TV program refused to speak Ukrainian and was told to get off the set.
This incident has set off controversy about the continued use of the Russian language in the Ukraine.

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Russian may be widely spoken and understood in Ukraine but, such is the state of conflict between the two countries at the moment, its use is becoming a political act.

Yuriy Romanenko, a blogger and political expert, walked off the set of a live discussion show on Ukraine's Zik Television last week, when he was asked by the host, Ostap Drozdov, to speak Ukrainian instead of Russian.

"We agreed that [you would speak] Ukrainian," Mr Drozdov said, to which Mr Romanenko responded: "Let me speak the way I want to speak."

When Mr Drozdov insisted it was a matter of principle for him, as a "Ukrainian-speaking journalist who has a certain policy in his own programme", Mr Romanenko insisted he did not want to.

"OK, then I would like to ask you to leave this studio," said Mr Drozdov.

Mr Romanenko acceded, removing his microphone and shaking hands with his host before walking off the set.

'The shock of Russification'

Later, he said he had never promised to speak Ukrainian and recalled that the country's constitution protected people's right to use any language.

Writing on the Hvylya news website, of which he is editor-in-chief, Mr Romanenko said: "Laws, not strange criteria in the head of a presenter on any TV channel, set the framework for discussion." He accused Mr Drozdov of inventing his own laws and "covering them with patriotism".

Mr Drozdov also responded to the issue, writing on Tuesday that he was "amazed" by the number of people who had expressed their support and gratitude.

The incident reignited a recurring debate about the use of Russian in Ukraine that has continued for several days.

'Change people's consciousness'

One journalist at a rival station, Espreso TV, Bogdan Butkevych, criticised Mr Drozdov, saying it was more important to pay attention to what people say than the language they were speaking in.

Aleksander Smirnov, a creative director at a well-known advertising agency, called Mr Drozdov a "shame for journalism".

Others defended Mr Drozdov's stance though. Dmytro Simanskyy, a public relations expert, said he had his "full language support".

There should not be "a single word in Russian on television", Mr Simanskyy said, adding that this would "significantly change people's consciousness" in a couple of years.

War of tongues

Ukraine has been culturally tied to Russia for centuries and Russians make up the second largest ethnic group in the country - about a sixth of the population.

The use of Russian has become politically contentious in recent years.

In May, the Ukrainian parliament introduced language quotas for TV, stating that nationwide channels should have at least three-quarters of their content in Ukrainian - a move one television channel described as "violating the rights of millions of Ukrainian citizens whose native language is Russian".

Under the former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych (2010-2014), parliament passed a law which gave Russian the status of a regional language in many areas.

It was bitterly criticised by pro-Ukrainian activists, who accused Mr Yanukovych and his party of trying to score points with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

That law was abolished after the Euromaidan protests of 2013-14 in which Mr Yanukovych was ousted.
See also:

Russia and Ukraine's 'Twiplomatic' spat

Eurovision 2017: Why Ukraine and Russia are facing off

Reporting by Yuriy Martynenko Next story: Armed guards for tomatoes in India as prices rise
Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.

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TV guest quits show over request to speak Ukrainian - BBC News

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Russian may be widely spoken and understood in Ukraine but, such is the state of conflict between the two countries at the moment, its use is becoming a political act. Yuriy Romanenko, a blogger and political expert, walked off the set of a live discussion show on Ukraine's Zik Television last week, when he was asked by the host, Ostap Drozdov, to speak Ukrainian instead of Russian.

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Romans threatened with water rationing as Italy's heatwave drags on

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Romans threatened with water rationing as Italy's heatwave drags on

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Catherine Di Fede

Romans threatened with water rationing as Italy's heatwave drags on

Half of capital’s 3 million residents could have water switched off for eight hours a day after Italy’s driest spring for 60 years

More than a million residents of Rome are facing water rationing for up to eight hours a day as the prolonged heatwave that has ravaged southern Europe takes its toll on the Italian capital.

Some businesses are already reporting sporadic disruption to their supply, while last month mayor Virginia Raggi turned off thousands of the city’s public drinking fountains in an effort to save water as the drought set in.

Officials from the Italian utility Acea, the Lazio region that contains Rome, and the environment ministry will meet this week to discuss the possibility of rationing the water supply to about half of the city’s 3 million residents.

Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome

Lazio’s governor, Nicola Zingaretti, has ordered that a ban on drawing water from drought-hit Lake Bracciano, which lies about 40km from the capital and supplies some of its water, will come into force on 28 July.

“They are working on it and looking at some hypotheses; a decision should be made on Wednesday,” a spokesperson for Acea told the Guardian.

Water rationing in the Italian capital would be the latest consequence of a series of heatwaves in southern Europe this summer that have fuelled wildfires, exacerbated droughts and led Greek authorities to close some of the most popular tourist sites.

Blazes have broken out across southern Italy and Sicily, where temperatures have climbed well above 40C. Wildfires near the Calampiso seaside resort west of Palermo, the Sicilian capital, forced the evacuation by boat of more than 700 tourists earlier this month.

High temperatures compounded by strong winds have helped fires spread after months of below-average rainfall. Farm animals perished while several farms and more than 150 hectares of pine forest were destroyed in a blaze in Sicily this month.

The country endured an early heatwave last month. Though the phenomenon is not uncommon in July, authorities said the temperatures were especially high.

Last month scientists, using temperature records and up-to-date computer models, published a study concluding that human-caused climate change has dramatically increased the likelihood of such extreme heatwaves.

The analysis by World Weather Attribution (WAA), an international coalition of scientists that calculates the role of climate change in extreme weather events, found the heatwave that struck Portugal and Spain in June was 10 times more likely to have occurred due to global warming.

There has been significantly less rainfall across Italy this year – up to 80% lower than average in some areas. Meteorologists said on Sunday that the country had experienced its driest spring in 60 years.

The drought has ravaged two-thirds of agricultural land across the peninsula, causing an estimated €2bn (£1.8bn) worth of damage, according to Coldiretti, the farmers’ association.

Drought in the northern agricultural provinces of Italy prompted the government to declare states of emergency. Beppe Grillo, leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, has called for a similar response to the wildfires.

In southern Italy the heatwave has sparked at least 20 wildfires, including on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius near Naples.

In Rome some guesthouse owners say they are already having problems with their water supply, although it is unclear if this is solely due to the drought or partly due to ageing infrastructure. The city loses as much as much as 45% of its water due to a chronically leaky network of pipes.

“Some of the guesthouses that we run with our partner in the Santa Maggiore area have been affected,” said Steve Brenner, who owns the Beehive hotel close to Rome’s Termini railway station. “The first time it happened was in the middle of the night. We thought that maybe Acea [the water authority] was working on something, but we were told there were no works going on.”

When residents in Santa Maggiore reported the first drop in water supply to Acea, the company blamed ageing pumping systems in the buildings.

Brenner said: “This has been going on for decades. So much of the system doesn’t work, but the drought makes it critical.”

Raggi, Rome’s mayor, said on Monday she would try to avoid any rationing of the city’s water supply. “It is unacceptable that over one and a half million Romans should be without water,” she told Il Messaggero newspaper.

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France's economic and military presence in Africa continues

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France's economic and military presence in Africa continues

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Rasa Ardys-Juska
Seems that French pres. Macron is making enemies in the franc zone of Africa and several former French colonies with his "suggestions" based on very little knowledge of these African countries.  During the G20 Summit, Macron insulted the African nations as lacking "civilisational" characteristics.  According to the article, "Macron sees Africa only through the prism of colonialism and white supremacy. He carries, like a disease, the profound collective European feeling of civilisational superiority and parallel fear of the demographic strength of Africa."
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/07/macron-francafrique-170721190500965.html

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Chad's president Idriss Deby Itno speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron during the G5 Sahel summit, in Bamako, Mali on July 2, 2017 [Reuters/Christophe Archambault]

Pape Samba Kane is a Senegalese journalist and political analyst.

These days in Dakar, Bamako and elsewhere in Francophone Africa, everyone is talking about French President Emmanuel Macron.

President Macron, born long after French colonies became independent, displays an ostensible modernism, and - at least on the surface - attacks the obsolete political apparatuses, which, according to him, harm the vitality of the French society. As a result, perhaps too naively, many Africans expected him to change the old "Francafrique" - France's relations with its former colonies in Africa - for the better.

But the reality is more than disappointing. So far, Macron not only insisted on the continuity of France's economic dominance in the region as a former colonial power, but he also signalled his support for French military presence in the continent. Within the first weeks of his presidency, he has also clearly demonstrated that his assumptions about Africa and Africans are just as racist and colonialist as his predecessors'.

The colonial money

Earlier this month at the G5 summit in Mali, Macron responded to the leaders of several countries of the African franc zone who see this currency as a cause of economic misfortunes.

"If you feel unhappy in the franc zone, you leave it and create your own currency as Mauritania and Madagascar did," the 39-year-old president said. "If you stay there [in the franc zone], you must stop demagogic statements, making the CFA franc the scapegoat of your political and economic failures and France the source of your problems."

This statement, as one might expect, triggered a flood of protests in Africa, and revived the debate on the viability and the colonial legacy of the CFA franc.

The CFA franc, the franc of the French colonies of Africa, was created on December 26, 1945, in the wake of the Bretton Woods conference, in which allied countries decided on what the international financial order should be like after World War II. According to French authorities at the time, the main purpose of this new currency system was to cushion the colonies from a strong devaluation of the franc.

In 1958, to settle the independence movements that were gaining ground all over colonial Africa, a new constitution was passed in Paris, transforming the French Union into the French Community - a federation of states with their own self-government. Under this new governance system, the CFA franc became the currency of the French Community of Africa. But this status quo did not last long, as almost all states in the newly formed "African French Community" declared independence from France in the two years that followed the constitutional change.

The CFA franc, however, managed to survive the declarations of independence.

The problems Africa face today are completely different ... and are civilisational.

Emmanuel Macron

After independence, several countries did choose to leave the franc zone: Tunisia in 1958, Morocco in 1960, Guinea in 1959, Algeria in 1964, Madagascar and Mauritania in 1973. But a total of 14 countries, 12 of which are former French colonies, decided to continue using CFA franc as their official currency.

At the moment, the CFA franc is the official currency of the African Financial Community comprising eight countries within the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), as well as the Financial Cooperation in Central Africa, with six countries in this region.

The CFA franc is guaranteed by the French Treasury. It had a fixed exchange rate to French franc until 1999, and now - to the euro under agreements that force the countries of the franc zone to deposit 50 percent of their reserves in foreign currency to the French Treasury.

This currency, which is manufactured in France, follows the fluctuations of the euro, thus depriving the countries that use it from monetary sovereignty. That the CFA franc is bad for the economies of the 14 countries using it is clear. A country cannot have an independent economic path to development without control over its monetary policies.

The complaints of African leaders are justifiable and by far not "demagogic". Macron made this statement knowing full well that the colonial set-up of the CFA franc makes it quite difficult for countries to launch a unilateral withdrawal, given the high costs involved.

France's continuing military presence in Africa

Macron made his first official visit in Africa to Mali - a country that is considered to be a brilliant symbol of French military's triumphant return to the continent.

France launched an intervention in Mali in 2013 to push out fighters linked to al-Qaeda who had overtaken key northern cities. That mission evolved into the current Barkhane deployment launched in 2014 with an expanded mandate for "counterterror" operations across the Sahel. Currently, more than 4,000 French soldiers are participating in the operation in five Sahel nations alongside UN and Malian troops.

The tragedy of Africa is that the African has not fully entered into history ... They have never really launched themselves into the future.

Nicolas Sarkozy

From Serval to Barkhane, French military operations in Africa are allegedly aiming "to fight terrorism" and more specifically to "return to Mali its sovereignty over Timbuktu and Kidal". But, of course, another objective of these military operations - if not the primary one - is to protect French economic and geostrategic interests in the region, such as exploitation of Nigerien uranium and Malian gold. Also, it is well known that France is behind the creation of the G5 Sahel (an institutional framework for regional cooperation in development and security policies, incorporating Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad). The G5 helps France seal its military's influence in the region and President Macron seems to be committed to maintaining the current unfair status quo.

