Author Archives: ankakh

Scottish island left without water because too many residents did the Ice Bucket Challenge

Posted on by
Reply

An island off the coast of Scotland was left without water – because so many people took on the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Սառցե դույլ

Demand for water escalated on Colonsay when the charity craze took off on the Inner Hebridean island, which has a population of around 135.

The water system stops automatically as part of moves to cut wastage on the eight mile-long isle and needs to be turned back on afterwards.

Իններ Հեբրիդեան կղզի

David Johnston, from the Colonsay Brewery told The Sun that water engineers had to come out five times over the weekend.

A spokesman for Scottish Water said water had been shut off during the weekend but added that residents were still able to use stored supplies on the island.

The Ice Bucket Challenge involves dumping iced water on someone’s head before the participant nominates another person to have a go.

Justice Dept. Files Reveal Activities Of Firms Lobbying for Turkey

Posted on by
Reply

հարութ

By Harut Sassounian

www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

 

Last week, I described the terms of the $1.4 million contract signed by the Gephardt Group, the lobbying firm of former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, to promote Turkey’s interests in Washington.

 

Realizing that its relationship with the United States has seriously deteriorated, the Turkish government has been pouring millions of dollars into the coffers of several U.S. firms, hoping to improve its image by whitewashing the dark stains of its dictatorial regime. For that purpose, Ankara signed a contract on May 12, 2014 with former Turkish national swimming champion Huma Gruaz and her Chicago-based public relations firm Alpaytac, Inc., for $1,420,000 a year. Oddly enough, instead of making monthly payments, the Turkish government gave Alpaytac $1 million up front upon signing the agreement, and paid the balance of $420,000 in the first three months. Alpaytac thus replaced the public relations firm of Fleishman-Hillard which received from the Turkish Embassy $779,805 for the six-month period from Nov. 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014, at which time its contract was terminated.

 

In addition, Ankara benefits from the activities of Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) which spent over $1 million to sponsor 170 congressional trips to Turkey since 2000. TCA was founded in 2007 by Massachusetts microchip millionaire Yalcin Ayasli who has donated close to $140,000 in the past 18 months to several pro-Turkish members of Congress, according to Al-Monitor.

 

Most people are unaware that pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, American firms representing foreign clients are required to report to the U.S. Justice Department their day-to-day activities every six months.

 

Alpaytac’s six-month report is not yet due. However, we would like to present excerpts from the detailed files the Gephardt Group and its subcontractors — Greenberg Traurig, Lydia Borland, Brian Forni, and Dickstein Shapiro — submitted to the Justice Department regarding their specific activities on behalf of Turkey from August 1, 2013 to January 31, 2014:

 

— On Sept. 19, 2013, forwarded a letter from Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek to Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Patrick Leahy.

— Sent emails to Representatives Castro, Cohen, Connolly, Deutch, Esty, Foxx, Frankel, Gabbard, Kennedy, Schneider, Wagner, and Whitfield; and Sen. Murphy regarding the upcoming visit of Turkey’s former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu; contacts were also established with several other members of Congress to discuss Syria, Iran sanctions, Hamas, and Missile Defense.

— Dick Gephardt reported making campaign contributions from Sept. 24 to Dec. 12, 2013 to: Representatives Alcee Hastings ($1,000), Barbara Lee ($1,000), Marjorie Margolies ($1,000), Richard Neal ($1,250), Brad Schneider ($500), Debbie Wasserman-Schultz ($1,500), Marc Veasey ($1,000), and Henry Waxman ($1,000); and Senators Dick Durbin ($2,500), Mary Landrieu ($1,000), Claire McCaskill ($1,000), Mark Pryor ($1,500), and Ron Wyden ($2,500).

— Gephardt Group employees contributed to Senators Dick Durbin ($500) and Jeanne Shaheen ($1,500); and Representatives Steve Cohen ($500), Colleen Hanabusa ($1,250), Jim Moran ($500), Brad Schneider ($500), and Cong. Henry Waxman ($500).

— Employees of Gephardt Group subcontractor Dickstein Shapiro LLC contacted Ben Branch, Legislative Director to Cong. Gregory Meeks, “regarding legislation focused on Turkish regional issues.” On behalf of Dickstein Shapiro, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert met with Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan and Sen. Ron Johnson “regarding U.S.-Turkey relations.”

— Other Dickstein Shapiro employees contacted the offices of Representatives George Holding, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Sheila Jackson Lee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Gregory Meeks, Chellie Pingree, Robert Pittenger, Dana Rohrabacher, Ed Royce, and Ed Whitfield; and Senators John Boozman, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, and Roger Wicker to discuss Turkish regional issues, Cyprus, Travel to Turkey, and U.S.-Turkey relations.

