GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Alexander Dale Oen, age 26, one of the world’s finest competitive swimmers, was found dead in his Arizona hotel room shower Monday 30 April. The medical examiner reported he died of cardiac arrest and there were no signs of foul play. He had been doing high altitude training with his team.
Dale Oen was widely considered a favourite for the London Olympics this summer and he was Norway’s great swimming hope.
The New York Times recalls that “at last summer’s world championships in Shanghai, Dale Oen turned in the most emotionally charged performance of the meet. Competing in the 100 breaststroke final three days after 77 people, mostly children, died in the worst massacre in Norway’s history, he won in 58.71 seconds. It was the fastest time recorded by a swimmer not wearing the now-banned polyurethane suits and the fourth fastest in history.”
Links to other sites: ESPN, New York Times, SuperSport (rival Kitajima’s remarks)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – At least 21 people were killed in two separate attacks on Christian church services Sunday 29 April, in northern Nigeria.
In a first attack at a university campus in Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city, gunmen killed at least 16 worshippers congregating at a lecture hall, using explosives and gunfire, as people attempted to flee. A chapel in the city of Maiduguri was later attacked, and five people, including the pastor, were killed.
No one claimed responsibility for the attacks but the attacks resembled others carried out by the Boko Haram sect, which has used bombs and guns in previous attacks in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north and in the country’s capital, Abuja. Earlier victims have included Christians, Muslims and government officials.
Officials claim the group has links with Al-Qaeda sympathizers including Islamist insurgents in northern Mali. In March Tuareg and islamists took control of northern Mali.
Links to other sources: The Guardian, CNN, Reuters, AP
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow, was ordered by Britain’s Border Agency not to distribute leaflets to arriving passengers warning them of “very long delays”, after some of the worst queues the airport has seen last week.
BAA, the owner of Heathrow airport, on Saturday 28 April distributed pamphlets apologizing to passengers about long waits at immigration checks and advising them to direct complaints to the British Home Office, responsible for the UK Border Agency.
Marc Owen, director of the UK Border Agency at Heathrow airport, requested that BAA withdraw from distributing the “inflammatory” brochures which will “increase tensions” amongst passengers.
The Telegraph reported that Terminal 5 at the airport had queues of up to two hours, several times last week. A number of frustrated passengers resorted to “storming past officials without showing their documents”.
The Border Force said that it will rehire former members of staff to begin work in July, when the Olympics get started in London.
Links to other sources: Daily Mail, The Telegraph, UK Press Association
Updated 16:40: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Chen Guancheng, a reknowned blind Chinese human rights activist who had escaped house arrest on 24 April is in the US embassy in Beijing, according to a friend and fellow dissident, Hu Jia.
Hu, who had been detained over the weekend in relation to the escape, told AFP that his interrogators had suggested that Chen had met with US Ambassador Gary Locke. He was asked when had Chen met with the ambassador. “So it seems very clear that he has met with the American ambassador”, Hu said. “I had no way of answering. I do not know what is going on inside”.
Hu had met with Chen following his escape.
There has been much speculation about Chen’s whereabouts since his escape. The United States has not commented till now on Chen’s location. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are scheduled to arrive in Beijing for an annual round of talks with the Chinese government.
A video was released last week following the escape by a US-based Chinese dissident group, Boxun.com, in which Chen addressed Premier Wen Jiabao. He requested that local officials allegedly involved in the beatings of his family members be investigated and prosecuted and that the safety of his family members be assured. He also asked Wen to address and punish those involved in corruption in China.
Chen, known as the “barefoot lawyer” had been in house detention since he was released in 2010 following a four-year jail term. He has been blind since childhood.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Standard & Poor’s dropped Spain’s credit rating by two notches to BBB-plus on expectations that the country’s finances will continue to retract due to a prolonged recession and an ailing banking sector.
European stock markets opened lower on Friday morning 27 April following the US rating agency’s announcement that it expects the Spanish economy to keep shrinking into next year.
S&P further warned that the situation could worsen without the measures now being taken at the European level. It said Spain’s outlook could “deteriorate further than we anticipated earlier this year unless offsetting eurozone policy measures are implemented to support investor confidence and stabilize capital flows with the rest of the world”.