During his visit to Mali, the new French president reaffirmed France's commitment in the fight against terrorism in Africa and assigned a quasi-subordinate role to G5 Sahel countries, indicating that they can form indigenous armies, "to combat drug and human trafficking" at the border areas.

During the same visit, Macron also managed to offend Algeria, the mediator in the Malian crisis. At a joint press conference with the Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Macron said: "I will have a stronger demand from the states of the Sahel and Algeria," he said, before stressing that "we cannot show any weakness whatsoever with regard to terrorist groupings, regardless of domestic political reasons."

Macron's comments were meant to suggest that Algeria is supposedly allowing al-Qaeda-linked individuals to freely move in its territory.

Africa's 'civilisational problems'

But the harsh words on the CFA franc and the subtle accusations against Algeria were nothing compared to his comments at the G20 summit in Hamburg regarding Africa's so-called "civilisational problems".

The young French president managed to make several stigmatising declarations about Africa in the short time period that he has been in office, reducing Africans to something sub-human. His declarations were akin to the ones that have been used, since slavery, to justify the extractions of African resources.

During a press conference at the G20 summit in Hamburg, as he was responding to a question about the necessity of a "Marshall Plan for Africa", Macron made his most offensive declaration about Africa to date.

"The problems Africa face today are completely different ... and are civilisational," Macron told a reporter from former French colony Ivory Coast.

"What are the problems? Failed states, complex democratic transitions and extremely difficult demographic transitions." He said that although France accepted to help with infrastructure, education and healthcare, a "simple money transfer" was not the answer.

"It's by a more rigorous governance, a fight against corruption, a fight for good governance, a successful demographic transition when countries today have seven or eight children per woman," Mr Macron added.

Macron's words bordered on deliberate provocation, especially since the memory of the outrage caused by Nicholas Sarkozy's Dakar speech is still fresh a decade later.

"The tragedy of Africa is that the African has not fully entered into history ... They have never really launched themselves into the future," Sarkozy had said in that speech delivered in July 2007.

"The African peasant only knew the eternal renewal of time, marked by the endless repetition of the same gestures and the same words," he said. "In this realm of fancy ... there is neither room for human endeavour nor the idea of progress."

Like Sarkozy and the countless other French leaders before him, Macron sees Africa only through the prism of colonialism and white supremacy. He carries, like a disease, the profound collective European feeling of civilisational superiority and parallel fear of the demographic strength of Africa.

Colonialists have long sought to control African women's fertility, as colonial masters dreaded being outnumbered and overpowered by the people they were enslaving and oppressing. Perhaps it was Africa's demographic strength that helped it survive centuries of abuse and colonialism.

What Mr Macron and the rest of France's political elite need to understand is that our problem is neither demographic, nor "civilisational". Our problem is colonialism and the entrenched system of corruption and exploitation that Europe has set up and maintained in Africa.

Europe and North America continue to approach the continent with this extractive behaviour and demand to deal with African leaders not as equals. Historically, those who have resisted have either been corrupted or killed.

What Mr Macron et al need to understand is that times have changed and as much as the old system is entrenched, Africans are now more than ever aware and ready to resist it. And they would not take any more insults in silence.
Pape Samba Kane is a Senegalese journalist and political analyst. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

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Pape Samba Kane is a Senegalese journalist and political analyst. These days in Dakar, Bamako and elsewhere in Francophone Africa, everyone is talking about French President Emmanuel Macron. President Macron, born long after French colonies became independent, displays an ostensible modernism, and - at least on the surface - attacks the obsolete political apparatuses, which, according to him, harm the vitality of the French society.

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Remember as you make your second posts, cite a non-US news source.  Also, make sure you put your name on your contribution!
Mary

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Israeli embassy in Amman: Shooting leaves two dead

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Israeli embassy in Amman: Shooting leaves two dead

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Tatiana Newcomer

Two Jordanians were killed and one Israeli was hurt in a shooting in the Israeli embassy in Amman. After the shooting, the staff were evacuated from the building and no can can enter it. Police is still investigating the cause of the shooting. However, many Jordanians  protested in Amman against Israel over the installation of metal detectors in East Jerusalem in a site sacred to Muslims and Jews.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40700467

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Not Pro-Independence for Catalonia?  Fascist? 

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Not Pro-Independence for Catalonia?  Fascist? 

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Carolyn Starr

Many pro-independence groups in Catalonia are labeling anti-independence groups fascists because of Franco's dictatorship and suppression of the Catalan culture and language.  Catalonia is still heavily divided before the referendum which takes place in October.

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BARCELONA - The Catalan pro-independence movement has swung into gear ahead of a referendum planned for October - from a massive street demonstration in Barcelona to leaflet drops in every corner of the region.

The campaign to keep Catalonia in Spain, on the other hand, is small and fractured, struggling to unite behind a single message or leader. Those who do speak up say the fierce backlash they feel shows how hard it is to debate possible secession from Spain.

"If you're not in favor of independence, you're a traitor and a fascist; that's the least they call you," said Josep Borrell, a former candidate for prime minister for Spain's Socialists. "You probably won't notice anything in Barcelona, but if you go to a small village in the interior and you're not pro-independence, you'd better shut up."

Pro-independence forces keep using "absolutely false" reasoning, added Josep Piqué, a former minister and ex-leader of the center-right Catalan Popular Party, whose national branch holds power in Madrid. As the dictatorship of Francisco Franco repressed Catalan language and culture, everyone who opposes independence is labeled a Franco supporter, he said. "We need to keep insisting that the analogy between anti-independence [views] and Francoism doesn't have anything to do with reality."

Catalan nationalists point out that both sides are on the attack in this campaign, and note that the central authorities in Madrid retain a powerful voice by vowing the stop the referendum by all legal means. The vote was announced by Carles Puigdemont's regional government for October 1 over Spain's objections.

But the nationalists' success in branding people who oppose them as "right-wing" or worse works too. It's helped marginalize anti-independence groups that can claim to speak for around half the Catalan population, to look at recent polls. And it's kept them divided, for example by helping keep Catalonia's left from joining the common unionist front.

'Silent majority'

Back in March, a handful of students at the Autonomous University of Barcelona set up a tent on campus to promote their organization, Societat Civil Catalana (SCC), and encourage fellow students to protest against the Catalan government's secession plans.

Things didn't work out as they'd hoped. A much larger group of students, several dozen strong, greeted the SCC supporters that day, surrounding them and shouting "fascists out of the university." The Spanish flag flying on top of the tent was taken down and set on fire.

The experience was "frustrating" and embarrassing, said Laura Casado, a 20-year-old languages student from Sabadell (on the outskirts of Barcelona), who was among the unionist supporters. She said she was drawn to the group by its political diversity - SCC has gathered support from both left and right.

"It's a bit shocking," she said. "We [the women] were mocked as being Barbies and they say we go after the boys in our group." Casado and other students left the square escorted by security guards while the crowd booed and jeered.

The anti-independence forces come in different shapes, showing why the movement has stayed divided.

They didn't get to hand out many flyers. They rarely do. They complain that every action that pro-Spain students at the university have staged has been sabotaged.

Societat Civil Catalana was formed in 2014 to give voice to "the silent majority," said Alex Ramos, the vice president of the organization. "All those people who feel themselves both Catalan and Spanish ... and who felt helpless in the face of the secessionist movement." The group says around 18,000 people have backed its pledge calling "on all Catalans to mobilize for an open Catalonia in a Spain that belongs to all of us."

The SCC is the largest of a number of groups that opposes Catalan independence. The secessionist movement gained momentum in 2012, in part following the creation of the Catalan National Assembly (the biggest civil society group in support of secession) and the first mass demonstration in Barcelona in support of independence. The new anti-independence groups include the business collective Empresaris de Catalunya, journalists' association Pi i Margall, and lawyers' group Llibertats - none of which is more than three years old.

"When the [independence] process started ... there was some sort of skepticism from those of us who weren't pro-independence, something like ... they can't be serious about it ... this can't be true," said Carlos Rivadulla, vice president of Empresaris de Catalunya. "Our friends had joined this sort of collective emotional wave and it was hard for us to react until ... we started to organize ourselves."

Catalan society is split on independence. The latest figures from the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió - founded by the Catalan government - put independence supporters at 44.3 percent and those against splitting from Spain 48.5 percent.

Those figures aside, it is pro-independence groups and political parties who have been able to put millions of people on the streets in support of their cause. Public expressions of support for the unity of the country have been modest.

"The silence is being broken little by little," said former prime ministerial candidate Borrell. "It's not the same psychological attitude," he added, contrasting the independence militants with those who want to stay in Spain. "It's not the same motivation. Some have boundless enthusiasm and the others simply not."

The lack of a powerful backlash against secessionism "doesn't mean that the majority of Catalan society is pro-independence, but that it isn't hostile to independence," said Lluis Rabell, the speaker in the Catalan parliament for the leftist political alliance Catalunya Sí que es Pot (Catalonia Yes We Can), which includes the regional branch of the far-left Podemos. "These are two completely different things."

The anti-independence forces come in different shapes, showing why the movement has stayed divided.

Some groups who don't necessarily support a break haven't made up their mind about independence or even about whether to support the October referendum. That's the case with Catalonia Yes We Can. The Socialists oppose the breakup of the country and the decision to hold an independence vote but support greater autonomy for Catalonia. And then there are the liberal Ciudadanos and the conservative Popular Party who haven't taken a clear stance on whether Catalonia should be given more autonomy.

Peaceful, mostly

While the Catalan independence movement has always prided itself on non-violence - in contrast with the Basque terrorist group ETA over the decades - a small number of people have crossed the line.

The offices of political groups who oppose a split have been plastered with graffiti and feces. In the city of Lleida, posters were put up with unionist politicians declared "enemies of the people."

"The [independence] process has created a divide in Catalan society" - Angel Ros, socialist mayor of Lleida

"Rarely a week goes by without being insulted in the street," said Miguel García, a local councilor for the liberal, pro-unity Ciudadanos in the city of Hospitalet, who prides himself on wearing shirts decorated with a small Spanish flag. "Sitting in a restaurant, for example, and being told 'fascist ... get out of Catalonia', that's pretty common," said García, who was assaulted in 2016 while distributing Ciudadanos flyers in the street.

Both sides downplay these incidents, and some pro-independence organizations have also been the target of attacks. "We shouldn't exaggerate these sort of disgraceful and extremist incidents," said the leftist Rabell, one of the politicians labeled "enemies of the people" in Lleida.

"The [independence] process has created a divide in Catalan society," said Angel Ros, the socialist mayor of Lleida. "That didn't exist in the past."

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BARCELONA - The Catalan pro-independence movement has swung into gear ahead of a referendum planned for October - from a massive street demonstration in Barcelona to leaflet drops in every corner of the region. The campaign to keep Catalonia in Spain, on the other hand, is small and fractured, struggling to unite behind a single message or leader.

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Tempers in Venice boil over during Tourist season.

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Tempers in Venice boil over during Tourist season.

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Edward Nelson
from The Guardian/Australian Ed.

While each year tourism increases in Venice, Italy, the population is on decline and frustration is on the rise.  Recently in Venice, residents took to the streets to protest against a tourism industry that is eroding "the quality of life of Venetians."
Photos of overly crowded streets and waterways are more and more prevalent as people seeking the old world charm of this city bring their 21st century lifestyle and consumption to the city.  Possible solutions to this may be found in an upcoming referendum.
Here is a link

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Emotions run high in Venice, the Italian island city that fascinates visitors even as it exasperates the dwindling band of local inhabitants.

Venice is still known as La Serenissima, the most serene, and was once a place where the population rubbed gracefully along with visitors made up mostly of intellectuals, writers and artists. It is difficult now to imagine that happy coexistence, when you wander through the intricate maze of alleys and waterways and speak to local people. Depopulation and mass tourism have long been causes of local despair. But this summer it feels as if a tipping point may not be far away.

