Sunday 4 November 2012

Breaking ground on Namibia's land issue

CNN Helen Thomas 'Jews don't have the right to take other people's land'

Egyptian Celebs React Violently When Told They Are On Israeli TV

Third Presidential Debate 2012: Obama and Romney on Egypt

Australia shock at asylum boat tragedy off Indonesia

In this handout photograph released by Pikiran Rakyat, an unidentified survivor carrying a child is escorted at a marine police station on the coast of Pangandaran town in Indonesia's West Java province on November 1 
 Dozens of people were saved, but children were said to be among the dead
Australians have been expressing shock after a boat filled with asylum seekers capsized on its way from Indonesia, killing at least seven people.
Some 57 people, thought to be from Iran and Afghanistan, were rescued but many others are still missing.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said he expected no more survivors.
The tragedy has reopened the long-running debate in Australia about the fate of asylum seekers trying to reach the country by boat.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard had tried to tackle the issue by agreeing a deal with Malaysia whereby hundreds of the asylum seekers would be processed there.
But Australian courts ruled that her proposals were illegal, and she was forced to abandon them.
Thousands of asylum seekers try to reach Australia by boat every year, many paying people-smugglers in Indonesia to transport them.
The boat that capsized on Tuesday was sailing from the port of Cilacap along the coast to Kupang in West Timor province, a common transit point used by people-smugglers.
It went down in bad weather off Java. Indonesian rescue officials said seven bodies had so far been recovered and 57 people had been saved.
But they expected the death toll to rise because the asylum seekers had been crowded below deck.
Mr Bowen was pessimistic about finding any more survivors, telling ABC News: "I think that we can tragically assume that many, if not most, of those people who are missing will be very difficult to recover alive."
He once again made a plea for opposition politicians to support the Malaysia swap deal, saying it would deter people from getting on to boats.
The main opposition party wants to reopen a detention centre on the Pacific island of Nauru, a policy that the governing Labor Party bitterly opposed while in opposition.

Australia asylum

  • Irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs) in 2010: 134 boats carrying 6,535 people
  • IMAs up to 2 Nov 2011: 48 boats carrying 2,910 people
  • As of 27 Oct 3,922 IMAs detained on the mainland, 855 on Christmas Island

Source: Australian Department of Immigration

Related Stories


Japan and blood types: Does it determine personality?


Blood types in Japanese with Japanese people showing various emotions
Are you A, B, O or AB? It is a widespread belief in Japan that character is linked to blood type. What's behind this conventional wisdom?
Blood is one thing that unites the entire human race, but most of us don't think about our blood group much, unless we need a transfusion. In Japan, however, blood type has big implications for life, work and love.
Here, a person's blood type is popularly believed to determine temperament and personality. "What's your blood type?" is often a key question in everything from matchmaking to job applications.
According to popular belief in Japan, type As are sensitive perfectionists and good team players, but over-anxious. Type Os are curious and generous but stubborn. ABs are arty but mysterious and unpredictable, and type Bs are cheerful but eccentric, individualistic and selfish.
About 40% of the Japanese population is type A and 30% are type O, whilst only 20% are type B, with AB accounting for the remaining 10%.
Four books describing the different blood groups characteristics became a huge publishing sensation, selling more than five million copies.
Morning television shows, newspapers and magazines often publish blood type horoscopes and discuss relationship compatibility. Many dating agencies cater to blood types, and popular anime (animations), manga (comics) and video games often mention a character's blood type.
A whole industry of customised products has also sprung up, with soft drinks, chewing gum, bath salts and even condoms catering for different blood groups on sale.
Blood types, however, are simply determined by proteins in the blood. Although scientists regularly try to debunk these beliefs, they remain popular in Japan. One reason often given is that in a relatively uniform and homogenous society, it provides a simple framework to divide people up into easily recognisable groups.
"Being the same is considered a good thing here in Japanese society," says translator Chie Kobayashi. "But we enjoy finding little differences that distinguish people. On the other hand, it can also lead to bad things being said about the minority B and AB types."

