Community Mobilization, Local Investment Needed to Win Fight Against Ebola, says UN

14 Oct 2014

Mobilizing communities, reviving incomes key to ending the crisis in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

Dakar, Senegal –West African countries, supported by a well-coordinated international response, can achieve a breakthrough in the battle against Ebola if every effort is made to treat and contain the disease, involve communities and invest in the local economy, said representatives from the United Nations.

“The response to the devastating Ebola crisis is growing by the day and we must double our efforts to help the three most affected countries end this calamity,” said Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, the Director of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) in Africa.

“The disease also feeds on poverty, isolation and mistrust. The response must put local communities in the lead, and make sure the most vulnerable -- including survivors -- are able to cope with the economic downturn and rebuild their lives.”

The Ebola health crisis has been threatening the region with economic collapse and is destroying jobs and families while undermining the capacity of governments to provide basic services for their citizens.

The three countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are now expected to lose a total of $13 billion as a result of Ebola, a crisis that could still be felt for ten years after the disease has been eliminated. Officials from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have just concluded an eight-day visit to these countries, assessing the situation and aiming to boost UNDP’s programmes on the ground.

The mission, led by Magdy Mártínez-Solimán, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN and Director of UNDP’s Programmes and Policies, visited Ebola treatment facilities, met with community volunteers in some of the poorest urban neighborhoods and discussed with governments, UN partners and civil society organizations how to accelerate the response.

“We’ve seen tremendous courage at work. While regrettably many countries are closing down their borders and giving in to the stigma, the governments and people of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are working to fight back against Ebola. We must isolate the disease, not the countries,” said Mártínez-Solimán.

UNDP is negotiating humanitarian access, ensuring that essential services continue, running community engagement campaigns, establishing cash payments to victims and their families and training police and security services to prevent further spread of the disease.

During the three-country mission, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye led a complementary visit to Accra, Ghana where he met with the newly established UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). He was also received by Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, who welcomed the creation of UNMEER and expressed strong support for its mandate.

As chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) assured him of the organization’s commitment to maintaining open borders among its Member States. The Ebola epidemic could have a potentially negative impact on the sub-region’s integration.

UNDP is helping countries not affected by the epidemic to be fully prepared for the possibility of an outbreak, through support for coordination systems and preparation of local responses.

In Dakar, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye chaired a meeting of regional UN directors, aiming to boost the coordination capacity of all agencies involved in the crisis.

Hong Kong: Concern About The Use 

Of Police Excessive Force And Abuse

| The following statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission, human rights body based in Hong Kong SAR

(Hong Kong, October15, 2014) The Asian Human Rights Commission expressed shock and sadness at the use of police excessive force/abuse as shown in amateur video footage now available to the public on YouTube. It is apparent that the arrested person was taken to a place away from others for the purpose of being beaten by police officers.

Meanwhile, a concerned group has established a dedicated hotline for witnesses or victims of police excessive force and abuse during the peaceful demonstrations by students and other pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong.

The Hotline number is 9167 7091

The use of excessive force and abuse of power on peaceful demonstrators greatly damages the image of the police as well as the civil administration in Hong Kong. Under international law, and the laws of Hong Kong, the use of such excessive force is illegal and is not permitted under any circumstances. In legal terms the proper term for such use of excessive force is ‘torture’. The use of torture is a serious crime in Hong Kong, carrying a sentence of life imprisonment against anyone who has been convicted of having committed such an offence.

The Hong Kong administrative authorities and the legal authorities should immediately conduct investigations into allegations of excessive use of force by the police or any other person acting under the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of, a public official or any other persons acting in an official capacity. All those who have engaged in such acts should be arrested and brought before the law as early as possible.

Acts of using excessive force, unless immediately stopped could spread and be used on a wide scale. Therefore, it is the duty of the authorities to act as urgently as possible to bring the perpetrators of this crime before the courts and immediately initiate the prosecution of such offenders.

The Asian Human Rights Commission offers sympathies and support to the victims of such excessive force and abuse of police powers

Hong Kong tycoon calls for protests to end after tension over police beating

. Hutchison Whampoa Chairman Li Ka-shing reacts during a news conference announcing the company's annual results in Hong Kong February 28, 2014. 