Earlier this month an estimated 2,000 Venetians marched against a tourism industry they argue has eroded their quality of life, that is damaging the environment and driving residents away: Venice's population has fallen from about 175,000 in the post-second world war years to 55,000 today.

Carlo Beltrame, one of the event's organisers and a researcher in humanities at Venice's Ca' Foscari University, yearns for a time when taking a motorboat was not stressful or when a trip to his doctor in the Rialto Bridge area did not involve getting caught up in the slow-moving tourist throng.

"Around 2,000 people leave each year," he said. "If we go on this way, in a few years' time Venice will only be populated by tourists. This would be a social, anthropological and historical disaster."

Whether irritated by selfie sticks, noisy wheelie suitcases or people snacking on one of the 391 bridges, Venetians' contempt towards the 28 million visitors who flood the city each year has reached alarming levels.

On a July morning in Cannaregio - a neighbourhood tucked away from the congested Piazza San Marco area - you can still catch a glimpse of the authentic Venetian lifestyle. The scene plays out much as it does in other Italian cities: smartly dressed people chat animatedly as they shop at the butcher's and baker's or congregate at the bar. Children play freely on the streets.

The area remains mostly undisturbed by tourists, but Luciano Bortot, who was born here, is feeling anything but serene. "You're asking me what it's like to live with this crap?" he said. "It used to be wonderful, we had lots of artisans ... the problem now is the mass tourism, the people who come for just a few hours and see nothing - it's as much of a nightmare for them."

Like many of his neighbours, Bortot despises the behemoth cruise ships that chug through the Giudecca canal four or five times a day, emitting fumes before disgorging thousands of people - on some days as many as 44,000 - into the historic centre.

He also laments the surge in the number of B&Bs, which make it impossible for residents to find a home to rent on a long-term contract.

With its carnival, star-studded film festival and the Biennale art exhibition, Venice has a long history of cultivating tourism. It is an industry that brings millions to the coffers each year and provides thousands of jobs. The city cannot live with it or without it and, even among themselves, it seems that stressed Venetians are becoming increasingly fractious.

"Venetians of today are not so proud, not like our ancestors were," said Michelangelo Adamo, 23, a restaurant worker who is training to be a boat skipper so that he can escape to the quieter islands. "They don't really care about art or culture, they drive speedboats and eat junk food, it's more like Miami Beach."

Another resident of Cannaregio is Galliano di Marco, the CEO of VTP, the Venice passenger terminal that manages and provides services to the cruise liners and their passengers. Originally from the central Abruzzo region, he enjoys life in Venice, despite being a target for those involved in the No Big Ships activist group, which for years has battled against the cruise liners and in June held an unofficial referendum in which Venetians voted in favour of ousting the ships from the city's lagoon.

Venetians are quick to point the blame at cruise-ship passengers for the demise in their quality of life, arguing that they stay for only a few hours, spend little money and leave a trail of litter in their wake.

Di Marco disputes this, citing figures that paint a different picture: only 1.5 million of the 28 million visitors to Venice each year arrive on a cruise vessel, with the rest coming by bus, car, train or plane. With an average age of 65, they spend between €120 and €160 per head, bringing about €250m to the city each year. The passenger terminal also provides jobs for an estimated 5,000 people.

But the well-publicised controversy, which even prompted New York mayor Bill De Blasio to urge his Venice counterpart, Luigi Brugnaro, to ban the ships, has left VTP and the cruise industry in turbulent waters. With this in mind, since taking on the role in December Di Marco has striven to strike a compromise between the sector and the activists, devising a plan that would see the ships instead take a longer journey into the lagoon via the Vittorio Emanuele canal.

The proposal needs approval from the Italian government, but is backed by the cruise companies. "It will take 1.5 hours longer to enter and leave the lagoon, but the cruise companies accepted that because they want to keep Venice on their itineraries - it's one of the top three destinations in the world," he said.

"It's not our call, but we are doing whatever we can to take the big ships away from the Giudecca canal because really, enough is enough."

Map of Venice

Di Marco is less conciliatory towards demands for the passenger terminal, a vast, well-structured area that also provides services to hydrofoils arriving from Croatia and Slovenia, to up sticks to Marghera, an unsightly industrial area on the mainland.

"They're trying to build a ghetto for the cruise passengers and I will fight this as much as possible," he said. "At the moment passengers arrive in the living room of Venice; in Marghera it would be like welcoming them in the toilet."

The citizens who marched recently carried banners reading: "I'm not leaving". But despite their determination to stay, they are pessimistic about the future. Residents were hoping that Unesco would send a strong signal to the authorities by following through with a threat to place the world heritage site on its endangered list. Instead, the organisation recently granted the city another year to come up with measures to protect its monuments and preserve its fragile environment.

"It feels as if we're at a point of no return because it's already out of control," said Beltrame. He would like tourist numbers to be limited, while focusing on improving the quality and promoting the city as a hub for scientific and maritime research.

Luciano Bortot, meanwhile, looks with envy towards the neighbouring semi-autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige, which until the end of the first world war was part of Austria.

He believes the answer to Venice's woes lies in the Veneto region, among Italy's richest, obtaining greater, if not full, independence from Rome. A non-legally binding referendum will be held in October. "Venice would be better managed by Venetian heads, not Roman ones," he said. "If we had an official referendum, Veneto would definitely vote to break away.

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'Imagine living with this crap': tempers in Venice boil over in tourist high season

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Emotions run high in Venice, the Italian island city that fascinates visitors even as it exasperates the dwindling band of local inhabitants. Venice is still known as La Serenissima, the most serene, and was once a place where the population rubbed gracefully along with visitors made up mostly of intellectuals, writers and artists.

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Chile moves towards legalizing abortion in limited cases 

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Chile moves towards legalizing abortion in limited cases 

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Carolina Londono

In Chile, senators are voting on a proposal that will end the country's ban on abortions. Abortion was legal until 1989. The results from the votes were as follows:

The vote in favour of allowing abortion in cases in which the mother's life is at risk was 20 in favour and 14 opposed

That of allowing a termination in cases where the foetus is unviable was 18 to 14

The closest result was for the vote on whether to allow abortions in cases of rape. Eighteen senators voted in favour and 16 against

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Senators in Chile have voted in favour of a proposal which would end the country's total ban on abortions.

The measure would allow abortion in cases of rape, if the mother's life was at risk or if the foetus would not survive the pregnancy.

Currently, women can be prosecuted if they have an abortion.

The bill, which has the backing of President Michelle Bachelet, will now go back to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.

Close vote

The proposal was first introduced two and a half years ago and has faced by stiff opposition from the Catholic Church and socially conservative groups.

Senators voted separately on each of the three cases in which women would be allowed to have an abortion:

The vote in favour of allowing abortion in cases in which the mother's life is at risk was 20 in favour and 14 opposed

That of allowing a termination in cases where the foetus is unviable was 18 to 14

The closest result was for the vote on whether to allow abortions in cases of rape. Eighteen senators voted in favour and 16 against

The voting went late into the night and was further delayed when police had to remove abortion opponents who had interrupted proceedings with their chanting and shouts.

But on Twitter, a hashtag backing the bill was trending.

Supporters of the bill hope the Chamber of Deputies will now swiftly approve the document without further changes so it can be sent to President Bachelet for signing.

Changing Chile's strict abortion laws has been one of the president's main goals.

"I believe that women should have legally the possibility of making their own choices," she told the BBC in an interview last year.

"In this country until now this is criminalised - if you interrupt your pregnancy, you will go to jail. And I believe this is not fair."

But opposition to the move has been considerable and the debate surrounding it at times bitter.

Abortion in limited cases was legal in Chile until 1989, when it was completely banned under the rule of Gen Augusto Pinochet.

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Chile moves towards legalising abortion in limited cases - BBC News

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Senators in Chile have voted in favour of a proposal which would end the country's total ban on abortions. The measure would allow abortion in cases of rape, if the mother's life was at risk or if the foetus would not survive the pregnancy. Currently, women can be prosecuted if they have an abortion.

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The UK is having its own migration issues

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The UK is having its own migration issues

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Rasa Ardys-Juska
Being a part of the European Union, may seem like a perpetually swinging door from country to country for those who want a "better life".  Yet, the UK announced that changes in migration status are abruptly slowing down.  Many immigrants are returning to their countries; and UK residents are leaving for a post-Brexit better life.
The freedom to immigrate into a country without many strings attached, as the US has, brings along with it different problems, such as emigration of its native, stable financial source population.

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Immigration from "EU8" states - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia - was down by 25,000 to 48,000, while emigration increased by 16,000 to 43,000 last year.

In its election manifesto, Labour said it was offering "fair rules and reasonable management of migration" - but dismissed targets as "bogus".

The new figures give the fullest picture yet of immigration around the EU referendum vote last year.

Britain's settlement following departure from the bloc is expected to include restrictions on free movement rules, although the precise arrangements for post-Brexit immigration are yet to be thrashed out.

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Net migration from Eastern Europe to Britain slows to a trickle after Brexit vote

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Immigration from "EU8" states - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia - was down by 25,000 to 48,000, while emigration increased by 16,000 to 43,000 last year. In its election manifesto, Labour said it was offering "fair rules and reasonable management of migration" - but dismissed targets as "bogus".

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A look at why a Saudi woman's miniskirt sparked an outcry 

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A look at why a Saudi woman's miniskirt sparked an outcry 

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Melissa Rodriguez

After a video was released of a Saudi woman wearing a miniskirt and short top went viral, the woman was taken into custody for several hours. The woman was released but the article explains why the video caused so much of an outcry.

The video created an outcry because it goes against the conservative dress code of Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, women cover their hair and face and wear long “abayas” or robes when out in pubic.  Women are not to be seen, and usually have blurred out faces when on a billboard or on a poster. The article also states that even saying a woman’s name in public is not to be done. The women in the article posted a public picture of herself with a long skirt, without her abaya on. Currently, it is unclear of whether she has charges against her.

Saudi Arabia is a country that follows the Islamic religion. Although it is not required that foreign women wear the abaya or cover their hair and faces, the government is strict on their laws for the citizens. Women are segregated and are not even allowed to drive.  Most of Saudi Arabia is gender-segregated and need male approval for many of the unspoken privileges that women in America have.

For more information visit:

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A short video of a Saudi woman walking around in a miniskirt and crop top sparked an outcry after going viral, leading to the woman being detained for several hours.

The woman was eventually released without charge, but the incident and the online debate it ignited point to the tension in Saudi Arabia between proponents of its conservative, state-enforced strictures and those pushing for greater rights.

Here's a look at why the video caused such an uproar.

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THE SHOCK

The woman, whose name has not been released, defied the kingdom's conservative dress code, which requires all women, even foreigners, to wear long, loose robes known as abayas in public. Most Saudi women also cover their hair and face with black veils.

It is common in Saudi Arabia to see heavily blurred or pixelated images of women's faces on billboards and storefronts - in stark contrast to the many towering images of senior male royals displayed across the country.

In some segments of society, even uttering a woman's name in public is taboo.

High-level foreign dignitaries have been the exception to the rule. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, American first lady Melania Trump and the president's daughter, Ivanka, did not cover their hair or wear abayas on official visits to Saudi Arabia this year, though they did dress modestly.

Last December another Saudi woman posted a picture of herself in public without the abaya on, but she was wearing a black coat and a long, colorful skirt. She was detained and interrogated for five days. Her current legal status is unclear.

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A DEEPLY CONSERVATIVE COUNTRY

Saudi Arabia is a deeply conservative country that is governed by an austere interpretation of Islam widely known as Wahhabism, which draws heavily on the kingdom's tribal and patriarchal customs.

The country is home to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, which draw millions of Muslim around the world for pilgrimage.

The kingdom is ruled by a monarch whose power is rooted in the support of influential Wahhabi clerics. Saudi judges also adhere to conservative interpretations of the faith.

Other countries are governed by Islamic law, but none enforce the Saudi government's strict interpretation of it. Foreign women wear bathing suits on public beaches in nearby Dubai, and can be seen in jeans and shorter dresses at malls in Kuwait and Qatar. In Iran, and among ultraorthodox Jews in Israel, women are required to dress modestly.

