Syria Uprising and Civil War
Syria – Uprising and Civil War
Source: The NY Times
Overview
The wave of Arab unrest that began with the Tunisian revolution reached Syria on March 15, 2011, when residents of a small southern city took to the streets to protest the torture of students who had put up anti-government graffiti. The government responded with heavy-handed force, and demonstrations quickly spread across much of the country.
President Bashar al-Assad, a British-trained doctor who inherited Syria’s harsh dictatorship from his father, Hafez al-Assad, at first wavered between force and hints of reform. But in April 2011, just days after lifting the country’s decades-old state of emergency, he set off the first of what became a series of withering crackdowns, sending tanks into restive cities as security forces opened fire on demonstrators. In retrospect, the attacks appeared calculated to turn peaceful protests violent, to justify an escalation of force.
In the summer of 2011, as the crackdown dragged on, thousands of soldiers defected and began launching attacks against the government, bringing the country to what the United Nations in December called the verge of civil war. An opposition government in exile was formed, the Syrian National Council, but the council’s internal divisions kept Western and Arab governments from recognizing it as such.
Syrian opposition factions signed an agreement in November 2012 to create a unified umbrella organization with the hope of attracting international diplomatic recognition as well as more financing and improved military aid from foreign capitals. The coalition, known as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, was recognized by Britain, France, Turkey and several Gulf Arab countries. However, several extremist Islamist groups fighting in Syria said they reject the coalition.
One of the biggest obstacles to increasing Western support for the rebellion is the fear that money and arms could flow to a jihadi group that could further destabilize Syria and harm Western interests. On the diplomatic front, Russia has steadily blocked attempts by the Obama administration and Arab countries to win United Nations authorization for strong action against the Syrian government, its longtime ally.
By the end of 2012, Syria was many months into what the United Nations called an “overtly sectarian” conflict that was pulling fighters from across the Middle East and North Africa into the fray. The sharpest split is between the Alawite sect, a Shiite Muslim minority from which President Bashar al-Assad’s most senior political and military associates are drawn, and the country’s Sunni Muslim majority, mostly aligned with the opposition, a U.N. panel noted. But it said the conflict had drawn in other minorities, including Armenians, Christians, Druze, Palestinians, Kurds and Turkmen.
By the start of 2013, more than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, were thought to have died and tens of thousands of others had been arrested. More than 400,000 Syrian refugees had registered in neighboring countries, with tens of thousands not registered. In addition, about 2.5 million Syrians needed aid inside the country, with more than 1.2 million displaced domestically, according to the United Nations.
Zimbabwe: Corruption fears over £300m UN aid
Source: The Telegraph
Zimbabwe is set to receive almost $500 million (£307 million) of aid for its health system, with the money going through President Robert Mugabe's Reserve Bank, raising fears that his regime will benefit.
The Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, administered by the United Nations and funded by Britain, America and other critics of the Harare regime, has agreed in principle to Zimbabwe’s request for help. Jon Liden, its communications director, confirmed that Zimbabwe had applied for almost $300 million to fight Aids, $58 million to combat tuberculosis, almost $60 million for malaria and $83 million for its health service in general. This application had cleared the most important hurdle by gaining approval from the “technical review panel”.
All that remains is for the Global Fund’s board to agree to release the funds at its meeting in New Delhi next month. Mr Mugabe’s regime has already described this as a “foregone conclusion”.
But Zimbabwean law states that all foreign exchange must be deposited with the Reserve Bank. Gideon Gono, its governor and one of Mr Mugabe’s closest allies, routinely delays releasing any funds.
The Reserve Bank held on to $600,000 for one aid programme for several months. A senior official with one donor organisation in Harare said that some funds had actually gone missing after arriving at the Reserve Bank.
“The next round of money is desperately needed in Zimbabwe, but no one will feel good about any going into the RBZ [Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe],” he said.
Dr Greg Powell, a human rights campaigner in Harare, said that large sums of donor money in foreign currency had been taken from the accounts of local aid agencies during this year’s bitterly contested presidential election, which is yet to be resolved as Mr Mugabe clings to power. “During the election period, foreign money from a number of NGOs [non-governmental organisations] disappeared from their bank accounts,” he said.