 A pro-democracy protester gestures to police as they retreat after confronting protesters near the government headquarters in Hong Kong October 14, 2014

BY JAMES POMFRET AND CLARE JIM-HONG KONG Wed Oct 15, 2014
(Reuters) - Hong Kong's most prominent tycoon, Li Ka-shing, on Wednesday urged protesters who have occupied parts of the city since late last month to go home, after police mounted their toughest action against the democracy activists in more than a week.
Hong Kong Tycoon Calls for Protests to End After Tension Over Police Beating by Thavam

Exclusive: Washington Wants NATO To Help Retrain The Iraqi Military

With the Islamic State pulling ever closer to Baghdad, the Obama administration believes rebuilding the shattered Iraqi military could require up to 1,000 foreign trainers from the United States and its top European allies.

• BY GOPAL RATNAM-OCTOBER 15, 2014

The  difficult and dangerous task of retraining Iraqi security forces to take on the Islamic State militants who've made impressive gains in the north and west of Iraq will require large numbers of trainers from the United States and NATO nations, according to a person familiar with joint assessments by the American-led coalition and the Iraqi government.

Exclusive Washington Wants NATO to Help Retrain the Iraqi Military by Thavam

Pakistani Taliban leaders pledge allegiance to Islamic State

By Tim Craig and Haq Nawaz Khan October 14 at 7:29 PM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In another sign of the Middle East-based Islamic State’s expanding influence, the chief spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban and five regional commanders declared allegiance Tuesday to the group and its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The announcement marked the first instance of a major contingent of Taliban figures signaling a renouncement of fealty to the Afghan Taliban’s supreme leader, Mohammad Omar. If additional Taliban commanders follow suit, the changing loyalties could not only weaken the Afghan Taliban but also leave Pakistan and Afghanistan more vulnerable to the sort of brutal tactics employed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, analysts say.

“This is very serious and dangerous trend from Afghanistan and Pakistan, as it is a more lethal and violent militant group than even al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban,” said Ijaz Khattak, chairman of the international relations department at the University of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan.

In a message delivered last week, two factions of the Pakistani Taliban expressed support for the Islamic State. Later, however, the groups clarified that they were not abandoning their historical ties to Omar and the Afghan Taliban. Tuesday’s statement from the six commanders, however, left little doubt that they now view Baghdadi as their supreme leader.

“I show allegiance to the commander of faithful, Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Qureshi al Hussaini, and will listen and obey every order of you and will follow your orders regardless of what circumstances may be,” Shahidullah Shahid, the chief spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said in the statement.

Shahid was unavailable to comment. But one of his close aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the commanders will continue to be part of the Pakistani Taliban. “These commanders will remain with the organization, but will also represent ISIS in Pakistan,” the official said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “The decision came after differences developed with the Afghan Taliban. I can’t say now what are the differences, but these commanders have changed their loyalties from Mullah Omar to ISIS chief Baghdadi.”

For weeks, there have been signs that the Islamic State could gain a foothold in Pakistan, already home to more than two dozen terrorist groups. Last month, a 12-page manifesto was distributed in parts of Peshawar, inviting people to join the group.

Some Pakistanis have also traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State. But Pakistani military and political leaders have played down suggestions that the group could expand in their country.

Tuesday’s announcement could help the Pakistani military’s campaign against the Taliban, because it signaled the latest in a series of public divisions in the militant organization. But Khattak warned that those rifts could also make it easier for the Islamic State to recruit in Pakistan.

Khan reported from Peshawar.

Tim Craig is The Post’s bureau chief in Pakistan. He has also covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and within the District of Columbia government.

The Rohingya Plan is to Force Rohingya Muslims into Detention Camps Indefinitely

Nurul Islam-Oct-14-2014

The ever largest Refugee Exodus Awaits as Myanmar determines who is worthy.

Stop the genocide of the Rohingya people. Photo: Burma Times

(MYANMAR) - Rohingyas have lived in Arakan for generations and are part of a small minority in the predominately Buddhist Burma.

Many writers claim their ethnic origin on Arab traders who have settled in Bengal and Arakan 785-957 AD. They claim that Rohingya ethnic ancestry is a mixture of those Arab traders and local population and the language is similar to Chittagonian dialect with a slight variation. For example, Dr Abid Bahar on his note:

"785-957 Arab traders began to settle both in Arakan and Chittagong of present Bangladesh. Inter mixture with the local population led to the first Chandra-Rohingyas of Arakan.