Links to other sources: El Pais, The Telegraph, Reuters
Former president of Liberia first head of state indicted, tried and convicted in an int’l court
This two-‐year-‐old girl lost her right arm when her grandmother was shot and killed by Revolutionary United Front rebels. She was being carried on her grandmother’s back and was wounded by the same bullet that killed her grandmother. The four other men all had their hands amputated by rebels ©1999 Corinne Dufka/Human Rights Watch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, was convicted in The Hague Thursday 26 April on 11 counts of war crimes by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
The court’s statement noted that the 11-count indictment alleged that he was responsible for crimes committed by rebel forces during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war. “The Special Court’s Trial Chamber II found unanimously that Mr. Taylor aided and abetted RUF and AFRC rebels in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone.”
The court did not accuse him of personally committing crimes but rather “found that he had aided and abetted the rebels by providing them with arms and ammunition, military personnel, operational support and moral support, making him individually responsible for their crimes”, from his base in neighbouring Liberia.
The charges included the recruitment, enlistment and use of child soldiers and
- several war crimes: terrorism, outrages upon personal dignity and cruel treatment, pillage plus
- several counts of crimes against humanity: rape, enslavement, sexual slavery, mutilations and amputations and murder.
A sentencing hearing will be held 16 May and he will be sentenced 30 May. The court must sentence him to a specific number of years in prison; it cannot give him a life sentence or the death sentence.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – An arms embargo will remain but other sanctions against Myanmar/Burma have been lifted by the European Union, to take effect the week of 30 April, the EU announced 23 April.The easing comes as a result of the Burmese parliament re-opening and other signs that the repressive regime is serious about opening up the country and improving its human rights record.
Switzerland, whose own sanctions match closely those of the EU, has not yet announced if it will make a similar move. The Swiss began sanctions 12 years ago because of human rights abuses, and it tightened these in 2006.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A local train and a high-speed train crashed head-on just outside Amsterdam, Saturday 21 April, about 18:30. First estimates were that 60 peoople were injured, 2 of them seriously, but the number by midnight was reported to be 125. Sunday morning Dutch authorities lowered the figure to 42.
The accident occurred on a bridge between Sloterdijk and Amsterdam Central Station, according to AFP.
Links to other sites: AFP, Dutch News and AT5 TV in Dutch
127 died on airliner’s maiden flight
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – There were no survivors among the 127 passengers and crew on a Bhoja Air 737 that crashed not far from Islamabad in Pakistan Friday 20 April, officials have confirmed. The plane was on its maiden voyage, according to Indian and Pakistani news sources.
Investigations into the cause of the crash were underway Saturday, with stormy weather expected as the culprit. Eyewitnesses told local media that the plane was already on fire before it hit the ground. Parts of the plane crashed into electricity poles and housing, reports Reuters, causing blackouts, but there were no casualties on the ground.
Links to other sites: Dawn, Pakistan; Reuters, Times of India
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Beijing reacted calmly to the launching of India’s first long range missile, capable of reaching several major Chinese cities, emphasizing the importance of the two countries’ bilateral relations.
“China and India are both emerging countries, we are not rivals, but cooperation partners”, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin following the testing of the Agni-V nuclear-capable missile Thursday 19 April.
China’s Global Times, a daily newspaper controlled by the Communist party took a more critical tone, saying that the missile demonstration “does not mean (India) will gain anything from being arrogant during disputes with China” and that “India should not overestimate its strength”.
The locally-built Agni-V, at a cost of $500 million, has a 5000 kilometer range, which would include most of China, including Beijing and Shanghai.
This week’s missile launch places India within a small group of countries holding the capability to launch long-range weapons. Only permanent United Nations Security Council members, the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China, as well as Israel, have this capability. In recent years, India has expressed its interest to gain a permanent seat in the Security Council.
Links to other sources: CNN, Christian Science Monitor, Aljazeera, Wall Street Journal
Source: Environmental Research Letter
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Africa could be sitting on 100 times more water underground than what it has on the surface, according to a British report.
A report in the Journal of Environmental Research Letters says that some of the largest aquifer reserves are reportedly located under the most arid States, including Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Algeria, Niger and Chad, though groundwater resources vary widely throughout the continent. Total underground reserves in Africa are estimated at .66 million cubic kilometers.
Over 340 million people in Africa do not have access to safe drinking water, according to United Nations estimates. Demand for water constutes a growing concern due to a growing population and greater demand for irrigation to satisfy food requirements. Only five percent of arable land is currently irrigated.
The study, the first ever continent-wide survey of aquifers, considered “appropriately sited”, albeit lower-yielding, hand pumps to be more efficient and less wasteful for the extraction of the groundwater than large-scale drilling.
