Persecution Defined
Unfair or cruel treatment over a long period of time because of race , religion or political beliefs .
Unfair or cruel treatment over a long period of time because of race , religion or political beliefs .
30.10.2020
(54) Albinos Are Being Killed In Record Numbers For Their Body Parts
Albinism is more common in sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere in the world. Superstitions about the condition are rife, especially in Malawi and neighboring Tanzania and Mozambique. Some believe that having sex with an albino woman can cure HIV, which puts albino women at particular risk for rape. Others believe that the bones of albino people contain gold, or have medicinal or even magical properties. That demand, stemming from a ritual medicine revival in Malawi, is fueling the spate of murders by gangs that, allegedly, can make as much as $75,000 selling a "full set" of albino body parts, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross.
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22.10.2020
(53)'Bride Kidnapping': a Growing Hidden Crime
In at least 17 countries around the world, girls are being kidnapped, abducted, raped and forced into marriage. From China to Mexico to Russia to southern Africa. In each of these lands, there are communities where it is routine for young women and girls to be plucked from their families, raped and forced into marriage. Few continents are not blighted by the practice, yet there is little awareness of these crimes, and few police investigations.
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10.10.2020
(52)Five Ways Coronavirus Is Deepening Global Inequality.
Before coronavirus, inequality was already increasing in many parts of the developing world. But the pandemic is going to greatly heighten existing economic and social inequalities. Here are five of the main ways inequality is heightening around the world.
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18.08.2020
(51)Billionaires Are Profiting From A Pandemic.
Since the start of the pandemic, American billionaires have been cleaning up. As more than 50 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance, billionaires became $637 billion richer. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth has ballooned by 59%. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ wealth has increased by 39%. Walmart’s Walton family has added $25 billion. Big drug company CEOs and their major investors are doing nicely, too. Since the start of the pandemic, Big Pharma has raised prices on 245 prescription drugs, 61 of which are being used to treat COVID-19.
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24.07.2020
(50)China Continues Its Persecution of Uighur Muslims.
Chinese government has pressed on with its “mass arbitrary detention, torture, and mistreatment” of Uighur Muslims. Since August 2016, this repression has culminated in the detention of over 1 million Uighurs, a humanitarian catastrophe of monumental proportions. In spite of the Chinese government’s efforts to suppress information, the work of organizations like the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Solidarity Campaign have brought the crisis to the forefront of the discussion on human rights, with various countries and political actors condemning China’s actions.
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04.07.2020
(49)How Women are Getting Squeezed by the Pandemic.
The coronavirus has worsened existing social and economic inequalities, especially for women. While both women and men are suffering the economic fallout of the virus across the world, it is women — already more likely to be in poverty than men, already more likely to be earning a smaller paycheck, already with less savings, already more likely to be in precarious jobs — who are being disproportionately squeezed.
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26.05.2020
(48)Israel Prepares for West Bank Annexation Despite Pandemic Spread.
Thanks to the Trump administration’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan, the topic of Israel annexing parts of the West Bank has moved from the fringe to the center of Israeli politics. The apparent noninvolvement of the United States State Department in the issue has prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to state his confidence that annexation will happen within “a few months,” or before the American presidential election in November. The Palestinians claim the entire West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as the heartland of an independent state. Annexing chunks of this territory would likely deal a death blow to faded Palestinian hopes of a two-state solution. Annexation also would anger the international community, which overwhelmingly supports Palestinian statehood.
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07.04.2020
(47)Covid-19: Women Trapped Between a Deadly Virus and a Deadly Partner.
Trapped at home with an abusive partner or father, women and children are in greater danger, during the coronavirus lockdown period, as they can no longer access support services, according to women's rights groups. The lack of privacy and the restrictions on movement make it even harder for them to reach out. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General, called on governments around the world “to put women’s safety first as they respond to the pandemic”. “For many women and girls, the threat looms largest where they should be safest: in their own homes,” Guterres declared on Sunday. An adequate response to the rise in domestic abuse is more complicated these days because all resources are concentrated on containing the pandemic. |
08.02.2020
(46)Scars Cannot Stop Them: Meet India’s Incredible Acid Attack Survivors.
