November 29, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Amid the mounting fiscal and economic crisis that is threatening to undermine the project of European integration, the Group of Lecce has issued a new statement on the need to reform European economic governance. The Group of Lecce aims to develop policies “to strengthen economic and financial multilateralism”, strengthening the democratic underpinnings of the Union, along with the dynamism of the European economy, through advanced ongoing cooperation.
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November 25, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians are gathering for a nonviolent “Last Chance” pro-democracy protest. Military police have killed at least 41 unarmed civilians since last Saturday. Today, the massive numbers of civilians who turned out are demanding an end to military rule, and an orderly transition to genuine democracy. The 9 months of military rule [...]
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October 20, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
News emerging from the battle-torn city of Sirte, hometown of ousted dictator Col. Muammar Qadhafi, suggest Qadhafi was wounded in battle, captured, and has died from his injuries. Al Jazeera is broadcasting images of a body it says is Qadhafi’s, and images have been published showing a young Misuratan TNC fighter brandishing a gold-plated handgun he says he took from Qadhafi when he captured him.
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September 11, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
9/11 should, after this 10th anniversary, and in the aftermath of the deviation from and restoration of core values that we have undergone, become a national day of solemn recognition, collaborative restoration, and an affirmation of our civic space, in which citizenship is a sacred trust and human interest in the principal goal of our activity. It should be a day of national reflection and of the reaffirmation of the value of an open, democratic and voluntary civic space.
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August 22, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
The morning after Tripoli fell to rebel forces, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, leader of the Transitional National Council, has called on all Libyans to coexist peacefully, and to respect the rule of law, as the war comes to a close. Abdel Jalil said there will be no street justice, and that regime figures will be tried [...]
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August 21, 2011 :: staff :: One Comment
Reports from Tripoli, the capital of Libya, suggest rebel forces have taken territory inside the capital, and captured one of Qadhafi’s sons, after a top security official ordered troops to lay down arms and let the rebels in. There are reports of convoys of rebel soldiers moving into the capital, being welcomed and celebrated by unarmed civilians. Some news reports have talked of “uprisings” in the suburbs, and possibly within Tripoli itself.
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August 20, 2011 :: staff :: 2 Comments
After 42 years in power, ruling throughout with authoritarian force, the regime of Muammar Qadhafi now appears to be falling. Abandoned by the international community, his top commanders defecting, and reports his troops have laid down their arms and fled, the rebel forces are now reportedly moving into the capital Tripoli.
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August 20, 2011 :: staff :: 2 Comments
After six months of fighting, the Libyan rebel forces, representing the pro-demcoracy movement that came under military attack by 42-year dictator Muammar Qadhafi, are reportedly advancing on the capital Tripoli. Since the fighting began, the rebels’ Transitional National Council has won support from world powers, the international community and ultimately the United Nations, as the official governing and diplomatic authority for Libya. Now, an isolated Qadhafi looks likely to lose power in the coming weeks or months.
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August 5, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
prime minister pushing for reforms, as protests widen Faced with rapidly rising housing prices, a growing movement of Israeli citizens has staged protests across the country. Modeled on the protests of Tahrir Square and Europe’s anti-austerity protests, the Israeli protest movement includes encampments and demands for sweeping political reform. Protesters of all ages are accusing [...]
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July 15, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Just as we have a right to clean drinking water, we have a right to unobstructed access to information. This should be the aim of any regime of national cyber-security, not the application, or projection, of centuries old military force doctrine to the world of digital information and communication. In the atmosphere of true hyper-convergence, the web beyond Facebook and gMail, the integrated freedom of the individual depends on the integrated civil liberty of the world wide web.
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July 15, 2011 :: The Editors :: 3 Comments
The Libya Contact Group held its most recent diplomatic summit today in Istanbul, to discuss how best to deal with the exigencies of the security crisis there, and possible political solutions. Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, of the United States, now fully recognizes the Transitional National Council, based in Benghazi, as the legitimate government [...]
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April 25, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
For days now, pro-democracy protesters have been calling Deraa “liberated territory”, and today, after two days of government forces massacring civilians in public demonstrations, the al-Assad regime has sent tanks to invade and to “retake” the city of Deraa. Sporadic eyewitness reports to the BBC suggest the streets are littered with bodies of the wounded [...]
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April 21, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The al-Khalifa regime in Bahrain has seen its international reputation deteriorate from apparent friend of western nations and western values to violent police state using foreign mercenaries to kill its own people. No human rights lawyers were needed to bring about that shift; this was the flagrant, unapologetic and coordinated response of the regime to its people’s fairly moderate demand for political reform.
