Tuesday, November 26, 2013
At the centre of the storm: Covering Haiyan-video
As Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, we look at the media's role in the aftermath of natural disasters.
There is a familiar media narrative that follows natural disasters. Journalists arrive in numbers and immediately report on the aftermath and the casualty figures. Then the focus shifts to the relief operation before the story becomes about the desperate measures taken by those affected and the failures of those responsible for helping them. The coverage of Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda, has followed that pattern. This was the biggest land typhoon ever recorded, which made it tough for the Filipino media to cover. The foreign media, meanwhile, had to try to make sense of the story and provide accurate reports at a time when information and misinformation were coming at them thick and fast.
US B52 Bombers Fly Over Senkaku Islands Unannounced
Two American B-52 bombers flew over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea on Monday evening, a U.S. defense official confirmed, just days after the Chinese government included the area in an air defense identification zone.
The official said the flight was a training mission and the bombers were not armed. The flight was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
Monday evening ET, two B-52 bombers took off from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam as part of an ongoing training exercise called Coral Lightning Global Power Training Sortie. The bombers were in the ADIZ for less than one hour, Warren said.
This was a "long-planned training exercise," and the U.S. did not inform the Chinese of their flight plan, Warren said.
With this over flight its beyond obvious that the American government views the extension of the air defense zone by China as null and void. How the Chinese government react?
Six In The Morning Tuesday November 26
Thai protesters besiege more ministries |
PM faces critical no-confidence vote as demonstrators target tourism, transport and agriculture ministries.
Last updated: 26 Nov 2013 08:30
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Thai protesters have besieged several more government ministries in an escalating campaign to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government.
Demonstrators on Tuesday targeted the tourism, transport and agriculture ministries, one day after swarming the finance and foreign ministries in the biggest street protests since the country's 2010 military crackdown.
"We have to leave because they [the protesters] will cut the utilities," Tourism Minister Somsak Pureesrisak said.
Protesters also gave officials at the Interior Ministry an ultimatum to leave within one hour, according to an AFP report.
Thailand's premier appealed earlier on Tuesday for an end to "mob rule" as she prepared for a pivotal no-confidence vote in parliament, prompted by the massive uprising that is fuelled by claims Yingluck Shinawatra's government is controlled by her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption.
France to triple military deployment in Central African Republic
Number of troops will increase to 1,200 in attempt to tackle increasing violence following ousting of president in March
France will triple the number of its soldiers in the Central African Republic to 1,200 to bolster security after months of violence, the war-torn nation's prime minister said on Monday.
The mineral-rich but impoverished nation of 4.6 million people has descended into chaos since Seleka rebels, many of them from neighbouring Chad and Sudan, ousted President Francois Bozize in March.
The Central African Republic's prime minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, said the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, had told him the reinforcements would arrive once the UN security council had voted over the next week on a resolution backing the force.
EU tells Ukraine political and trade deal still on table
Pro-EU demonstrations continuing
Daniel McLaughlin
The European Union has told Ukraine that a historic pact is still on offer this week, as street protests continued against the government’s decision to postpone an EU deal and repair relations with traditional ally Russia.
After more than 100,000 people gathered in Kiev and other cities on Sunday, smaller pro-EU demonstrations took place yesterday, despite warnings from officials that unauthorised rallies would not be tolerated. Riot police used teargas to disperse protesters outside government headquarters, and opposition politicians accused security forces of beating marchers.
Protests began after the cabinet loyal to president Viktor Yanukovich announced late last week that it was scrapping plans to sign a political association and trade pact with the EU at a summit starting on Thursday, which would have aligned Ukraine with the West rather than Russia. The government said the deal would not compensate Ukraine for the huge damage that would be done by threatened economic reprisals from Moscow.
New Zealand dismisses climate change refugee case
A Pacific islander whose homeland is threatened by rising seas has failed to become the world’s first climate change refugee. A New Zealand court has dismissed the case, saying the man didn't meet international criteria.
New Zealand's High Court in Auckland on Tuesday ruled that Kiribati national Ioane Teitiota's bid to become a climate change refugee fell short of the legal criteria, such as fear of persecution or threats to his life.
In a written ruling, judge John Priestley called the case “novel” but “unconvincing.” He acknowledged that the low-lying nation of Kiribati was suffering environmental degradation attributable to climate change, but under international law Teitiota did not qualify as a refugee.
"The economic environment of Kiribati might certainly not be as attractive to the applicant and his fellow nationals as the economic environment and prospects of Australia and New Zealand," he said. "But... his position does not appear to be different from that of any other Kiribati national."
