position:correspondent

No Tech Solutions for Poverty, Says Former Microsoft Researcher
▻http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/no-tech-solutions-for-poverty-says-former-microsoft-researcher

I founded Tiny Spark four years ago to investigate philanthropy, nonprofits and socially responsible companies. As a former Africa correspondent, I had seen with my own eyes how difficult is it to...

Revamped Perm-36 Museum Emphasizes Gulag’s ’Contribution To Victory’
▻http://www.rferl.mobi/a/russia-perm-gulag-museum-takeover-contribution-to-victory/27152188.html

The Perm-36 gulag museum in the forests of Western Siberia is under new management — and it’s easy to feel the difference when touring the new team’s recently opened first exhibition.

The new presentation is devoted not to the repressive forced-labor practices of the Stalin era, but to timber production at the camp and its contribution to the Soviet victory in World War II.

“During times of great tribulations, during times of profound decisions for the country and the fate of the people, no one remained indifferent,” Perm Oblast Culture Minister Igor Gladnev said at the exhibition’s opening on July 9. “And this is precisely the main factor, thanks to which we achieved the main victory in the history of humanity. Today we are experiencing a deficit of faith, a deficit of unity. And these are not just pretty words — we must bring them to some practical form.”

“So, glory to the heroes,” he concluded. “Glory to those who fought, who laid down their lives in the name of our great victory and the preservation of our country.”

Greece debt crisis: Athens accepts harsh austerity as bailout deal nears | Business | The Guardian | Thursday 9 July 2015 19.39 BST
▻http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/09/greece-debt-crisis-athens-accepts-harsh-austerity-as-bailout-deal-nears

The Greek government capitulated on Thursday to demands from its creditors for severe austerity measures in return for a modest debt write-off, raising hopes that a rescue deal could be signed at an emergency meeting of EU leaders on Sunday.

Athens is understood to have put forward a package of reforms and public spending cuts worth €13bn (£9.3bn) to secure a third bailout from creditors that could raise $50bn and allow it to stay inside the currency union.

A cabinet meeting signed off the reform package after ministers agreed that the dire state of the economy and the debilitating closure of the country’s banks meant it had no option but to agree to almost all the creditors terms.

Parliament is expected to endorse the package after a frantic few days of negotiation that followed a landmark referendum last Sunday in which Greek voters backed the radical leftist Syriza government’s call for debt relief.

Syriza, which is in coalition with the rightwing populist Independent party, is expected to meet huge opposition from within its own ranks and from trade unions and youth groups that viewed the referendum as a vote against any austerity.(...)

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: Dia Hadid of the New York Times
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2015/06/dia-hadid-of-new-york-times.html

So this token Arab correspondent at the Times is allowed to cover Palestinian suffering but only when the suffering can be blamed on Palestinians themselves. That is her gig.

Grotesque festival de propagande en faveur d’Al-Qaeda sur Aljazeera :
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.fr/2015/05/the-grotesque-pro-al-qaidah-festival-on.html

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQE7pBBZExY

You have to watch this pro-Al-Qa‘idah festival on Aljazeera TV. Unbelievable. The host and the guest, Ahmad Zaydan (the notorious Pakistan correspondent of Aljazeera—I almost said of Al-Qa‘idah) basically promotes Al-Qa‘idah in all its branches to the viewers. He at one point was talking about Bin Laden and his comrades and the simplicity of their lifestyle and said: “we used to eat bread and tea” but then quickly corrected himself. He refers to Sep, 11 terrorism on the US as "Ghazwah 11 Aylul (or Conquest of Sep. 11) which is the official name used by Al-Qa‘idah. He said that Ayman Dhawahiri is now like the Queen of England, who does not rule—kid you not. There was a Lebanese guest who was opposed to this propaganda but he was not allowed to speak. They also invited a guest from WINEP to have him agree that Nusrah Front is now an acceptable moderate political party. You have to watch it to believe it. They even promoted the rule of Nusrah and the treatment of minorities by them in “liberated territories”. I have not been watching Aljazeera and could not believe how much it has changed. There is not even a semblance of professionalism and no, the network was not like this all along.

PS Zaydan said twice that Nusrah at the level of leaders took a decision to sever ties with Al-Qa‘idah but never explained why that was announced as the Qatari regime wanted for PR purposes.

Advertising : #Swissair “European Rapid Transit System” Poster, c. 1980s(?)

