Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
cheney heart transplant weather san diego unitarian new black panther party lost in space elizabeth banks battle royale
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Angelina Jolie, UNHCR Envoy, Urges World To End Rape In War
UNITED NATIONS ? Angelina Jolie made her debut before the U.N.'s most powerful body as a special envoy for refugees Monday and urged the world's nations to make the fight against rape in war a top priority.
The actress told the Security Council that "hundreds of thousands ? if not millions ? of women, children and men have been raped in conflicts in our lifetimes."
Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said the Security Council has witnessed 67 years of wars and conflict since it was established "but the world has yet to take up warzone rape as a serious priority."
"You set the bar," she told the council. "If the ... council sets rape and sexual violence in conflict as a priority it will become one and progress will be made. If you do not, this horror will continue."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who presided over the meeting, stressed that "in conflicts in nearly every corner of the globe, rape is used systematically and ruthlessly, in the almost certain knowledge that there will be no consequences for the perpetrators."
Soon after Jolie spoke, the council adopted a legally-binding resolution demanding the complete and immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence by all parties to armed conflict. It noted that sexual violence can constitute a crime against humanity and a contributing act to genocide, called for improved monitoring of sexual violence in conflict, and urged the U.N. and donors to assist survivors.
It was the broadest resolution adopted by the council on the sexual violence in conflict. Hague said Britain plans to follow-up by convening a global gathering during the annual General Assembly meeting of world leaders in September to keep up the pressure for action.
Hague said at a discussion later at the Ford Foundation that his prime motivation for pressing for global action against sexual violence was the 1990s war in Bosnia, partly because of an adviser but also because of Jolie's 2011 film, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," about former lovers who end up on the opposite sides of the conflict. He said he arranged the film's British premiere at the Foreign Office and has been campaigning with Jolie since then, including a visit to Congo in March, "to move the stigma and the shame from the victim to the perpetrator."
"The time has come for the world to take a strong and determined stand to make clear that the systematic use of rape as a weapon is not acceptable in the modern world and our objective is to change the entire global attitude to these issues," Hague said.
Getting the whole world talking about sexual violence in conflict and the need to punish perpetrators not victims "will shift attitudes ? maybe over a period of years, but we have begun," he said.
Jolie, who has traveled extensively in her role as goodwill ambassador, recalled several of the survivors she had met ? the mother of a five-year-old girl raped outside a police station in Goma in eastern Congo, and a Syrian woman she spoke to in Jordan last week who asked to hide her name and face "because she knew that if she spoke out about the crimes against her she would be attacked again, and possibly killed."
"Let us be clear what we are speaking of: Young girls raped and impregnated before their bodies are able to carry a child, causing fistula," Jolie said, referring to an injury caused by violent rapes that tear apart the flesh separating the bladder and rectum from the vagina, leaving the girls unable to control their bowels or bladder.
She continued: "Boys held at gunpoint and forced to sexually assault their mothers and sisters. Women raped with bottles, wood branches and knives to cause as much damage as possible. Toddlers and even babies dragged from their homes, and violated."
Zainab Hawa Bangura, the U.N. special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, told the council that two weeks ago she visited Bosnia where an estimated 50,000 women were victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence during the war, but only a handful of perpetrators have been prosecuted.
Later, at the Ford Foundation, she said that on an African trip with Hague, she visited the village of Mambasa in eastern Congo's Ituri district where 11 babies aged 6 to 12 months had been raped, 59 children aged 1 to 3 years old had been raped and 182 girls aged 5 to 15 years old had been raped.
"Who will rape a baby?," Bangura asked. "It means you want to wipe the community away. That's the only explanation you can have."
Jolie pleaded with the Security Council ? and all countries ? to implement the resolution and not let the issue drop.
"Meet your commitments, debate this issue in your parliaments, mobilize people in your countries, and build it into all your foreign policy efforts," she urged. "Together, you can turn the tide of global opinion, shatter impunity and finally put an end to this abhorrence."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid tribute to Jolie for being the voice of millions forced to flee their homes "and now for the many survivors of wartime rape whose bodies have been used as battlegrounds."
He called on all leaders to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators "and be part of a global coalition of champions determined to break this evil."