Brazilians wary over renewed mass beach robberies as World Cup looms
November 26, 2013 - 1:34AMJenny Barchfield
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: With the tropical sun blazing from a near cloudless sky and waves lapping at golden sand, it seemed like a perfect day at the beach in Rio de Janeiro.
Then dozens of marauding youths descended en masse, snatching beach bags and mobile phones, ripping gold chains from necks and setting off sandy stampedes by panicked beachgoers.
These guys don't care whether there are cops there are not
Such mass beach robberies were once a hair-raisingly frequent occurrence, but they had largely disappeared in recent years as this notoriously dangerous city got markedly safer — a trend credited to a galloping economy and police operations that wrested control of more than 200 "favela" hillside slums from the drug-dealing gangs that controlled them.
Stoning adulterers? New Afghan law could bring back Taliban-era punishments.
Stoning adulterers – or shooting them – could become law again in Afghanistan, says a senior official. During the Taliban regime, convicted adulterers were routinely shot or stoned.
Death by stoning for convicted adulterers is being written into Afghan law, a senior official said on Monday, the latest sign that human rights won at great cost since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 are rolling back as foreign troops withdraw.
"We are working on the draft of a sharia penal code where the punishment for adultery, if there are four eyewitnesses, is stoning," said Rohullah Qarizada, who is part of the sharia Islamic law committee working on the draft and head of the Afghan Independent Bar Association.
Billions have been invested on promoting human rights in Afghanistan over more than 12 years of war and donors fear that hard won progress, particularly for women, may be eroding.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Wu'er Kaixi: The Chinese dissident can't get himself arrested
Wu'er Kaixi was one of the principle leaders of China's pro-democracy in 1989 that tried to bring democratic reforms to China. The protests ended in June of 1989 when then Primer Li Peng order the military into Tiananmen square killing an unknown number protesters.
One would believe that being of China's most wanted people that Wu'er Kaixi could get himself arrested but you would be wrong. He's tried 4 different times and hasn't succeeded.
One would believe that being of China's most wanted people that Wu'er Kaixi could get himself arrested but you would be wrong. He's tried 4 different times and hasn't succeeded.
As such, it is difficult to imagine why Wu’er, who lives in self-imposed exile in Taiwan, would ever want to return to a country whose government killed hundreds of his fellow pro-democracy demonstrators on that infamous day more than two decades ago.That, however, is exactly what Wu’er wishes to do. Monday marks his fourth attempt to turn himself in and return to China – and the fourth time he was refused. This time, he had boarded a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Taipei to Bangkok on Monday morning, using a stopover in Hong Kong to try to turn himself in to authorities, with the hope that he would be deported to China. The Hong Kong authorities put him straight back on a plane to Taiwan.Alongside Shen Tong, Chai Ling and Wang Dan, the most wanted of the 21 student leaders of the Tiananmen Square protests who was jailed twice for his actions, Wu’er Kaixi was one of the iconic faces of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movements. In May 1989, Wu’er met Li Peng, the Chinese premier who just weeks later ordered tanks to roll into Tiananmen Square to brutally quell the protests. Wu’er, who was on hunger strike at the time, wore a hospital gown during a live television interview in which he rebuked Li Peng in a remarkable sign of defiance.“Li Peng sat down and gave us an endless monologue, he was saying sorry for being 20 minutes late, but the traffic was bad because the city was in chaos, implying that we should be responsible for the situation. So I interrupted him and said: ‘No, no, you weren’t 20 minutes late, you were a month late. We asked you to come on 19 April,’” Wu’er said of the incident years later.
Six In The Morning Monday November 25
25 November 2013 Last updated at 06:33 GMT
Central Intelligence Committee will co-ordinate intelligence gathering across all agencies, including police and military
Frank McDonald
Iran welcomes nuclear deal which Israel calls 'mistake'
Cheering crowds have welcomed home the Iranian negotiators who secured a nuclear deal with world powers, while Israel called it a "historic mistake".
US President Barack Obama telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seeking to reassure him of Washington's commitment to Israel.
Sunday's deal in Geneva prompted a fall in oil prices on markets on Monday.
Iran has agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities in return for about $7bn (£4.3bn) in sanctions relief.
Hundreds of cheering supporters greeted Iran's negotiators as they arrived back in Tehran on Sunday, after reaching an interim nuclear agreement with the US, Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany.Indonesia boosting spying capabilities following phone tapping controversy
Central Intelligence Committee will co-ordinate intelligence gathering across all agencies, including police and military
Indonesia is bolstering its intelligence capabilities in the wake of the phone tapping revelations, as the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, awaits a reply from Jakarta after sending a letter to the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on Sunday.
Yudhoyono issued a presidential decree over the weekend appointing the head of Indonesia’s State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Lieutenant General Marciano Norman as the chief of a new Central Intelligence Committee that will co-ordinate intelligence gathering from other agencies including the police force and the military.