Sent my way by long-time correspondent, Kyril Negoda. I’m not entirely sure of the vintage of this, as the archive it resides in covers the entire period from 1980-2000, and none of the images have dates attached to them. There’s definitely an early 1980s vibe to it, though – mainly from the tightly kerned Futura Bold heading at the top.

http://41.media.tumblr.com/7a17e5d9163c09b4973969e1e9b13d71/tumblr_norjg7ncOI1r54c4oo1_1280.jpg

Israel chooses the path to apartheid
It was once possible to argue that Israel’s policies were not the same as apartheid because their stated goal, however imperfectly pursued, was to end the occupation. After Netanyahu’s reelection, this is no longer the case.
By James Besser | Mar. 20, 2015 Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.648006

In my quarter century as Washington correspondent for Jewish newspapers, I frequently defended Israel against charges that it had created an apartheid system in the West Bank. But this week’s election, with Benjamin Netanyahu poised to serve another term with an even more hardline coalition, means that apartheid is the path Israeli voters have chosen. The inevitable results will include even greater international isolation for the Jewish state, a boost to efforts to apply boycotts and sanctions, diminished support from American Jews and endlessly intensifying cycles of violence.

Since the Madrid peace process began in 1991, it was possible – though sometimes with great difficulty – to argue that Israel wanted to find some route to accommodation with the Palestinians. Sure, there were huge obstacles to overcome, not the least of which was a shortsighted Palestinian leadership and a volatile, nervous electorate in Israel.

But government after government at least said the right things about the need to create a Palestinian state and to make painful compromises, even if action lagged far behind the words.

It was possible to accept journalist Gershom Gorenberg’s thesis that the occupation was an “accidental empire,” its endurance shaped less by determined policies than by inertia and political cowardice. It was awful to watch even progressive governments cringe before an aggressive settlers movement, but it was understandable, especially for Americans accustomed to the timidity of our own leaders in the face of aggressive extremists.

The idea of apartheid suggests the intent to make separation and unequal treatment permanent, and in the past it was possible to argue that for all the expansion of settlements, Israel was still looking for ways to end the occupation.

No more.

Frightened by the last minute rise of the Zionist Union list in polls, Netanyahu unambiguously expressed what critics have long asserted was his core ideology: no Palestinian state. No territorial concessions. None. Period.

And Israel’s voters returned him to office, in what was widely reported as a resounding victory.

He was returned to power despite his attempt to shore up support on his political right by coming to Washington and undermining the relationship with Israel’s most critical ally, the United States, and by giving a huge boost to Republican efforts to make support for Israel a political wedge issue instead of the bipartisan cause it has always been.

He was returned to power despite the ugly attempt to scare voters with the specter of a big turnout of Israeli Arabs.

And he was returned to power after his crystal clear rejection of Palestinian statehood and the territorial compromise that most of the world believes is the only way to ensure a peaceful future for a democratic Jewish state. There were reports this week that Netanyahu was attempting to walk those comments back, but his credibility on the issue of Palestinian statehood, never strong, is nonexistent.

In the absence of any willingness to work toward a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the future is clear: continuing occupation with no effort to find a way to end it, accelerating settlement construction and a hardening of policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank.

In other words, apartheid.

Mainstream Jewish groups go ballistic when they hear the term because of what it implies: an official policy of unfairness so profound that a fractious world unites against it with sanctions, boycotts and a pariah label for the perpetrators.

Once, it was possible to argue that Israel’s policies were not the same as apartheid because their stated goal, however imperfectly pursued, was to end the occupation. No more: Bibi’s reelection makes it clear that Israeli voters, more clearly aware of Netanyahu’s intent than ever, have chosen the apartheid path, and will now have to live with the consequences.

American Jewish groups, key players in the coalition against South African apartheid, will resort to verbal gymnastics to argue that it’s not the same. Or they will simply use the convenient ploy of pointing out all the bad decisions made by Palestinian leaders over the years. When the inevitable violence erupts and when the Palestinians, left with no other options, renew their push to condemn Israel in international bodies, they will circle the wagons to defend a Jewish state they claim is unfairly treated by a hostile world. They will ratchet up efforts to stifle even moderate dissent in the Jewish world. They’ll blame the deepening divisions in the Jewish community on J Street.

Or they will say the no-statehood pledge was just politics as usual in Israel’s fractious democracy, as meaningless as most other campaign promises.