The Rohingya Plan is to Force Rohingya Muslims Into Detention Camps Indefinitely by Thavam

North and South Korea military talks end in stalemate

First meeting between generals from both sides since 2007 ends with the longtime rivals failing to narrow key differences

Kim Jong-un reappeared in public this week after 40 days out of the public eye.Photograph: Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies

Wednesday 15 October 2014 

The first military talks between North and South Korea in more than three years have ended in stalemate, with the rivals failing to narrow their differences on how to ease animosity after two shooting incidents last week.

Generals from both sides met on Wednesday at Panmunjom, the “truce village” that straddles the heavily fortified border dividing the peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean war.

During the meeting, North Korea repeated its demands that its neighbour ban activists from dropping leaflets and media outlets from publishing articles critical of Pyongyang, a South Korean ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok said. South Korean delegates said they could not do so because the country was a liberal democracy, he said.

The two sides were also at odds over the sea boundary, drawn unilaterally by the US-led UN command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean war without North Korea’s consent, Kim said.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, reappeared this week after more than 40 days out of the public eye. State media coverage of his recent, but undated, visit to a residential area and energy research complex in Pyongyang were designed to end rumours of political instability. It appears that Kim, 31, who was pictured using a walking stick, had been recuperating after treatment for an unspecified leg condition or injury.

Pyongyang takes exception to the longstanding practice of floating balloons across the demilitarised zone to deliver anti-regime propaganda. It warned that political talks scheduled for next month could be cancelled if Seoul allowed activists to continue their balloon campaign.

While South Korea has urged campaigners not to inflame tensions, it said it had no legal means of preventing the balloon protests.

North Korean soldiers opened fire on the balloons after they were released last Friday, with some of the bullets landing on the southern side of the border. South Korean troops responded with gunfire, but there were no casualties and the exchange did not escalate.

There had been a similar exchange in the week after a North Korean patrol boat crossed the countries’ disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

Wednesday’s talks had raised hopes of a thaw in inter-Korean ties as the neighbours prepare to meet to discuss possible reunions among families divided by the civil war and sanctions Seoul imposed after North Koreaattacked one of its frontline islands in November 2010.

The agreement to hold those talks came after three high-ranking North Korean officials, including Hwang Pyong-so, believed to be Kim’s second-in-command, made a surprise visit to Seoul after attending the closing ceremony of the Asian Games in nearby Incheon this month.

North and South Korea last held working-level military talks in February 2011 but have not held general-level talks, in which each country is represented by two-star generals, since December 2007, Yonhap said.

China expresses concern about Indian border road plan

Monpa tribeswomen employed by the Indian army work on India's Tezpur-Tawang highway which runs to the Chinese border in Arunachal Pradesh May 28, 2012

BEIJING/NEW DELHI Wed Oct 15, 2014

(Reuters) - China expressed concern on Wednesday after India announced plans to build a road along the remote eastern part of their disputed border, saying it hoped India would not "further complicate" the festering disagreement.

China defeated India in a brief war in 1962 and the border has remained unresolved since, despite 17 rounds of talks. The two armies cannot even agree on where the Line of Actual Control, or the ceasefire line following the fighting in 1962, lies, leading to face-offs between border patrols.

In September, India eased curbs on building roads and military facilities within 100 km of the contested border in remote Arunachal Pradesh, so as to hasten construction of some 6,000 km of roads.

The move came as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India, in a bid to defuse the deep distrust between both countries, despite growing trade and business ties.

A senior official in the Indian home ministry's border management department said the ministry was seeking cabinet approval for the road in Arunachal Pradesh and had preliminary support from the prime minister's office.

The road will run from the key town of Tawang in the northwest to Vijanagar in the far east and is expected to cost 400 billion rupees.

"The minister of state has conceived the idea of building a road that could be about 2,000 km long. The project has not been given cabinet approval but the preliminary nod from the PMO has come," said the official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"China has already spread their network of roads and rail network near the border. Whatever we make on our territory should not be a concern of China."

China disputes the entire territory of Arunachal Pradesh, calling it south Tibet, especially Tawang, a key site for Tibetan Buddhism. The historic town briefly fell into Chinese hands during the 1962 war before Beijing retreated.

Asked about the road plan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the government needed to "further verify the situation".

"The border issue between China and India is a problem left over by the colonial past. Both China and India need to work together to solve this problem," he told a daily news briefing.

"Before the border problem is solved, we hope the Indian side will not take any action that could further complicate the relevant issue, so as to preserve the current situation of peace and stability in the border area and create conditions for the final settlement of the border issue."