Hundreds of acid attack cases take place every year in India. These incidents largely arise out of the rejection of unwanted male attention. Disgruntled fathers, disenchanted lovers, jealous colleagues or those seeking revenge against a family, make women their target. Acid, as ubiquitous as toilet-cleaning liquids, are readily available at corner stores. Acid has emerged as the most preferred weapon of violence against women. While it destroys the skin in a matter of seconds, no amount of corrective medical surgery can bring the skin back to normal. Attackers will usually throw acid on the face, resulting in scarring, deformity and permanent injuries, like blindness for example. The treatment is a prolonged one and the victims go through several surgeries, each more painful than the one before. Scarred for life, they are ridiculed and feared and often held responsible for the attack not just by society, but also by their own families.
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23.01.2020
(45)Stop Religious Persecution in Nigeria.
Religious violence in Nigeria refers to Christian-Muslim strife in modern Nigeria, which can be traced back to 1953. Today, religious violence in Nigeria is dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to impose Sharia on the entire nation. Christians have suffered hugely, making up the majority of the more than two million people who have been forced from their homes by militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The most publicised atrocity was the kidnap of 276 girls from Chibok School in 2014 but that is just one of many terrible outrages. More than 2,000 women and children have escaped or been recovered from Boko Haram and many more are almost certainly still in captivity. Those who have escaped say women and girls are forced into marriage. Those who refuse are either killed or forced into slavery. Christian men have also been killed. In one area, the attackers reportedly used chainsaws to save bullets.
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27.11.19
(44)Airbnb Is Ruining Our Neighbourhoods.
The relationship between AirBnB on rising rent prices goes as: as more property is used exclusively for Airbnb, more property is allocated from the long term rental market to the short term rental market, which caters to temporary visitors. This reduction of long term-rental units increases the price for residents looking for long term housing. As rents rise, home prices rise. AirBnB, in addition, makes property more valuable as it allows homeowners to generate profit from their excess space (Ward 2). The presence of AirBnB in a neighborhood, therefore, plays a hand in raising rent prices and displacing disadvantaged communities, as they are no longer able to pay for the high prices of rent.
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06.11.19
(43)‘Guardian’ of the Amazon Killed in Brazil by Illegal Loggers
In the months before an Indigenous leader, Paulo Paulino Guajajara was killed with a gunshot in the face in the Amazon reserve he had spent much of his life protecting, at least two efforts were made to warn Brazil’s government of the risks posed by illegal loggers in the region. The murder is one of a string of losses for Brazil’s indigenous communities, as miners and loggers make more and bolder incursions into Indigenous territories and other protected areas. Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has said that Brazil’s Indigenous reserves should be opened up to commercial exploration. Mr. Guajajara, 26, left one child. He and Laércio Guajajara were members of the forest guardians, a group the Guajajara created to defend themselves and their land against miners, loggers and others interested in illegally taking resources from the reserve.
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19.10.19
(42)Syrian Kurds are Now Holding Daily Mass Funerals.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to give a green light to a Turkish military offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria effectively abandoned one of America’s closest allies in the fight against Islamic State to an uncertain future. The People’s Protection Units, or YPG, had been a major component of the U.S.-led effort to combat Islamic State in Syria and had wound up in control of approximately a third of the country. Turkey views the YPG as a security threat due to its ties to separatist Kurds in Turkey and moved against the group to push it back from its border. The offensive raises questions about the fate of tens of thousands of Islamic State fighters and their families in Kurdish custody.
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08.10.19
(41)Vietnam’s Horrific Legacy: The Children of Agent Orange
Agent Orange was a powerful herbicide used by U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover and crops for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. The U.S. program, codenamed Operation Ranch Hand, sprayed more than 20 million gallons of various herbicides over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from 1961 to 1971. Agent Orange, which contained the deadly chemical dioxin, was the most commonly used herbicide. It was later proven to cause serious health issues—including cancer, birth defects, rashes and severe psychological and neurological problems—among the Vietnamese people as well as among returning U.S. servicemen and their families.
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07.09.19
(40)Forced Displacement at Record 68.5 million Refugees.
UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report shows an average of one person was displaced every two seconds in 2017, with developing countries most affected. Wars, violence and persecution uprooted record numbers of men, women and children worldwide last year, making a new global deal on refugees more critical than ever, according to a UNHCR report published today. The UN Refugee Agency’s annual Global Trends study found 68.5 million people had been driven from their homes across the world at the end of 2017, more people than the population of Thailand.
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28.07.19
(39)Five facts about wealth inequality that will shock and infuriate you.
1. 26 billionaires own the same wealth as 3.8 billion people or half the population of the world.
2. The poorest half of the world live on less than USD$5.50 a day. 3. While the world's 2,208 billionaires made an extra $940 billion in 2018 , the world's poorest half saw their wealth drop by 14%. 4. If the world's richest 1% paid 0.5% more tax , the world could educate the 262 million children out of school and save the lives of the 10,000 people whi die everyday simply because they can't access healthcare. 5. Women are more likely to be among the very poorest due to the unpaid care and household work they do . |
05.07.19
(38)The Contrast Between The Two Worlds That We Currently Live In.
Uğur Gallenkuş is a Turkish graphic designer who aims to draw attention to various injustices happening all over the world. He creates dramatic collages by combining photographs from different parts of the world to show the extreme contrast between them and his art is truly eye-opening. The artist says that an image can be more effective than a thousand words. “The solution to a crisis can be described by many complicated words, but you don’t need to know a language to read and understand a work of art. Art is the master of all languages,” says Uğur. “I wish that the whole world would live by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s phrase “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”, which was implemented as the foreign policy of Turkey.”
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19.06.19
(37)The Shocking Numbers Behind the Global Modern Slavery.
We might like to think that slavery is a thing of the past, but in fact in the 21st century the opposite is true. There are over 90 million people across the world caught up in the modern-day slave trade, according to a new report. Modern slavery affects vulnerable people fleeing war zones, some of whom are tricked into marriage with promises of a better life, only to have all their rights and freedom taken away. Modern slavery contravenes human rights and labour rights. Forced marriage, forced labour and people trafficking all count as types of slavery. While modern slavery can take many forms, what victims all have in common is that they are threatened or abused or tricked into marriage or work.
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18.05.19
(36)Mena Mangal: Journalist and Women's Rights Campaigner Shot Dead in Broad Daylight in Kabul, Afghanistan.
A prominent journalist and adviser to the Afghan parliament has been gunned down in Kabul, just days after posting on social media that she feared for her life. Mena Mangal was killed on Saturday morning in a brazen, public attack carried out in broad daylight. In a Facebook post on May 3, she said had received threatening messages, but that a strong woman does not fear death, and that she loved her country. “This woman had already shared that her life was in danger; why did nothing happen? We need answers,” Wazhma Frogh, an Afghan human rights lawyer and women’s rights campaigner told the Guardian. “Why is it so easy in this society [for men] to keep killing women they disagree with?”
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22.04.19
(35)Sri Lanka bombings death toll rises to 290 in 'brand-new type of terrorism'
At least 290 people are now known to have died in a coordinated attack on churches and hotels on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka, in what officials have called a "brand-new type of terrorism." Police have arrested 24 people in connection with the suicide bombs, which injured at least 500 people, in the worst violence the South Asian island has seen since its bloody civil war ended 10 years ago. Authorities were facing accusations that they had failed to act on a warning received ten days before the atrocity that an Islamist group was preparing an attack.
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20.04.19
(34)U.S. Black Women 243% More Likely to Die During Pregnancy, Childbirth and Postpartum
A yearlong investigation by ProPublica and NPR has revealed that in addition to the U.S. having the highest rate of maternal death of any industrialized country, black women are 243% more likely than whites or hispanics to die during pregnancy, childbirth or the postpartum period. The revelation that black mothers are dying at an alarmingly higher rate than other ethnicities also comes from data supplied by the CDC. The dramatic difference is considered to be indicative of the fact that black women are exposed to stress longer and more frequently and are also more prone to chronic diseases that can impact their overall health.