It was only in 1901 that the ABO blood group system was discovered by the Austrian scientist Karl Landsteiner. His Nobel prize-winning work made it possible to identify the different blood groups, paving the way for transfusions to be carried out safely.
Theorists of eugenics later hijacked his research during the inter-war years, with the Nazis using his work to further their ideas of racial supremacy.
It was also adopted by Japan's militarist government in the 1930s to train better soldiers, and during World War II, the Imperial Army is reported to have formed battle groups according to blood type.
The study of blood types in Japan gained mass appeal with the publication of a book in the 1970s by Masahiko Nomi, who had no medical background. More recently, his son Toshitaka went on to promote it further through a series of popular books - he also runs the Institute of Blood Type Humanics. He says his aim is not to judge or stereotype people, but simply to make the best of someone's talents and improve human relationships.
Between them, father and son have published dozens of books on the subject, not just the handful of bestsellers.
These beliefs have been used in unusual ways.

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Societies dominated by B types are more prone to polytheism - like Buddhism and Hinduism - with lots of gods”
Professor Maekawa
The women's softball team that won gold for Japan at the Beijing Olympics is reported to have used blood type theories to customise training for each player. Some kindergartens have even adopted methods of teaching along blood group lines, and even major companies reportedly make decisions about assignments based on employees' blood types.
In 1990 the Asahi Daily newspaper reported that Mitsubishi Electronics had announced the creation of a team composed entirely of AB workers, thanks to "their ability to make plans".
These beliefs even affect politics. One former prime minister considered it important enough to reveal in his official profile that he's a type A, whilst his opposition rival was type B. Last year a minister, Ryu Matsumoto, was forced to resign after only a week in office, when a bad-tempered encounter with local officials was televised. In his resignation speech he blamed his failings on the fact that he was blood type B.
Not everyone sees the blood type craze as simply harmless fun.
It sometimes manifests itself as prejudice and discrimination, and it seems this is so common, the Japanese now have a term for it - bura-hara, meaning blood-type harassment. There are reports of discrimination against type B and AB groups leading to children being bullied, the ending of happy relationships, and loss of job opportunities.
Despite repeated warnings, many employers continue to ask blood types at job interviews, says Terumitsu Maekawa, professor of comparative religion at Tokyo's Asia University and author of several books about blood groups. He's critical about sweeping popular beliefs about blood types.
"We can point out some general tendencies as a group, but you can't say this person is good or bad because of their blood type."
Maekawa holding two of his books  
Professor Maekawa has written several books about blood groups
His own research, he says, is based more on empirical research rather than popular superstition. In his books he explores the theory that predominant blood types may determine religious beliefs and societal norms.
In the Western world, O and A types make up almost 85% of people, but in India and Asia, B types predominate. Japan, he says, is unusual in Asia in that it has more variety of blood types.

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They think I am weird and strange - lots of people tell me they don't understand what I am thinking about”
Masako, who has the rarer AB type blood

"A type societies tend to be characterised by monotheism such as Christianity and Judaism, with one fundamental analysis of human beings and a strong sense of societal norms. But societies dominated by B types are more prone to polytheism - like Buddhism and Hinduism - with lots of gods, and they think people are all different."
Professor Maekawa, himself type B, says in Japan his blood group is often criticised for being too individualistic and selfish.
"It isn't very nice. But it doesn't annoy me or hurt me, because it has no scientific basis at all."
In a smart state-of-the-art clinic busy with lots of people donating blood, director Akishko Akano says he's not aware that the negative image of certain blood types has an impact on their work, or dissuades minority B and AB types from coming forward. A bigger problem in Japan's rapidly ageing society, he says, is persuading enough young people to volunteer as blood donors.
Masako giving blood in hospital  
Masako, who has type AB, has donated blood eight times
In the next room, I find Masako, lying on a bed strapped to a quietly purring machine as a nurse takes samples. This is the eighth time she's given blood. Her blood type is AB, which is rare as it accounts for only 10% of people in Japan.
"People sometimes don't like me," she tells me. "They think I am weird and strange. Lots of people tell me they don't understand what I am thinking about."
Although Masako laughs as she tells me this, it seems that in Japan, no amount of scientific debunking can kill the widely held notion that blood tells all.