Also on HuffPost:
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/angelina-jolie-unhcr-envoy_n_3491103.html
pietrus cheney tori spelling marion barber marion barber syracuse ohio state
Monday, June 24, 2013
Nikkei: Microsoft porting first-party game franchises to Android and iOS
Microsoft is selective about where its first-party game franchises appear -- outside of lightweight releases like Kinectimals and Wordament, it prefers to use games as technology showcases and system sellers. It may not be picky for much longer, though, as Nikkei claims that Microsoft has reached a deal with Japan's KLab to develop Android and iOS versions of its first-party titles. The deal reportedly includes adaptations of both PC and Xbox games, and would start with a free-to-play variant of Age of Empires that could launch before the end of the 2013 fiscal year. We've reached out to Microsoft to verify the rumor, but it's clear that the arrangement could be a breakthrough for gamers who aren't wedded to Microsoft's existing mobile strategy.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Tablets, Microsoft
Via: Reuters
Source: Nikkei (subscription required)
Facebook Phone lollapalooza emma watson Jaromir Jagr Shain Gandee mlb yankees
98% Before Midnight
All Critics (144) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (140) | Rotten (3)
Hawke and Delpy remain as charming as ever, and their combined goofiness is more endearing than annoying.
Love is messy here, life cannot be controlled, satisfaction is far from guaranteed. Romance is rocky at best. But romance still is.
Though "Before Midnight" is often uncomfortable to watch, it's never less than mesmerizing - and ultimately, a joy to walk with this prickly but fascinating couple again.
"Before Midnight" is heartbreaking, but not because of Jesse and Celine. It's the filmmakers' passions that seem to have cooled.
Before Midnight is fascinating to watch, and so long as Celine and Jesse are communicating, there's still hope.
How (Jesse and Celine) try to rekindle that flame is what drives Midnight, a film that feels so authentic it's like overhearing a conversation you're not sure you should be hearing.
Like the first two films, it reflects the real world in a way that seems almost preternatural. It's just that, here, the real world is a harsher, more disappointing place.
The duo, clearly so comfortable in their characters' skin, indulge in intelligent banter, sharp humour and emotional truths.
So much better written than contemporary novels, this film is a literary as well as cinematic achievement to cherish. For grown-ups.
As before, it's often very funny, with Jesse and Celine swapping Woody Allen-esque one-liners - nicely snarky, appealingly abrasive.
The acting, the dialogue and direction are superb.
None of the films is faultless in itself, but, tinted with complementary tones, the complete cycle comes as close to perfection as any trilogy in cinema history.
Marvelous. It's impossible to shake the feeling that we are merely eavesdropping on reality. Witty, wise, and -- most important of all -- truly romantic in ways that movies usually aren't.
It's been 18 years since Hawke, Delpy and Linklater introduced us to Jesse and Celine, and their story just gets richer, funnier and more punchy each time we see them. In 1995's Before Sunrise, they were idealistic 23-year-olds.
Hawke and Delpy are as believably real as any screen couple can ever be.
This is one of the few sequels for which the cliche 'eagerly awaited' is truly applicable.
Predictably, it's just as great as the first two.
By the end, Before Midnight inches towards a dawn of charm. But it's a troubled trip.
As an organic experiment in collaboration between actors and director, it is a triumph, co-created and co-owned by Delpy, Linklater and Hawke.
Hawke and Delpy, who are both credited on the script too, have never found co-stars to bounce off more nimbly or bring out richer nuances in their acting.
The performances and dialogue are wonderfully naturalistic; a reminder that the best special effects are often the cheapest.
Before Midnight is about the nature of long-term relationships, and the way love deepens and grows but also finds itself subject to the complications of maturity. Smart, insightful, and poignant.
For those who witnessed Jesse and Celine's tentative getting together as inter railing students almost twenty years ago, it's reassuring to see them still in love.
Brilliantly directed, superbly written and impeccably acted, this is a thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking and emotionally engaging drama that perfectly complements the previous two films.
It remains as engaging, illuminating, honest and funny as its predecessor; here's hoping we revisit Jesse and C?line in another decade or so.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/before_midnight_2013/
project m colts colts big ten tournament 2012 dennis quaid bruce weber fired notorious big
Monday, June 17, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
World Bank, U.N. join hands in conflict zones but face hurdles
By Anna Yukhananov
(Reuters) - When the heads of the World Bank and the United Nations flew into the violence-wracked African city of Goma on a cloudy day last month, it was the first time the giants of international development had joined forces in the struggle to help the world's most fragile regions.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon traveled to three countries in the Great Lakes region in East Africa to cement a new partnership, tying $1 billion in bank money to the U.N. peacekeeping efforts in the region.