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For a Special Report on the India, China face-off: reut.rs/1w6PQMl (PDF link)

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Last month, India and China agreed to pull back troops ranged against each other on a remote Himalayan plateau on the other side of the country from Arunachal Pradesh, ending their biggest face-off on the disputed border in a year.

The two armies had mobilised about 1,000 soldiers each in Ladakh, each accusing the other of building military infrastructure in violation of a pact to maintain peace until a resolution of the 52-year territorial row.

India has previously also announced plans to refurbish civil and military infrastructure in the remote mountains, but progress has been slow.

For instance, it has completed just a tenth of a 2,400-km highway to link the middle portion of the sprawling state, plans for which were announced by the previous government in 2008.

An Arunachal Pradesh government official said the administration was committed to the highway, some parts of which will overlap with the new project.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Additional reporting by Rupam Nair and Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Desmond Tutu: Revere the sanctity of life but not at all costs

South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu pauses for a moment during a media briefing on December 6, 2013 in Cape Town, a day after the death of his friend and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

JENNIFER BRUCE / GETTY

DESMOND TUTUMore from Desmond Tutu

Published on: October 9, 2014Last Updated: October 12, 2014 12:04 PM EDT

What does it mean to be alive? What constitutes quality of life and dignity when dying?

I have been fortunate to spend my life working for dignity for the living. Now I wish to apply my mind to the issue of dignity for the dying.

Our South African laws do not permit the human right to die with dignity. I was particularly troubled by the recent case of South African Craig Schonegevel, who after 28 years of struggling with neurofibromatosis, decided his quality of life was too poor. He’d had so many surgical procedures the thought of enduring more was unbearable. He could find no legal assistance to help him die. On the night of Sept. 1, 2009, he swallowed 12 sleeping pills, put two plastic bags over his head tied with elastic bands and was found dead by his parents the next morning. Craig wanted to end his life legally assisted, listening to his favourite music and in the embrace of his beloved parents, Patsy and Neville. Our legal system denied him and his family this dignity.

I am coming to understand the importance of language on this sensitive issue. The words euthanasia and suicide carry negative connotations. Suicide is considered a premature death often accompanied by mental instability. Craig’s thinking was crystal clear; he wanted autonomy and dignity.

Some say that palliative care, including the giving of sedation to ensure freedom from pain, should be enough for the journeying towards an easeful death. Some people opine that with good palliative care there is no need for assisted dying, no need for people to request to be legally given a lethal dose of medication. That was not the case for Craig Schonegevel. Others assert their right to autonomy and consciousness – why exit in the fog of sedation when there’s the alternative of being alert and truly present with loved ones?

I recently stepped forward to lend my name to assisted dying debate in the United Kingdom, where Parliament is debating a bill that would allow for physician assisted dying. I revere the sanctity of life – but not at any cost. I confirm I don’t want my life prolonged. I can see I would probably incline towards the quality of life argument, whereas others will be more comfortable with palliative care. Yes, I think a lot of people would be upset if I said I wanted assisted dying. I would say I wouldn’t mind actually.

In July, in London, the House of Lords held a second hearing on the bill on assisted dying. Oregon, Washington, Belgium and the Netherlands have already taken this step. The experience in these countries shows that the fears about assisted dying are unfounded.

Canada is also at a particularly pivotal juncture in the assisted dying debate. At the moment Canadian law prohibits physician-assisted death.

A British Columbia court recently ruled that an absolute ban on assisted dying is incompatible with fundamental human rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The case was brought by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association on behalf of Gloria Taylor, a woman suffering from ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease with no known cure or effective treatment.

The Canadian government appealed the historic ruling, and the appeal court overturned the decision, saying that it is up to the Supreme Court of Canada to consider whether the law was constitutional.

The Supreme Court of Canada will have the opportunity to visit this vitally important issue on October 15, 2014. The fate of many sick and dying Canadians is now in the hands of Canada’s highest court. Without a change in the law, seriously ill individuals like Craig Schonegevel will continue to suffer against their wishes at the end of life, without the choice and dignity that they deserve.

On our continent of Africa, dying as an elderly person is a privilege. We are sadly too familiar with the early deaths of loved ones. War, violence, HIV/Aids and socioeconomic diseases take their toll. We need a mind shift in our societies. We need to think. We need to question. What is life? And isn’t death part of living – a natural part of life?

 Archbishop Desmond Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Should we ban smoking in all public parks?