“They were told they could be paid out at the official rate of exchange in Zimbabwe dollars - at a very low rate of exchange at that time, or that they will get it back some time in the future.”
Dr Henry Madzorera, the health spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said he hoped the Global Fund would ensure “accountability” if the new money is released. “We all know what goes on at the Reserve bank. It is not surprising, and someone should be held accountable.”
Western diplomats in Harare see Mr Gono as one of the main authors of Zimbabwe’s economic collapse. They blame the Reserve Bank under his leadership for the outbreak of hyperinflation.
But the Global Fund insisted that strict safeguards were in place. “We operate in 136 countries, many of them are infamous for their corruption, so we are extremely concerned and conscious about the possible misuse of funds,” said Mr Liden. “It has taken longer to put in place a safe disbursement mechanism in Zimbabwe than any other country. The money is highly controlled in an extremely tight and cautious way. We have not seen any signs of money being lost to corruption in Zimbabwe, despite operating in Zimbabwe for five years.”
Zimbabwe’s health system has collapsed to the point where even basic medicines are in short supply and trained personnel are emigrating droves. Female life expectancy stands at only 34 - the lowest in the world.
The country’s so-called “war veterans”, Mr Mugabe’s shock troops who have carried out much of the land invasions and violence of recent years, have issued a new threat to the opposition leader and putative prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Their leader JabulaniSibanda told the Herald newspaper that the MDC chief was blocking the power-sharing agreement.
He added: “He is leaving the people of Zimbabwe with one option: to take action. If he behaves the way he is behaving, this nation will take action to defend itself from him.”
Haiti earthquake: Up to 100,000 may have died
Source: The Guardian
Up to 100,000 people may have died in the Haiti earthquake, the Pan American Health Organisation has said, as the UN launches an appeal for more than $550m (£337m) in aid."A variety of sources are estimating the numbers [at] between 50,000 and 100,000," said Jon Andrus of PAHO, the Americas arm of the World Health Organisation.
Barack Obama said the US would do everything it could to get the country back on its feet. "The scale of the devastation is extraordinary ... and the losses are heartbreaking," he said at the White House.
In Britain, the Disasters Emergency Committee has launched an appeal for aid. The British Red Cross said £1m was raised in the first 36 hours of its appeal.Initial estimates spoke of 45,000 to 50,000 deaths, and the sharp rise comes as peacekeepers in Haiti warn that security has become an urgent priority amid fears of a breakdown in order.
UN troops patrolling the capital said there was rising anger that aid had not been distributed quickly. The Brazilian military advised that aid convoys should add security to guard against looting.
"Unfortunately they're slowly getting more angry and impatient," said David Wimhurst, spokesman for the Brazilian-led UN peacekeeping mission.
"I fear … we're all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries. I think tempers might be frayed."
FevilDubien, an aid worker, said some people were almost fighting over the water that he handed out from a truck in a northern Port-au-Prince neighbourhood.
Security was the biggest problem, Delfin Antonio Rodriguez, the rescue commander from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, told the AFP news agency. "Yesterday they tried to hijack some of our trucks. Today we were barely able to work in some places because of that."
The UN World Food Programme partly retracted a statement that looters had raided one of its warehouses containing 15,000 tonnes of food aid. In the new statement it said 6,000 tonnes of food remained in the building. A spokesperson said looting was not unusual in disaster situations when people were without the most basic supplies such as water.
The UN said it would launch a flash appeal this afternoon in New York for $550m in aid. A flash appeal is a way of structuring a co-ordinated humanitarian response. The former US president Bill Clinton said he would try to model a disaster assistance fund along the same lines he and former president George Bush Sr pursued for victims of the Asian tsunami. Barack Obama has asked Clinton, a UN special envoy to Haiti, to work with George Bush, the previous president, on a fundraising effort.
Hundreds of US troops and an aircraft carrier arrived in Port-au-Prince, raising hope that the situation would improve in the coming hours.