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30.03.19
(33)Vietnam's Hmong Christians are persecuted for their beliefs.
In Vietnam, more than a million people are part of the Hmong group. Over the last 30 years, increasing numbers of Hmong have converted to Christianity from the group's traditional religion of animism (belief in the spirit world and the interconnectedness of all living things). As this article shows, turning from animism to believe in Christ and share His gospel can come at great cost. The Vietnamese government has reacted to the surge in conversions by publishing anti-Christian propaganda and maintaining restrictive policies, making it almost impossible for churches to register.
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25.03.19
(32)New Zealand shooting victims remembered for the lives they lived
A Syrian refugee and his teenage sons, a Pakistani academic and a goalkeeper on the national futsal team are among the victims of Friday's (15/03/2019) terror attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. According to a police statement on Sunday, 50 people were killed and 50 injured after a gunman went on a rampage in two mosques, the biggest massacre in New Zealand's modern history. The victims were targeted as they gathered at the mosques for Friday prayers, leaving the country's Muslim community -- and the world -- in mourning.
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18.02.19
(31)#MeToo movement named Time magazine’s Person of the Year
Magazine celebrates anti-harassment movement by naming ‘The Silence Breakers’ on its cover after millions shared stories of sexual assault. “The Silence Breakers”, the vanguard of a global movement by millions of women to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse, was revealed on Wednesday to be Time magazine’s Person of the Year. The announcement comes as many industries and power centers around the world are still reeling from an unprecedented reckoning with sexual harassment and abuse that came in the wake of the revelations about film mogul Harvey Weinstein in October.
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28.01.19
(30)The Brutal History of Japan’s ‘Comfort Women’
Between 1932 and 1945, Japan forced women from Korea, China and other occupied countries to become military prostitutes. On December 13, 1937, Japanese troops began a six-week-long massacre that essentially destroyed the Chinese city of Nanking. Along the way, Japanese troops raped between 20,000 and 80,000 Chinese women.
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12.01.19
(29)Saving Our Forests Means Survival for Indigenous People
The world’s 370 million indigenous people are only 5 per cent of the total population but they officially hold 18 per cent of the land and lay claim to far more. Their home areas across 70 countries from the Arctic to the South Pacific include many of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots. Unsurprisingly, indigenous peoples have been stout opponents of development imposed from beyond their communities. They defend their lands against illegal encroachments and destructive exploitation, from mega-dams across their rivers to logging and mining in their forests. According to the campaigning group Global Witness, 185 people across 16 countries were killed defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive industries in 2018 alone, many of them from indigenous communities. A report by the World Resources Institute last year identified securing the land rights of indigenous people and other local communities in various regions as a low-cost way to counter global deforestation and climate change. Credit: Seeker
15.12.18
(28)Apple Supplier Workers Describe Noxious Hazards at China Factory
At a Catcher Technology Co. manufacturing complex in the Chinese industrial city of Suqian, about six hours’ drive from Shanghai, workers stand for up to 10 hours a day in hot workshops slicing and blasting iPhone casings for Apple Inc., handling noxious chemicals sometimes without proper gloves or masks. In 2014, Apple banned the use of two chemicals used for cleaning, n-hexane and benzene, from the final assembly part of its production process, following worldwide pressure from activists. However, the chemicals are still allowed for the subcontracted construction of components such as screens and camera modules prior to full device assembly. "The film doesn't say 'Chinese electronics firms use harmful chemicals that poison workers and Apple should be held completely responsible for it.'" writes White. "The film raises awareness about what is happening to workers exposed to toxic chemicals in the factories supplying Apple,Samsung, and others. Foxconn is Apple's lead supplier and Foxconn has had numerous documented violations." Credit: Heather White, Complicit
10.12.18
(27)Child Marriages: 39,000 Every Day – More than 140 million girls under 18 will marry between 2011 and 2020
Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls will become child brides, according to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). If current levels of child marriages hold, 14.2 million girls annually or 39,000 daily will marry too young. Furthermore, of the 140 million girls who will marry before the age of 18, 50 million will be under the age of 15. Despite the physical damage and the persistent discrimination to young girls, little progress has been made toward ending the practice of child marriage. In fact, the problem threatens to increase with the expanding youth population in the developing world.