They announced the funding in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), even as mortar shells were falling in the country's eastern edge in Goma. But the men, both born in South Korea, pledged to continue their trip.
"We're going there because our belief is that peace, security and economic development are intertwined," Kim said in Kinshasa. "We're going with a very specific purpose in mind: there must be a peace dividend."
The organizations admit the effort to work together faces hurdles. Both have vast, unwieldy bureaucracies that have historically competed with each other, and the bank had been wary of loaning to fragile states with shaky governments and murky institutions.
Further, development analysts warn that no one has yet figured out a surefire way to bring lasting development to countries caught in cycles of violence.
But with half the world's poorest people set to live in conflict-torn regions by 2018, the institutions can ill afford to do nothing, the World Bank and analysts say.
COMPETING FOR CREDIT
The organizations have already cooperated in some countries including Liberia and Bosnia. They even signed a framework agreement in 2008, vowing to work together in nations experiencing crises or just emerging from them.
But other efforts have fizzled, or been limited to one-off attempts in specific countries or situations, analysts say.
"There wasn't any kind of systematic, organizational way for the two institutions to work together," said Steven Radelet, a professor at Georgetown University. "Sometimes it has worked well, and sometimes there have been big gaps."
The United Nations and World Bank often have similar goals. But their approaches diverge and they use different vocabularies, with the bank focused on economics and the United Nations steeped in notions of security and human development.
Even on the trip to the Great Lakes, logistics officers grew frustrated trying to familiarize themselves with each other's protocols.
Competition over who gets credit for programs also has stymied efforts at cooperation.
Aid agencies tend to jump in to help countries, duplicating efforts and complicating matters for governments that have limited capacity to deal with so many organizations, said Laurence Chandy, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank.
"There's a subtle but massive distinction ... between coordinating and cooperating," he said. "The truth is, we really struggle even to coordinate.
"Cooperation is a whole new paradigm."
ELEPHANTS COOPERATE
The joint mission to Africa, which included visits to the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, was meant to signal from the top that this time would be different, Kim said.
"There's this African saying, 'When the elephant fights, the grass suffers,'" he said in an interview in Entebbe, Uganda. "I've been the grass for most of my life, watching these powerful organizations fight each other on the ground."
Kim has spent most of his career in public health, unlike the diplomats and bankers who preceded him as head of the bank.
His work at the World Health Organization, a U.N. agency, gave him an insider's view of the United Nations' strengths and foibles, said Raymond Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, a development group.
The idea behind the Great Lakes campaign is that development cannot exist without security, and security cannot last without giving people incentives to keep the peace, which development projects can offer.
On his trip to the region, Kim announced $1 billion in new funds for infrastructure projects, cross-border trade, and health and education services. It will be contingent on all countries in the region abiding by a U.N.-brokered peace deal from late February.
Researchers like Chris Blattman at Columbia University say there is evidence that large infrastructure projects like roads and power plants - a strength of the bank - can help stabilize a country and boost the economy.
But combating poverty in fragile states has been notoriously difficult. Those countries lag behind the rest of the world in standard measures of health, education and infant mortality, and are vulnerable to relapse when conflict returns.
Dealing with security is also a new thing for the World Bank, which in the past largely avoided fragile states.
"I'm not doing this just because I want to be the Kumbaya guy," Kim said, in reference to working with the United Nations. "I'm doing this because if we are to have any hope of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity, there's just no question we have to work with everybody."
"To me, not to work with the U.N. means that you're admitting up front that you're going to have low aspirations."
As he approaches his one-year anniversary at the helm of the bank, Kim has made collaboration with development organizations, including the United Nations, a top priority. Kim and Ban have talked about doing another joint trip, this time to Africa's Sahel.
Several factors have driven the bank's shift in focus to countries in turmoil.
First, of the 82 countries qualifying for loans and grants from the bank's fund for the poorest nations, 31 are classified as fragile states. The bank now proposes that about 20 percent of such funds go to those states, up from 8 percent in the late 1990s.