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GENDER SEGREGATION

Cafes and restaurants in Saudi Arabia are typically gender-segregated, requiring women to enter through separate doors and be seated out of view of single men.

It remains illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia. Women also need the consent of a male relative, usually a father or husband, before they are allowed to travel abroad or obtain a passport.

Despite some openings for women in recent years, clerics in Saudi Arabia have spoken out against women driving and against women working jobs where they might interact with unrelated males. Most universities and schools are segregated by gender.

Most Saudi women who do work are in teaching jobs, though women have also run in local elections and hold posts in the country's top consultative body, the Shura Council.

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THE RELIGIOUS POLICE

Saudi Arabia curbed the powers of the religious police last year.

The all-male force can no longer make arrests or pursue people in car chases, though they still patrol the streets and public places ensuring unrelated men and women are not mingling.

The religious police, officially known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, ensure that both women and men are dressed modestly. Men can run afoul of the rules by wearing shorts that stop above the knee or by sporting long or outlandish hairstyles.

After the miniskirt video surfaced, the religious police referred the case to other agencies to investigate it. The woman was questioned by security officials in Riyadh.

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OPENINGS

Last month, the king named his son as heir to the throne. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman , 31, has spearheaded a Vision 2030 plan to overhaul the country, including modernizing aspects of society.

Also last month, King Salman announced that public prosecution powers would be moved from under the interior minister's purview to that of the royal court, directly under the monarch. A new attorney general was also named in the reshuffling.

As part of Vision 2030, the government has pushed for there to be more entertainment for youth, allowing musical concerts that were once banned and even a Comic-Con event.

The kingdom announced last week that girls would be allowed for the first time to play sports in public school and have access to physical education classes.

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Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ayaelb

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a look at why a saudi woman's miniskirt sparked an outcry

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AP News - A look at why a Saudi woman's miniskirt sparked an outcry

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A short video of a Saudi woman walking around in a miniskirt and crop top sparked an outcry after going viral, leading to the woman being detained for several hours.

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Airline Cuts Out Meat, and Critics Growl

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Airline Cuts Out Meat, and Critics Growl

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Sheryl Magnuson

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/world/asia/india-vegetarian-airline-food-uproar.html

Air India will now only serve vegetarian meals on their domestic flights.  A spokesman for the airline  said that this change was made to reduce cost and waste.  The airline has more than 8 billion dollars in debt.  The change in meal service will save the airline 1.2 million dollars a year.  This is not the first change in food service for the airline.  In January 2016,  the airline started to serve vegetarian meals instead of sandwiches for economy passengers.  The majority of Hindus are vegetarian.  However many see the airline's actions as discriminatory. There are others who could not understand the public indignation.

For more information:

http://www.airindia.in/

The Air India website's  homepage has a scroll bar with their latest news.

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Sheryl Magnuson

Unspoiled Stretch of Eilat Beach Returned to Public After 50 Years.

The southern section of the Eilat shoreline has been closed to the public for almost 50 years.  It was recently returned to the local municipality.  It was under the control of state-run company. There was an official handover ceremony was attended by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlony. According to the Finance Ministry announcement, the transfer of the beach was thanks to the efforts of EAPC Chairman Erez Halfon and Eilat’s mayor, under Kahlon’s direction.  The coral reef adjacent to it is one of the best preserved in the Gulf of Eilat  area, and it remains so because very few people have swum and dived there. At a future date the municipality will receive another 200-meter strip of beach, which will be designated for diving and marine education. Eilat has 13 kilometers of beaches.

For more information on the beach:
https://www.touristisrael.com/eilat-beaches/16423/

and

http://www.israel-travel-secrets.com/eilat-beach/

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Brazil police halt new passports due to budget crisis

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Brazil police halt new passports due to budget crisis

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Tatiana Newcomer

Brazil is suffering  its worst recession in decades. As a result, the Federal Police, the one responsible for issuing passports cannot accept applications anymore.

The president Michel Temer is being blamed for this, as he was the one who started the budget cuts.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40438147?intlink_from_url=http://www.bbc.com/news/topics/15f1bcf6-b6ab-48e8-b708-efed41e43d31/brazil&link_location=live-reporting-story

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Italian woman sues hospital after an unsuccessful abortion. 

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Italian woman sues hospital after an unsuccessful abortion. 

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Patrick Wallace

I thought I would share what is going on in Italy as I have never heard this happening before.  Apparently, an Italian woman went in for an abortion and found out 3 months later she was still pregnant.   She ended up keeping the child but is suing the hospital for 200,000 Euros.  I don't know.  They basically denied this woman the right to chose and she is only asking for 200,000 euros?  Having a child cost way more than that not to mention the emotional and mental trauma she must be going through.   What do you all think?

https://www.thelocal.it/20170718/italian-woman-sues-milan-san-paolo-hospital-after-unsuccessful-abortion

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Peter Morrison

In the African countries of Nigeria, South Sudan, and Somalia; more than 20 million people are facing a hunger crisis. After militant groups attacked and killed groups of people in these countries, many people returned home. In one of the largest returns in history, the people (particularly in Nigeria) are in dyer need of food and assistance. This need for food may lead to a famine if not decreased in the coming months.

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CNN's Impact Your World is spotlighting coverage of famine as the Global Emergency Response Coalition's America Takes Action: Hunger Relief Fund rallies to bring attention and resources to the crisis facing 20 million people in Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. .

Jafiya Nuhu, a 52-year-old commercial farmer, hid under maize cobs in his farm with his wife and two children as the insurgents raided their neighbors, looting and torching houses.

His family and a few others were lucky to escape unhurt.

"It all happened so fast," Nuhu recounts. While the attack occurred on a Sunday morning, his family stayed hidden till late in the night and ran through the bushes till they arrived in a village, five kilometers away from Michika.

They found safety in the embrace of sympathetic villagers. "They offered us food," he says, admitting that he struggled to fend for his family, having been cut away from his source of livelihood.

Today, Nuhu and his family have returned to his community but he has not farmed since.

According to the International Organization for Migration's Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Round XV February-March 2017 report, Adamawa State has had the highest number of returnees with the total of 655,122, followed by Borno and Yobe.

The report shows that about 1,151,427 internally displaced persons returned home in March with over 10% (122, 507) returned to Michika.

These days, Nuhu hews firewood and earns a meager N500 ($1.50) daily from wood sales -- selling about five packs at N100 each (30 cents) -- to support his family.

"The last time I farmed in Bdagu was 2014, and after Boko Haram attack I have not gone back to farming," he says. "I tried [but] they chased me from my farm."

Many other farmers from the settlement have similar tales to Nuhu's -- unable to farm and earn a livelihood since the aftermath of the September 2014 capture of their community by the insurgents.

Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are gradually returning to their respective communities, many of which remain bullet-ridden ruins and unsafe for farming.

The timing of the return coincides with the worst economic crisis experienced by Nigeria in over two decades.

The local currency naira has fallen significantly against the dollar as the recession bites hard.

Food insecurity

Since 2009, Boko Haram militants have ravaged north east Nigeria; Adamawa, Yobe, and Borno states have been the most affected -- with thousands killed and over two million people displaced according to estimates by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.

The consequence is severe as most of the displaced adult population are farmers, putting their immediate communities at risk of food shortage.

Already, there are ominous signs that things could be even worse.

A recent food security projection for the months of February to September 2017 by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network reveals a great need of assistance as food insecurity threats increase -- in spite of the large presence of humanitarian agencies in the region.

"A large portion of the population remains in need of food assistance and other basic services driven primarily by ongoing insecurity and displacement.

"Worst affected accessible LGAs are facing emergency acute food insecurity with an increased risk of high levels of acute malnutrition and excess mortality. Less accessible areas, likely experiencing similar or worse conditions to neighboring, accessible areas, face an increased risk of famine in 2017," the report adds.

Trade between the communities and neighboring countries such as Cameroon, which borders Michika, has been greatly affected causing hikes in food prices and putting pressure on the declining local production.

"Borno for example, produces the highest number of maize we eat in this country, Adamawa produces the highest number of sorghum and other crops not favorable to the tropical area but suitable to the weather of the northeast," Adamu Kamale, a federal legislator told Machacha, a social change platform.

Most of the farmers lack support from the Ministry of Agriculture, and have no farming equipment or the capital to procure them.

Advocating for increased attention by government and international development agencies, Kamale, who looks resigned to fate, delivers a damning prediction; "If this train continues, government reserves will be depleted. Most of government reserves are beefed up from the produce in the northeast."

Nothing's happening

Before the 2014 attacks, each harvest from the farm of Hajara Tumba could yield a total of 90 bags of maize, groundnut, and millet.

The responsibility of farming has fallen on her four unemployed children who produce for subsistence, she says. Hajara is still traumatized from her last experience and how she survived an attack by the insurgents.

"I thank God for escaping alive," she recounts in her native Hausa. She believes the insurgents still hold part of Madagali, contrary to narratives by the Nigerian security agencies and that is holding her back.

Food scarcity in Michika is an issue on the rise, agrees Galaxy Harat, founder of Hope And Rural Aid Foundation (HARAF), one of a few non-profit organizations working in the area.

"About 60 percent of children in Michika and Madagali were suffering malnourishment," says Harat. "If something is not done this year we will be facing food scarcity in this region." The first glimmer of hope is that as she reveals, the FAO in partnership with some local NGOs is about to initiate agricultural support for rainy season farming in the two local governments.

According to her organization's assessment, most of the returnees are facing psychological trauma while others were maimed by the insurgents or suffered long-lasting injuries while trying to escape.

Currently, the town is in complete darkness as electricity infrastructure is yet to be restored and government presence is skeletal.

Civil servants attached to the local government secretariat now work under an acacia tree just outside the ruins of their former offices.

David Ishaye, a pastor whose church was burnt down by the insurgents said: "How do you want us to move on from what happened in Michika, when there is no food and life here is hard?"
This article was first published in the social change platform Machacha

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boko haram survivors face new fight: hunger - cnn.com

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CNN's Impact Your World is spotlighting coverage of famine as the Global Emergency Response Coalition's America Takes Action: Hunger Relief Fund rallies to bring attention and resources to the crisis facing 20 million people in Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. .

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Catherine Di Fede
HOPE not hate activists are trying to stop illegal migrants from coming into Europe.

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NGO-led rescue operations make up more than one-third of all rescue operations [File: Stefano Rellandini/Reuters]

Far-right activists have set sail in a boat with plans to prevent the arrival of Europe-bound boats carrying refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, sparking criticism from an anti-racism monitor.

Defend Europe, the group behind the journey which began Sunday, said on its fundraising page that its members would set sail in a 422-tonne vessel with a 25-member crew after receiving more than $115,000 in donations in recent weeks.

The crew is expected to arrive in Catania, Italy, on Monday to await the arrival of the boat they will use on their mission, organisers said.

The UK-based organisation, HOPE not hate, which has monitored Defend Europe, reported that the boat was setting sail from Djibouti.

Defend Europe is a far-right organisation and comprises members of the Identitarian Movement, a pan-European conglomerate of activists who rally against Muslims and refugees.

The movement can be traced back to France in 2002 when the far-right Bloc Identitaire party established a youth wing.

'A confrontational and dangerous project'

HOPE not hate said in a statement that Defend Europe threatens to "hinder the lifesaving work of search-and-rescue NGO ships in the Mediterranean".

"This confrontational and dangerous project is organised by far-right activists with a long track record of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant activism ... and while organised by Europeans, it is being supported, funded and promoted by the extreme far-right around the world," HOPE not hate said in a separate press briefing.

Defend Europe says it will reach the refugees and migrants before NGO-operated rescue boats and return them to the Libyan coastguard to stop the "deadly illegal migration to Europe".

"This massive illegal migration is changing the face of our continent," Defend Europe wrote on its fundraising page.
READ MORE: Nearly 50 refugees feared drowned in the Mediterranean
"We are losing our safety and our way of life and there is a danger that we Europeans will become a minority in our own European homelands."