— Dickstein Shapiro employees contributed over $60,000 to the political campaigns of congressional candidates from July 20 to Dec. 19, 2013, including: Senators Lamar Alexander ($2,500), Kay Hagan ($9,000), Amy Klobuchar ($2,000), Mitch McConnell ($2,500), Mark Pryor ($2,500), and Tim Scott ($1,000), and Representatives Sanford Bishop ($2,500), Emanuel Cleaver ($1,500), Rick Crawford ($2,500), Steve Daines ($2,500), John Dingell ($1,000), Bill Huizenga ($2,500), Eddie Bernice Johnson ($1,000), Adam Kinzinger ($2,500), Mike McIntyre ($5,000), Buck McKeon ($1,500), Dutch Ruppersberger ($2,500), and Ed Whitfield ($2,500).

 

Since the lobbying firms hired by Turkey are obligated by law to report their detailed activities, it is important to check regularly their Justice Department filings in order to find out who are they contacting in Congress, for what purpose, and how much are they contributing to their political campaigns?

 

The interest rate was creepy-crawling up! Woman spends decades stashing savings in cupboard because she doesn’t trust banks… only to have it all eaten by TERMITES

Posted on by
Reply

OAPs Life Savings Turned To Pulp By Termites

 

A woman who kept her life savings hidden in a cupboard because she didn’t trust banks has been left heartbroken – after the pile of notes was eaten by termites.

Cai Hou went to check on the pile of notes she had spent decades building up at her home in the city of Jinjiang, in eastern China’s Fujian province, only to find it had been chewed to pieces.

The thrifty 70-year-old – who had saved 10,000 Yuan (£1,000) – at first thought she had been burgled.

But she then spotted the insects next to the shredded notes and realised what had happened.

Cai’s family painstakingly managed to piece together 5,900 Yuan (£570) in nibbled notes and took them to two local banks.

Bank officials managed to verify notes worth only 1,950 Yuan (£190) and rejected the rest as too damaged.

 

Russian soldiers detained in Ukraine

Posted on by
Reply

ռուս զինվորներ

Ten Russian soldiers were detained in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, that country’s Security Service said Tuesday, as tensions simmered over the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels.

The Russian soldiers were captured with documents and weapons on them, the Security Service said.

Russia has repeatedly denied claims by Kiev that it has sent troops and weapons over the border into Ukraine, where the Ukrainian military is fighting pro-Russian rebels.

Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited a source in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying the soldiers had been patrolling the border and “most likely crossed by accident” at an unmarked point.

 

Robin Williams’ Bike Sold at $20,000 at Charity Auction

Posted on by
Reply

robin-williams-australian-premiere-happy-feet-two

Robin Williams donated his bike for a charity auction a few weeks before his death. According to Page Six, the beloved actor gave his handmade Pegoretti bicycle to the Drever Family Foundation’s annual Hotbed benefit in Tiburon, Calif., which took place on Saturday, August 23. The bike was sold at $20,000 at the event. Proceeds from the sale will go to the Bay Area education charity 10,000 Degrees.

Sources told the site that Williams was a close friend of Jan and Maxwell Drever. The actor, who is remembered for his appearance in “Good Will Hunting”, “Dead Poets Society” and “Night at the Museum” among others, reportedly had planned to attend the gala before his death.

The Oscar-winning actor took his own life on August 11. He was 63. According to his family, the actor was diagnosed with the early stage of Parkinson’s disease prior to his death and had been battling depression.

 

Mario Balotelli Signs for Liverpool

Posted on by
Reply

Մարիո Բալոտելլի

 

Liverpool has signed Italy striker Mario Balotelli from AC Milan, taking a calculated gamble on a headline-grabbing player known as much for his controversies as his goals.

Nineteen months after ending a 2½-year spell with Manchester City to play for his boyhood club, Balotelli returns to the English Premier League as a replacement for Luis Suarez — another of world football’s talented but disruptive stars.

Liverpool has been looking to strengthen its strikeforce after selling Suarez to Barcelona for $130 million.

During his time at City, in which he won the league title, Balotelli was sent off four times, threw a dart at a youth-team player and was involved in an incident that saw fireworks let off in his bathroom.

 

Hackers attack Sony PlayStation Network

Posted on by
Reply

PlayStation ցանց

 

A group of hackers calling themselves “Lizard Squad” has taken down several popular online video game networks and possibly diverted an American Airlines jet carrying a Sony executive.

Over the weekend, Blizzard Entertainment, CCP Games, Riot Games and Sony (SNE) have done maintenance to bring their networks back online.

The hackers, speaking publicly on Twitter, claimed responsibility for attacking the PlayStation Network and others, disrupting the ability of millions of gamers to play together online.