And nobody outside an increasingly narrow pro-Israel tent will buy it. Because apartheid is apartheid, and that’s exactly what Israeli voters chose this week as a course for their nation.

James Besser was Washington correspondent for the New York Jewish Week and other Anglo-Jewish newspapers for 24 years before his retirement in 2011.

Les #Etats-Unis vont faciliter la vente de #drones armés à leurs alliés
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2015/02/18/washington-autorise-la-vente-de-drones-armes-a-ses-allies_4578465_3222.html

La principale condition de vente est qu’ils soient utilisés en violation du #droit_international.

La diplomatie américaine souligne que :

« Les Etats-Unis (...) ont pour responsabilité de s’assurer que les ventes, transferts et utilisations à l’international d’UAS d’origine américaine correspondent aux intérêts de la sécurité nationale américaine et à ceux en matière de politique étrangère. »

Storming Spain’s Razor-Wire Fence : Europe Or Die (Episode 1)

Since 2000, more than 27,000 migrants and refugees have died attempting the perilous journey to Europe. With an unprecedented number of people breaking through its heavily barricaded borders in 2014, the EU continues to fortify its frontiers.

VICE News presents Europe or Die, a new four-part series that documents the efforts of those risking their lives to reach Europe, and the forces tasked to keep them out.

In episode one of our series, VICE News correspondent Milène Larsson travels to the border between Morocco and Spain, where West Africans in their thousands storm the razor-wire-clad fences. Many are beaten back by border police or illegally returned.

▻https://news.vice.com/video/storming-spains-razor-wire-fence-europe-or-die-episode-1
#migration #asile #réfugiés #Forteresse_Europe #Méditerranée

"An aerial bombardment with weapons of the mind"

Noble prize winning author #Wole_Soyinka has called for “an aerial bombardment with weapons of the mind” against #Boko_Haram. Our Nigeria correspondent Will Ross asked Professor Soyinka what he meant by that.

▻https://soundcloud.com/bbc-world-service/an-aerial-bombardment-with-weapons-of-the-mind
#Nigéria

Passions flare during trial in Odesa
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/passions-flare-during-trial-in-odesa-378146.html

Passions flared at a preliminary hearing at a court in Odesa on Jan. 22 of one of two cases opened in connection with deadly clashes in the city on May 2, 2014, an Interfax correspondent reported.

(intégralité de la brève)

#Chomsky: Paris attacks show hypocrisy of West’s outrage
By #Noam_Chomsky
▻http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/19/opinion/charlie-hebdo-noam-chomsky/index.html

(...)

[veteran Europe correspondent Steven] Erlanger also quoted a surviving journalist who said that “Everything crashed. There was no way out. There was smoke everywhere. It was terrible. People were screaming. It was like a nightmare.” Another reported a “huge detonation, and everything went completely dark.” The scene, Erlanger reported, “was an increasingly familiar one of smashed glass, broken walls, twisted timbers, scorched paint and emotional devastation.”

These last quotes, however — as independent journalist David Peterson reminds us — are not from January 2015. Rather, they are from a report by Erlanger on April 24 1999, which received far less attention. Erlanger was reporting on the NATO “missile attack on Serbian state television headquarters” that “knocked Radio Television Serbia off the air,” killing 16 journalists.

“NATO and American officials defended the attack,” Erlanger reported, “as an effort to undermine the regime of President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia.” Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon told a briefing in Washington that “Serb TV is as much a part of Milosevic’s murder machine as his military is,” hence a legitimate target of attack.

There were no demonstrations or cries of outrage, no chants of “We are RTV,” no inquiries into the roots of the attack in Christian culture and history. On the contrary, the attack on the press was lauded. The highly regarded U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, then envoy to Yugoslavia, described the successful attack on RTV as “an enormously important and, I think, positive development,” a sentiment echoed by others.

There are many other events that call for no inquiry into western culture and history — for example, the worst single terrorist atrocity in Europe in recent years, in July 2011, when Anders Breivik, a Christian ultra-Zionist extremist and Islamophobe, slaughtered 77 people, mostly teenagers.

Also ignored in the “war against terrorism” is the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times — Barack Obama’s global assassination campaign targeting people suspected of perhaps intending to harm us some day, and any unfortunates who happen to be nearby. Other unfortunates are also not lacking, such as the 50 civilians reportedly killed in a U.S.-led bombing raid in Syria in December, which was barely reported.