In May, Defend Europe activists set sail on a dinghy and unsuccessfully attempted to block a rescue boat manned by Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF).

Lauren Southern, a far-right Canadian activist and media personality, filmed and published online footage of the operation.

During the first four months of 2017, more than one-third of rescue operations in the Mediterranean were carried out by NGOs and private rescue teams.

In a statement provided to Al Jazeera, the Save the Children charity said Defend Europe's plans to disrupt search-and-rescue missions "are deeply concerning" and "ignore the moral and legal obligation" to save lives in the Mediterranean.

"Without NGOs and other search-and-rescue actors, many more lives, like the men, women and children we have rescued, would be lost," the group said, adding that more than 5,000 people drowned en route to Europe last year.

"These activists wish to disrupt efforts to bring these people to safety."

Crackdown on NGOs

More than 85,000 refugees and migrants have come to Italy so far this year, according to data released by the interior ministry last week.

Defend Europe's move comes just two days after Italy introduced a controversial code of conduct for NGOs working in the Mediterranean.

Among the new rules is a ban on making phone calls or firing flares, which the Italian government claims could signal to human traffickers when it is safe to send a boat to sea.

Arguing that the new code of conduct will severely restrict the ability of humanitarian and aid groups to carry out their work, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the measures in a joint statement.
READ MORE: Desperate journeys - For refugees in Europe, life is a nightmare
"Perversely, the proposed code of conduct for NGOs saving lives in the Mediterranean could put lives at risk," said Iverna McGowan, director of the Amnesty International's European Institutions Office, in the statement.

"Attempts to restrict NGO search and rescue operations risk endangering thousands of lives by limiting rescue boats from accessing the perilous waters near Libya."

More than 2,000 refugees and migrants have died in the central Mediterranean since January 2017 according to the International Organisation for Migration's statistics.

Source: Al Jazeera News

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Defend Europe boat tries to block migrant rescues

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Far-right activists have set sail in a boat with plans to prevent the arrival of Europe-bound boats carrying refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, sparking criticism from an anti-racism monitor.

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Josephine Noone
In Honduras, many human rights and environmental activists have been killed (110 between 2010 and 2014). Berta Cáceres, who is a member of the Lenca indigenous group and was the co-founder of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras (Copinh), was murdered in March 2016. She was one of the leaders of the opposition to a large  hydroelectric power project in the Gualcarque river basin where many indigenous people live. They are opposed to the dam because it would cut off the main source of irrigation and drinking water for the community, and because they were not consulted during the planning stages of the project as required by international law. It is believed that Cáceres was murdered because of her opposition to the dam and her human rights activism.

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Leaked court documents raise concerns that the murder of the Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres was an extrajudicial killing planned by military intelligence specialists linked to the country's US-trained special forces, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

Cáceres was shot dead a year ago while supposedly under state protection after receiving death threats over her opposition to a hydroelectric dam.

The murder of Cáceres, winner of the prestigious Goldman environmental prize in 2015, prompted international outcry and calls for the US to revoke military aid to Honduras, a key ally in its war on drugs.

Eight men have been arrested in connection with the murder, including one serving and two retired military officers.

Officials have denied state involvement in the activist's murder, and downplayed the arrest of the serving officer Maj Mariano Díaz, who was hurriedly discharged from the army.

But the detainees' military records and court documents seen by the Guardian reveal that:

Díaz, a decorated special forces veteran, was appointed chief of army intelligence in 2015, and at the time of the murder was on track for promotion to lieutenant colonel.

Another suspect, Lt Douglas Giovanny Bustillo joined the military on the same day as Díaz; they served together and prosecutors say they remained in contact after Bustillo retired in 2008.

Díaz and Bustillo both received military training in the US.

A third suspect, Sgt Henry Javier Hernández, was a former special forces sniper, who had worked under the direct command of Díaz. Prosecutors believe he may also have worked as an informant for military intelligence after leaving the army in 2013.

Court documents also include the records of mobile phone messages which prosecutors believe contain coded references to the murder.

Bustillo and Hernández visited the town of La Esperanza, where Cáceres lived, several times in the weeks before her death, according to phone records and Hernández's testimony.

A legal source close to the investigation told the Guardian: "The murder of Berta Cáceres has all the characteristics of a well-planned operation designed by military intelligence, where it is absolutely normal to contract civilians as assassins.

"It's inconceivable that someone with her high profile, whose campaign had made her a problem for the state, could be murdered without at least implicit authorisation of military high command."

The Honduran defence ministry ignored repeated requests from the Guardian for comment, but the head of the armed forces recently denied that military deaths squads were operating in the country.

Five civilians with no known military record have also been arrested. They include Sergio Rodríguez, a manager for the internationally funded Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam which Cáceres had opposed.

The project is being led by Desarrollos Energéticos SA, (Desa), which has extensive military and government links. The company's president, Roberto David Castillo Mejía, is a former military intelligence officer, and its secretary, Roberto Pacheco Reyes, is a former justice minister. Desa employed former lieutenant Bustillo as head of security between 2013 and 2015.

Cáceres had reported 33 death threats linked to her campaign against the dam, including several from Desa employees. Desa denies any involvement in the murder.

Cáceres was killed at about 11.30pm on 2 March, when at least four assassins entered the gated community to which she had recently moved on the outskirts of La Esperanza.

A checkpoint at the entrance to the town - normally manned by police officers or soldiers - was left unattended on the night she was killed, witnesses have told the Guardian.

Initially, investigators suggested the murderer was a former lover or disgruntled co-worker. But amid mounting international condemnation, Díaz, Bustillo and two others were arrested in May 2016.

Hernández, who was eventually arrested in Mexico, is the only suspect to have given detailed testimony in court. He has admitted his involvement, but says he acted under duress.

All eight have been charged with murder and attempted murder. The other seven suspects have either denied involvement or not given testimony in court.

Prosecutors say that phone records submitted to court show extensive communication between the three military men, including a text message which was a coded discussion of payment for a contract killing.

American experts have been involved in the investigation from the start, according to the US embassy in Tegucigalpa.

Senator Ben Cardin, ranking member of the Senate foreign relations committee, said US support should not be unconditional: "It is essential that we not only strengthen our commitment to improving the rule of law in Honduras, but we must also demand greater accountability for human rights violations and attacks against civil society."

Last year, the Guardian reported that a former Honduran soldier said he had seen Cáceres's name on a hitlist that was passed to US-trained units.

1Sgt Rodrigo Cruz said that two elite units were given lists featuring the names and photographs of activists - and ordered to eliminate each target.

Cruz's unit commander deserted rather than comply with the order. The rest of the unit were then sent on leave.

In a follow-up interview with the Guardian, Cruz said the hitlist was given by the Honduran military joint chiefs of staff to the commander of the Xatruch multi-agency taskforce, to which his unit belonged.

Cruz - who asked to be referred to by a pseudonym for fear of retribution - deserted after Cáceres's murder and remains in hiding. The whereabouts of his former colleagues is unknown.

Following the Guardian's report, James Nealon, the US ambassador to Honduras, pledged to investigate the allegations, and in an interview last week, said that no stone had been left unturned.

"I've spoken to everyone I can think of to speak to, as have members of my team, and no one can produce such a hitlist," said Nealon.

But the embassy did not speak to the Xatruch commander, Nealon said. Activists, including those with information about the alleged hitlist, have told the Guardian they have not been interviewed by US or Honduran officials.

Lauren Carasik, clinical professor of law at Western New England University, said America's unwavering support for Honduras suggests it tolerates impunity for intellectual authors of high-profile targeted killings.

"Washington cannot, in good conscience, continue to ignore mounting evidence that the Honduran military was complicit in the extrajudicial assassination of Cáceres."

Extrajudicial killings by the security forces and widespread impunity are among the most serious human rights violations in Honduras, according to the US state department.

Nevertheless, the US is the main provider of military and police support to Honduras, and last year approved $18m of aid.

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The Gualcarque river, sacred to local indigenous communities and the site of the controversial Agua Zarca dam. Photograph: Giles Clarke/Global Witness

In recent years, US support has focused on Honduras's special forces units, originally created as a counterinsurgency force during the 1980s "dirty war".

The elite units ostensibly target terrorism, organised crime and gangs, but campaigners say the Honduran intelligence apparatus is used to target troublesome community leaders.

Violence against social activists has surged since a military backed coup d'état ousted populist president Manuel Zelaya in 2009. Since then at least 124 land and environmental campaigners have been killed.

A recent investigation by corruption watchdog Global Witness described extensive involvement of political, business and military elites in environmentally destructive mega projects which have flourished since the coup.

One of the most troubled parts of the country has been northern Bajo Aguán region, where a land conflict between palm oil companies and peasant farmers has claimed more than 130 lives over the past six years.

The Bajo Aguán is also home to the 15th battalion - one of two special forces units in the Honduran army - and the special forces training centre.

Two of the suspects, Díaz and Hernández, served in the 15th battalion together; Cruz's elite unit was also stationed in the Bajo Aguán.

Ambassador Nealon said that there was no record of Díaz, Hernández or Bustillo attending any US training courses in Honduras.

"Our training programmes for police or for military are not designed to instruct people in how to commit human rights violations or to create an atmosphere in which they believe that they are empowered to commit human rights violations, in fact, just the opposite," said Nealon.

Honduran military records show that Díaz attended several counterinsurgency courses at special forces bases in Tegucigalpa and in the Bajo Aguán.

He also attended cadet leadership courses at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1997, and a counter-terrorism course at the Inter American air force academy in 2005.

The court documents also reveal that at the time of his arrest, Díaz, 44, was under investigation for drug trafficking and kidnapping, while also studying for promotion.

Military records show that in 1997, Bustillo attended logistics and artillery courses at the School of the Americas, at Fort Benning, Georgia, which trained hundreds of Latin American officers who later committed human rights abuses.

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Berta Cáceres court papers show murder suspects' links to US-trained elite troops

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Leaked court documents raise concerns that the murder of the Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres was an extrajudicial killing planned by military intelligence specialists linked to the country's US-trained special forces, a Guardian investigation can reveal. Cáceres was shot dead a year ago while supposedly under state protection after receiving death threats over her opposition to a hydroelectric dam.

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Iceberg the size of Delaware loose off Antarctica

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Iceberg the size of Delaware loose off Antarctica

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Melissa DiLeone
(Source: Newsela.com)

As the title states, an iceberg the size of Delaware, and one of the largest on record, broke off of Anartica and is floating in the Weddell Sea. The break does not threaten sea levels but has impacted the countries western peninsula, leaving scientists unsure of what this may mean for global warning of marine shelves.

The crack in the ice shelf has been being monitored using NASA satellites for years. The crack began to grown rapidly beginning in January, reaching 120 miles before dismantling from the shelf.

It is still up for debate if man-created global warming is to blame. Though, with the ice shelf being Antarctica's largest, scientists are concerned about what man-made climate change may do to the remaining ice shelf and eventually induce sea level rise. The concern lies in the domino effect of collapsing ice shelves which the continents structure and our globe rely heavily on.

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Sometime last week, a massive block of ice the size of Delaware broke away from Antarctica to float freely in the Weddell Sea.

The iceberg, which at about 1 trillion tons is one of the largest on record, poses no immediate threat to sea levels. But scientists say the break may have altered the profile of the continent's western peninsula for decades to come and could offer a preview of what global warming might do to marine ice shelves.

Crack Monitored For Years

Scientists at Project Midas, a research team from Swansea University and Aberystwyth University in Britain, first confirmed the break July 12 using data from NASA satellites.

They said they had been monitoring a crack in an ice shelf called Larsen C for years before it started to grow rapidly in January. It increased in length to about 120 miles and left the iceberg hanging by a thread of ice less than 3 miles wide.

"We have been anticipating this event for months, and have been surprised how long it took for the rift to break through the final few kilometers of ice," said Adrian Luckman of Swansea University. He is the project's lead investigator.

What happens next to the iceberg is difficult to predict. "It may remain in one piece but is more likely to break into fragments," Luckman said in a statement. "Some of the ice may remain in the area for decades, while parts of the iceberg may drift north into warmer waters."