Researchers from the British Geological Survey and the University College of London (UCL) based their results on available borehole yields in various locations and the consolidation of national hydrogeological maps and literature.
Links to other sources: BBC, Radio France Internationale
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Global military spending remained practically unchanged in 2011, but budgets saw strong increases in Russia and China, while military expenditure fell in the United States and in Europe due to austerity measures.
The Swedish think tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, (Sipri), published the figures Tuesday 17 April.
Overall spending was $1.73 trillion or 0.3 percent above 2010, the group said in its annual review.
The US remains the top military spender at $711 billion, in spite of a 1.2 percent cut, the first reduction since 1998.
Central and Western Europe military spending fell by 1.9 percent, with Germany down 3.5 percent and France 1.4 percent.
China, the world’s second biggest spender at $143 billion, increased its budget by 6.7 percent. Russia’s military budget rose a whopping 9.3 percent in 2011 to $72 billion, overtaking the United Kingdom and France, to make it the world’s third largest spender.
Links to other sources: The Guardian, Voice of Russia, Radio Canada, Washington Post
Ed. note: our apologies to readers for a number of errors in this story, corrected below
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Charles Taylor, former Liberian leader who is accused of crimes against humanity, will be judged 26 April in The Hague by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor was apprehended in 2006, three years after the court indicted him on 11 charges, including terrorism. He was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003 and gained a reputation as a prominent African warlord in part because of his involvement in the affairs of neighbouring Sierra Leone, which was battered by a civil war from 1991 to 2002.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up jointly by the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations 10 years ago.
Taylor is the first former head of state to be judged by an international criminal court. Slobodan Milosevic, the first former head of state to be tried, died before he was judged.
Links to other sites: Human Rights Watch page on Taylor, The Special Court for Sierra Leone
NASA says lessons learned from 2011 twisters
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The killer tornadoes that hit the southeastern United States a year ago left mostly chaos in their trail, but they also handed scientists some interesting lessons, says Nasa (US aeronautics agency). The lessons could come in handy as unseasonably warm weather reaches across much of the US, bringing with it early tornadoes.
The 27-28 April twisters were “the costliest convective storms in US history”, the agency says of the deadly storms: 202 tornadoes in two days took 316 lives. Tornado topography, which looks at how the lay of the land may affect potential storms – valleys to channel them, mountain slopes to help air roll quickly – was given a scientific boost by the massive number of storms in a short time in adjacent areas.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dr Jim Yong Kim, the US candidate for president of the World Bank has been named to the post. He is currently president of Dartmouth College in the US and is well-known for his role in fighting HIV/Aids in developing countries. He takes up the job 1 July, following the resignation of Robert Zoelick, a former US diplomat.
Kim’s appointment is a sharp departure from previous ones, where the US named its candidate, but also where the emphasis was placed on a strong background in economics.. This time there were three names in the hat, Kim, Colombia’s former finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, and Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Links to other sites: World Bank official announcement, Aljazeera, Financial Times (registration), Washington Post
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The United States Secret Service and military responsible for protecting President Barack Obama are under scrutiny following accusations of misconduct involving prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia before the president arrived for the Summit of the Americas there. Eleven secret service agents and five military servicemen were suspended from duty 14 April.
Republican representative Darell Issa is suggesting a broader investigation into the secret service team. Issa, who heads the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, told CBS that lawmakers should “look over the shoulder” of secret service investigators.
Ron Kessler, the Washington Post journalist responsible for breaking the story, called this “clearly the biggest scandal in Secret Service history”. Kessler, speaking on NBC on Monday 16 April said that instead of an investigation, “The action that’s needed is replacement of the Secret Service director, because it’s really President Obama’s life that is at stake”.
Secret Service agency spokesman Edwin Donovan told the Wall Street Journal that the investigation will be “comprehensive” and will include earlier secret service trips.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, said that it was extending its investigation into the conduct of military staff sent to support the secret service during President Obama’s visit on suspicion there may be more than five involved.
Links to other sources: ABCNews, Christian Science Monitor, NPR
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A man, his wife and his mistress were arrested in Northeastern Brazil for allegedly killing at least two women and then eating them.
The three, who admit using flesh from their victims to make meat pastries, which they sold to neighbors, told police that they belonged to a sect and had heard a “voice” telling them to kill. The suspects claim the “Cartel” sect preached “the purification of the world and the reduction of its population”, according to the police.
