politics | The 5th biggest earthquake in the world and other news... (Reply)

Had issues with DW and this ended up unfinished in my journal instead. Sorry!

JAPAN

Footage of Japan's devastating tsunami

Inside Story - Japan's looming nuclear crisis March 13, 2011

Japan nuclear crisis indepth

With more states of emergency being declared at nuclear facilities in Japan, nuclear scientist Imad Khadduri says the risk of damage from meltdown is less than in disasters such as Chernoyl and Three Mile Island.

He talks to Al Jazeera's Kamahl Santamaria and outlines the likely outcomes.

USA

Web Exclusive: Q&A with US hacker (who turned Private Bradley Manning in)

Hacker, now in hiding, who turned in US soldier accused over WikiLeaks, tells Al Jazeera's Monica Villamizar that he got "coffee and a pat on the back"

AZEBAIJAN

Azerbaijan: More Protests, More Arrests…

Following yesterday's protest by youth activists in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, supporters of the opposition Musavat party today staged their own. Also inspired by pro-democracy protests in Egypt and Tunisia, the demonstration might not have been as large as those, with estimates ranging only from a few to a several hundred people, but it was certainly intense.
There also wasn't as much online coverage on sites such as Facebookand Twitter, but what there was still managed to tell the story of a short-lived attempt to flout severe restrictions on freedom of assembly in the oil rich former Soviet republic.
MORECAPE VERDE

Cape Verde: Country's Development in a Year of Elections

Cape Verdeans headed to the polls to vote for Members of Parliament on February 6, and granted PAICV's (African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde) leader José Maria Neves his third 5-year term as Prime Minister. Here is a recap on how bloggers perceived the events and envision the development of the country.MORE

OMAN

Oman sultan to cede some powers after protests: Oman ruler to give law-making powers to Council

MUSCAT (Reuters)
Oman's ruler has decided to cede some legislative powers to a partially elected council, the state news agency reported on Sunday, in an apparent effort to quell protests in the Gulf Arab sultanate.

The ONA agency also said Sultan Qaboos bin Said would double monthly welfare payments and increase pension benefits, becoming the latest Gulf ruler to offer handsome handouts to citizens in the wake of unrest that has rocked much of the Arab world.

The normally tranquil Oman, an oil-producing nation at the mouth of the Gulf, was stunned by protests in at least two cities last month that left one person dead.

The sultan, who has ruled Oman for 40 years, sacked a string of ministers in a recent cabinet reshuffle and on Sunday appeared to make his biggest concession yet by announcing that he would offer lawmaking powers to the Oman Council.

At present, only the sultan and his cabinet can legislate.MORE

LIBYA

The Guardian Live BLog: Libya uprising - Friday 11 March Read how the day unfolded as the Gaddafi regime continued to take back rebel territory

4.08pm:
Here's a quick summary of the day's events in Libya:

• Gaddafi's forces appear to have forced most of the rebels out of the city of Ras Lanuf
• Air strikes have been launched against the towns of Uqaylah and Brega
• Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Benghazi as rebel leaders reiterate their pleas for the creation of a no-fly zone — and ask the international community to use air strikes against Gaddafi's forces
• The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has told the emergency EU summit in Brussels that "targeted" air strikes could be used against Gaddafi's regime if his forces resort to the use of chemical weapons or launch airstrikes against civilian protestors
• Gaddafi's security services have tightened their grip on Tripoli to prevent protests there
• No word yet from Brussels on how the EU will actMORE

Empire - Right to intervene? (in Libya) The host has a strongly held opinion BTW but don't let that dissuade you from listening to the conversation. Its refreshing to have arguments pushed from that direction.

The body of Al Jazeera cameraman returns to Doha (Qatar) (after being shot in an ambush in Libya)