The Central Intelligence Committee will open a headquarters in Jakarta as well as branches throughout Indonesia, according to the Jakarta Globe.
Compromise climate deal reached in Warsaw but critics brand it inadequate
Countries to indicate their ‘contributions’ to cutting emissions in early 2015
Frank McDonald
The UN’s 19th climate change conference in Warsaw narrowly avoided collapse at the weekend after marathon talks produced a compromise deal that optimists believe is “just enough” to pave the way for an international agreement in Paris in two years’ time.
Amid scenes of high drama at plenary sessions, two-hour “huddles” involving key players and deep divisions between rich and poor nations, bleary-eyed delegates from more than 190 countries who had been negotiating through the night finally agreed to move the process forward.
Although nobody was entirely satisfied with the outcome, it was agreed that all countries would indicate what “contributions” they would make to cut greenhouse gas emissions in advance of the Paris conference, so the adequacy of their efforts could be examined by others.
Anti-government protests in Thailand spread to state agencies
Anti-government protesters in Thailand have marched on more than a dozen state agencies in protest against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Protesters have also forced their way into the Finance Ministry building.
Thai police say about 30,000 protesters marched on more than a dozen state agencies across the capital, Bangkok, on Monday, in an escalating anti-government campaign to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government.
Hundreds of demonstrators, spurred on by former opposition lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, also occupied buildings in the compound of the Finance Ministry, waving flags.
Addressing the crowd through a loudspeaker, Suthep said, "Tomorrow we will seize all ministries to show to the Thaksin system that they have no legitimacy to run the country."
Monday's rally comes one day after about 100,000 peaceful anti- and pro-government demonstrators marched in Bangkok, the largest rally Thailand has seen in three years.
Saudi Juliet demands right to marry her Yemeni Romeo
November 25, 2013 - 11:35AM
A young Saudi woman has urged a Yemeni court to let her stay and marry the man she loves, defying norms in both deeply conservative countries.
In a case reminiscent of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, Huda al-Niran, 22, defied her family and crossed the border illegally to be with her beloved.
As she pleaded her case to be able to stay and marry Arafat Mohammed Tahar, 25, her supporters demonstrated outside the Sanaa courthouse, sporting headbands proclaiming "We are all Huda."
The lovers' plight has gripped imaginations in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, where the young woman's courage is seen as astonishing.
Egypt's government bans protests without police approval
By Maggie Fick and Yasmine Saleh, Reuters
CAIRO — Egypt's president passed a law on Sunday making it illegal to hold demonstrations without the approval of the police and banning protests in places of worship, a move rights groups condemned as a blow to political freedom.
As the law was being announced by state media, thousands of anti-government protesters were on streets in Cairo and other cities, as they have been regularly in the nearly three years since a popular uprising ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The number of protests and the scale of political violence have grown since July when the army removed elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following mass protests against his rule.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Return of the Lizard King
101 East exposes an infamous wildlife trafficker at the helm of an illegal multi-million dollar business.
The illegal trade in wildlife is thought to be worth at least $19bn a year, a sum rivalled only by the black markets in drugs, counterfeit goods and people.
But while drugs and people smuggling are seen as profitable but extremely risky, the wildlife trade has become increasingly attractive to criminal networks because it is not only lucrative but the risks are far lower. The animals caught up in the trade - assuming they even survive the journey - often end up as pets, traditional medicines or food.
The US State Department says trafficking not only undermines conservation, it also threatens the rule of law and is a risk to global health. The concern is now so great that the trade has been designated a new form of transnational crime.
For more than two decades, Anson Wong has been the internationally recognised "face" of the trade; the 'Pablo Escobar' of animal trafficking, according to some. The Malaysian's notoriety stems from 1998 when he was arrested by US agents after they lured him to Mexico in a highly elaborate five-year investigation that became a best-selling book, The Lizard King. He was later convicted for smuggling endangered species and sentenced to 71 months in prison.
Six In The Morning Sunday November 24
24 November 2013 Last updated at 00:11 GMT
In August 2012, police shot 34 strikers dead in the bloodiest crackdown since the end of apartheid. Now new evidence shows meetings between police and employees of mine owner Lonmin in the crucial days before the killings
Syria conflict: Children 'targeted by snipers'
More than 11,000 children have died in Syria's civil war in nearly three years, including hundreds targeted by snipers, a new report says.
Summary executions and torture have also been used against children as young as one, the London-based Oxford Research Group think tank says.
The report says the majority of children have been killed by bombs or shells in their own neighbourhoods.
It wants fighters trained in how not to put civilians' lives at risk.
