I don’t like the word democracy. It is one of those words that is used to mean all kinds of things, and it is interpreted in all kinds of ways. Democracy is not the world’s saviour… and neither is the blind belief in human progress. Here we are in 2010 and despite our progress, governments still kill their own citizens. [...]
The information war is being employed to its fullest at the moment due to the tragic incident that took place this week where a flotilla of ships tried to break the naval blockade off the coast of Gaza and were boarded by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) commandos, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries. Predictably, all involved parties are painting themselves [...]
On July 11, 1947 a ship once known as President Warfield but renamed SS Exodus, left the port of miggets Sete in France. The ship had served as part of the American navy during WW2 but was sold by the War Shipping Administration in 1946. It was purchased by the Potomac Shipwrecking Company which was acting as an agent of [...]
“Damn Israel”. That’s what Turkish protesters have been yelling outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. Israel is accused of attacking a flotilla of vessels bringing aid to Gaza. Apparently 10,000 tonnes of aid was aboard. About 9 “activists” were killed in the incident. Like most other news emanating from any Israeli-Palestinian conflict – truth is the first casualty. Even a [...]
Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country – is well known for being a political enigma. Every year when the state failure warnings come out, Nigeria is always coloured a bright red. ‘Why doesn’t Nigeria collapse?’ has become a compelling question for political scientists. The lifeblood that keeps the Nigerian government running is oil revenue. However over the past decade Nigeria’s [...]
Imagine that you are an operator at a nuclear power plant, and you receive an alert that toxic gases have leaked and are on their way to the cafeteria, where the gases will imminently and certainly kill all five people inside. You have the power to flick a switch and divert the gases to an office with a single person [...]
Burma (also known as the Union of Myanmar) is a country we hear little about. Under military rule since 1962, the country is dominated by an oppressive regime resulting in a State of fear. Democratic elections have been planned for 2010, but they are a farce, or – as described by the US government – a mockery. The leader of [...]
On 1 September 1939, Hitler unleashed hell on Poland with the support of the Soviet Union. It ended the following month on 6 October when Germany and the Soviet Union annexed and carved up Poland for themselves. It was the beginning of WWII. On August 22 of 1939, Hitler gathered his generals together to explain what was about to take [...]
Xe, the US-based security firm formerly known as Blackwater, is under investigation by the US justice department, for trying to bribe Iraqi officials. According to the New York Times, the attempted pay-offs were made in hope of securing contracts after a deadly shooting in 2007, which eventually led to the companys expulsion. The US justice departments fraud section opened the inquiry late last year to determine [...]
Al Jazeera has a report about the state of water distribution between Israel and the Palestinian Territories: Israel is denying Palestinians adequate access to clean, safe water while allowing almost unlimited supplies to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, human rights group Amnesty International has said. “Swimming pools, well-watered lawns and large irrigated farms in Israeli settlements… stand in [...]
The following images from Sri Lanka include a few from within the war zone during the last days of the civil war and the defeat of the Tamil Tigers (they are the images towards the end). We also have images from the war zone that we chose not to include due to their graphic nature – they are heart breaking. The [...]
The following is reprinted with permission from Reuters AlertNet. Images used in this article were obtained from the author and are used with permission from the author. The views expressed in this article are the author’s alone. Through our partner in Sri Lanka, TEAR Fund is one of the few organisations with good access to those suffering through displacement. Written [...]
TEAR Fund has recently approved a sum of money to be sent to our partner in Pakistan to provide assistance to the many people who are now refugees after fleeing the Swat Valley area to the fighting between government forces and the Taliban. Pakistan is a country we are monitoring closely.
In this edition of the Podcast, with the Sri Lankan government declaring the defeat of the Tamil Tigers and the Red Cross pulling back from it’s aid operations with the victims of recent events due to the government restricting access, we thought we would catch up with Ian McInnes, one of our programme officers and the former director of our [...]
The situation in Pakistan is worsening for civilians from the Swat valley area with thousands fleeing after the government called for an evacuation so it could step up the level of its attacks against the Taliban. With the latest evacuation coupled with people who have already left the area since August, the number of internally displaced people (IDP) now stands at [...]
In this edition of the Podcast we talk to Ian McInnes, former country director for World Concern in Sri Lanka, TEAR Fund’s partner in the area. We discuss the current situation and what TEAR Fund is involved with.