Shades of Solidarity : Notes on Race Talk, Intervention and Revolution

At first glance, there is one major difference between the “foreign fighters” enlisted in the service of counterrevolution and those waging jihad abroad – one is seen as driven by money, the other by religious fanaticism. Yet underneath the apparent contrast between moral value and economic values is a common critique that looks askance at the idea of fighting in “other people’s wars.” Armed political involvement by non-state actors in other countries is itself illegitimate interference; moreover, foreigners with no stake in a place, driven instead by fanaticism or greed, are seen as more likely to commit atrocities. Regimes, too, have appropriated the accusation of “foreignness” to tar their enemies.
No doubt this critique is motivated by a sense that democratic legitimacy comes from populations grounded (so to speak) in specific territories. But beneath and around this apparently self-evident idea are a few considerations worth exploring. Because this sort of race-talk probably operates very differently inside these countries versus on the outside, I raise these issues mostly for those of us watching these events and struggling to shape our thoughts and actions accordingly.
1. The “foreigner” is not always a stranger. The discourse on “foreigners” as fighters or mercenaries tends to resonate on the assumption that these people have somehow dropped out of the sky without any precedent or context, and find it easier to kill people they have nothing to do with. This assumption of strangeness, however, defies history. Libya and Bahrain have both long hosted large migrant worker populations, largely drawing from the same regions now racially linked to the idea of “mercenaries.” Mercenaries are, among other things, workers. Some (especially if they happen to be white) are insanely overcompensated and accountable to no local actors; but many others are in a far more ambiguous position vis-à-vis locals. If they were not carrying guns, some may instead have been construction workers, drivers, or cooks (similarly, many of the Arab mujahids who fought in Bosnia-Herzegovina were migrant workers coming from Italy).

The historical ties that give rise to mercenary and other forms of labor are neither recent nor are they simple. Often under the banner of empires, racism has long intersected with economies of migrant labor, both in their capitalist and non-capitalist forms (systems of slavery of course being a major part of this story). Nor is migrant labor the whole story: trade, pilgrimage, and education have also tied these regions together. And, of course, politics. To take only one pertinent reminder in light of today’s discussions of “Africans” in Libya: the Sanusi Sufi order that helped found the Libyan state allied with various “black” polities to oppose French expansionism in Central Africa in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Today’s racialized violence – both real and imagined – in Bahrain and Libya needs to be understood as part of these long and complex histories, full of rivalry and rancor, partnership and servitude. As we saw in the debates around “Africans versus Arabs” in Darfur, the mapping of oversimplified racial categories onto political conflicts too often plays into the hands of both despots and empires.
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WESTERN SAHARA

FEATURES Western Sahara: 35 years of colonisation and exile is enough

‘We would like to call on the influential international actors to take immediate measures, including exerting pressure and imposing sanctions on the Moroccan government, to put an end to this conflict,’ said Mohamed Abdelaziz, president of Western Sahara’s Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), at the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of SADR. He was speaking to his fellow countryfolk at the anniversary, but he was also speaking to the many foreign delegations that had come from all over the world, as well as those countries not present.

For those who do not know what SADR is, and there are unfortunately many who do not, SADR is the internationally recognised exile government of the people of Western Sahara, the Saharawis. The SADR government is a member of the African Union and has a president, a prime minister, a judiciary, ministerial departments and a parliament, just as any other country in the world. And the reason that the conflict is largely unknown in Europe and the USA is probably that the USA and France, both permanent UN Security Council members, and Spain, are not interested in changing a status quo that they believe they benefit from strategically and financially, and that low-intensity conflicts, such as the one in Western Sahara, do not get much coverage in the press.MORE
COTE D IVOIRE

Côte d’Ivoire: On the brink of civil war

Two African countries are presently on the verge of civil war. One is being reported minute by minute by international media, twitter and on blogs. The other is just beginning to emerge from the margins of international consciousness. Unlike Libya, Cote d’Ivoire has no strategic importance and the possible loss of its main resource – cocoa – doesn't have the world financial markets and governments in a panic.

But for Cote d’Ivoire’s subsistence cocoa pickers, farmers and the country’s economy, cocoa is a lifesaver and very much worth fighting over. Alassane Ouattara had called for a temporary ban on cocoa sales in the hope this would force Gbagbo out of office. In response, Laurent Gbagbo has now ordered the government to seize control of all cocoa purchases and exports. Cocoa prices in Nigeria and San Tome have risen in the past few months and no doubt these countries will benefit from Cote d’Ivoire’s loss.

In a further escalation of the attacks on Ouattara and his supporters, the UK Guardian reports that gangs of youths have ‘ransacked’ the homes of ministers and other allies of President Alassane Ouattara who remains under UN protection as Laurent Gbagbo seems to be determined to take the country to civil war.MORE

African presidents meet in Addis Ababa on Cote d'Ivoire crisis

ADDIS ABABA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A panel of five African presidents discussed the worsening crisis in Cote d'Ivoire here on Wednesday, after failing to persuade the country's sitting president Laurent Gbagbo to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara.