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08.12.18
(26)Around the world, 6 women are killed every hour by someone they know.
Around 87,000 women were murdered across the globe in 2017 — most of them by a family member or intimate partner, according to a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Of the 87,000, more than half (58 percent) of female victims were killed by a family member or intimate partner. This amounts to an average of 137 women killed every day, or six women killed every hour, by someone they know. At 20,000 homicides, Asia had the highest number of women killed by a family member or partner, followed by Africa (19,000), the Americas (8,000) Europe (3,000) and Oceania (300). But the risk of being murdered by a partner or family member was highest for women in Africa, where the rate of such homicides per 100,000 female population was 3.1. The risk was lowest in Europe, where the rate was 0.7 per 100,000 population.
Credit: UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Credit: UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
08.12.18
(25)Gender pay gap is worse than thought: Study shows women actually earn half the income of men.
Women earned roughly half the income of men over a 15-year period, taking into account time off for family or child care, according to a report released on Wednesday, which found the pay gap is far greater than has commonly been assumed. In an examination of women's income from 2001 to 2015, the Institute for Women's Policy Research found that women's income was 51 percent less than men's earnings, which includes time with no income. Despite considerable progress over the last 50 years, 43 percent of today's women workers had at least one year with no earnings, nearly twice the rate of men. Policies like paid family and medical leave and affordable child care can increase women's labor force participation and encourage men to share more of the unpaid time spent on family care, the study emphasizes. Credit: Institute for Women's Policy Research
03.11.18
(24)For Them, Afghanistan Is Safer Than China, Persecution in Xinjiang is pushing Uighurs over the border.
Today, China’s campaigns and restrictions against the Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority group in the western region of Xinjiang, have spurred an exodus into Afghanistan, especially after Beijing and the local authorities intensified their crackdown on Uighur freedoms, religion, and culture. Beijing claims that terrorism is spilling over from Afghanistan into Xinjiang. But in reality, Chinese oppression and ethnic conflict in Xinjiang are helping to further destabilize Afghanistan and turn young Uighurs, increasingly targeted by the Chinese state, toward violent resistance. Credit: Human Rights Watch
13.10.18
(23) 59 journalists, media workers killed in the last 10 months of 2018
As many as 59 journalists were killed around the world in the last 10 months of 2018, according to the International Press Institute (IPI)’s Death Watch. Thirty-two journalists – including 11 in Afghanistan and two in Palestine – have died in targeted killings this year, frequently in retaliation for their work on exposing corruption or the activities of crime syndicates. An additional 18 killings on IPI’s Death Watch are still under review to confirm links to journalistic activity, although circumstantial evidence in these cases points to targeted killings. Four journalists were killed while covering conflicts or civil unrest, and another five died while on assignment. Of the 59 journalists killed, Six were women. Last year, 82 journalists lost their lives, marking the first time in years that the number of annual deaths fell below 100. Credit: Committee To Protect Journalists
13.10.18
(22)Deaths Of Four Successful Iraqi Women Spark Fear Among Females.
Former Miss Iraq fears she will be the next high-profile woman to be killed in the country following murder of Instagram model and three others who defied Islamic conservatives. A former Miss Iraq claims she has received death threats, telling her 'you're next', just days after the murder of an Instagram model in Baghdad. Shimaa Qassem shared an emotional video with her 2.7million Instagram followers in which she claimed successful women in Iraq faced 'being slaughtered like chickens'. Last Thursday, 22-year-old 'influencer' Tara Fares, whom Ms Qassem hailed as a'martyr', was shot dead in her car in Baghdad. Progressive Iraqis say they fear for their safety following the deaths of Ms Fares and three other female entrepreneurs under mysterious circumstances in the space of a few weeks.
