The landmark resolution, adopted by the Council in 2000, stresses the importance of giving women equal participation and full involvement in peace and security matters and the need to increase their role in decision-making.

“There are reasons for hope,” Inés Alberdi, Executive Director of the UN Development Fund (UNIFEM), told participants at the opening of the two-day meeting yesterday.

“Women in conflict-affected regions worldwide have successfully leveraged support for women’s leadership and inclusion at all stages of conflict resolution and peace building as mandated by UN resolution 1325.”

Conference participants, including government leaders and nearly 100 experts on women’s human and political rights and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening joint action in seeking an end to the occupation and achieve a two-State solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace.

An urgent priority, according to a news release issued at the end of the conference, was the “pressing need to end the siege on Gaza, which motivated the civilian-led humanitarian flotilla.”

On Monday Israel raided a six-ship convoy that was carrying humanitarian goods and activists and heading for Gaza. The attack, which left 10 civilians dead and many wounded, drew international criticism, including from UN officials, as well as a call for an immediate investigation into the incident.

Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate and honorary member of the Commission, urged the Israeli and Palestinian participants to see the attack on the flotilla as a tipping point and vastly scale up mobilization for peace, justice and women’s leadership in resolving the conflict.

Participants also highlighted, among others, the importance of mobilizing Israeli and Palestinian constituencies and leaders to demand concrete steps towards ending the occupation and achieving a sustainable two-State solution.

The Commission, formed in 2005 in an effort to strengthen implementation of resolution 1325, is comprised of Palestinian, Israeli and international women’s leaders and is co-chaired by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Finnish President Tarja Halonen.

Abductions of journalists and other media professionals also continued in 2009, a practice that forced 157 journalists to seek exile in other countries, according to Frank La Rue, the UN Special Reporter on the promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Last year set a new record, with 77 journalists killed, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“I an also alarmed by some of the statistics which indicate that the perpetrators of these offences have enjoyed total impunity in 94 per cent of all cases, while the percentage of cases in which even some partial measure of justice has been obtained is minimal,” Mr. La Rue told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Only 2 per cent of cases related to crimes against journalists were brought before law enforcement authorities and perpetrators and instigators prosecuted, Mr. La Rue added.

He urged States – particularly the Philippines, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia and Mexico, which account in descending order for the greatest number of journalists killed – to adopt the necessary measures to guarantee the protection and safety of journalists.

“I would like to reiterate that in accordance with Security Council resolution 1739 and obligations under international human rights law, States must carry out exhaustive investigations into each case of attacks against journalists and to prosecute those responsible,” Mr. La Rue added.

Commenting on his 12-day mission to the Republic of Korea last month, Mr. La Rue said his overall observation was that the freedom of expression there has been diminishing, citing the continuing widespread use, including by Government officials and institutions, of the law on defamation, which remains a criminal offence in the country. He recommended that Seoul decriminalize defamation to promote a culture of tolerance regarding criticism.

Mr. La Rue also cited “worrying restrictions on the Internet” in the Republic of Korea, saying the Korean Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) operated as a censorship body, whose process of determining what kind of Internet postings should be deleted or temporarily blocked is “arbitrary and opaque.”

Mr. La Rue also urged States to adopt legislation, which gave effect to the public’s right to access information.

“The ability of individuals to fully exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression and access communication tools is fundamental in combating inequality and discrimination. It is therefore particularly important for groups in need of specific attention – such as women, children, persons living in extreme poverty, minorities and indigenous people – to obtain information, assert their rights, and participate in decision-making to improve their situation.

“This in turn facilitates development and enables societies to progress towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” Mr. La Rue said.

What are the basics of what happened?

On the night of April 20, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig had an explosion, and two days later, it sank in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead. The rig was operated by British oil giant BP but owned by Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling company. The incident ruptured the oil well and has caused what is known as a blowout, or an uncontrollable spill. The well has since spewed millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

What caused the incident?

That’s still being investigated. A drilling procedure called “cementing,” which is meant to secure the walls of a well, has often caused blowouts in the Gulf, according to a 2007 study, and it’s a suspected cause in this case. [read more...]

by Marian Wang |www. ProPublica.org| posted: 06 May  2010

Alessandro Bon was a politically connected entrepreneur and former sales representative for Beretta, the Italian gun manufacturer. But behind that facade, he was leading a ring of Italian arms dealers and Iranian spies who were illegally selling ammunition, helicopters and other military hardware to Iran, according to Italian court documents obtained by ProPublica.

As investigators listened in October, Bon gave one of his associates bad news: Some German sniper scopes they had sold to Iran had surfaced among Taliban militants fighting NATO troops in Afghanistan.

“You want to know where they found two of the sniper scopes, between you and me?” Bon said, according to a transcript of the call. “In Afghanistan … They fired on German soldiers with two of the sniper scopes and the serial numbers were traced … and the [German] police are investigating because they were in the hands of the Taliban … I wonder what the hell they were doing in Afghanistan.”

Bon didn’t know it, but he had problems closer to home. His alleged clandestine business had already caught the eye of Italian authorities, who in March arrested him, four other Italians and two alleged Iranian intelligence officials. [ read more…]

by Sebastian Rotella |on ProPublica | posted: 31 March 2010

Johannesburg, South Africa —Sectarian violence continued for a third day in the Nigerian city of Jos, and appeared to be spreading to surrounding suburbs, as the state government announced a 24-hour curfew to bring Christian-Muslim fighting to a halt.[read more…]

By Scott Baldauf Staff writer | from csmonitor.com | posted 19 January  2010

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Tuesday wrecked the Haitian capital’s infrastructure, further limiting humanitarian efforts to reach victims. Estimates are that as many as 70,000 people may have died and thousands of survivors are without food, water or medical help.

Relief workers who are trying to move aid to victims are often finding the roadways blocked with debris from the building collapsed by the earthquake.

Hundreds of Haitian workers were removing thousands of dead bodies that have been found while thousands of other victims remain buried in collapsed buildings.

President Obama order the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan with 2,000 marines and a hospital ship plus 3,500 more soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to Haiti.

The United Nations said about $270 million — had been pledged for Haitian relief efforts.

© 2010 Friends of Global Village Monitor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Steven Lee Myers | from nytimes.com | Posted: 09 December 2009

The Balkans is a region we love to forget. Sandwiched between the Adriatic and Black seas, the peninsula is a hodgepodge mix of religions, peoples and cultures. The complexity and obscurity of the Balkans—together with its geographic situation—fosters the perception of the region as a largely irrelevant backwater to Europe, Russia and the Middle East… History punctures this perception… Historically, the Balkans is a place where civilizations have converged and clashed. During the Middle Ages, the peninsula fell under the control of the Byzantine Empire. In the 15th century, it became a focal point of the westward—[read more…]

by Brad Macdonald | from www.theTrumpet.com | Posted: 19 November 2009

This story from Al Jazeera.net | posted: 16 November 2009

This story from BBC NEWS | posted:16 Nov. 2009