US exit creates army ripe for recruitment
May 19, 2012
Illustration: Simon Letch Numbers coming out of Afghanistan often are scary but try wrapping your head around this one – 123,500. After a roller-coaster decade of training by the US-led coalition, that’s the number of soldiers and policemen who will be turfed from Kabul’s foreign-funded security payroll as the coalition goes through the pretence of a dignified exit from what has become the US’s longest war. As bottom-line budget tightening, these cuts will be welcome in coalition capitals. But they will be even more welcome as an army of well-trained, battle-hardened fighters for the insurgencies and militias that are busily carving out territory, even before the departure of coalition…
UN Envoy in Somalia Concerned Over Violence in Hargeisa
May 19, 2012
Sunday, 20 May 2012, 11:12 am Press Release: United Nations UN Envoy in Somalia Concerned Over Violent Clashes in Hargeisa New York, May 19 2012 5:10PM The United Nations envoy in Somalia, Augustine P. Mahiga, today expressed concern over recent violent clashes in the northern…
Conflict in Nuba mountains may lead to devastating epidemics, say doctors
May 19, 2012
Health workers warn that UN aid agencies are being prevented from delivering vital supplies of vaccines to the children of refugees fleeing the fighting in Sudan A mother and her child shelter from air strikes in a cave in South Kordofan in the Nuba mountains. Photograph: Adriane Ohanesian/AFP…
Largest protests yet in Syria’s biggest city
May 19, 2012
ZEINA KARAM Associated Press= BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian forces on Friday fired on protesters holding the largest opposition marches yet in Aleppo, a sign of rising anti-regime sentiment in the country’s biggest city, which has largely remained supportive of President Bashar Assad throughout the 15-month uprising. The head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria warned that neither his team nor armed action could solve the country’s crisis, and called on all sides to discuss a solution. But the regime kept up its assaults on opposition areas and protests, while the head of Syria’s largest exile opposition group dismissed the U.N.’s plan as unrealistic. Anti-regime protests in Aleppo have been…
David Cameron threatens veto on French plan for bankers tax
May 19, 2012
David Cameron held his first meeting with Francois Hollande and threatened to veto the new French president’s plan for a European tax on financial transactions. Downing Street said Mr Cameron delivered a strong message to Francois Hollande over a financial transactions tax Photo: Getty Images 7:00AM BST 19 May 2012 The Prime Minister met the president in Washington before a G8 summit, and made clear he will block any French move that would harm the City of London. Downing Street said Mr Cameron delivered a “strong” message to Mr Hollande over a potential financial transactions tax levied across the European Union. “We are prepared to veto an FTT at EU…
Huge economic challenge awaits Egypt’s next leader
May 19, 2012
When Egyptians joined a popular revolt last year, many were demanding economic change. They were suffering from high unemployment and prices, low wages, widespread poverty and crippling corruption. Over the last 15 months little has changed and many have even seen their finances worsen. On a bustling street in the Mohandisseen area of Cairo, people come from all walks of life. It is easy to get them to talk about the change in their personal fortunes. "I used to work as a store manager in a much better shop but after the revolution many shops closed down," says Muhammad Abdul Hamid. "For eight months, I stayed at home, but now I have a new job here." "I'm a…
Yemen’s hidden war with al-Qaeda
May 19, 2012
Since 12 May fierce fighting has been raging in southern Yemen between government forces, backed by US advisers, and Islamist militants allied to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). More than 130 people have reportedly been killed. Largely unseen by the rest of the world, artillery shells are crashing into mountainsides, gunmen are blazing off their AK-47s in the sweltering heat of the open desert and Yemeni air force warplanes are carrying out airstrikes. Further to the east, in the craggy valleys of the Hadhramaut, a missile fired from a CIA unmanned aerial drone recently killed three militants believed to be linked to al-Qaeda. A complicated country So why, three months after its…
Gay African refugees face abduction, violence and rape in Uganda and Kenya
May 19, 2012
LGBTI people fleeing persecution in home country among most vulnerable and isolated of all refugees, finds study In Uganda, ‘public rhetoric demonising homosexuality has been particularly vicious’ since an anti-gay bill was introduced, says the study. Photograph: Dai Kurokawa/EPA African homosexuals who flee persecution in their own countries are abducted, beaten and raped in the places where they seek asylum, a study of Kenya and Uganda has found. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people are among the most vulnerable and isolated of all refugees, according to the (pdf). This is especially true in places where they are at heightened risk owing to violent attacks,…
Facebook stock closes nearly flat in debut
May 18, 2012
It was barely a “like” and definitely not a “love” from Facebook investors as the online social network’s stock failed to live up to the hype in its trading debut Friday. One of the most anticipated IPOs in Wall Street history ended on a flat note, with Facebook’s stock closing at $38.23, up 23 cents from Thursday night’s pricing. That meant the company founded in 2004 in a Harvard dorm room has a market value of about $105 billion, more than Amazon.com, McDonald’s and Silicon Valley icons Hewlett-Packard and Cisco. It also gave 28-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg a stake worth $19,252,698,725.50. “Going public is an important milestone in our history,” Zuckerberg said before he pushed a button…
Will Being on the Stock Market Change Facebook?
May 18, 2012
After the IPO, users may see changes to the site Facebook began trading on the Nasdaq today, priced at $38 a share. This puts the total value of the company at $104 billion, the third largest initial public offering ever after Visa and General Motors. CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004 from his dorm room at Harvard University and the site now touts 900 million users worldwide. It has grown from a platform for college students to get to know their classmates and share photos from the weekend to a legitimate marketing tool for businesses seeking to advertise and promote their products among the social network’s users. A large amount of Facebookers still mainly use…