One person was indeed punished in connection with the NATO attack on RTV — Dragoljub Milanović, the general manager of the station, who was sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights to 10 years in prison for failing to evacuate the building, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia considered the NATO attack, concluding that it was not a crime, and although civilian casualties were “unfortunately high, they do not appear to be clearly disproportionate.”

The comparison between these cases helps us understand the condemnation of the New York Times by civil rights lawyer Floyd Abrams, famous for his forceful defense of freedom of expression. “There are times for self-restraint,” Abrams wrote, “but in the immediate wake of the most threatening assault on journalism in living memory, [the Times editors] would have served the cause of free expression best by engaging in it” by publishing the #Charlie_Hebdo cartoons ridiculing Mohammed that elicited the assault.

Abrams is right in describing the Charlie Hebdo attack as “the most threatening assault on journalism in living memory.” The reason has to do with the concept “living memory,” a category carefully constructed to include Their crimes against us while scrupulously excluding Our crimes against them — the latter not crimes but noble defense of the highest values, sometimes inadvertently flawed.

#terrorisme #Etats-Unis #Occident #hypocrisie #mémoire #indignation_sélective

In Syria, three years too late for many, the inexorable logic of compromise & stabilization with regime is growing
▻http://mideastwire.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/in-syria-three-years-too-late-for-many-the-inexorable-logic-o

There was never any good option of excluding the murderous Assad regime from the Syria equation these last few years. Slowly but surely the contours of a dramatic lessening in the bloodshed are becoming apparent.. far far too late.

Translated from our Mideastwire.com (demo via info@mideastwire.com): On December 4, the independent Az-Zaman newspaper carried the following report by its correspondent in Beirut:

“Former head of the Syrian Coalition Moaz al-Khatib said he was willing to engage in talks with the regime to put an end to the bloody conflict, in which more than 200,000 people were killed as per the figures of the Syrian Human Rights Watch. Al-Khatib is an independent Syrian opposition figure, who had resigned from the Coalition’s command in protest against foreign interventions. For her part, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s advisor Butheina Shaaban, who was part of the official Syrian delegation that recently visited Moscow, said that the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was very positive, adding that Russia has taken it upon itself to seriously seek a political solution through dialogue with the opposition, with the Syrian government’s consent.

“According to a source close to the official Syrian delegation, no timetable was set for the talks with the opposition, adding that the Russians wanted to know whether or not “we approved the idea and we told them we had no objections.” He added: “The Russians told us they had contacts and that if we approved the idea, preparations will be undertaken to stage dialogue in Moscow.” For his part, Al-Khatib said in statements over the phone: “To serve the interests of the Syrian people, we will sit together and seek the best way to rid the people of their pain and suffering.” Asked about the insistence on the request to see Al-Assad’s departure from power, he said: “How long must he stay? A month, three months, five months or six months? Once the situation is clear and once there is a clear vision to be relayed to the Syrian people, an arrangement will be made.”

“[He continued:] “This person will definitely leave, provided that his term ends in a specific way, which is something acceptable.” Among the prominent opposition figures expected to participate in this likely dialogue are former Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil who is living in Moscow and Haitham Manah who is living in Paris. Al-Khatib and Manah, along with other opposition figures, had held a meeting sponsored by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, in the context of an Egyptian initiative to solve the Syrian crisis. This was accompanied by leaks about an upcoming dialogue between oppositionists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad…”

Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl on Vimeo

►https://vimeo.com/112681885

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit Chernobyl whilst working for CBS News on a ’60 Minutes’ episode which aired on Nov. 23, 2014. Bob Simon is the correspondent. Michael Gavshon and David Levine, producers.

For the full story cbsnews.com/news/chernobyl-the-catastrophe-that-never-ended/

–---> ***Soundtrack ’Promise land’ by Hannah Miller - licensed on themusicbed.com

Chernobyl is one of the most interesting and dangerous places I’ve been. The nuclear disaster, which happened in 1986 (the year after I was born), had and effect on so many people, including my family when we lived in Italy. I can’t imagine how terrifying it would have been for the hundreds of thousands of locals who evacuated.

During my stay, I met so many amazing people, one of which was my guide Yevgein, also known as a ’Stalker’. We spent the week together exploring Chernobyl and the nearby abandoned city of Prypiat. There was something serene, yet highly disturbing about this place. Time has stood still and there are memories of past happenings floating around us.