Find out more

Your World is broadcast on BBC World Service on Saturdays at 09:05 GMT. Listen to the Life Blood episode via iPlayer or the Your World download

A minister quits

Ryu Matsumoto
In July 2011, Minister for Reconstruction Ryu Matsumoto resigned after being criticised for making insensitive remarks. He blamed his blood type.
"I would like to offer my apologies for offending the people in the disaster-hit areas. I thought I was emotionally close to the disaster victims, but I lacked sufficient words and my comments were too harsh.
"My blood's type B, which means I can be irritable and impetuous, and my intentions don't always come across.
"My wife called me earlier to point that out. I think I need to reflect about that."

Japan minister quits after a week

What's your blood type?

  • The main blood group system is ABO, with four blood types: A, B, O, AB
  • Rhesus system, for which you can be positive or negative, is the second most important with regard to blood transfusions
  • In total there are 32 recognised blood group systems, which all have either positive or negative indicators
  • The discovery of the latest two blood types - Langereis and Junior - were announced by researchers from Vermont earlier this year

The children with no nationality


Tony  
Some stateless children end up having to live rough
Hundreds of children living rough in London and other cities may have no nationality, the BBC has found.
Inside Out London has uncovered stories of children who according to official records do not exist - some forced into sex work to eat.
Further research by the BBC suggests it is a UK-wide problem.
Charities warn of stateless children in Birmingham, Leeds, Coventry, Nottingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Oxford and Cardiff.
"The problems caused by statelessness are by no means limited to London," Chris Nash, of charity Asylum Aid, said.
Though, he acknowledges it is in the capital that the problem is most acute.

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If you are hungry you need money - but if I steal I end up going in prison ”
Tony, 17

Many of London's stateless youths came to the UK legally, but were never officially registered.
They cannot access education or apply for social housing.
And according to two respected youth charities contacted by the BBC, there are "hundreds" of them in the city.
Both Coram and Peckham Project Safe 'n' Sound are calling for increased awareness of the problem.
Safe 'n' Sound's Jennifer Blake said: "To date, we've been approached by over 600 young people. It is a big issue."
Health deteriorating Ms Blake attempts to try to get the children off the streets and into safe shelter as quickly as possible.
Jennifer Blake 
 Jennifer Blake tries to find shelter for vulnerable youngsters
She has been trying to find a room for Ugandan-born Tony, 17, who has been sleeping on buses since his father kicked him out while living in the UK.
Tony said: "It is a struggle. If you are hungry you need money.
"But if I steal I end up going in prison and that's not me, I don't want that."
After two years of living on the streets and struggling to find food and shelter, Tony's health is deteriorating.

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I have to do things that make me sick and ashamed just for a few pounds”
Libyan girl, 17

