Egypt goes to the polls – with a fresh threat from generals
Voters across Egypt were due to go to the polls today for the first democratic elections in over half a century, despite a political stand-off which could yet derail the country's emergence from decades of dictatorship.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the country's military ruler, yesterday warned of "extremely grave" consequences if the unrest which has ravaged Cairo was allowed to continue. That warning was aimed at thousands of protesters demanding the removal of the government, with some calling for a boycott of today's parliamentary poll.
The Irish Times - Monday, November 28, 2011
'Suitcase trader' jailed for years without trial
PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Amnesty International. To mark this, Amnesty, in association with The Irish Times , is profiling a prisoner each month . . .
ON JUNE 2nd, 2004, Hamad al-Neyl Abu Kassawy kissed his pregnant wife Tahani and their two children goodbye and left their home, just south of Khartoum in Sudan. They have not seen him since.
Hamad was a “suitcase trader”, part of a network of businessmen travelling between Syria, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates selling cheap household goods and clothes. Having finished his business trip he rang his wife to let her know he was on his way home from Syria but would stop off in Saudi Arabia for a couple of days to complete a Muslim pilgrimage. And then he vanished.
Desmond Tutu calls climate change 'huge enemy'
November 28, 2011
Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu has branded climate change a "huge, huge enemy" that threatens the common home of humanity, imperilling rich and poor alike.
At a rally on the eve of the 12-day UN climate talks in Durban, Tutu said that after the battle to crush apartheid, mankind must now unite in the goal of conquering carbon.
Pakistan buries troops as rage spreads
Monday, November 28, 2011
PESHAWAR: Pakistan on Sunday buried 24 troops killed in a NATO cross-border air attack that has pushed a crisis in relations between the United States and an ally it needs to fight militancy towards rupture.
Television stations showed the coffins of the soldiers draped in national flags in a prayer ceremony at the Corp Headquarters in Peshawar attended by Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani. Pakistan shut down NATO supply routes into Afghanistan – used for sending in nearly half of the alliance’s land shipments – in retaliation for the worst such attack since Islamabad uneasily allied itself with Washington following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Television stations showed the coffins of the soldiers draped in national flags in a prayer ceremony at the Corp Headquarters in Peshawar attended by Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani. Pakistan shut down NATO supply routes into Afghanistan – used for sending in nearly half of the alliance’s land shipments – in retaliation for the worst such attack since Islamabad uneasily allied itself with Washington following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Russia's new threats may endanger Obama's 'reset' policy
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said this week that he has ordered the Russian military to immediately take measures to counter US plans to install advanced radars and anti-missile interceptors in European countries.
Russia will target US anti-missile sites in Europe, deploy advanced radars to monitor all missile launches from NATO territory, and might even withdraw from the New START arms reduction treaty that came into force this year unless Washington takes dramatic steps to allay Moscow's concerns over plans to deploy major elements of an anti-missile shield in several European countries, President Dmitry Medvedev warned this week.
In his toughest-ever foreign policy statement, which Russian officials qualified Friday as "a call to dialogue," Mr. Medvedev said he has ordered the Russian military to immediately take measures to restore the strategic balance – as Moscow understands it – to counter US plans to install advanced radars and anti-missile interceptors in countries such as Poland, Romania, andTurkey in the next few years
Occupy L.A.: Police step up presence as supporters converge on City Hall
Police in helmets and face shields with batons drawn blocked a downtown intersection near City Hall early Monday morning, blocking a group of Occupy L.A. protesters who had swarmed onto the street and vowed to stand their ground.
Some in the group began chanting "Back to the park!" an imperative many of the protesters seemed to follow.
So went the first hour after a deadline to clear the park outside City Hall passed as thousounds of Occupy L.A. supporters converged on the site where protesters have been camping for seven weeks.
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