Armed with a camera and a dosimeter geiger counter I explored...

dannycooke.co.uk Follow me on twitter @dannycooke

Shot using DJI Phantom 2 (GoPro3+) and Canon 7D

–—

Philippe Perchoc sur FB a vu cette vidéo et explique :

Après avoir lu quelques livres de Günther Anders, celui d’Alexievitch sur Tchernobyl, et maintenant cette vidéo, je me dis que nous sommes certainement fascinés par notre propre capacité à abîmer ce qui fait de nous une humanité, et à y donner une dimension esthétique terrifiante.

Non, Tchernobyl n’est pas un lieu quitté par les hommes pour laisser la nature reprendre ses droits, non ce n’est pas un parc d’attraction post-soviétique. Mais par contre, ce n’est pas seulement un passé, c’est aussi peut-être un futur.

#tchernobyl #ukraine #nucléaire

Libye : 3 activistes décapités à Derna - BBC

▻http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30011640

Three young activists have been found beheaded in Derna, in eastern Libya.

The three, who had relayed information about the city through social media, had been kidnapped earlier this month.

Several Islamist groups are competing for control of the city, with some militants recently declaring allegiance to Islamic State.

Libya has been in a state of flux since Col Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011, with disparate tribes, militias and political factions fighting for power.

’We reject IS’
The BBC’s Rana Jawad, in the capital, Tripoli, says that in the immediate aftermath of the revolution that ousted Gaddafi, many rebel fighters left to fight with militant groups opposing the rule of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Many of the fighters are believed to have returned home, settling in the east of the country, she says.

Beheadings are rare in Libya, our correspondent says, even in areas controlled by militant Islamists, and no group has so far said it carried out the latest killings.

The activists have been named as Siraj Ghatish, Mohamed Battu and Mohamed al-Mesmari.
Our correspondent says they remained low-profile, mostly passing on information via social media pages.

Another activist in the city who cannot be named for reasons of safety, said: “We reject IS being here. We can’t come out in public about it.”

Our correspondent says there appear to be three main militant groups in Derna, with varying degrees of extremism.

Map showing Tobruk, Tripoli, Benghazi, Derna, Zintan, Misrata and Crete
They are the Islamic Youth Shura Council, a branch of Ansar al-Sharia, and the more moderate Martyrs of Abuslim Brigade.

The group that declared allegiance to IS is unclear, although the activist who spoke to the BBC said it appeared to be a group that broke away from the Shura Council.

Derna has been out of government control since 2012.

Last month, pictures from Derna showed public institutions renamed as Islamic courts and Islamic police.

In August, a video emerged on social media showing a man being shot dead by an unknown group in the football stadium.

The elected government has lost Libya’s three main cities amid the political crisis:

In Tripoli, some members of the old parliament - the General National Congress - have continued to sit. They have appointed their own rival government, though this is not internationally recognised
Much of Benghazi, the second city, is in the hands of Islamist fighters, some with links to al-Qaeda. There are near-daily assassinations of officials, journalists and social activists. Some 300 people have been killed in the past month in clashes between the army and militiamen
Misrata, the third city and a major business port, is loyal to the Tripoli authorities

Algérie : Le journaliste Abdelhai Abdessamia détenu depuis plus d’1 an sans charges - Committee to Protect Journalists

▻http://cpj.org/2014/11/algerian-journalist-held-for-more-than-a-year-with.php

New York, November 14, 2014—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment of Algerian journalist Abdelhai Abdessamia, who has been held since August 18, 2013. News of Abdessamia’s imprisonment was reported by his family in early November, according to news reports.

Abdessamia, a correspondent for the daily Mon Journal and its Arabic counterpart, Djaridati, has been under investigation in administrative detention and accused of participating in the allegedly illegal departure of his editor, Hicham Aboud, from the country, according to his lawyer, colleagues, and family.

Abdessamia’s lawyer, Mohamed al-Gawasemeh, told CPJ that Abdessamia was at first accused of “smuggling immigrants,” which is a criminal offense, as well as “facilitating smuggling,” a misdemeanor. In April, al-Gawasemeh said, an investigative judge dropped the “smuggling immigrants” allegation, but kept the journalist under investigation for the misdemeanor, which carries up to three years in prison. Al-Gawasemeh told CPJ that authorities refused four requests to release the journalist. No court hearings have been scheduled, he said.

An official who declined to identify himself at the Algerian embassy in Washington deferred CPJ’s request for comment to the New York consulate. A representative at the consulate told CPJ that the matter was not under the consulate’s purview.