He said: "This year when the cold came it really had me - I was coughing, sneezing. I got it badly.
"I've got a lot skinnier because of the problems I've been having."
Some stateless children are as young as 14. With no support, shelter or care, they are increasingly turning to crime to survive.
And for teenagers like Tony, attempting to become a legal citizen retrospectively can be virtually impossible.
No longer in contact with their families, they struggle to prove their identity to immigration officials.
Tony said: "They've told me I need to get a letter from my dad.
"How can I get a letter from my dad if he kicked me out?"
Some girls are being reduced to sexual exploitation.
One 17-year-old, who was smuggled out of Libya in 2009, also has no country to call home.
Worried about the military violence in the country, her mother paid a friend to look after her in the UK.
But within months she was abandoned by her guardian.
She told the BBC: "I just ended up living on the streets.
"Sometimes I feel like killing myself.
"I have to do things that make me sick and ashamed just for a few pounds, sometimes even pennies - just so I can eat or get somewhere to sleep for one night."
According to the Oxford University Centre on Migration Policy and Society, London and Birmingham are the major hotspots for statelessness.
The organisation spoke to 53 "irregular migrant" children and parents in the two cities, from countries including Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Jamaica, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq and the Kurdish region of Turkey.
Around a tenth of London's children have uncertain immigration status, the researchers found.
Councils 'outside law' But there are no concrete figures for the number of stateless children - precisely because they are stateless.
And some local authorities may not always be acting within the law or good practice guidance.
The BBC has heard suggestions councils are trying to assess children to be older than they are so they can avoid being responsible for them.
Amara Ahmad, of solicitors Fisher Meredith, says she is acting for several children taking legal action against councils for this reason.
Tony on bench  
Tony is still homeless, although he can now stay in the UK
And Coram also said it was aware of the ploy.
Neither organisation would disclose the specific councils alleged to be at fault.
Kamena Dorling, of Coram Legal Centre, said: "If you are a child in the UK, regardless of immigration status the local authority has a legal duty - they should be looking after you.
"They should be providing you with support and accommodation and often this doesn't happen."
Since the BBC's investigation, Safe 'n' Sound has managed to secure Tony's immigration status and he now has the right to reside in the UK.
He is still homeless.
BBC Inside Out is on BBC One in the London and south-east region on Monday, 5 November at 19:30 GMT and nationwide on the iPlayer for seven days thereafter. 

Analysis

How does a child become stateless?
They might have arrived in the UK illegally - with no papers from their state of origin.
Parents are often unwilling to contact the authorities for fear of deportation.
If the child flees his or her guardian they may be left with nothing to show who they are.
It is an uphill legal struggle to gain British nationality.
And with no documentation it is far from certain their country of origin will let them return.