Credit: NOW THIS
Credit: NOW THIS
10.10.18
(21)China's Ruling Party Orders Crackdown on Religion in Its Ranks
The atheist ruling Chinese Communist Party has tightened restrictions on the practice of religion by its nearly 90 million members, as well as insisting that they show positive signs of loyalty to President Xi Jinping. Newly revised "Regulations on Disciplinary Measures" issued on Aug. 26 require the party to "strictly deal with the use of religious activities to undermine national unity." All of the five religions officially tolerated by Chinese leaders — Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam and Protestantism — are now experiencing draconian treatment from the government of President Xi Jinping, who has stoked nationalism and promoted loyalty to the Communist Party in ways not seen in decades. Credit: Vocativ
10.10.18
(20)Measuring Racial Discrimination
Many racial and ethnic groups in the World, including blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Indians, and others, have historically faced severe discrimination—pervasive and open denial of civil, social, political, educational, and economic opportunities. Today, large differences among racial and ethnic groups continue to exist in employment, income and wealth, housing, education, criminal justice, health, and other areas. While many factors may contribute to such differences, their size and extent suggest that various forms of discriminatory treatment persist in today's society and serve to undercut the achievement of equal opportunity. Credit: Nancy Spetsioti
22.9.18
(19)'No need for birth control': Tanzanian president's views cause outrage
The president, John Magufuli, told that outsiders who promote birth control are giving bad advice, and that people who use contraceptives are lazy, according to local media. People who use birth control do so because they do not want to work hard and feed a large family, he added. Backtracking from commitments on family planning will have a devastating impact on women’s rights, “We will end up with women having unplanned children, huge families and unable to sustain their lives.”. Credit: thecitizen.co.tz
22.9.18
(18)Palestinian inventor hopes to help rebuild Gaza using Green Cake, a new type of brick made of coal and wood ash.
Green Cake is the world's only brick that uses coal and wood ash as filler material instead of the usual sand and aggregate. It is stronger than an ordinary brick, yet half the weight and price. This has stalled Gaza's ability to rebuild after the 2014 Israeli offensive, which destroyed 18,000 homes. About 75,000 people remain displaced, according to the United Nations, with many still living in temporary corrugated iron structures. Several babies died this year amid freezing conditions and a lack of heating.
25.8.18
(17)Saudi Arabia seeks 'unprecedented' beheading for woman activist.
None of the charges against Israa al-Ghomgham are for violent acts, according to Human Rights Watch Saudi Arabia researcher Hiba Zayadin. According to Amnesty International, the public prosecutor called for 29-year-old Ghomgham and other defendants to be beheaded. Most people executed in the Gulf kingdom are beheaded with a sword, according to Reprieve, an international charity focused on the death penalty. The charges against the group that Ghomgham is part of include incitement to protest, chanting slogans hostile to the regime, attempting to inflame public opinion, and providing moral support to rioters. Credit: Human Rights Watch
11.8.18
(16)Most girls in Somalia experience genital mutilation. The ritual just killed a 10-year-old.
FGM, which is sometimes called female circumcision, can take many forms but often includes the removal of the clitoris and some parts of the labia. It can cause lifelong health problems, including dangerous complications in childbirth. The United Nations identifies FGM as "an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls.” The World Health Organization says that FGM has no health benefits and estimates that worldwide 200 million women and girls have been subjected to it. In the roughly 30 countries around the world where FGM is still practiced, there can be deep-rooted stigma against those who do not go through with the procedure, which is often considered to be a crucial part of a "coming-of-age” ceremony. Credit: The Global Media Campaign to End FGM
11.8.18
(15)New school offers education 'salvation' for Syrian girls in Lebanon.
A new girls’ school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon’s poor Bekaa region is aiming to give girls from conservative backgrounds the chance at a formal education. Gaining access to education in general is difficult for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, but for girls from socially conservative families who disapprove of mixed schools, it is even harder. Human Rights Watch organisation said in its latest report in April that more than half a million refugee children are out of school in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Credit: Reuters
20.7.18
(14)Refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
An estimated 11 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of the civil war in March 2011. Now, in the sixth year of war, 13.5 million are in need of humanitarian assistance within the country. Among those escaping the conflict, the majority have sought refuge in neighbouring countries or within Syria itself. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 4.8 million have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, and 6.6 million are internally displaced within Syria. Meanwhile about one million have requested asylum to Europe. Germany, with more than 300,000 cumulated applications, and Sweden with 100,000, are EU’s top receiving countries.