“It is outrageous for the Algerian government to hold a journalist without charge for well over a year. If officials had evidence of their strange accusations against Abdelhai Abdessamia, they could certainly have presented it in court months ago,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “We call on authorities to release him immediately.”

Mon Journal and Djaridati were shut down in late 2013 after covering President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s deteriorating health, news reports said. An Algerian prosecutor also ordered a judicial investigation into Aboud, owner and editor of Mon Journal and Djaridati, accusing him of “endangering state security, national unity, stability and proper functioning of instituting.”

Aboud told CPJ that the allegations against Abdessamia stem from an August 2013 meeting between the two in which they discussed opening a branch for his publications in the city of Tébessa.

In early June 2013, Aboud was forbidden from traveling to a conference in Tunisia, he said. Then, in late June, an investigative judge dismissed the investigation against him, he said. Aboud told CPJ that after he met with Abdessamia in August, he crossed the border into Tunisia. He said he crossed legally and that his passport held exit and entry stamps.

The lawyer told CPJ that authorities warned Abdessamia’s family not to publicize his imprisonment. Abdessamia’s wife reported his detention only after she visited him in Tebessa prison in early November and learned that he had started a hunger strike to protest his detention, according to the lawyer and news reports.

Egypte : Les journalistes étrangers confrontés à une hostilité croissante depuis 2011 - Rapport ONG/Ahram online

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/115198.aspx

Lawyers for jailed Al Jazeera journalist demand release for hep C treatment

In Egypt the situation for media and foreign journalists, in terms of freedoms, accessibility of information, personal safety has deteriorated noticeably within the past year, according to an NGO report issued Monday.

The Association for Freedom of Thinking and Expression (AFTE), a Cairo-based NGO concerned essentially with media and students freedoms, says 34 foreign journalists have been arrested since 30 June 2013, this is half of the total number of journalist arrests since 2011.

AFTE’s “Report on the situation of foreign correspondents in Egypt,” counted 184 assaults that targeted foreign journalists between 2011 and 2014. The reported incidents include physical assaults, arrests, confiscating or breaking cameras and one case of rape claimed by CBS correspondent Lara Logan.

Logan said she was attacked by dozens of civilians, who dressed her down and raped her for 40 minutes until she was rescued by a group of women backed by army personnel.

In three years, 68 arrests have taken place. The report also states that this period has observed 64 incidents of physical aggression and injuries during the same period, in addition to five incidents of sexual assaults against foreign female reporters.

Wally Nell, a photojournalist for the California-based Zuma Press, suffered multiple pellet injuries as he covered protests on 6 October bridge in February 2011. “I was targeted by a policeman as he saw me taking photos of what happened. He directly shot me with pellets,” Nell’s testimony read.

The report says 2011 was the cruellest for foreign journalists with 112 assaults, followed by 2013 which witnessed 61 incidents.

During this period, two journalists lost their lives while doing their jobs.

A 2013 report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) counted eight cases of killing Egyptian and foreign journalists since the 2011 uprising.

The report attributes the hostility that journalists face in Egypt to the anti-foreigner tone that state institutions have adopted since the beginning of 2011 uprising. A collective attitude of “xenophobia” is partly responsible for charges against journalists and activists receiving foreign funds and allegedly aligning with foreign agendas.

The report relied on interviews with foreign journalists that write for many prominent international newspapers such as The Economist, The Daily Telegraph, Washington Post and others that have been working in Egypt since 2011, as well as incidents and testimonies that have been reported and published throughout the past three years.

During the first transitional period (2011-2012) AFTE documented five incidents. Marking it a relatively calm period though "not necessarily because of facilitations or intended improvements by authorities.”

Restrictions imposed on local media were tighter than on foreigners, who faced a “less hostile environment” under Muslim Brotherhood rule, as AFTE cited.

Nevertheless, 11 assaults against foreign journalists –mostly sexual – were documented during this period. Most notable was the death of the American photojournalist Andrew Butcher in Alexandria.

The second half of 2013 witnessed an upturn in violence against journalists. One foreign journalist was killed while covering the dispersal of Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in, in addition to 13 injuries throughout the year. Twenty-eight foreign journalists were also temporarily detained, while six were sentenced to prison.

In 2014, the most widely covered incident that represented a hostile environment toward foreign journalists was the case of Al Jazeera journalists, who were sentenced between seven and ten years in prison. Two foreigners were among the accused, Canadian Mohammed Fahmi Fadel, and Australian Peter Greste.