Debating A Link To Humans

There is still debate about whether man-made global warming played a role.

Martin O'Leary, a glaciologist at Project Midas, said the process, known as calving, is a natural event. "We're not aware of any link to human-induced climate change," he said.

But scientists say the break has reduced the Larsen C shelf by more than 12 percent, which some worry could make the remainder of the shelf less stable. The shelf is among Antarctica's largest.

Larsen C is nearly half a mile thick at its largest point. It floats on the ocean at the edge of the Antarctic Peninsula, holding back a flow of glaciers that feed into it.

"As climate warming advances farther south, it will affect larger and larger ice shelves that currently hold back bigger and bigger glaciers, so their collapse will contribute more to sea level rise," said Eric Rignot. He is a glaciologist and research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the University of California, Irvine.

Larsen Shelf Discovered in 1893

Named for the man who discovered it in 1893, the Norwegian explorer Carl Anton Larsen, the Larsen Ice Shelf is actually a series of many floating chunks of ice. Larsen C, the largest, was first photographed in the 1960s. Even then, NASA reported on the visible fateful crack.

Ice shelves are thick platforms of ice floating on the surface of the ocean. They form as ice sheets when large accumulations of snow on top of a landmass flow downhill to the ocean.

Ice shelves naturally shed weight in the form of icebergs, the process called calving, or through melting on the bottom. One way to know if a sheet is healthy is to see if it's gaining as much ice as it is losing.

Ice sheets grow as snow accumulates and freezes on the surface, and they lose ice through melting and calving of their shelves.

"The Way Antarctica Works"

If a large enough iceberg calves off, an ice shelf could collapse.

That's what happened to Larsen C's neighbors, Larsen A and Larsen B, in 1995 and 2002, respectively.

"That's just the way Antarctica works," said Helen Fricker, a glaciologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who studies the Larsen C ice sheet.

A collapse of Larsen C is probably decades away, Rignot said. But the ice shelf has now retreated farther back than it has in the past 125 years.

"More bergs will detach; it will become weaker and eventually fall apart in a domino effect," he said.

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Split in ice shelf leaves huge chunk drifting off Antarctica

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Sometime last week, a massive block of ice the size of Delaware broke away from Antarctica to float freely in the Weddell Sea. The iceberg, which at about 1 trillion tons is one of the largest on record, poses no immediate threat to sea levels.

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Brianne Woop
In Saudi Arabia the government is investigating a video of a woman who was dressed in a mini skirt and crop top. She posted the video on Snapchat and it erupted on social media. Some people were saying she should be arrested. This is because in Saudi Arabia women are supposed to wear abayas, which are loose fitted clothing that covers the entire body. She is also supposed to be wearing a head scarf as well (p04z1bmv.jpg). This woman is a model so many people are standing up for her as well.  They think she is only being treated this way because she is Saudi Arabian, and a foreigner would have never had an arrest out for her.

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The authorities in Saudi Arabia are investigating a young woman who posted a video of herself wearing a miniskirt and crop-top in public.

The women, a model called "Khulood", shared the clip of her walking around a historic fort in Ushayqir.

The footage sparked a heated debate on social media, with some calling for her arrest for breaking the conservative Muslim country's strict dress code.

Other Saudis came to the woman's defence, praising her "bravery".

Women in Saudi Arabia must wear loose-fitting, full-length robes known as "abayas" in public, as well as a headscarf. They are also banned from driving and are separated from unrelated men.

Saudi women criticise cleric's advice

Saudi women's rights video goes viral

Are Saudi women really that oppressed?

In the video initially shared on Snapchat over the weekend, Khulood is seen walking along an empty street in a fort at Ushayqir Heritage Village, about 155km (96 miles) north of the capital Riyadh, in Najd province.

Najd is one of the most conservative regions in Saudi Arabia. It was where the founder of Wahhabism - the austere form of Sunni Islam that is practised by the Saudi royal family and religious establishment - was born in the late 18th Century.

The video was quickly picked up by Saudis on Twitter, where opinion was divided between those who believe Khulood should be punished and others who insisted she should be allowed to wear what she wanted.

Journalist Khaled Zidan wrote: "The return of the Haia [religious police] here is a must."

Another user argued: "We should respect the laws of the country. In France, the niqab [face-covering veil] is banned and women are fined if they wear it. In Saudi Arabia, wearing abayas and modest clothing is part of the kingdom's laws."

The writer and philosopher, Wael al-Gassim, said he was "shocked to see those angry, scary tweets".

"I thought she had bombed or killed somebody. The story turned out to be about her skirt, which they did not like. I am wondering how Vision 2030 can succeed if she is arrested," he added, referring to the reform programme unveiled last year by Saudi Arabia's newly-appointed 31-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Some defended Khulood by noting that US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania, and daughter, Ivanka, had chosen not to wear abayas or headscarves during a visit to Saudi Arabia in May.

Others wrote that had the woman been a foreigner, people would be talking about her beauty, but because she is Saudi, they are calling for her arrest.

Fatima al-Issa wrote: "If she was a foreigner, they would sing about the beauty of her waist and the enchantment of her eyes... But because she is Saudi they are calling for her arrest."

On Monday, the Okaz newspaper reported that officials in Ushayqar had called on the provincial governor and police to take action against the woman.

The religious police, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, meanwhile wrote on Twitter that it had been made aware of the video and was in contact with the relevant authorities.

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Saudi Arabia investigates video of woman in miniskirt - BBC News

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The authorities in Saudi Arabia are investigating a young woman who posted a video of herself wearing a miniskirt and crop-top in public. The women, a model called "Khulood", shared the clip of her walking around a historic fort in Ushayqir.

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Carolyn Starr
A semi-professional southern English football team, Lewes FC , is the first to implement equal pay for men and women.

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Lewes FC have given equality in football a huge boost by becoming the first professional or semi-pro club to pay its women's team the same as their men's side.

With the men's outfit featuring in the Isthmian League Division One South and their female counterparts appearing in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division, director Jacquie Agnew said: "We believe that there should be a level playing field for women in football.

"By committing to paying our women's and men's teams equally, and providing equal resource for coaching, training and facilities, we hope to spark a change across the UK that will help put an end to the excuses for why such a deep pay disparity has persisted in our sport.

"Together with our owners, donors and sponsors, Lewes FC can show that equal pay can be implemented to the benefit of both women and men in sport and beyond."

Lewes have started an Equality FC campaign which aims to bring to light the discrepancy between genders in football and encourage more support for females in the UK and around the globe.

As well as setting the playing budgets for the men's and women's teams as the same level, the club will 'provide equal resource for coaching, performance and strength and conditioning staff'.

"I am proud that Lewes FC has stepped up to launch the Equality FC campaign, said John Donoghue, the women's first-team manager. "Every day I see the passion and commitment our players have for the game, and I am sure this is mirrored across the country in women's football.

"For female players to have the same rewards as their male counterparts for doing the same job is a fantastic leap forward for women's football. This sends a powerful signal to not only our players and our club, but to the whole UK football community that women's football deserves an equal voice and support to men's."

The move garnered huge support on social media and Darren Freeman, the manager of the men's side, added: "We use the same pitch, the same facilities, the same ball. As football fans we all want our team to win regardless of gender.

" Parity means giving everyone the same opportunity and getting the same rewards."

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Lewes FC become first pro club to have equal pay for men and women

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With the men's outfit featuring in the Isthmian League Division One South and their female counterparts appearing in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division, director Jacquie Agnew said: "We believe that there should be a level playing field for women in football.

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Israeli Drive to Hire More Arabs Leads to 500 Jobs 

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Israeli Drive to Hire More Arabs Leads to 500 Jobs 

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Sheryl Magnuson
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/1.802313

The drive to bring more Israeli Arabs into the workforce and provide better jobs comes as Israel’s unemployment rate is at its lowest in decades. A joint initiative between the government and Israel’s biggest employers to hire more Israeli Arabs at big companies – where pay, career opportunities and conditions are typically better – saw more than 500 people taken on in 2016.  With Arabs accounting for a fifth of Israel’s population, the Bank of Israel says that 55 percent of them live below the poverty line and are less likely than Jews to hold a job, especially among women. Arab men on average earn half of what Jewish men make.   There are more Israeli Arabs are completing university and the government is acting to remove barriers to employment. The drive to bring more Israeli Arabs into the workforce and provide better jobs comes as Israel’s unemployment rate is at its lowest in decades and labor shortages have developed in some sectors. At the seven companies that hired a total of 500 Israelis Arabs last year, Israelis Arabs now comprise 14 percent of their payrolls. More recent data were even more encouraging, Between April 2016 and June 2017, hiring of Israeli Arabs reached 722, and 200 of them were serving in positions at headquarters or senior management as of the end of June.

For more information on Arabs in Israel:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-status-of-arabs-in-israel

and

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/1.795186

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What's going on in the world? News from Mosul:

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What's going on in the world? News from Mosul:

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by Edward Nelson

The city of Mosul was recently liberated after being occupied for 3 years by fighters from the Islamic State. The Iraqi Army, advised and assisted by U.S. forces, recently declared victory in the city. This liberation has led to both joy and trepidation of the remaining residents of the city as they attempt to rebuild their lives after the horror and devastation of the occupation.  The city has been liberated, but it was almost completely destroyed in places.  The people of Mosul now must begin the rebuilding process.

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The body of a long-haired Islamic State militant lies rotting in the scorching heat. Blast-strewn cars and bullet holes in walls bear witness to a fierce firefight that took place in the Zanjili neighbourhood of west Mosul.

Once a stronghold of Isis, Zanjili is now a ghost town. Life has stopped and nothing moves; even the stray cats and dogs that roam other parts of the city, feeding on the dead, are nowhere to be seen. The eerie silence is punctured by occasional volleys of heavy gunfire from two Iraqi helicopters firing at Isis positions in the remaining militant-held pockets of the old city less than half a kilometre away.

The total destruction of Zanjili is a testament to the enormous task ahead for the Iraqi prime minister, Haidar al-Abadi - the reconstruction of this city at a time when lower oil prices have severely depleted government coffers. The UN has estimated that repairing basic infrastructure in the city will cost more than $1.3bn (£990m).

"In western Mosul what we're seeing is the worst damage of the entire conflict," Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said last week. "In those neighbourhoods where the fighting has been the fiercest, we're looking at levels of damage incomparable to anything else that has happened in Iraq so far. "

Several men and a woman scavenging through Zanjili emerge from a side street. "This place is destroyed," said Mohammad Fathi Salih, 26, a teahouse owner. Salih does not know how many customers who sipped his sweet tea every day are dead. "Many people died here. There was a baby who died of hunger because there was no food."

He showed the Observer a mass grave in this once densely populated area, in the front yard of a school whose roof had blown away. "We had no other place to bury them. We buried 151 people here," said Salih, emphasising the number. "There were women, children, young, old. We brought them from streets around here one by one."

"The planes hit and Daesh killed," replied Salih when asked who was responsible for the civilians killed in his neighbourhood.

The US-led coalition has admitted that its airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have killed more than 480 civilians, but Airwars, a not-for-profit organisation which tracks civilian casualties, believes that at least 4,500 have been killed as a result of coalition airstrikes.

In west Mosul, the government has yet to begin reconstruction. However, on the highway from Baghdad to Mosul, a road roller and excavator are in operation as engineers try to rebuild a bridge. There is little economic activity in this once busy street, except for two makeshift petrol stations, several mechanic's shops and kids on the back of pickup trucks selling ice in the 50C heat.

No road has stayed intact in Mosul. Huge potholes make it difficult for non-military vehicles to move easily. Cars inside Mosul often lack rear windshields or wing mirrors. Large numbers of vehicles were destroyed in the fighting and some people have resorted to using mules and horse-driven carts to carry goods or to move around.

Meanwhile, security service surveillance is creating an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust. Yet children stand at roadsides and cheer on troops and foreigners.