The nature of fragility has also changed. The number of conflicts around the world is falling, but they now tend to last longer, blurring the distinction between humanitarian aid that rushes in when a crisis erupts, and long-term development.
Finally, the realities of population growth mean that half of the world's poorest people will live in conflict-torn regions by 2018, and more than two-thirds by 2030, according to a Brookings Institution analysis.
That suggests the World Bank cannot achieve its goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 without focusing on conflict areas.
The DRC, where violence has repeatedly displaced people and hampered programs, could prove to be a particularly tough test case. More than 70 percent of its 67 million people live below the poverty line, despite billions of dollars in development aid over the past decade.
"It's easy to write off the chances in these sorts of situations. But it's really about what the alternative is," Chandy said. "If the bank isn't going to be there, who is?"
(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Xavier Briand)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-bank-u-n-join-hands-conflict-zones-051034839.html
applebees jeff gordon veterans day When Is Veterans Day 2012 brooke burke Alexa Vega Bram Stoker books
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Domestic Violence: It's assuming epidemic proportions - Effah ...
By Ishola Balogun & Aderonke Adeyeri
Not many know that relationship or marriage is meant to bring out the better person in a spouse. But, the reverse is the case in our society today as many people especially married women suffer different kinds of domestic violence.
It is a paradox that a love relationship being nurtured by spouses would suddenly turn to a theater of absurdities, leading to several injuries and scattered homes.? What kind of a person resorts to domestic violence against the spouse or domestic intimate partner? What kind of a person thinks it is right to continually humiliate or talk down a life intimate partner?
Domestic Violence
Chioma Obi, 35, got married to her loving husband Daniel in Abia State but three years after, it became a an undesirable relationship.? She was beaten and battered most times to coma. Chioma is currently suffering from partial blindness.? The story is not different from that of Tomilola Akinrogbe, who courted her husband for four years but little did she know that the day she signed her wedding certificate was like signing her death warrant when her husband, Adewale Akinrogbe stabbed her to death after an argument ensued between the couple at their residence, Ijaiye, Ogun State.
Apart from physical battering, once a spouse is physically or emotionally abused,? he or she is no longer free, no longer valued, respected or safe.? What can be more violent than living under such circumstance.
When Saturday Vanguard sought the opinions of experts on the issue, they expressed worry over the dangerous trend in our society.
Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, the Executive Director, Project Alert,? a non-governmental women?s rights organisation set up to promote and protect the rights of women and young girls who share his view on the issue opined that the current? rate of domestic violence in Nigeria can not be established, as there has not been a national survey to that effect. However, she said that following the current trend, one in five Nigerian women is a victim of domestic violence. ?As according to the 2012 Gender in Nigeria Report, one out of every five Nigerian women and girls aged 15-24 years, has been a victim of one form of violence or the other.?
She said while poverty and social economic challenges could be considered to be one of the numerous reasons for domestic violence, they are not the main reason for the act. ?Domestic violence, as indeed other forms of violence against women/young girls, is a power relationship. It is more about men and boys feeling they have power and control over women and young girls, and physically and sexually assaulting them into submission. Putting them (i.e women/girls) in their place (below men) as its often said.
This idea was corroborated by Pa? Aderibigbe Olofin, an octogenarian and sociologist based in Lagos. He stated that violent behaviour often originates from a sense of entitlement which is often supported by sexist, racist, homophobic and other discriminatory attitudes of a person, mainly the man. ?Male privilege operates on an individual and societal level to maintain a situation of male dominance, where men have power over women and children.?
Olofin added that violence at homes could be as a result of avoiding important issues out of fear of angering your partner or? excessively jealous and possessive or domineering attitudes.
?When your partner control where you go or what you do, limit your access to money, phone or car;
destroy your belongings or property; threatens to hurt you or kill you if you opt and of the relationship or marriage could be possible cause of domestic violence.
Effah-Chukwuma however stated that culture and religion play a major role in the continued perpetration of violence against women in general, and domestic violence in particular. ?This is because people hide under the guise of both, to justify acts of domestic violence. You here people saying things like ??its our culture??; ??the African culture allows it??; ??the Bible says a woman should be submissive, and if she is not, she should be beaten??; ??a foolish woman breaks her home?? etc. All these add up to keep women in abusive relationships, while encouraging their husbands to continue their abusive acts.?
?