The case brought about enraged reactions from both the international community and local journalists in Egypt, who deemed charges of working with a “terror cell” as fabricated.

The report concluded with five recommendations. The Egyptian NGO demanded that the state stops supporting “hate speech” against foreign media and adhere to the international conventions that oblige it to protect the journalists.

AFTE also demanded facilitating the work of journalists and the procedures of getting work permits as well as recognising journalists’ right to reach and distribute information.

Libya Supreme Court invalidates elected parliament under pressure of militias
▻http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=68815

Libya’s Supreme Court invalidated the country’s internationally recognised parliament on Thursday, setting the stage for more political chaos in the violence-wracked nation.

The court’s ruling, which cannot be appealed, prompted celebratory gunfire in the capital Tripoli, which has been held by Islamist-led militia since August, a correspondent reported.

But it piled further pressure on the government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani which is holed up in the remote eastern town of Tobruk near the Egyptian border and has almost no control over Libya’s three main cities.

Another New York Times’ reporter’s son is in the Israeli army
▻http://mondoweiss.net/2014/10/another-reporters-israeli

Yet another reporter for the New York Times has a son in the Israeli Defense Forces. Isabel Kershner, a correspondent in the newspaper’s Jerusalem bureau, says that her son is in training in the army. This is the third time in recent years that a writer who covers the conflict for America’s leading newspaper has a son serving in an army that is regularly accused of human rights abuses. On each of those occasions, an outside publication has disclosed the army service.

Senior AKP deputy slams Erdoğan, his party over Kurdish policies: BBC

Turkish Daily News
▻http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/senior-akp-deputy-slams-erdogan-his-party-over-kurdish-policies-b

A senior member of Parliament from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has slammed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his party over Kurdish policies, BBC Turkish reported Oct. 18.

The AKP deputy, who spoke to BBC correspondent Paul Moss in Istanbul on condition of anonymity, directed “harsh criticism” at Erdoğan and the AKP, according to the report. 

“It is very hard to understand why the government decided to attack the PKK. President Erdoğan is focused on increasing his votes, not to solve the Kurdish problem. I believe that the peace process may soon collapse and this would drive the country into chaos,” the AKP MP reportedly said.

Hürriyet had reported that Turkish fighter jets bombarded positions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) late Oct. 13, following militant attacks on military outposts in southeastern Turkey, in a first since the start of the peace process. 

Many provinces in Turkey’s east, as well as the largest cities of the country, saw violent protests against the government’s policies over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) advance on the Syrian border town of Kobane. Some 37 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the demonstrations. 

The Kobane protests were seen by many observers as a potential risk for the peace process that the government started in 2013 to solve Turkey’s Kurdish problem.

İbrahim Yıldırım, who worked at the AKP’s Istanbul branch, on the other hand, supported the government’s decision to attack the PKK following the protests. “The PKK is still a terrorist organization. Thanks God none of our soldiers were killed, but they were targeted in terrorist attacks. Our Air Force didn’t plan the airstrike out of the blue,” he said, according to the BBC Turkish report.

German TV Shows Nazi Symbols on Helmets of #Ukraine Soldiers
▻http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/german-tv-shows-nazi-symbols-helmets-ukraine-soldiers-n198961

http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2014_37/656601/140909-ukraine-nazi-02_63a0fd5c7a717bba6d7b7d5b090d91b2.nbcnews-ux-520-200.jpg

The video was shot last week in Ukraine by a camera team from Norwegian broadcaster TV2. “We were filming a report about Ukraine’s AZOV battalion in the eastern city of Urzuf, when we came across these soldiers,” Oysten Bogen, a correspondent for the private television station, told NBC News. Minutes before the images were taped, Bogen said he had asked a spokesperson whether the battalion had fascist tendencies. “The reply was: absolutely not, we are just Ukrainian nationalists,” Bogen said.

Souha Bechara watching her region, albeit from afar (Souha Bechara est une héroïne incontestée de la résistance libanaise, laïque, communiste… – je suppose que tu n’entendras plus jamais parler de ces déclarations, qui ne correspondent pas à la grille de lecture confessionnelle désormais obligatoire) :
▻http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Aug-19/267625-souha-bechara-watching-her-region-albeit-from-afar.ashx

Bechara described calls made by some Lebanese factions that Hezbollah hand over its arms to the state as “empty talk.”