WEDNESDAY 15 OCTOBER 2014

A London health report recommends banning smoking in parks. Is this a logical next step in the campaign to stop smoking, or an unjustified attack on personal freedom?

Britain's chief medical officer has said that smoking in parks should be banned to stop a bad example being set to children.

Dame Sally Davies said children may see adults smoking in parks and then seek to copy them: "We all know smoking is bad for health ... So I welcome any measures to reduce both active smoking and its role-modelling in front of children."

The London Health Commission report points out that two-classrooms full of children take up smoking each day, "inspired by the adults that they see", it claims.

Is it going to happen?

Commissioned by London Mayor Boris Johnson to focus just on royal parks in London, the findings could see smoking in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square banned, but the authors, including former Health Minister Lord Darzi, said it could provide a blueprint for the rest of the UK.

"London should lead the way for Britain, and the mayor should lead the way for London by acting to make our public spaces smoke free", said Lord Darzi. Boris Johnson said he would want to see evidence of the health benefits.

Where else has this been tried?

In 2012 Caerphilly Council banned smoking in 100 play areas as a result of a campaign called "Young Lungs at Play" that was led by the local youth forum.

The Youth Forum told the council that people smoking in parks was spoiling things for the young people in the borough.

And Blackpool NHS, backed by the local council, made 13 parks and open spaces smoke free in 2012, and extended it last month, again to help prevent children taking up smoking, but at the time the Department of Health pointed out that smokers would not be breaking the law by flouting it.

However the leader of Manchester council said this week that a ban on smoking in parks there was unenforceable and too costly.

What's buried in the report?

While smoking kills 8,000 Londoners each year, air pollution is responsible for seven per cent of all deaths in London, killing 4,200 Londoners every year.

Air pollution is responsible for 5.4 per cent of all deaths in England as a whole.

Lord Darzi said: "The Mayor should accelerate planned initiatives on air quality in London to help save lives and improve the quality of life for all Londoners.

"The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is urgently needed, as is the development of a public transport fleet capable of zero emission operation."

So who thinks banning smoking in parks is a bad idea?

Simon Clark from smokers' group Forest said "The next thing will be a ban on smoking in our own gardens in case a whiff of smoke travels over the fence."

And Stephanie Lis, of the Institute for Economic Affairs said: 'This is an outrageous attack on personal freedom - a slippery slope on the path to banning smoking altogether."

How likely is this to happen?

Successive governments have brought in a series of restrictions on the sale and promotion of smoking.

Tobacco sponsorship was banned in 2002, while the smoking ban was implemented in 2007.

Graphic images on packets of cigarette was put in in 2008, and Parliament banned smoking in cars in 2014.

Plain packaging on cigarette packets is being considered by Parliament. And New York City has successfully banned smoking in the massive Central Park, as well as smoking within several metres of public buildings.

Channel 4 News readers have had plenty to say on this subject today. Here are some of the comments we recieved on Facebook:

"I'd rather have clean, un-polluted air. Only a non-smoker can tell you just how foul the stench of second-hand tobacco really is, even in the open air," said Iain Melville.

"I presume all the holier than thou non smokers have already moved to the top of a mountain somewhere to avoid all the other atmospheric contaminants present in towns and cities too numerous to mention", said a user writing under the name Gar Eth.

"Ban dogs while you're at it, and yappy children, and old people who nod off on a bench, and young couples kissing", said Mark Keown.

"All things I never considered as a smoker I now understand as a non smoker. I don't believe in taking away people's right to smoke, it's their health they can do what they like but when it also impacts on innocent people", said Rob Geraghty.

"The smoking ban indoors/public places was great. But banning ppl from smoking in open air is stupid", said Emmett Moore.

New Trains, New Hopes, Old Anguish

Youth ride on a southbound train on the newly laid northern rail track near Mankulam in the northern Kilinochchi District. Built in 1914 with the final aim of linking Sri Lanka with southern India, operations on the line ceased in 1990 before recommencing in late 2013. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

By Amantha Perera

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Oct 11 2014 (IPS) - The kids of Kodikaman, a dusty village straddling the newly laid railway line in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna District, enjoy a special treat these days.

For hours on end, they wait expectantly at the edge of the rails for a track construction engine to pass by; when it nears, they rush to place metal coins on the track and when the trundling vehicle has passed, they run back gleefully to pick up the disfigured money.
New Trains, New Hopes, Old Anguish by Thavam