When Abadi announced the liberation of the city on 9 July, Isis propaganda outlets announced on social media the assassination of an officer and three of his bodyguards in east Mosul's Tahrir neighbourhood, which was liberated late last year. Many people are scared to go back to their houses, if indeed they still exist, because of a lack of security and basic services. "I can't go back to the city because my house was destroyed in the fighting. There is no security in Mosul because, even in the east of the city, there are still Daesh [Isis] sleeper cells and they occasionally strike," said Salih Mohammad, who fled west Mosul last week and, like thousands of others, is now staying in a camp outside the city.

The UN's International Organisation for Migration estimated last week that more than a million people had been displaced from east and west Mosul and that there were more than 800,000 people living in camps.

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Shop owners outside a damaged building in new Mosul. Photograph: Fazel Hawramy for the Observer

While the conditions in these camps are poor, many people prefer to stay in their tents than go back to Mosul.

"Some people go back to east Mosul because the conditions in the camps are not good, especially in this heat, but when they get there ... many turn around and come back to the camps," explained Bnar Duski, who has worked for the Barzani Charity Foundation with displaced people in five camps in east Mosul.

Mosul graphic

While maintaining security and rebuilding the city is vital for enticing people to return, the behaviour of the Iraqi security forces - which include Shia soldiers - towards the mainly Sunni residents will be one of the ways in which Baghdad's efforts will be measured in Mosul. Many are quick to point out that the reason, in the summer of 2014, for Isis's success in the city - an insurgent flashpoint since 2003 - was the abuses of the Iraqi security forces, which led to alienation.

"Since 2003, Iraqi forces have carried out abuses against the civilian population with complete impunity, mainly targeting Sunni Arabs," said Belkis Wille, senior Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. "They have carried out campaigns of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and extrajudicial killings. These have all been key push factors for young Sunni Arab men to join Isis."

Iraqi security forces' reputation suffered a blow last week when about a dozen videos showing troops' brutality were published on social media. One shows a soldier stabbing a man in the neck and face as he shrieks in pain and begs for his life. "This is for the martyrs," says the soldier as the man lies in a pool of blood.

In the past nine months, Iraqi security forces have been mired in a number of incidents contrary to the rules of conflict but Baghdad has stayed silent.

"The battle for Mosul is meant to be the final major battle in Iraq against Isis and yet this battle has opened the floodgates to those very campaigns of abuse, and the videos and testimony of abuse that have emerged have been met with silence from Baghdad," said Wille. "If the Iraqi authorities and the US-led coalition really want to put an end to Isis, they need to not only engage militarily but tackle the push factors - put an end to abuses [carried out] with impunity. Otherwise we will not see an end to extremist groups in Iraq any time soon."

Mohammad, a former police officer from Noor in east Mosul who now drives a taxi on the city's outskirts, questions whether the Iraqi government has learned from its mistakes.

"Now we have Shia flags everywhere," he said, referring to the banners depicting the prophet Muhammad's nephew Ali and his grandsons Hassan and Hussein revered by Shia Muslims. "Sunnis of Mosul see these flags as insults."

As the car approaches Bartella in east Mosul, where the Iraqi security forces have incarcerated close to 200 families of alleged Isis militants in a "rehabilitation" camp, Mohammad points to the graffiti on the blast wall.

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A still from a video showing Islamic State militants who surrendered in Mosul's old city on 13 July. Photograph: Reuters TV

"The State of Ali, enduring and expanding" is the triumphant claim, playing on the motto of Islamic State.

It is the kind of message that fuels Mohammad's pessimism, as the devastated city contemplates the mammoth double challenge of reconstruction and reconciliation.

"I would be happy if Mosul becomes normal again in 20 years," he said.

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Mosul's residents tell of hopes and fears after Isis flees Iraqi city

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The body of a long-haired Islamic State militant lies rotting in the scorching heat. Blast-strewn cars and bullet holes in walls bear witness to a fierce firefight that took place in the Zanjili neighbourhood of west Mosul. Once a stronghold of Isis, Zanjili is now a ghost town.

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Venezuelans Face Political Crisis, Shortages

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Venezuelans Face Political Crisis, Shortages

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Valerie Cetrulo
After the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013, the United Socialist Party (PSUV) of Venezuela has continued to be in power under the leadership of Nicolas Maduro. Supporters of Chavez and the PSUV face strong opposition who claim that the party has harmed democracy in the country and caused economic hardship. Recently, the opposition has called for a general election. In response, President Maduro has announced the creation of a constituent assembly with the purpose of  rewriting the constitution. Anti-Chavists worry this will delay elections and undermine the power of the National Assembly, which is currently controlled by the opposition. President Trump has warned that the United States will take economic actions if the constituent assembly continues as planned. Meanwhile, economic hardship has caused shortages, particularly in the healthcare field. Many Venezuelans do not have access to necessary medication, and the number of Venezuelans seeking refuge in Brazil has increased exponentially in recent years.

Articles with additional information:

"Crisis Hit Venezuelans leave for Brazil in Search of New Life"

"Venezuela Denounces 'Imperialist' US Sanctions Threat"

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Tension in Venezuela is on the rise again as the opposition and the government accuse each other of trying to stage a coup.

There has been a wave of anti-government protests and dozens of people have been killed in protest-related violence since April

Here, we look more in depth at the problems facing Venezuela and its president, Nicolas Maduro.

Why is Venezuela so divided?

Venezuela is split into Chavistas, the name given to the followers of the socialist policies of the late President Hugo Chavez, and those who cannot wait to see an end to the 18 years in power of his United Socialist Party (PSUV).

After the socialist leader died in 2013, Nicolas Maduro, also of the PSUV, was elected president on a promise to continue Mr Chavez's policies.

Chavistas praise the two men for using Venezuela's oil riches to markedly reduce inequality and for lifting many Venezuelans out of poverty.

But the opposition says that since the PSUV came to power in 1999, the socialist party has eroded Venezuela's democratic institutions and mismanaged its economy.

Chavistas in turn accuse the opposition of being elitist and of exploiting poor Venezuelans to increase their own riches.

They also allege that opposition leaders are in the pay of the United States, a country with which Venezuela has had fraught relations in recent years.

Why has Mr Maduro's popularity plummeted?

Mr Maduro has not been able to inspire Chavistas in the same way his predecessor did. His government has furthermore been hampered by falling oil prices.

Oil accounts for about 95% of Venezuela's export revenues and was used to finance some of the government's generous social programmes which, according to official figures, have provided more than one million poor Venezuelans with homes.

The lack of oil revenue has forced the government to curtail its social programmes, leading to an erosion of support among its core backers.

Watch: Maduro pelted by protesters

If the divisions are old, what has triggered this latest flare-up?

A series of events has further heightened tensions between the government and the opposition and led to renewed street protests.

Key was the surprise announcement by the Supreme Court on 29 March that it was taking over the powers of the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

The opposition said that the ruling undermined the country's separation of powers and took Venezuela a step closer to one-man rule under President Nicolas Maduro.

The court argued that the National Assembly had disregarded previous Supreme Court rulings and was therefore in contempt.

While the Supreme Court reversed its ruling just three days later, distrust of the court did not subside.

What does the opposition want?

They have four key demands:

Removal from office of the Supreme Court justices who issued the 29 March ruling

General elections in 2017

Creation of a "humanitarian channel" to allow medication to be imported to counter the severe shortages in Venezuela

Release of all the "political prisoners"

Why is there talk of a constituent assembly?

Faced with almost daily protests, President Maduro probably felt he needed to make a move.

Not willing to give in to the opposition's demand for early presidential elections, he chose to announce the creation of a constituent assembly.

President Maduro says the opposition is trying to illegally overthrow his elected government and blames the country's problems on an "economic war" being waged against him.

He argues that a new constitution will "neutralise" the opposition and defeat "coup-plotters" and thereby promote peace in Venezuela.

Opposition leaders have denounced the move as an attempt by President Maduro to maximise his power and cling on to it for longer.

They argue that the process of setting up a constituent assembly and drawing up a new constitution would almost certainly mean that regional elections due to be held this year and presidential polls scheduled for December 2018 would be delayed.

They also fear that the constituent assembly would further weaken the National Assembly, Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislative body.

National Assembly leader Julio Borges called it "a scam to deceive the Venezuelan people with a mechanism that is nothing more than a tightening of the coup in Venezuela".

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Tension in Venezuela is on the rise again as the opposition and the government accuse each other of trying to stage a coup. There has been a wave of anti-government protests and dozens of people have been killed in protest-related violence since April Here, we look more in depth at the problems facing Venezuela and its president, Nicolas Maduro.

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Rasa Ardys-Juska
With Venezuela being a hot topic in South America regarding "economic collapse and political repression", we will see more emigrants traveling to neighboring countries.  Countries of choice are Colombia and then Brazil.  Yet those may just be their first stops.

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There are no luxuries in the four-room house in southern Bogotá, where 12 recently arrived Venezuelans huddle on thin mattresses under even thinner blankets to ward off the Andean mountain chill. They have no hot water, and what few furnishings they have were salvaged from a nearby dump.

They work 12-hour shifts at car washes or kitchens, earning between $6.50 and $13 a day. Because most do not have work permits, they are under constant threat of deportation.

But life here is better than what they left back home in Venezuela's Zulia state, said Paola González, 21, who arrived in Bogotá in mid-June. "At least now a day of work allows us enough to eat and even send some money back home," she says. "In Venezuela, we couldn't get by."

As Venezuela falls further into a humanitarian disaster of economic collapse and political repression, more of its citizens are fleeing a country which once served as a haven for economic migrants and political refugees from around the world.

In the past, many Venezuelans headed to rich countries like US and Spain, but the latest wave of émigrés are increasingly choosing to stay in Latin America - often putting pressure social services that are unprepared to accommodate an increase of migrants.

"For the first time, Venezuela is producing rather than receiving migrants," said Tomás Páez, a Caracas-based sociologist who in 2015 published a study on the Venezuelan diaspora in which he estimated that 7% of Venezuela's native population of 31 million lived outside the country.

It was wealthy and professional Venezuelans who spearheaded the exodus after the late Hugo Chávez began his self-styled socialist "revolution" in 1999 - often citing rampant crime or political discontent as their reason behind leaving.

On Chavez's death in 2013 from cancer, Nicolás Maduro was elected to succeed him as president. Since then, the situation has deteriorated dramatically, with triple-digit inflation, snaking food lines, shortages of medical supplies and vicious repression against the opposition.

The worsening conditions have left the social safety nets put in place by Chávez in tatters, and the new migrants include many poorer Venezuelans who once considered themselves Chavistas.

Only a fraction of those leaving formally seek asylum but the number of those who do is soaring. Last year, there were 27,000 Venezuelan asylum seekers worldwide. So far in 2017, more than 52,000 have applied for asylum, according to UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency.

For many, the easiest destination to reach is Colombia, just across a porous and largely unprotected border.

Most follow well-worn paths skirting immigration controls along the 1,400 mile (2,200km) line that separates the two countries. That makes it difficult to calculate the numbers: UNHCR puts the figure at about 300,000, but the Association of Venezuelans in Colombia reckons there are about 1.2 million Venezuelans now living in the country of 45 million.

And Colombia's government is bracing for more. It recently sent a delegation to Turkey to study that country's experience with Syrian refugees.

Not so long ago, the countries' fortunes were reversed: Venezuela took in millions of Colombians during the 1970s and 1980s, when Venezuela was riding an oil boom and political stability while Colombia was trapped between narco-terror and a rebel insurgency.

Today, Colombia is steadier politically and economically than its neighbour, but officials say it lacks the financial and social resources to be able to respond to large numbers of migrants.

Venezuelans are granted a special border area migration permit for 90 days but it is not valid in the rest of the country. In 2016, Colombia deported 1,956 Venezuelans - more than an eightfold increase from the year before, according to official statistics.

Though less populated than the Colombian side, Venezuela's border with Brazil has also seen an increased number of migrants, catching authorities off guard.

At the Brazilian border state of Roraima, Telma Lage, a nun from the Centre for Migration and Human Rights, said it recently helped 290 Venezuelans with asylum applications on just one recent day.