Related Stories


Human rights activists taught online tactics


Syrian conflict 
 Mobile phones have brought information and images from conflict zones
An international training institute to teach online tactics for human rights campaigners is being set up in the Italian city of Florence.
The first students, starting in the new year, will be drawn from human rights activists around the world - with the aim of arming them with the latest tools for digital dissent.
As the Arab spring showed, protests are as likely to be about individuals using social networking as much as public demonstrations. Street protests have become Tweet protests.
And repressive regimes are as likely to be hunting through Facebook as they are raiding underground meetings.
There is a dangerous, high-stakes, hi-tech game of cat and mouse being played - with protesters needing to balance their secrecy and safety with their need to achieve the maximum public impact.
This training centre, being set up by the European wing of the US-based Robert Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, wants to combine academic study with practical skills and training.
Screen secrets With an appropriate symbolism, the training institute is based in a former prison building, donated by the city of Florence.
The formidable jail doors, with their hatches and bolts, are still visible.
Murate, Florence  
A former prison building in Florence will be the base for the training institute
Federico Moro, the director of the project, says the intention is to use "technology to promote democracy, human rights and justice".
"The idea is that with social media you can achieve change," he says.
He says campaigners might have passion and belief in their struggles, but they also need practical knowledge.
"Human rights leaders might dedicate themselves to a cause, they might give their soul and their life - but you still need the skills to generate change," he says.
These students will be blog writers and campaigners, who will be able to study in Florence on scholarships provided by the Robert Kennedy Center. Recruiting will be complicated by the need to protect the privacy of people who might be put at risk even by applying.
Mr Moro says the institute will not be partisan in supporting either right- or left-wing causes - but will act in defence of individuals facing violations of their human rights, whether it is political oppression or domestic violence.
Beating the censor As well as teaching individuals, the institute wants to provide information for organisations and businesses, advising on areas such as human rights legislation and ethical investment.
But what does a digital activist - or a so-called "smart dissident" - need to know?
Chris Michael, from the Brooklyn-based human rights group Witness, describes the practical steps that protesters are using to stay ahead.
Kerry Kennedy  
Kerry Kennedy leads the human rights foundation set up in memory of her father, Robert Kennedy
There are websites that allow for anonymous internet access, allowing people to organise without revealing identities. There are also means of circumventing censors' attempts at blocking websites.
The Tor project software, an unexpected spin-off from military technology, is favoured by human rights campaigners.
Mr Michael says there are also "work arounds" to make online video and phone calls more secure from surveillance.
Another practical development is software that can easily pixellate faces in video footage, protecting bystanders who might be put at risk by identification.
In terms of posting videos of protests or repression, Witness is working with YouTube on a dedicated human rights channel.
It's already hosting hundreds of user-generated videos from a wide number of countries, at the moment including Syria, Pakistan, Libya, Burma, Chile, Spain, Russia, China and the United States. There's a daily update of video reports which include anything from student protests to forcible evictions.
Selecting and showcasing the most relevant videos is important to make an impact on YouTube's global audience, Mr Michael says.
"Very few people are going to watch for hours. You might be able to get their attention for 45 seconds, that's the world people live in," he says.
Mobile range The spread of mobile phones means there is an unprecedented ability for recording and distributing evidence of violence against citizens. We're living in a global goldfish bowl.
But is this making the world a safer place? Can cheap video and social networking defrost dictatorships? To put it bluntly, could Hitler and Stalin have been exposed at an earlier stage by Twitter and YouTube?
Facebook poster in Cairo protest  
The Arab Spring saw social networking becoming a forum for protest
Does a modern revolution really come from the lens of an iPhone rather than the barrel of a gun?
It's not that simple, cautions Mr Michael, speaking at an event in Pisa, Italy, debating the impact of digital activism.
"In one word, Syria," he says. There has been video evidence of wrongdoing and violence, but little sign that public scrutiny is acting as a deterrent.
"Just because you can document something, it doesn't meant that you change anything in real terms."
But he says the sheer scale of video and information - and the ability to keep in touch with those under attack - does make a difference.
"Because so many people are documenting, seeing is not only believing, we're also able to act and communicate with people who are affected - and that can be very powerful."
'Slacktivism' But the question remains whether Facebook really enabled Arab revolutions, or whether it enabled the rest of the world to find out more about a revolution that was going to happen anyway.
Federico Moro and statue of RFK  
Federico Moro, director of the training institute project, with a statue of Robert Kennedy
Stephen Bradbury, a community activist in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, uses the word "slacktivism" - as a caution for the idea that clicking on a "like" button is a sufficient alternative to grassroots organisation.
He also makes the point that while the internet makes so much information accessible, the power to find it is handed over to the search engines and their algorithms.
Rana Husseini, a Jordanian activist and journalist who uncovered stories about honour killings, says the internet has given a voice to public opinion.
She also shares concerns that digital technology can be used as tools for surveillance and control as well as openness and investigation.
But she speaks passionately about the way that ordinary people risk their lives to record video clips on their mobile phones in conflicts such as Syria.
"This couldn't have happened in the past - and probably this person will vanish."
But the act of documenting is an important statement in its own right, she says. The idea of so many individuals making their own video history in this way is "something new and important".
Outsiders' voices As an educational project, the human rights training institute project in Florence is an unlikely collision of influences. It's a highly individual project.
Stephen Bradbury  
Stephen Bradbury warns of the risk of relying on online campaigns instead of grassroots protests
Inside the sturdy medieval prison walls, in the birthplace of the European renaissance, there is this hi-tech centre for online civil rights, awaiting students from around the world.
Into this mix is added the legacy of Robert Kennedy's 1960s idealism. The foundation was set up in memory of the assassinated senator and is now headed by his daughter, Kerry Kennedy.
She recently had her own brush with the secret police when she headed a human rights delegation to the Western Sahara.
A trademark of Robert Kennedy's campaigning was to get information first hand, often from people excluded from the political mainstream.
And there is some kind of symmetry here - with social networking and blogging representing an instant electronic version of accumulating the authority of many individual voices.
They want to harness these new digital technologies to old causes.