Two female bodies, and a 5-year-old girl, suspected of being the kidnapped daughter an earlier victim, were found at the couple’s house in Garanhuns, 230 kilometers from Recife.
The male suspect, Jorge Beltrão Negromonte, had allegedly written a 50-page book, entitled “Revelations of a Schizophrenic”, detailing the trio’s cannibalism.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A long-range rocket launched by North Korea Friday 13 April to mark the 100th anniversary of the regime’s founding leader exploded 90 seconds after taking off, nonetheless drawing condemnation from G-8 countries.
A joint statement from foreign ministers of the G-8, which comprises the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, condemned the action, and said they may request an “appropriate response” from the United Nations Security Council.
Switzerland also condemned the North Korean move.
The launch, which North Korea said was intended to put a satellite into orbit, has been widely seen as an attempt to test long-range missile technology forbidden by UN resolutions.
The failure of the much-lauded Unha-3 rocket was reported on national television in North Korea, in a rare demonstration of candor. A statement said that it had failed to enter orbit.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the launch.
Links to other sources: BBC, The Guardian, MSNBC
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Connecticut is about to become the 17th US state to abolish the death penalty, with both houses voting for a bill to ban it and the governor announcing 11 April he will sign the bill. Five states have abolished it in the past five years, says Human Rights Watch: New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, and Illinois. The group, which has a worldwide campaign against the death penalty, notes that another 13 states that have the penalty on the books have not used it for at least five years.
Human Rights Watch applauds the new bill, but points out that 11 prisoners in Connecticut have still-valid death sentences because it will not apply retroactively. “The failure to make the change retroactive is contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 15 states that if a law reduces a criminal penalty, all offenders should benefit from such a reduction, even those who committed their offense before the reduction. However, when the US ratified the treaty in 1992, it included a reservation that it would not adhere to this provision.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead as planned on 22 April, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced.
Ongoing political unrest, which included the death of anti-government protesters last year, had fueled speculation that the racing event may be cancelled. Opposition to the ruling royal family had called for the races to be put off.
The Formula 1 governing body released a statement Friday 13 April saying “The FIA must make rational decisions on the information provided to us by the Bahraini authorities and by the Commercial Rights Holders” and “it is satisfied that all the proper security measures are in place for the running” of the race.
Formula 1 president Bernie Ecclestone, commented, “I suppose the right thing to do is to stop speculating and wait and see, then we will deal with the matter when it arises”.
Links to other sources: BBC, The Guardian, International Business Times
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Algeria’s first president, Ahmed Ben Bella, died Wednesday 11 April at the age of 93, in Alger, a few days after the country marked the 50th anniversary of its independence from France.
Ben Bella joined the anticolonialist resistance after serving during the Second World War in the Free French forces in Europe. He later became one of the leading figures in Algeria’s violent struggle to achieve independence. Ben Bella entered politics after being moved by the killing of over 1500 anti-colonialist protesters by French troops in the town of Sétif in 1945.
He presided a one-party state, from 1963 to 1965, before being deposed by the army chief. In later years, he supported democracy and was critical of Islamist forces which gained ground in the 1990s.
Ben Bella’s father had changed his year of birth, allowing him to leave school and return to work on the family farm, the New York Times reports. His official, albeit modified, date of birth was reported in the Algerian press as 25 December 1916, making him 95 at death.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Rock band-leader Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses says he doesn’t want to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Rose, the only original member still performing in the band, wrote to the Rock Hall on Wednesday 11 April, stating “I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia”.
The original members of the band, which saw the height of its popularity in the 1980s and 90s, have been feuding for years, resulting in much speculation when the induction was announced in February as to whether the core members would appear together.
Other bands to be inducted at the annual ceremony include the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Donovan, and Donovan. The Sex Pistols are the only band who have declined Hall of Fame induction.
Links to other sources: BBC, The Globe and Mail, Los Angeles Times
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – George Zimmerman, the self-confessed killer of an un-armed Florida Afro-American, was charged Wednesday evening 11 April with second-degree murder, six weeks after the incident.
The murder of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin by Zimmerman, who admits to have acted in self-defense in his role as a neighborhood watch volunteer, sparked a nationwide debate about racial profiling and general outrage at how the killer could remain free. US President Barack Obama had added to the discourse last month, saying “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon”.