Many are part of the Warao indigenous group, hundreds of whose members began arriving in May. The state government provided a shelter in a gymnasium in the state capital, Boa Vista, but conditions for the 400 or so people living there are rudimentary. "It is a deposit of people," Lage said. Many of them ask for money on the streets; others find whatever odd jobs they can.

At least 500 Warao have moved on to the city of Manaus, where many camped out in the bus station until a shelter was opened to house 300 of them. On Friday, 200 were moved to five houses rented for them, said Padre Orlando Barbosa from the Manaus branch of the Catholic organization Cáritas. Another thousand non-indigenous Venezuelans are also in the city, he estimated.

In March, the Brazilian government introduced a two-year temporary residence option, but the low value of the Venezuelan currency makes the $96 it costs more than many can afford, said Maria Canineu, Brazil director of Human Rights Watch. NGOs, prosecutors and unions have asked the government to exempt Venezuelans from the cost.

"Brazil has kept its frontiers open - and this is fundamental," said Luiz Godinho, a spokesman for UNHCR in Brasília.

In small Caribbean countries, the Venezuelans' arrival has had a greater impact, said Charlotte Ridung, UNHCR's senior protection adviser for the Venezuelan situation. Trinidad and Tobago, a country of 1.3 million, has received 40,000 Venezuelans. Similar situations in Panama and the Dominican Republic have reportedly led to Venezuelans being harassed and told to "go home" by local citizens.

Dominican officials have seen a surge in the number of Venezuelans arriving on direct flights from Caracas as drug mules, lured by the promise of a new life in the Caribbean country. Some critics have called on the government there to require entry visas to stem the flow.

But other countries are better prepared to receive their Bolivarian brothers. Mariella Erminy, 56, arrived in Peru in May with her pregnant daughter, son-in-law and his mother, looking for better medical care for the unborn child.

"The Peruvians have received us marvelously," said Erminy, who worked as a lawyer in Caracas but in Lima makes a living by selling traditional Venezuelan dulcito de leche sweets.

In February, Peru introduced a special visa allowing Venezuelans already in the country to study, apply for jobs and get a bank account and access health services for up to a year. Some 6,000 Venezuelans were granted the visa and another 4,000 applicants are still awaiting approval, said Peru's immigration superintendent, Eduardo Sevilla.

"Peru is a country which remembers," Sevilla said, referring to the thousands of Peruvians who, fled home in the 1970s and 1980s to escape military dictatorship and economic hardship. "In the same way that Venezuela received Peruvians in the past, we will receive them too," Sevilla said.

Argentina has also made it easy for Venezuelans to obtain a work permit, thanks in part to a similar historical gratitude toward Venezuela, and because both countries are members of South America's Mercosur common market.

The family of Tamara Taraciuk, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, escaped Argentina just before the 1976 military coup. "We will always be grateful, Venezuela welcomed us with open arms," she said.

The number of Venezuelans starting a new life in Argentina has increased exponentially since Maduro took office, from 1,911 in 2012 to 12,859 last year, according to Argentinian government statistics.

Since last year, the number of arrivals has risen by almost 250% to a total of 8,333 new Venezuelans during the first quarter of 2017, compared with a quarterly average of only 3,215 in 2016.

But new arrivals in Argentina and elsewhere usually have to settle for lower-skilled jobs than they had at home.

"I had to leave behind my profession and my optometrist's office," said Joel Galíndez, 26, from Maracay in north-central Venezuela, who arrived in Buenos Aires in March 2016 and now works as a sales attendant at an eyeglass shop.

"The only quality export of Venezuela's revolution is university-trained professionals," said María Eugenia Contreras, 32, who left Caracas in 2015 to settle in Uruguay. "I'm a lawyer with a master's degree and my first job in Montevideo was selling Christmas decorations at a supermarket."

As they try to make new lives in their new surroundings, Venezuelans keep close tabs on news from home mostly through WhatsApp messages and phone calls with those who stayed behind.

Galíndez, in Buenos Aires, said his girlfriend, an anesthesiologist who is still in Venezuela, is desperate. "We communicate by WhatsApp every day and what she describes is open battle," he said. Clashes between protesters, and security forces and paramilitary militias have left more than 90 dead since March.

"About 80% of my friends are making emergency plans to leave," said Contreras, in Montevideo.

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'At home, we couldn't get by': more Venezuelans flee as crisis deepens

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There are no luxuries in the four-room house in southern Bogotá, where 12 recently arrived Venezuelans huddle on thin mattresses under even thinner blankets to ward off the Andean mountain chill. They have no hot water, and what few furnishings they have were salvaged from a nearby dump.

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VanPatten

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Still, German authorities pressed ahead with the legislation. Germany witnessed an increase in racist comments and anti-immigrant rhetoric after the arrival of more than a million migrants, predominantly from Muslim countries, since 2015, and Heiko Maas, the justice minister who drew up the draft legislation, said on Friday that it ensured that rules that currently apply offline would be equally enforceable in the digital sphere.

"With this law, we put an end to the verbal law of the jungle on the internet and protect the freedom of expression for all," Mr. Maas said. "We are ensuring that everyone can express their opinion freely, without being insulted or threatened."

"That is not a limitation, but a prerequisite for freedom of expression," he continued.

The law will take effect in October, less than a month after nationwide elections, and will apply to social media sites with more than two million users in Germany.

It will require companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google, which owns YouTube, to remove any content that is illegal in Germany - such as Nazi symbols or Holocaust denial - within 24 hours of it being brought to their attention.

The law allows for up to seven days for the companies to decide on content that has been flagged as offensive, but which may not be clearly defamatory or inciting violence. Companies that persistently fail to address complaints by taking too long to delete illegal content face fines that start at 5 million euros, or $5.7 million, and could rise to as much as €50 million.

Every six months, companies will have to publicly report the number of complaints they have received and how they have handled them.

In Germany, which has some of the most stringent anti-hate speech laws in the Western world, a study published this year found that Facebook and Twitter had failed to meet a national target of removing 70 percent of online hate speech within 24 hours of being alerted to its presence.

The report noted that while the two companies eventually erased almost all of the illegal hate speech, Facebook managed to remove only 39 percent in 24 hours, as demanded by German authorities. Twitter met that deadline in a mere 1 percent of instances. In contrast, YouTube fared significantly better, removing 90 percent of flagged content within a day of being notified.

Facebook said on Friday that the company shared the German government's goal of fighting hate speech and had "been working hard" to resolve the issue of illegal content. The company announced in May that it would nearly double, to 7,500, the number of employees worldwide devoted to clearing its site of flagged postings. It was also trying to improve the processes by which users could report problems, a spokesman said.

Representatives from Google and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The standoff between tech companies and politicians is most acute in Europe, where freedom of expression rights are less comprehensive than in the United States, and where policy makers have often bristled at Silicon Valley's dominance of people's digital lives.

But advocacy groups in Europe have raised concerns over the new German law.

Mirko Hohmann and Alexander Pirant of the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin criticized the legislation as "misguided" for placing too much responsibility for deciding what constitutes unlawful content in the hands of social media providers.

"Setting the rules of the digital public square, including the identification of what is lawful and what is not, should not be left to private companies," they wrote.

Even in the United States, Facebook and Google also have taken steps to limit the spread of extremist messaging online, and to prevent "fake news" from circulating. That includes using artificial intelligence to automatically remove potentially extremist material and banning news sites believed to spread fake or misleading reports from making money through the companies' digital advertising platforms.

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Delete Hate Speech or Pay Up, Germany Tells Social Media Companies

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Still, German authorities pressed ahead with the legislation. Germany witnessed an increase in racist comments and anti-immigrant rhetoric after the arrival of more than a million migrants, predominantly from Muslim countries, since 2015, and Heiko Maas, the justice minister who drew up the draft legislation, said on Friday that it ensured that rules that currently apply offline would be equally enforceable in the digital sphere.

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"Delete Hate Speech or Pay Up, Germany Tells Social Media Companies"

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"Delete Hate Speech or Pay Up, Germany Tells Social Media Companies"

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A law passed on June 30, 2017 in Germany, taking effect in October, stated that if social media companies, with more than two million users, such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter don't delete slanderous, racist or illegal comments within a timely manner, 24 hours to be exact, they are subject to fines up to $57 million. However, many are not willing to embrace this law. Advocates of free speech and technology companies alike argue that this is an infringement on freedom of expression rights.
In the article, German justice minister, Heiko Maas stated, "With this law, we put an end to the verbal law of the jungle on the internet and protect the freedom of expression for all."
These companies have up to seven days to make a decision on whether or not the flagged content is offensive and then act upon it.
In the Western World, Germany has some of the most strict anti-hate speech laws.

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Another Article on Germany's Social Media Law

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Another Article on Germany's Social Media Law

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To read another news source regarding Germany's social media law, please click the link below!

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Social media companies in Germany face fines of up to 50m euros ($57.1; £43.9m) if they fail to remove "obviously illegal" content in time.

From October, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites with more that two million users in Germany must take down posts containing hate speech or other criminal material within 24 hours.

Content that is not obviously unlawful must be assessed within seven days.

The new law is one of the toughest of its kind in the world.

Failure to comply will result in a 5m euro penalty, which could rise to 50m euros depending on the severity of the offence.

German MPs voted in favour of the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG) law after months of deliberation, on the last legislative day before the Bundestag's summer break.

But it has already been condemned by human rights groups and industry representatives.

They claim the tight time limits are unrealistic, and will lead to accidental censorship as technology companies err on the side of caution and delete ambiguous posts to avoid paying penalties.

Fake news

The law will not come into force until after the German federal elections, which will be held in September.

"Our experience has shown that unfortunately, social media companies do not improve their procedures without political pressure," said Justice Minister Heiko Mass, who oversaw the legislation.

He added that while the law "does not solve all problems", it tackles the issue of hate crimes on social media, which are "increasingly a problem in many countries".

The bill was drafted after several high-profile incidents of fake news and criminal hate speech being spread on social media sites in Germany.

One case involved the targeting of prominent Green MP Renate Kunast, with a post that falsely suggested she was sympathetic to a refugee who had murdered a German student in the southern city of Freiburg.

For its part, Facebook said it had already made "substantial progress" in removing illegal content, and called into question the efficacy of the law.

The company recently announced it had hired an extra 3,000 staff (on top of the 4,500 it already has) to help monitor "the millions of reports" that come through every week.

Social media companies also point to a recent report by the European Commission, which showed that some 80% of all reported illegal content is already removed in Germany.

Illegal phrase

In addition to social media sites themselves, three voluntary, independent bodies currently monitor the German internet.

The BBC was given access to one of them, run by Eco, the German Association of the Internet Industry, in Cologne.

In a small, heavily secured office, three legal experts sifted through thousands of complaints from members of the public.

One example shown to the BBC was of a YouTube video titled "Sieg Heil", a phrase that can be illegal in Germany.

The video was reported to the local police in North-Rhine Westphalia, and followed up with the social network itself after a few days.

But the organisers of the facility, which has been in existence for 15 years, are also concerned about NetzDG, which they say has been "rushed through" for political expediency.

"It takes time to define if a complaint's content is really illegal or not," said Alexander Rabe, a member of the Eco board, which was consulted by the government on the draft law.

Mr Rabe also pointed out that much of what many might deem to be "fake news" or hate speech on their social media feeds was not in fact illegal content under current German law.

Free speech

The bill has also faced criticism from human right's campaigners.

"Many of the violations covered by the bill are highly dependent on context, context which platforms are in no position to assess," wrote the UN Special Rapporteur to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, David Kaye.

He added that "the obligations placed upon private companies to regulate and take down content raises concern with respect to freedom of expression".

The law could still be stopped in Brussels, where campaigners have claimed it breaches EU laws.

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Germany votes for 50m euro social media fines - BBC News

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Social media companies in Germany face fines of up to 50m euros ($57.1; £43.9m) if they fail to remove "obviously illegal" content in time. From October, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites with more that two million users in Germany must take down posts containing hate speech or other criminal material within 24 hours.