Credit: UNHCR
Credit: UNHCR
7.7.18
(13)Female politicians speak out about sexist, misogyny woman face everyday.
Misogyny is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including social exclusion, sex discrimination, hostility, androcentrism, patriarchy, male privilege, belittling of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification. Recent years have seen a wave of women MPs speaking up on the disturbing misogynistic abuse many receive through social media. But reports from women working in politics suggest that verbal abuse and misogynistic attitudes don’t only occur in interactions with the public – they’re endemic to political culture. From Westminster to the Northern Powerhouse to local councils, there are women reporting cultures that not only fail to promote women, but actively hold them back from participating and reaching positions of power. Credit: Parliament TV
15.6.18
(12)Boko Haram crisis: Amnesty accuses Nigeria troops of rape
Nigerian soldiers have raped women and girls who fled the insurgency by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, Amnesty International has said. Troops separated women from their husbands and raped them, sometimes in exchange for food, in refugee camps, the rights group added. Thousands of people have also starved to death in the camps in north-eastern Nigeria since 2015, Amnesty said. Credit: Amnesty International
15.6.18
(11)Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, commonly known in mainland China as the June Fourth Incident , were student-led demonstrations in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, in 1989. More broadly, it refers to the popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests during that period, sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement. The protests were forcibly suppressed after Chinese Premier Li Peng declared martial law. In what became known in the West as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with automatic rifles and tanks killed at least several hundred demonstrators trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square. The number of civilian deaths has been estimated variously from 180 to 10,454.
Credit: South China Morning Post
Credit: South China Morning Post
15.6.18
(10)First licences issued for female drivers in Saudi Arabia, but women still face severe restrictions every day.
Saudi Arabia has arrested at least five people, mostly women who previously agitated for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system, rights activists said on Friday. Women who previously participated in protests against the ban told Reuters last year that two dozen activists had received phone calls instructing them not to comment on the decree.Some of those arrested this week spoke out about the ban after the decision, though it was not clear what specifically led to their arrest nor what charges, if any, had been made against them.
Credit: Amnesty International
Credit: Amnesty International
15.6.18
(9)Chilean Students, Feminists Unite Against Sexism in Education
Two weeks ago the student and feminist movements began occupying universities and organizing marches to protest sexism within higher education. Protests were organized after reports of sexual abuse by faculty members in Chile's Austral University and the University of Chile surfaced.On May 16 students and feminists marched in four cities, including Santiago, Chile's capital to demand the creation of an efficient action protocol in cases of sexual abuse.One protester said the moment is unique because it is the first time the student movement mobilizes exclusively to demand an end to sexist education. Credit: Reuters
15.6.18
(8)Former Cambodian Leader Mu Sochua Is Still Fighting For Women's Rights.
Mu represented the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) as its vice president, where she fought for women and people in poverty. In 2017, the CNRP had won 44% of votes in local elections, which was seen as a threat to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Mu was one of the 118 members of the CNRP party to be banned from politics by the Supreme Court. She has been traveling the world in exile since, urging world leaders to demand democracy and boycott Cambodia’s upcoming July 2018 elections, which her party wasn’t allowed to register for. Credit: NOW THIS
26.5.18
(7)Persecution of Palestinian Christians
Palestinian Christians are caught in the middle of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and many people are not aware that Christians exist in the region. Their faith makes them minorities within the Muslim-majority Palestinian community, and their Arab ethnicity results in numerous restrictions on the Israeli side. While the Palestinian Territories are considered a union, there are two different areas: Gaza and the West Bank. While laws in the West Bank generally protect religious freedom, those in Gaza are restrictive. Palestinian society as a whole deems that conversion from Islam to Christianity is unacceptable.
How Christians are Suffering
The degree of Christian persecution believers face in the Palestinian Territories depends on their tradition and heritage. Historical churches make up the majority of the Christian population, and generally have good relations within society. Most of their persecution comes from the Israeli side, including visa restrictions and harassment of church leaders by Jewish extremists. Evangelicals are a much smaller group, and they face denominational resistance from historical churches, as well as the same pressure on the Israeli side. Converts from Islam to Christianity bear the brunt of the persecution, as their conversions are rejected by their communities and families. Historical churches turn away converts for fear of repercussions from the Muslim majority.