Zimmerman is expected to plead not guilty. His lawyer will request his release on bail when he appears before the magistrate Thursday.
Links to other sources: NPR, Reuters, The Telegraph, Miami Herald
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan is urging Syrian ally, Iran, to help in an effort to achieve peace,
The joint UN and Arab League appointee on Syria met with Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, Wednesday 11 April in Teheran, saying that Iran could be “part of the solution”. The meeting comes a day before the ceasefire agreement that he brokered is scheduled to go into effect.
Iran is a key regional ally of Syrian President Bashir Al-Assad, as Damascus becomes increasingly isolated internationally in the face of continued violence against government opponents. Opposition forces reported 101 civilian deaths on Tuesday, according to CNN .
Annan said he received assurances that the Syrian government would respect the ceasefire, and that by 06:00 Thursday 12 April, the ceasefire hour, “We should see a much improved situation on the ground”.
Links to other sources: BBC, New York Times, Financial Times, Aljazeera
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Peruvian President Ollanta Humala says informal mining was responsible nine miners trapped in a copper and gold mine following the cave-in of a horizontal shaft 5 April.
The collapse follows violent protests last month in the eastern jungle province of Madre de Dios against government reforms targeting wildcat mining. Prison terms were proposed for mining in protected forested areas and polluting the environment, which often involves dumping chemicals such as mercury and cyanide into rivers.
Mining is Peru’s most important industry, accounting for 60 percent of exports. Illegal mining alone generates about 2.2 billion soles ($825million) per year, according to official estimates.
An official permit to operate the Cabeza de Negro mine was revoked two years ago when its stability was questioned. Miners recently returned without permits to extract copper and gold from the mine, America TV reports.
The incident is a reminder of a Chilean mine collapse in October 2010 when 33 workers were trapped for 69 days.
Links to other sources: El Comercio, El Pais, CNN, The Globe and Mail, The Peruvian Times
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Rick Santorum has pulled out of the race for the Republican Party candidacy for the US presidential race, leaving it wide open for Mitt Romney. Santorum says he will continue to fight to unseat President Barack Obama, but he did not endorse Romney, who called him “an important voice” for the party and the country.
Santorum mentioned that his daughter’s illness over the weekend had caused him and his wife to reflect on their role as parents; their three-year-old, Bella, was hospitalized briefly with pneumonia. She suffers from a rare genetic disorder.
Links to other sites: CBS News, Los Angeles Times, NPR
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Charles de Gaulle-Roissy airport is Europe’s busiest nighttime airport, according to Le Monde, and the French don’t like it. A German decision 5 April to close Frankfurt, another busy hub, from 23:00 to 05:00 is being watched closely by the French. The Paris newspaper says that until now authorities have resisted pressure to close the airport for fear of losing out to the competition. Roissy is Europe’s second busiest airport, but with 160 airline flights between 22:00 and 06:00, it holds the top night slot. Le Monde reports that with the Paris airports group claiming the night business employs 27,000 people, with euros4.5 billion in turnover, the lights wont’ go out easily on night flights.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dmitry Ivanyuta, 25, has been discovered in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Siberia, after being declared one of the 31 people who died in a plane crash near Tyulen, Russia 2 April. Twelve people survived the crash and are “recovering slowly” reports the Moscow Times. The newspaper says that the survivor’s sister recognized his face, initially unrecognizable. The man under whose name he was admitted to hospital was one of the dead, his family learned after requesting DNA testing.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Ireland’s eight-year-old Jaimie Donovan this week became the youngest person to stand at the North Pole, reports the Irish Times, in a visit to her father, endurance runner Richard Donovan, whose own claim to recent fame is to have run seven marathons on seven continents in five days. Jaimie was visiting her father, who organizes a polar marathon, which kicked off last Friday. “This year’s course — a 4.22km circuit carved on the ice with athletes running 10 circuits — had to be patrolled by armed personnel as two polar bears had been spotted in the area,” according to the Irish newspaper.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Anders Behring Breivik, who is accused of killing 77 people in Norway in a shootout last year, has been found sane. He will now face trial. The decision reverses an earlier psychiatric assessment but The Guardian notes that this is not a definitive judgement and that an assessment at the end of the trial will determine where his sentence will be served, in a regular or psychiatric facility. He was charged in March with terrorism and homicide in connection with shootings in Oslo and then on the island of Utoya 22 July 2011, following his confession to the crimes.
Links to other sources: Guardian, RTE, Sky News