AIDS Case Study: Uganda
Source: BBC
It was in the early 1980s around the shores of Lake Victoria in southern Uganda that the Aids epidemic first began. In a missionary hospital there I asked an Irish nun how many she had seen die of the virus since then. Sister Ursula Sharp found it difficult to answer. "Oh, Lord," she said, "I'd need a big calculator to work that out."
In a clinic not far away I asked an Aids counsellor the same question. Without hesitation she replied: "Two hundred from my extended family, and more than 400 others that I knew."
They tell you in Uganda that every family in this nation of 21 million has been affected. Soon enough, you see that it's true.
The landscape here has been scarred by Aids. There are many empty fields - there is no-one left to plant them. In many places the land holds graves instead of crops. And the roadsides in the trading areas are lined with run-down wooden huts bearing the word 'Clinic.'
For almost 20 years Uganda has seen death on a massive scale, and many more will die in the years to come. But its campaign against HIV has had major results.
Since 1992/93 the rate of HIV infection has been dropping. There is no sense of triumph here - there has been too much suffering for that. But there is quiet relief.
Uganda has no magic formula to offer to the rest of Africa - it has taken tremendous political will and long years of painstaking work to make an impact against the virus. There has been massive community involvement and a huge education campaign.
One Aids campaigner told me that Uganda had been fighting while three-quarters of Africa had been asleep. "As a woman living with HIV," she said, "I am lucky to live here."
- Brazil Prepares for Huge Tourism Boost
- Source: BBC News
Sipping a very cold beer on Rio de Janeiro's famous Copacabana beach, it is immediately obvious that Brazil has huge potential as a tourist destination.As the city's young and beautiful strut their stuff under the azure sky, the sea in front of you, and mountains towering behind you, Rio is a picturesque spot.Add weather seemingly sent direct from heaven by Christ the Redeemer himself, who in statue form towers above the city, and Rio should be packed full of gringos (foreigners).Instead Brazil in general remains relatively untapped as a holiday destination.
In 2010, the number of overseas visitors to the country totalled 5.2 million, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.This meant that Brazil did not even feature in the global top 10, and it was dwarfed by world number one France, 76.8 million, and number two, the US, 60 million.
There are numerous reasons why Brazil remains off the main holiday map, but perhaps the biggest two are the fact it is rather a long way from Europe and the US, and a perception of high crime levels.
Flavio Dino, the president of Embratur, the Brazilian Tourist Board, told the BBC Business website that running a successful 2014 World Cup, and 2016 summer Olympics in Rio, will help to more than double the number of people visiting the country by 2020.
"Ultimately, the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics provide a unique opportunity for Brazil to showcase all it has to offer, and we are working very hard to make the most of this opportunity to transform and reinforce the country's image for years to come."
Brazil hopes that showcasing the country in a successful light will mean more awareness of the country as a tourist destination for visitors from the US and Europe, much as happened after the 2010 South Africa World Cup and 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Yet for a country so synonymous with football, beaches and carnivals, the Brazilian Tourist Board also hopes the World Cup and Olympics will highlight the country's other skills and attractions.
Marcelo Pedros, Embratur's director of international markets, says: "Everyone knows that Brazil can play football and throw a party, but we want to show just how well we can organise international events.
"When Germany held the World Cup in 2006 it was the other way around. Everyone knew they would be well organised, but could they hold a party?"They did, and it was very successful. We are going to prove the same success with Brazil's organisational skills."
With 12 cities across Brazil hosting World Cup matches, the tourist board is also keen to show that there is more to the country than just Rio and the country's beaches.To do this, it is launching an advertising drive to highlight the country's numerous other attractions, such as the Iguassu Falls in the southern state of Parana, eco-holidays in the Amazon, the historic city of Salvador, and Brasilia, the capital, a planned city with a wealth of unique modern architecture.
Brazil, which this week is holding the Soccerex football business global convention, is also putting particularly focus on attracting more global conferences.
In the past seven years it has risen to ninth place in the International Congress and Convention Association global rankings, from 19th back in 2003.