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April 12, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
After what now looks like significant foot-dragging, for fully one month, Japanese authorities have finally admitted the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is undergoing a level 7 nuclear emergency, the worst possible. There is still an effort to slow-walk this news, with repeated claims the radiation release has not been as significant as Chernobyl, also a level 7, but the Fukushima disaster involves 6 reactors, with at least 4 considered to be at ongoing risk of meltdown.
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April 4, 2011 :: The Editors :: 3 Comments
Iman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who was abducted by Qadhafi agents while telling foreign journalists that she had been held captive and gang raped by Qadhafi’s military, says after several days in custody, she continues to suffer physical assault, repeated arrests, and threats, from Qadhafi’s regime. The Qadhafi regime has orchestrated a coordinated campaign of [...]
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March 27, 2011 :: The Editors :: 2 Comments
Today, Juan Cole published an open letter to the political left, asking them to understand the humanitarian urgency of the situation in Libya, and to balance their desire for an end to war and foreign interventions against the need to protect human life and ensure that a viable democracy movement is not put down through massive slaughter of thousands or tens of thousands of civilians. Cole is right. Though military action is never the best of all possible outcomes, it is sometimes the only way to protect innocent human life against plans of deliberate mass murder.
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March 27, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Reports from Tokyo today have authorities telling residents water is now safe for infant consumption, even as reports from Fukushima show radiation levels may have surged to 10 million times the normal level. Readings taken 30 miles out to sea have found radiation levels in seawater at 1,850 times the normal level. More nations around the Pacific Ocean are expressing concern about the handling of the disaster.
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March 23, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
The royal family ruling Bahrain has taken a military approach to its people’s demand for more democracy. The royal family, increasingly desperate to hold onto power by any means necessary, first called in foreign mercenaries, then the Saudi army, which now effectively occupies the capital, Manama. Reports coming from Manama say doctors and demonstrators gave told the press that Bahraini and/or Saudi forces surrounded the city’s largest hospital to prevent people attacked by gunfire and teargas from getting treatment.
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March 19, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Yesterday, there were reports of snipers taking up positions around peaceful, unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators, then firing into the crowd, inflicting fatal headshots and hitting other victims in the neck. At least one journalist was killed and another injured in the crackdown, and dozens of journalists have reportedly been targeted —detained, beaten, shot at— since the [...]
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March 19, 2011 :: staff :: One Comment
The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously this week to authorize the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, and gave member nations the power to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians. NATO and an alliance of Arab countries are now orchestrating airstrikes against Libyan military positions, to clear the ground for a secure [...]
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March 17, 2011 :: The Editors :: 3 Comments
The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously today —with five abstentions— to support the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya, authorizing military action against Muammar Qadhafi, to halt his war against the people of his own country. Qadhafi and his sons have been waging a full-scale military assault against civilians and rebel forces supporting [...]
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March 15, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
As the four troubled nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex continue to deteriorate, the news is breaking this evening that workers at Reactor #4 are being forced to abandon the site, due to the risk of extreme radiation contamination. The evacuation means that at least one of the failing reactors will not have any one in place to manage it; at this hour, it is not clear whether the entire Fukushima complex is being evacuated.
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March 15, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The president’s proposed budget for 2012 includes $36 billion in loan guarantees for the development of new nuclear power plants. The United States has still not solved the problem of where to securely store nuclear waste material for the time frame necessary. In Japan, two nuclear reactors appaer to be in meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The $36 billion would be far more wisely spent developing a clean energy economy based on advanced solar and wind technology.
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March 15, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Nuclear power plants, like the one at Fukushima Daiichi, contain 1,000 times more radioactivity to leak than the Hiroshima bomb. Nuclear scientists estimate 1,000,000 people would be killed or injured in a major accident, were one to occur at the San Onofre plant in southern California. But Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) on Monday compared the [...]
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March 13, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Japanese authorities are reporting, just after 3:00 am EDT, that two of the reactor cores at the Fukushima nuclear plant may have begun meltdown. At least nine people are reported to have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. A 20km exclusion zone is being established, and authorities say they are evacuating an estimated 200,000 [...]
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March 12, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
The Fukushima nuclear plant contains 5 nuclear reactors, which combine to produce the world’s largest concentrated power generation. At least one of the reactors is reported to have radiation levels 1,000 times normal inside one of its control rooms. Today, RussiaToday is reporting that white smoke seen rising from the plant may be due to an explosion. Authorities have warned that some radioactive material may have seeped out into the environment already. There is an ongoing concern that the plant may be vulnerable to meltdown, as plant operators have not been able to resume cooling of nuclear fuel.