Syria rebels 'capture oilfield' in Deir Ezzor

Bombing in Deir Ezzor city, 29 Oct 
 Few images have emerged from Deir, which has seen many clashes in the 19-month uprising
Syrian rebels have captured a key oilfield in eastern Deir Ezzor province, activists say, after a siege lasting several days.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said al-Ward fell after fierce fighting, although the reports have not been independently confirmed.
The Observatory said it was the first time the rebels had taken control of an oilfield.
The news came as various opposition groups met for crucial talks in Qatar.
Also on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement that on Saturday it had managed to deliver assistance to people in neighbourhoods of the flashpoint city of Homs for the first time in months.
"We have entered Homs on several occasions in recent months, but this is the first time that we have been able to reach the neighbourhoods of Khalidiya and Hamidiya in the Old City," said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria.
The ICRC said it was able to deliver medical items for the treatment of up to 100 wounded people, and food and hygiene items for more than 1,200 people.
Sanctions The head of the UK-based Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, said: "Rebels in the Jaafar Tayyar Brigade took control of al-Ward oilfield, east of the town of Mayadin, after a siege that lasted several days."
A Free Syrian Army fighter patrols a street in the Taftanaz, 3 Nov Clashes are continuing across Syria, including here in Taftanaz
The Observatory also cited witnesses, residents and activists as saying rebels had shot down a warplane that had been carrying out attacks on Mayadin.
The Observatory is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified.
Mr Rahman said some 40 troops guarding the oilfield had been killed, wounded or captured.
One activist in the area, Omar Abu Leila, told Associated Press news agency the field was still working until shortly before it was captured.
Al-Ward is said to be one of the most important oilfields in Deir Ezzor, which holds most of Syria's energy reserves.
Oil was the main source of hard currency for the government of President Bashar al-Assad until the European Union - which had bought 95% of Syria's output - imposed sanctions last year.
Oil exports fell to 7,500 tonnes in the first quarter of 2012 from 13,500 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Elsewhere in Syria on Sunday, state television said a bomb had exploded near the Dama Rose hotel in Damascus, wounding several people.
Map
The pro-government Ikhbariyeh TV said the explosion was also near the government Labour Union building.
Union leader Mohammad Azouz told Associated Press at least 12 union members were hurt, two critically.
Other clashes were also reported in Damascus, Aleppo, Idlib, Taftanaz and Daraa.
State TV said a leading member of the ruling Baath party in north-east Raqqa province had been killed by gunmen.
Government in exile Meanwhile, Syrian opposition groups gathered in the Qatari capital, Doha, for a key meeting on how to form a more united front against President Assad.
The meeting could reshape the Syrian National Council (SNC), the main opposition, into a possible government in exile.
The SNC is looking to broaden its ranks and agree on a common platform at the conference, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Doha.


The SNC will be holding four days of intensive internal meetings aimed at overhauling its structures completely, our correspondent says, bringing in new, young elements closer to events on the ground, and producing a new leadership.
After that it is scheduled to hold talks on Thursday with the Syrian National Initiative, a group of influential and respected opposition figures who are proposing the creation of a unified leadership body that would later produce a government in exile, possibly as early as next month.
Respected dissident Riad Seif is apparently being suggested by the US as the head of the new government in exile.
However, Mr Seif told Agence France-Presse he had no plans to be leader.
"I shall not be a candidate to lead a government in exile... I am 66 and have health problems," he said.
The US is hoping the new leadership will help bring a successful conclusion to an uprising that has killed more than 36,000 people since protests against President Assad erupted in March 2011.
Representatives at Doha will include various other religious and secular groupings, plus Kurdish figures and dissident members of Mr Assad's Alawite sect.


Analysis

The Syrian opposition is well aware that it is widely regarded as fragmented and ineffective, and that this is becoming more and more an issue as events on the ground gather pace.
The coming days will see the most concerted effort so far to pull the bulk of the opposition together and to create effective and credible structures that the outside world can work with in trying to bring about a transition in Syria.
The outcome of the meeting is by no means certain. Divisions run deep, both among the opposition, and among the outside powers, who are watching this process closely.