Officials of the 53-member African Union said the talks involved Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Chadian leader Idriss Deby, South Africa's Jacob Zuma, Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete and Burkina Faso's Blaise Compaore.MORE
GHANA

Ghana holds national prayer and thanksgiving service to celebrate 54th Independence Anniversary

Accra, March 13, GNA - Glimpses of national unity characterised the week-long national prayer, fasting and thanksgiving organised at the Independence Square in Accra on Sunday to climax Ghana's 54th independence anniversary celebrations.

President John Evans Atta Mills received the handshake of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Flagbearer of the main minority New Patriotic Party (NPP), who led an entourage of party stalwarts during the song and praises ministration to extend courtesies to the Head of State.

The gesture was acknowledged with a rapturous applause by the large number of congregants, who made it to the Square to participate in the thanksgiving service that was characterised by intercessions.

The ruling National Democratic Congress and the NPP have been on each others throat due to ideological differences and political rivalry, which often created tension and heat. The presence of Nana Akufo-Addo at the function, which was the brainchild of President Mills is expected to bring down the tense rhetoric between the two leading parties. The celebration, held on the theme: "Ghana, Arise, Act and Shine," and aired live on national radio and television and other major media networks attracted the Chief Justice Mrs Georgina Wood, Speaker of Parliament Mrs Joyce Adeline, Bamford Addo, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, politicians across the divide, Traditional Rulers, and Members of the Diplomatic Corps. President John Evans Atta Mills institutionalised the event last year.MORE
BAHRAIN

Notes from the Bahraini Field Update 4

Ahead of a protest march to the King's Court in Riffa today (where most of the royal family live), tensions are high. For reasons of pragmatism or principle, many protesters have decided not to join the rally, but hundreds (at least) have already gathered. On the pro-government side, the rhetoric of "mob mentality" has increased significantly on internet social forums, and spilled onto the streets last night. Gangs of youths targeted and forced the shut-down of a number of American franchises owned by a prominent Bahraini Shia family, sticking pictures of the royal family and signs reading "boycott terrorist supporter" on the doors.

Incidents of civilian violence have been on the rise, inlcuding reports of more clashes between naturalised Bahrainis and locals at a girls' school on Thursday, in which the parents of the girls reportedly became involved.

Shaykh Ali Salman, a popular member of the opposition group al-Wefaq National Islamic Party, has called for joint Sunni-Shia Friday prayers at the al-Fateh mosque in Juffair, ostensibly to quell rising sectarianism.

Earlier in the week, protesters were alleged to have harassed a female driver by surrounding her car and chanting after she reportedly drove into a crowd--causing mild injuries to two--shouting and spitting on protesters outside the Bahrain Financial Harbour. The same night, thousands of men gathered around the woman's house in Busaiteen, reportedly to protect her from reprisals.
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Notes from the Bahraini Field Part 5

Thousands of protesters marched towards the King's Court in Riffa, an area where many members of the royal family live. The march was stopped at a barricade constructed by the police, backed up by a small BDF (Bahrain Defence Force) presence at a clock tower on the road leading to the royal court.

Pro-government individuals, including members of Parliament, and what appears to be baltajiyya (thugs) were also stationed behind the barricade, many carrying makeshift weapons including sticks and swords. Much consternation has been expressed about the fact that on February 17 the Pearl roundabout was raided by police, who killed 4 demonstrators, allegedly because protesters had weapons - while on Friday government loyalists carried weapons in broad daylight with the silent complicity of security personnel.

Feb14 youth group states (@twitter.com/onlinebahrain) that they will begin a campaign of civil disobedience on Sunday if the Royal Court march is attacked.MORE
Bahrain Crown Prince offers assurances on dialogue:Bahrain protests spread to financial center
MANAMA (Agencies)
Bahraini police on Sunday clashed with demonstrators trying to occupy Manama's banking center, as protests spread from a peaceful sit-in to the heart of the strategic Gulf state's business district.

Witnesses said police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at around 350 activists who had sealed off the Financial Harbour business complex with road blocks and a human chain.
Thousands of protesters, however, returned to the area later in the afternoon, residents said.MORE