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March 12, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Google yesterday launched a “person finder” for Japan, to help people looking for relatives and loved ones who may be lost in a communications outage or in physical danger, due to the earthquake and tsunami. Facebook also has a disaster relief service at facebook.com/DisasterRelief. There is also a surge in information on Twitter at hash-tags like #tsunami or #sendai or Fukushima.
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March 11, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Two nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, are now reported to be unable to cool the nuclear fuel in their cores, and radioactive materials may have seeped into the environment. The reactors reportedly suffered service interruption after the worst earthquake in Japanese history. The magnitude 8.9 quake unleashed a massive tsunami the pushed far inland at Sendai, northeast of Tokyo.
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February 27, 2011 :: The Editors :: 2 Comments
Pres. Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, yesterday said to the UN that “When a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against [his] people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule.” The Obama administration has now taken the position that Muammar Qadhafi can no longer be recognized as leader of Libya, and an interim government should be instituted to oversee a transition to democracy.
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February 26, 2011 :: staff :: One Comment
Benghazi, Tobruk and much of the east of Libya are now said to be firmly under the control of anti-Qadhafi protesters. Tripoli and smaller surrounding cities have been the scene of intense gun battles, reportedly including helicopter gunships and rocket-propelled grenades fired into crowds of demonstrators. Today, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on [...]
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February 25, 2011 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Muammar Qadhafi has ruled Libya in strictly authoritarian fashion for 42 years. Now, as his grip on power appears to be slipping, with major parts of the country no longer under his control and top officials defecting to the opposition, he has vowed to wage war against his own people till the last drop of his blood.
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February 20, 2011 :: staff :: One Comment
After 5 days of violent clashes, pro-democracy demonstrators in Bahrain flooded Pearl Square and caused the military to back out. The king has ordered his son to enter into reform talks with protest leaders and has called for an end to police violence. Tensions remain high, as the population of Bahrain has been shocked and angered by the regime’s violent attacks on civilians, and protesters’ demands for reform have widened.
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February 17, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
An ABC News reporter in Bahrain has been violently assaulted by a “gang of thugs” working for the government’s security forces. The effort to eliminate witnesses (media), following the same pattern attempted by the Mubarak regime in Egypt, appears to be underway. There are reports emerging from Pearl Square in the center of the Bahraini capital Manama that security forces have fired teargas into crowds of unarmed demonstrators.
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February 13, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Jody Williams believes that peace is defined by human (not national) security and that it must be achieved through sustainable development, environmental justice, and meeting people’s basic needs. To this end, she co-founded the Nobel Women’s Initiative, endorsed by six of seven living female Peace laureates. She chairs the effort to support activists, researchers, and others working toward peace, justice, and equality for women and thus humanity. Williams also continues to fight for the total global eradication of landmines.
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February 12, 2011 :: The Editors :: No Comment Yet
Across the middle east region, hardline regimes with more or less favorable relations with Washington are reportedly expressing concern about how the United States “abandoned” Mubarak after a 30-year relationship. These complaints show three crucial facts about the situation they find themselves in: 1) they are not evolving psychologically to keep pace with events; 2) they do not understand what gives them legitimacy; 3) they need to institute credible democratic reforms immediately, if what they want is “certainty” about US support.
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February 11, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people’s hunger for change. But this is not the end of Egypt’s transition. It’s a beginning. I’m sure there will be difficult days ahead, and many questions remain unanswered. But I am confident that the people of Egypt can find the answers, and do so peacefully, constructively, and in the spirit of unity that has defined these last few weeks. For Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day.
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February 11, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Hosni Mubarak resigned today as president of Egypt, ending 3 decades of authoritarian rule. His vice president, Omar Suleiman, said power has been entrusted to the leadership of the Egyptian military. There is music, singing and dancing, in Cairo, as demonstrators hurl fireworks into the air and chant about the fall of Mubarak and the emergence of political freedom.
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February 11, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
UPDATE, 11:12 am EST (6:12 pm Cairo): Shortly after 6 pm Cairo time, it was announced by Vice President Omar Suleiman that “President Hosni Mubarak has decided to waive the office of the republic”. Suleiman said the government was now in the hands of the military leadership. No further announcement has been made regarding the status of negotiations to establish a coalition government for the transition to democracy.
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February 11, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The new expression of political authority in Egypt is beginning to unfold, even as Hosni Mubarak and Omar Suleiman refuse to cede power to the people. Whether credible or not, the regime’s mounting “concessions” are beginning to demonstrate the real political authority of the Egyptian people, whose right to decide what is legitimate for their government is beginning to be recognized at home and abroad. The “perpetual session” of the military’s leadership council, and their “Communique 1″ and “Communique 2″ suggest the military would like to guide events with language of their choosing.
