A group of former government workers has organized an opposition to Nkurunziza.
The capital city, Bujumbura, has seen much gunfire and grenade explosions are a common occurrence. Every morning people wake to the sight of bodies of the murdered left in the dirt. While police and army claim they have no connections to the extrajudicial killings many of the deceased were in opposition to the current president. The son of a prominent civil rights worker was apprehended and died while in custody. Others have told of harsh torture at the hands of the authorities. A failed coup attempt in July has split the ranks of the army. Some have fled to neighbouring countries. Currently at least 100 thousand people have left their homes to find uncertain safety in neighbouring countries. As the violence continues to escalate, a further 100 to 250 thousand people are expected to flee. The cost to provide for the refugees is estimated at $39 million. Sources: Afrika Reporter All Africa
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While the draconian measures passed easily in the Knesset, not all were in agreement with the move. MK Jamal Zahalka (Joint List) spoke out against the law, saying “fires cannot be put out with gas, and this law is throwing gas on a fire.” Jerusalem Post A Palestinian radio station was raided and trashed by Israelis on Monday. It was alleged that the operators were inciting the spate of violence that has erupted in the past few weeks. Stabbings and deadly shootings have resulted in deaths on both sides of the conflicts with the preponderance of deaths young Palestinians. Authorities threatened to take the Palestinian dead and bury them in unmarked graves, but later relented and returned the corpses to their families. The state of Israel was formed after the horrors of WW2. Jews were one of the groups targeted by the Nazis and millions were killed. While the Jewish religion began in the Middle East, at the time of WW2 there was no Jewish homeland. One was created where the modern Israeli State is now. Unfortunately those people who were displaced, suffered and were resentful. Some swore to “take back” their territory. In 1967 surrounding Arab countries prepared to go to war against the small state. Israel conducted pre-emptive air strikes which destroyed their enemies’ air power, seizing large tracts of land and humiliated the Arab coalition. Some of the land seized is referred to as the Occupied Territories. There have been Jewish settlements built in the area and in doing so nudging the Palestinians living there aside, sometimes with brutal force. Earlier this year a Palestinian family was destroyed when unidentified people set fire to their home, trapping them inside. Sources: Jerusalem Post Wikipedia FBI forensic investigators were asked by the president of the Maldives after an explosion on his yacht in September injured his wife, an aide and a bodyguard. The president, Yameen Abdal Gayoon Gayoon, immediately declared that it was an assassination attempt. Subsequently the vice-president, Amed Adeeb, and three soldiers were arrests charged with an attempted coup. The VP was out of the country at the time of the explosion. They remain in jail. The FBI said “submitted specimens were determined to be components from the boat and not the components of an improvised explosive device”. Guardian The Maldives look like paradise to outsiders with luxury villas built over coral reefs. Appearances can be deceptive however. The island country has been a democracy since 2008 after ousting the half-brother of the current president. Plots and counterplots have found many politicians arrested and incarcerated. The country’s first democratically elected president is locked up currently. Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has visited him in jail. Former president Mohamed Nasheed had ordered the arrest of a judge and instead was arrested and sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges. Gayoom’s former defense minister is in jail with an eleven year sentence for firearm possession. There is little doubt that those in power in the Maldives are seeking to surveil any that they suspect of terrorist leanings. Legislation was signed October 29th by the current president to allow the installation of cameras inside the homes of any that were suspected of terrorism. The definition of terrorism is a broad one and includes such broad categories as vandalism. Tensions are likely to get worse as the island nation copes with ongoing sea level rise. The country is made up of coral atolls. The highest ground in less than four metres above sea level and most of it is much lower. The country depends heavily on the tourist industry. The number of visitors has steadily climbed to about 800 000 each year. While they provide much needed foreign currency they also stress the country’s capacity to provide fresh water, dispose of garbage and safe treatment of sewage. Sources: The Guardian The Guardian Hindustan Times Union of Concerned Scientists A rare tropical cyclone is closing on the Arabian Peninsula. The Yemeni island of Socotra has already felt the storm. Chapala has caused widespread flooding, storm surges, heavy rains and strong winds. Houses have been destroyed and people are sheltering in makeshift shelters. Socotra is an outpost of Yemen in the Arabian Sea. It lies 368 km off the mainland which is in the path of the storm. Currently the storm is classed as a cat. four storm. Like Hurricane Patricia, it too has bumped up from a cat. three very quickly. It is expected to hit the port city of Mukalla, population 300 000 with about 500 mm of rain – equivalent to five years of rainfall in 24 hours. Because much of the area in the path of the storm is very dry, the rainfall is likely to run off quickly, creating flash flooding. Yemen is already in a humanitarian crisis due to its civil war. The combination of Saudi air strikes and back and forth of the two fighting groups has destroyed infrastructure and demolished many homes. Wounded people are unable to receive adequate medical help. Some are fleeing to Africa to avoid the fighting. Over half the population currently has no secure safe drinking water.
Prior to this catastrophic storm four out of five people in Yemen needed some form of humanitarian aid. Where the aid will come to help the people survive the storm damage is unknown. Meteorologists have predicted more ‘superstorms’ in the future as the Earth’s climate warms. Climatologists have modelled many areas around the world that are vulnerable to large storm surges from these large storms. In August climatologists published work that pointed out that the Persian Gulf is vulnerable to storm surge from a tropical cyclone. Sources: Al Jazeera The Gulf Today The Oman Daily Observer |
Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
October 2016
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