She expressed worry over the increase in the trend, adding that her NGO receives an average of eight cases of domestic violence per week. ?At Project Alert, we receive an average of 8 cases weekly. In 50% of these cases, we are able to settle the matter, after several counselling sessions with both parties individually and then together. We mediate and help them arrive at a mutual agreement, especially where there has been no physical injury, on either parties. In 25% of the cases, the extended family members come in, and take over the matter, with the consent of the couple, and try to resolve the matter. In the remaining 25%, the violence and threat to life is so severe that the woman, states clearly that she does not want to go back to the marriage, for fear of dying, and as such wants a separation or divorce. Thus our first response is typically to try mediating,? she noted.
Effah-Chukwuma also stated that both domestic violence which includes physical battering, threat to life etc and sexual violence (rape, gang rape, incest, defilement, sexual abuse) are the two commonest forms of violence against women and young girls in Nigeria. ?In fact sexual violence against children (especially little girls) is becoming very prevalent. Hardly can a day go by, without one newspaper reporting a case of defilement and incest against a young girl, some times as little as two years of age. It is in my opinion, that it is assuming epidemic proportions,? she stressed.
On how stigmatization has been affecting agencies intervention and prosecution, Effah-Chukwuma agreed that stigmatization is one of the factors that cause victims to remain silent.
?Yes, stigmatization is an issue, as it causes victims to keep silent, and not cry out for help. The greatest challenge however is the poor response from the criminal justice system (police and courts) and social service providers (hospitals, social welfare) to victims and their families/friends. Police insensitivity to and unprofessional handling of sexual violence cases due to poor training and lack of logistics, has resulted in low reporting rates of sexual violence cases especially.?
?Lack of logistics for the police means that victims of crime have to fund the process of seeking justice, starting from providing transportation to investigating police officers, going to hospital, paying for medical tests, pay for telephone calls, etc. Very few victims can afford all these costs, and as such their cases never get prosecuted. The courts on the other hand are also insensitive to the plights of victim, with the frequent adjournments and delays. Justice delayed it is said, is justice denied.?
?The Domestic Violence Law of Lagos state, which was enacted in May 2007, is a relatively new law that Lagosians are just getting to know about. It requires aggressive mass sensitization and awareness creation by government, targeting the public, the police and the judiciary. My organization Project Alert, in 2008 and 2009, bought copies of the law from the Ministry of Justice, and donated to all police divisions in Lagos, during the tenure of Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo as Commissioner of Police in the state. We also conducted some trainings for officers. However there is a need for a sustained public awareness campaign on the law, if it is to make impact, and help prevent acts of violence in the domestic sphere. Presently it is not very functional, as so many people are yet to know about it, and understand how the law works.?
She advised that government at all levels should stop playing politics with the lives of women and young girls, and take seriously the issue of domestic violence and sexual violence. Effah-Chukwuma maintained that more and more women are suffering various health implications and even dying from these twin problems. ?Relevant agencies charged with responding and providing support services to victims, should be well trained and well equipped to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. Government, NGOs and the private sector need to partner to end all forms of violence against women and young girls,? she stated. Shedding more light on the issue, Pa? Aderibigbe Olofin, said: ?Domestic violence includes assault with weapons such as knife, gun, matchet, burning or killing, pushing, throwing, kicking, slapping, grabbing, hitting, punching, beating, biting, restraining, confinement to hurt and cause emotional imbalance in a person.?
?When your partner control where you go or what you do, limit your access to money, phone or car;
destroy your belongings or property; threatens to hurt you or kill you if you opt and of the relationship or marriage could be possible cause of domestic violence.
According to him, other causes include, ?when your partner forces you to participate in an unwanted, unsafe or degrading sexual activity;? is domestic violence.
He opined that although it is most times caused by men.? ?It is as a result of the inequalities between men and women, rooted in patriarchal traditions that encourage men to believe they are entitled to power and control over their partners.?
He added that alcohol and other chemical substance may contribute to violent behaviour. ?A drunk or high person will be less likely to control his violent impulse at the slightest provocation by a spouse.
He advised that people should acquaint themselves with the existing prohibitive laws to seek redress.
Olofin urged spouses to take note of signs of an abusive relationship which according to him is the first step to ending it. He added that it is absurd to live in fear of the person you love.
Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.
Victoria Secret Bath And Body Works Dicks Sporting Good office max office max jcp Sports Authority
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)