On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin, By Marie Colvin
May 19, 2012
Spanning a quarter of a century of reporting, the book includes her dispatch from East Timor in 1999; horrifying descriptions of women and children so desperate to seek sanctuary in a UN compound that they fight through razor wire. Colvin was one of only three female journalists to remain when the rest of the foreign media left. Refusing to abandon them, her reports…
US exit creates army ripe for recruitment
May 19, 2012
Illustration: Simon Letch Numbers coming out of Afghanistan often are scary but try wrapping your head around this one – 123,500. After a roller-coaster decade of training by the US-led coalition, that’s the number of soldiers and policemen who will be turfed from Kabul’s foreign-funded security payroll as the coalition goes through the pretence of a dignified exit from what has become the US’s longest war. As bottom-line budget tightening, these cuts will be welcome in coalition capitals. But they will be even more welcome as an army of well-trained, battle-hardened fighters for the insurgencies and militias that are busily carving out territory, even before the departure of coalition…
Obama: Eurozone ‘must focus on jobs and growth’
May 19, 2012
US President Barack Obama has said there is an "emerging consensus" that European countries must now focus on jobs and growth. Speaking after the G8 summit of some of the world's leading economies, he said the US is confident that Europe can meet its challenges. President Obama said leaders had made good progress on a range of issues. In addition the eurozone crisis, they discussed Iran, Afghanistan and global energy supply. The leaders of France, Germany, the US, the UK, Italy, Japan, Canada and…
Conflict in Nuba mountains may lead to devastating epidemics, say doctors
May 19, 2012
Health workers warn that UN aid agencies are being prevented from delivering vital supplies of vaccines to the children of refugees fleeing the fighting in Sudan A mother and her child shelter from air strikes in a cave in South Kordofan in the Nuba mountains. Photograph: Adriane Ohanesian/AFP…
Golly: Indigenous leaders warn about racist dolls impact on race relations
May 19, 2012
THEY were once a much-loved toy, but became a casualty of the worldwide crusade against racism. Now golliwogs are making a comeback, with stores along Queensland’s tourist strips reporting strong sales, particularly to visitors from abroad. Nostalgia-driven Baby Boomers,…
Largest protests yet in Syria’s biggest city
May 19, 2012
ZEINA KARAM Associated Press= BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian forces on Friday fired on protesters holding the largest opposition marches yet in Aleppo, a sign of rising anti-regime sentiment in the country’s biggest city, which has largely remained supportive of President Bashar Assad throughout the 15-month uprising. The head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria warned that neither his team nor armed action could solve the country’s crisis, and called on all sides to discuss a solution. But the regime kept up its assaults on opposition areas and protests, while the head of Syria’s largest exile opposition group dismissed the U.N.’s plan as unrealistic. Anti-regime protests in Aleppo have been…
David Cameron threatens veto on French plan for bankers tax
May 19, 2012
David Cameron held his first meeting with Francois Hollande and threatened to veto the new French president’s plan for a European tax on financial transactions. Downing Street said Mr Cameron delivered a strong message to Francois Hollande over a financial transactions tax Photo: Getty Images 7:00AM BST 19 May 2012 The Prime Minister met the president in Washington before a G8 summit, and made clear he will block any French move that would harm the City of London. Downing Street said Mr Cameron delivered a “strong” message to Mr Hollande over a potential financial transactions tax levied across the European Union. “We are prepared to veto an FTT at EU…
Huge economic challenge awaits Egypt’s next leader
May 19, 2012
When Egyptians joined a popular revolt last year, many were demanding economic change. They were suffering from high unemployment and prices, low wages, widespread poverty and crippling corruption. Over the last 15 months little has changed and many have even seen their finances worsen. On a bustling street in the Mohandisseen area of Cairo, people come from all walks of life. It is easy to get them to talk about the change in their personal fortunes. "I used to work as a store manager in a much better shop but after the revolution many shops closed down," says Muhammad Abdul Hamid. "For eight months, I stayed at home, but now I have a new job here." "I'm a…
Yemen’s hidden war with al-Qaeda
May 19, 2012
Since 12 May fierce fighting has been raging in southern Yemen between government forces, backed by US advisers, and Islamist militants allied to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). More than 130 people have reportedly been killed. Largely unseen by the rest of the world, artillery shells are crashing into mountainsides, gunmen are blazing off their AK-47s in the sweltering heat of the open desert and Yemeni air force warplanes are carrying out airstrikes. Further to the east, in the craggy valleys of the Hadhramaut, a missile fired from a CIA unmanned aerial drone recently killed three militants believed to be linked to al-Qaeda. A complicated country So why, three months after its…
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to address British parliament in June
May 19, 2012
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be given the rare honour of addressing both houses of Britain’s parliament when she makes her first trip outside Myanmar in 24 years next month, British officials said on Saturday. The Nobel peace laureate has accepted Prime Minister David Cameron’s invitation to visit Britain and will spend a week there from June 18, officials accompanying Cameron at a summit of the Group of Eight…