In Shadow of Death, Palestinian Christians and Messianic Jews Relapse on Reconciling
A Norwegian charity estimates 56 percent of children in the Palestinian territory suffer from traumatic nightmares. Suicide, rarely seen culturally, is a growing concern. Maher, an Egyptian-born Baptist pastor, says some at the border see death as the best option. Two million people are squeezed into a coastal strip roughly the size of Philadelphia. Exit is severely restricted on one side by Israel. The waiting list into Egypt is 40,000 names long. Unemployment is over 40 percent. Clean drinking water is hard to come by. And on May 14, as tens of thousands massed near a chain link fence demonstrating for their “Right to Return,” Israeli snipers picked off dozens.
19.5.18
(6)Gender Discimination
Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796 million adults without basic literacy skills; women represent less than 30% of the world’s researchers; and women journalists are more exposed to assault, threat or physical, verbal or digital attack than their male counterparts.
UNESCO believes that all forms of discrimination based on gender are violations of human rights, as well as a significant barrier to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Our message is clear: women and men must enjoy equal opportunities, choices, capabilities, power and knowledge as equal citizens. Equipping girls and boys, women and men with the knowledge, values, attitudes and skills to tackle gender disparities is a precondition to building a sustainable future for all. Credit: Mashable
UNESCO believes that all forms of discrimination based on gender are violations of human rights, as well as a significant barrier to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Our message is clear: women and men must enjoy equal opportunities, choices, capabilities, power and knowledge as equal citizens. Equipping girls and boys, women and men with the knowledge, values, attitudes and skills to tackle gender disparities is a precondition to building a sustainable future for all. Credit: Mashable
19.5.18
(5)Linda Sarsour Explains Why the Media Got It Wrong About Gaza and Palestine.
“When the headlines say, ‘people died in Gaza,’ it breaks my heart because people didn’t choose to die,” she explained. “People were killed, they were massacred at the hands of snipers.”
On May 14th, 2018, Israeli Troops killed at least 58 Palestinians. But multiple news organizations stated that the Gazans has simply “died” with no reference to how they were killed or by whom. It was the deadliest single day for Palestinians since 2014. The UN Council has condemned Israel for “human rights violations,” but little has been done in terms of justice for the lives lost.
Credit: NOW THIS
On May 14th, 2018, Israeli Troops killed at least 58 Palestinians. But multiple news organizations stated that the Gazans has simply “died” with no reference to how they were killed or by whom. It was the deadliest single day for Palestinians since 2014. The UN Council has condemned Israel for “human rights violations,” but little has been done in terms of justice for the lives lost.
Credit: NOW THIS
19.5.18
(4)Chemical weapons of Today .
Examples include dimethyl methylphosphonate, a precursor to sarin also used as a flame retardant, and thiodiglycol, a precursor chemical used in the manufacture of mustard gas but also widely used as a solvent in inks. Schedule 3 – Have legitimate large-scale industrial uses. Examples include phosgeneand chloropicrin. Credit: Seeker+Sci
24.4.18
(3)World Refugee Day is June 20 annually.
World Refugee Day commemorates the strength, courage and perseverance of 65 millions of refugees who have been forced to flee war, persecution and violence. Credit: Mic
21.4.18
(2)The persecution of christians in the middle east.
In spite of the fact that every country in the Middle East has at least a small number of believers in Christ from a Muslim background, and in spite of the fact that the vast majority of native Christians are Arabic speakers themselves, Christians in the Middle East face persecution –in various grades, depending on the residence country– and are often isolated. Credit: Avi Yemini
21.4.18
(1)Rohingya, the largest stateless group of people in the world.
Risking death by sea or on foot, nearly 900,000 have fled the destruction of their homes and persecution in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar (Burma) for neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017. The United Nations described the military offensive in Rakhine, which provoked the exodus, as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing". Myanmar's military says it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies targeting civilians. Credit: The Economist
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
