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14 Jun 2011 17:37

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World: More than 8,500 Syrian refugees in Turkey

  • “I, Colonel Hussein Harmoush, am leaving the Syrian army…” This is a rather captivating and moving video, showing a former Syrian Colonel discussing the refugees who have fled to Turkey, seeking to escape the oppression and violent brutality the Assad government has unleashed. Harmoush details seeing soldiers refuse to fire on civilians when given the terrible order, while others complied. This is in keeping with reports of internal fracturing in Syria, including military soldiers reportedly shot dead by government security forces for refusing to slay civilians. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 14:04

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World: Viagra possibly being used for some horrific stuff in Libya

  • Disturbing allegations An International Criminal Court prosecutor has claimed that Gaddafi is buying a “Viagra-like” drug for his troops to help them commit sexual assaults. The prosecutor is trying to prove that the Gaddafi regime is using sexual assault as a weapon of war. The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has been working on this case for some time and is serious about taking Gaddafi down.
  • Denials on both sides Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, says they haven’t shipped any of their drugs to Libya since the sanctions started back in February. The report says “Viagra-like,” but it’s possible Gaddafi’s troops are getting the real thing from the black market. Libyan spokesperson Moussa Ibrahim also denies the charges, calling them the “same old nonsense.” Either way, this whole thing is disgusting. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 17:07

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World: Yemen’s Sanaa airport closed amidst chaotic violence

  • The scene in Yemen: The depressing, daily drumbeat of violence, upheaval and power struggle continues, and in this case, things are looking like they could get a lot worse before any better. The airport in Sanaa has closed, amidst some of the most sustained, violent clashing in Yemen since the initial protests against the Saleh government. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2011 17:33

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World: Violence flares in Yemen after Saleh refuses to step down

  • 41 left dead in clashes: The violence flared up as a result of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh once again refused to cede power after 33 years — a decision that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has criticized. The end result caused last week’s ceasefire to break down, leading Saleh to reinforce his troops and causing bloody street battles — it’s a situation that some diplomats describe as “worse than Libya,” if you can believe that. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Apr 2011 16:56

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World: Nigerian Presidential election goes to Goodluck Jonathan

  • Goodluck Jonathan wins in Nigeria: So says Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, but his political opposition has claimed intimidation, ballot stuffing, and the like. Project 2011 Swift Count, a Nigerian election observer, sought to rebut that claim — while they acknowledged that violence, intimidation and illegal voting took place in isolated incidents, they say their reports from a random group of 1,468 polling stations suggest this didn’t change the eventual outcome. Nonetheless, many Nigerians have been hurt in an outbreak of election day riots, a grim and depressing reality to be sure. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 1 Comment • Permalink

02 Apr 2011 13:38

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World: Nine people killed in Kandahar amid Koran-burning protest

  • Blood continues to flow over Terry Jones: Yesterday, we mentioned the deaths in Afghanistan that had occurred when a protest against Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones boiled over. Sadly, the violence has spread: 9 more have been killed in Kandahar, ostensibly because Jones burned several Islamic holy texts on March 20th. Not to belabor our earlier point, but it seems worthwhile to balance disdain for Jones’ self-serving and gross bigotry with some basic honesty about what it’s caused- namely, that a danger intrinsic to any religion that takes itself very seriously is that it can cause overreactions to slights against it. The deaths of 20 people in 2 days because somebody on the other side of the planet burned some books is a tragic example. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Apr 2011 12:53

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World: Gbagbo’s forces not done fighting in Abidjan

  • yesterday Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the elected leader of the Ivory Coast, stormed into Abidjan to oust Laurent Gbagbo, who has waged a bloody battle to stay in power. The Ouattara forces were thought to be quite close to ousting Gbagbo.
  • today The Red Cross says that some 800 people have been massacred in the  town of Duekoue, while Gbagbo has gained ground by retaking the state T.V. network, a powerful outlet that has been accused of inciting violence during the conflict.  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

30 Mar 2011 14:53

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World: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad defiant in anticipated speech

  • The oldest trick in the book: Faced with an upswell of protest against his government (during which deadly violence was turned on the citizens), Syria’s Bashar al-Assad gave a much anticipated speech. In explaining the protests against him, he resorted to a very familiar tactic for repressive heads-of-state facing public anger; blame it on a foreign conspiracy. Protesters had hoped to hear some concessions on reform, especially on Syria’s emergency powers law, which allows arrest without warrant. Sad to say, no such statement was to come from Assad, for whom the Parliament chanted “Only God, Syria, and Bashar!” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2011 13:06

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World: Obama speaks out on Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo

  • He’s now using his thugs to try to stay in power and intimidate the opposition and the duly elected president.
  • President Barack Obama • On the continued grip on power by Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivory Coast strongman who was electorally defeated by Alassane Ouattara last November. As power-hungry, unscrupulous leaders are prone to do, Gbagbo didn’t relinquish power to Ouattara, instead orchestrating a campaign of intimidation and violence against the citizenry. Some 400 people have been killed as a result, and it’s estimated more than a million have been displaced, fleeing their homes and seeking peaceful refuge elsewhere. It’s nice to hear the President talk about this, because frankly, the people of the Ivory Coast have gotten short shrift with all the upheaval in the Middle East. He emphasized that a diplomatic effort with surrounding African nations is the crux of the U.S. effort to isolate and pressure Gbagbo out of power, downplaying military options. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Mar 2011 14:00

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World: Terrible human suffering at hospital in Bahrain

  • Truly heartbreaking video: Al Jazeera English takes us to a hospital in Bahrain, where doctors and medical staff are treating people horribly abused, beaten and teargassed. Many, it seems, have taken to sleeping in the hospital, so fearful are they about being caught up in the violence if they venture outside or return home. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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