'Plea to all sides'
Their report, Stolen Futures - the Hidden Toll of Child Casualties in Syria, examines data from the start of the conflict in March 2011 to August 2013.
Of the 11,420 victims aged 17 and under, 389 were killed by sniper fire.
Some 764 were summarily executed, and more than 100 - including infants - were tortured, the report says.
The British mine owners, the police and South Africa's day of blood
In August 2012, police shot 34 strikers dead in the bloodiest crackdown since the end of apartheid. Now new evidence shows meetings between police and employees of mine owner Lonmin in the crucial days before the killings
On 16 August 2012 the summertime sun streamed through the leafy canopy of Green Park and into the windows of the Belgravia headquarters of platinum mine company Lonmin plc. But 5,500 miles away there was a chill in the air as the company's biggest South African mine became a frenzy of activity.
Striking workers had gathered for the eighth day in a row at the Marikana mine, while media crews watched from nearby. Four thousand rounds of live ammunition were delivered and ambulances rolled ominously into place. As the cameras flashed, Zukiswa Mbombo, police chief of North West province, announced: "Today is D-day: we are ending this matter."
By nightfall, 34 striking miners had been shot dead and 78 wounded in the bloodiest security crackdown since the end of apartheid.
Cardboard Boxes That Look Like David Cameron: BuzzFeed - the website changing the way the world consumes news
You can laugh all you like at its lists – 15 Most Inspiring Moustaches In the Animal Kingdom – but BuzzFeed is deadly serious, says Tim Walker. The website recorded 85 million visitors in one recent month
1. Languages
The realisation of BuzzFeed’s ambitions will depend in part upon its latest venture: in October, the site launched French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese home pages, offering not only non-English captions for cat gifs, but also – it hopes – a more local sense of humour. The posts will be crowd-sourced from English language students, who will translate each post as part of their coursework, using an app called Duolingo.
2. Investigative journalism
BuzzFeed is also building a formidable team of traditional journalists. One of its latest high-profile hires is Mark Schoofs, formerly a foreign correspondent with The Wall Street Journal.Schoofs will lead a new team of six BuzzFeed investigative reporters. “We plan to mix BuzzFeed’s energy, ambition and grasp of the social web with the best traditions of American investigative reporting,” he said.
In Venezuela, opposition rallies against Maduro
Thousands have marched in Venezuela to pressure President Nicolas Maduro's government before December 8 local elections. At a rally in Caracas, opposition leader Henrique Capriles denounced the arrest of an aide.
On Saturday, Capriles told more than 3,000 people that agents arrested his aide overnight. The government made no official comment on the fate of Alejandro Silva, whose whereabouts remain unknown. However, Tourism Minister Andres Izarra wrote on Twitter that authorities had detained one of the "fascist henchmen" under Capriles.
"Maduro, don't be a coward! ... You want to put me in prison, come for me! I'm not afraid," Capriles said in Caracas to cheers, many wearing the blue, yellow and red of the Venezuelan flag.
The vote for control of 335 municipalities represents the president's first major test since he defeated Capriles to win the April election following the death of Hugo Chavez. The coalition led by Capriles hopes to get the combined majority of votes nationwide with a strong showing in large metropolitan areas such as the capital, where the faction currently holds just one of the five electoral districts.
Thousands in Pakistan Protest American Drone Strikes
By SALMAN MASOOD and IHSANULLAH TIPU MEHSUD
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Thousands of people gathered Saturday in the northwestern city Peshawar to protest American drone strikes inside Pakistani territory and vowed to stop NATO supply trucks unless the attacks stopped.
The protest rally was organized by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party of the opposition leader Imran Khan, an outspoken critic of American drone strikes and the Pakistani military’s presence in the country’s border areas, where Taliban and Al Qaeda militants have long found a haven.
Addressing 10,000 to 13,000 flag-waving party workers and supporters from two allied political parties, Mr. Khan accused the United States of sabotaging peace talks with the Taliban. “There can be no peace unless drones are stopped,” he said.
Jeremy Scahill: From pursuing Washington over its secret war on terror to becoming a rebel fighter in the global war against journalism
Jeremy Scahill has been dubbed a “one-man truth squad”. The American journalist has spent more than a decade reporting on what he describes as the “so-called war on terror,” from countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia. Attentive readers will have already worked out he is no friend of the White House.
He has received death threats, and his computer has been hacked. Chilling warnings have even come from high up in President Barack Obama’s administration. Why? He has never minced his words. “We are making more new enemies across the world than we are killing actual terrorists,” he tells me. “I think there will be blowback.”
But the 39-year-old is moving out of the shadows and on to British cinema screens this week, as his new award-winning film Dirty Wars, an adaptation of his second book, is released.
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