“We all know that the Lebanese state cannot engage in battles against any neighboring country. We do not have the capability to do so,” Bechara said.

“Whereas the guerilla warfare has led to victory even before the emergence of Hezbollah,” she continued, in reference to resistance operations carried out against Israel by Lebanese secular groups in the 1980s.

Asked whether she supported Hezbollah’s military involvement in Syria alongside the regime of President Bashar Assad, Bechara said that the party’s decision to join the war next door was based on an assessment of events that had turned out to be correct. She said that Hezbollah was fighting in Lebanon’s neighbor in order to prevent sectarian war from reaching the country.

“ Hezbollah believed that a sectarian war would have fatal consequences for it and that this very war would erupt in Iraq and would reach Lebanon,” she explained. “This assessment turned out to be right.”

Sur les droits des femmes au Liban :

Bechara said that much still needed to be done so that Lebanese women had equal rights.

“I cannot say that Lebanese women have no presence [in society], but more efforts should be made on all levels, particularly to push for the endorsement of laws granting women equal rights to those of men,” Bechara explained. “There is also the need for women to have a role in politics.”

She lamented that Lebanese law prevented her from passing her Lebanese nationality to her two girls.

Si tu ne sais pas qui est Souha Bechara, lire au minimum :
►http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souha_Bechara

The relentless trauma of covering Gaza
▻http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/gaza_fatigue.php

For Sherine Tadros, a correspondent for Sky News, one such moment came in a hospital in Gaza last month, following the shelling of a UN-run school where Palestinian civilians had taken shelter. At least fifteen people were killed. Tadros saw a child die that day, but the memory that haunts her is that of a young boy, about 11 years old, who she found sitting in the hospital corridor. The boy was shaking. Tadros sat down next to the boy and asked if he was okay. “He said, ‘Yes, but my parents are inside, they’re both inside, they’re having an operation,’” Tadros remembers. “He was so disturbed, so traumatized, and he’s not doing it because I’m a journalist. He doesn’t understand any of that.” People started shouting in the hospital and the boy covered his ears with his hands. “He just kept shaking and rocking. That stays with you,” says Tadros. “It’s just so unfair that he’s a child and he’s experiencing this and this will stay with him forever.”

Il est quand même infiniment triste de devoir assurer qu’un gamin de 11 ans vivant l’enfer de Gaza et dont les parents sont en salle d’opération ne faisait pas semblant d’être traumatisé.

#saloperie #Netanyahu #Israel

Coking plant ablaze near Donetsk
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/coking-plant-ablaze-near-donetsk-357272.html

Donetsk - A coking plant is burning in the town of Avdiyivka outside of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, an Interfax correspondent has reported.

Avdiivka/Avdiyivka/Avdeevka est la plus grande usine de coke d’Ukraine (et d’Europe ?) dont elle produit environ 20% de la production.
Avdiivka Coke Chemical Work
▻http://www.sulphuric-acid.com/sulphuric-acid-on-the-web/acid%20plants/Avdiivka-Coke-Chemical-Work.htm

Avddivka Coke plant is the largest among the Ukrainian coke and chemicals companies. Avdiivka Coke accounts for 20% of gross coke produced in Ukraine. The company’s products are well marketed in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Poland, Czech Repu

http://danger.in.ua/photo/gallery/30120110805154221.jpg

Elle fait partie de SCM, le groupe de Rinat Akhmetov.

Il avait qu’à pas embêter ses footballeurs… ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/277928

CNN Removes Reporter Diana Magnay From Israel-Gaza After ’Scum’ Tweet
▻http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/18/cnn-diana-magnay-israel-gaza_n_5598866.html

CNN has removed correspondent Diana Magnay from covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after she tweeted that Israelis who were cheering the bombing of Gaza, and who had allegedly threatened her, were “scum.”

“After being threatened and harassed before and during a liveshot, Diana reacted angrily on Twitter,” a CNN spokeswoman said in a statement to The Huffington Post.

“She deeply regrets the language used, which was aimed directly at those who had been targeting our crew," the spokeswoman continued. "She certainly meant no offense to anyone beyond that group, and she and CNN apologize for any offense that may have been taken.”

The spokeswoman said Magnay has been assigned to Moscow.

Hier: NBC News Pulls Veteran Reporter from Gaza After Witnessing Israeli Attack on Children
►http://seenthis.net/messages/276882