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February 9, 2011 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Faced with the expansion of the Cairo demonstrations to a second site, outside the parliament building, and of the wider movement into Kharga Oasis, in Wadi al-Gadid (New Valley) governorate, Vice President Omar Suleiman yesterday issued a statement describing the protests as “very dangerous” and warning they were potentially leading to a “coup”. The language is widely thought to presage a renewed crackdown on dissent. But the pro-democracy movement is now expanding across the country, as a general strike spreads, and workers join in the call for Mubarak to leave office.
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February 7, 2011 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
It has recently become fashionable to say the US is not expressing a consistent policy on Egypt, that the policy has been changing every day or is noncommittal. This is patently untrue and distorts the very consistent message of support for the pro-democracy movement coming from the White House. Pres. Obama and his administration have consistently supported the just cause of the demonstrators, while urging the Egyptian government to take substantive reforms without delay.
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February 5, 2011 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
The Guardian’s Jack Shenker has sent forward a list of human rights activists and pro-democracy leaders taken into custody by the Mubarak regime during the last week. The list, which is not considered to be complete, as it is difficult to get information on who has been arrested, and under what circumstances, includes the affiliation [...]
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February 4, 2011 :: staff :: Comments Off
Video from the Guardian newspaper shows massive crowds, described by some as the single largest public pro-democracy protest in the history of the Arab world, at Tahrir Square in central Cairo. Demonstrators urge embattled Pres. Hosni Mubarak to “please, leave now”; one says “Everything is destroyed. What more do you want? Just leave,” while another says “Please, Mr. Mubarak, if you love this country, leave this country.
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February 4, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Over the last two days, Hosni Mubarak has made Cairo the most dangerous place in the world for journalists. After Mubarak’s new prime minister issued an “apology” for the lethal violence waged by pro-Mubarak gangs on Wednesday and into Thursday’s pre-dawn hours, the government appeared to be engaged in an even more intense campaign of violent assaults on unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators and journalists.
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February 1, 2011 :: staff :: Comments Off
United States president Barack Obama addressed the nation and the world on live television this evening, explaining that first of all the United States supports non-violence. He commended the Egyptian military for showing restraint and coexisting peacefully with demonstrators. He added that second, the United States believes in universal rights.
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February 1, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Marking one full week of mass demonstrations, on the 8th day of the pro-democracy popular uprising, the Egyptian people staged the largest demonstration to date. Estimates for the size of the crowd at Midan Tahrir —or Liberation Square— range from 500,000 to 2 million. Some say more may have come to central Cairo but were unable to enter the square. The military pledged not to attack or interfere with demonstrators and the rally was peaceful. Security, both military and civilian, checked people entering the square to ensure there would not be violence.
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January 31, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
A new body, called the People’s Parliament, is planning a process of peaceful and orderly transition to an electoral democracy in Egypt. The People’s Parliament has 100 delegates, representing every major opposition party, including the Muslim Brotherhood (which holds 16 seats), and is reported to also have caucuses representing youth, academia, labor unions and professionals. The People’s Parliament has grown out of the National Assembly for Change, a coalition of opposition groups that has been organizing since 2009, to bring about this transition.
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January 31, 2011 :: Eva Scherson :: 6 Comments
Bashar al-Assad, who inherited the hardline regime that has ruled Syria for nearly four decades, and whose government imposed strict Internet controls after the beginning of the uprising in Egypt, has announced he will move to implement political reforms in his country. It is not clear how those reforms would affect his government’s control on power, or whether his office would be up for a national election, but the announcement is the latest sign of how pervasive an effect the Egyptian protest movement is having across the region.
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January 31, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Thousands of Egyptian protesters are holding Tahrir Square, which has repeatedly been closed by security forces. Reports from Cairo suggest embattled Pres. Hosni Mubarak is moving to reassert control over major sections of the capital, but has yet to order an offensive against protesters in the main square. Mubarak told the nation he has asked his new prime minister to engage in dialogue with the opposition to promote democratic reform in Egypt.
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January 29, 2011 :: J.E. Robertson :: 5 Comments
Day 5 of the Egyptian pro-democracy uprising against the 30-year rule of Pres. Hosni Mubarak saw massive crowds of tens of thousands marching through Cairo, Alexandria and other cities across the country. While many images show demonstrators standing with or even riding joyously with military personnel on security vehicles, there were clashes near the Interior Ministry, where government snipers killed at least 12 demonstrators.
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