According to the targeted companies, hackers flooded their networks with illegitimate traffic — a strategy known as a distributed denial of service attack. The FBI said it was investigating.

On Sunday, Sony said both its services were still under repair but assured customers no user data was exposed. The other networks did not immediately return requests for comment.

When John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, acknowledged the “large scale” attacks on Twitter, he came under fire as well. Knowing that Smedley was on a flight from the Dallas area to San Diego, the hackers made a veiled threat about bombs on his plane.

The plane was diverted to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

The FBI later released this statement: “The flight landed without incident. Passengers were safely removed from the plane.”

 

Turkic Groups Fund Questionable Congressional Trips to Azerbaijan

Posted on by
Reply

թուրք-ադրբեջանական համագործակցություն

By Harut Sassounian

www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

 

The international media is replete these days with scandalous stories about European and American politicians being wined and dined in Azerbaijan and Turkey, for self-serving ulterior motives.

 

The latest such exposé, published by the Houston Chronicle on July 27, was titled: “Congress members’ trips raise red flags.” The article revealed that five Turkic non-profit groups spent $274,459 for the lavish travel of 10 members of Congress and 35 staffers to Azerbaijan in May 2013. The funds were contributed by:

 

— Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians (Houston): $101,680

— Turkish American Federation of the Midwest (Chicago): $68,324

— Turkic American Alliance (Washington, DC): $52,975

— Turkic American Federation of the Southeast (Atlanta): $26,550

— Council of Turkic American Associations (New York): $24,930

 

The 10 members of Congress travelling to Baku on all-expenses-paid trip were:

 

— Danny Davis (D-IL): $24,084

— Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX): $19,962

— Jim Bridenstine (R-OK): $14,173

— Ted Poe (R-TX): $13,431

— Steve Stockman (R-TX): $13,431

— Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM): $12,780

— Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX): $12,034

— Leonard Lance (R-NJ): $9,798

— Yvette Clark (D-NY): $8,701

— Gregory Meeks (D-NY): $6,431

 

The actual purpose of the congressional trip was to attend a conference sponsored in part by SOCAR (Azerbaijan’s national oil company) which along with one of its partners, NIOC (Iran’s national oil company), was embarking on a $28 billion project to develop the Shah Deniz gas field. It was no coincidence that the junket was organized at a time when Congress was considering additional sanctions against Iran. The Azeris and their Iranian partners desperately needed an exemption from Congress to carry out their mega-project. Not surprisingly, less than two months after the congressional delegation’s return from its extravagant trip, the House of Representatives went along and approved the sought after exemption!

 

The Houston Chronicle explained the speedy approval of this bill by a usually slow-moving Congress by the fact that “SOCAR, along with other Azeri government interests, has become one of Washington, D.C.’s big spenders in efforts to win American allies to get its petroleum products to markets worldwide…. Lobbyists, the Azeri government and energy companies all participated in the elaborate Baku gathering” at the plush Heydar Aliyev Center with Pres. Ilham Aliyev as keynote speaker. “At least four congressmen took along a spouse or a fiancé. Some flew first-class and extended their trips with stays in luxury hotels in Turkey. The congressional travel tabs alone totaled $270,000.”

 

Interestingly, the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, the main organizer of the visit, “did not disclose any corporate support or foreign government assistance for the Baku congressional trips,” as required by Federal law, the Chronicle reported. The five Turkic non-profit organizations and 10 Members of Congress may have violated congressional ethics rules and federal law by not disclosing corporate donations for the trip, the Chronicle stated.

 

Records show that Cong. Meeks “did not disclose his Baku trip expenses until a year after the deadline,” the Chronicle disclosed. Moreover, Cong. Stockman had received an additional $5,000 in campaign contributions in three installments, during the same month as the trip, from Kemal Oksuz, president of the Turquoise Council, who leads two non-profits that share the same address in Houston. “Both groups were identified as sponsors or organizers of the Baku conference, and both have accepted money from SOCAR. One group, the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan, operates as a U.S.-based public relations arm of SOCAR,” according to the Chronicle.

 

Oksuz reportedly told an American journalist in Baku that the oil conference had cost $1.5 million. He also said that some guests had received hand-woven rugs as gifts — which would be a violation, if not reported to proper U.S. authorities.

 

The Chronicle revealed that “many of those non-profits are led by followers of Fetullah Gulen, a moderate Turkish ex-Imam who lives in exile in an enclave in Pennsylvania…. Collectively, Turkic groups have funded 272 foreign trips for members of Congress and their staffs from 2009-2013″ to Azerbaijan and Turkey.

 

In addition to its eye-opening investigative article, the Houston Chronicle published a blistering editorial, chiding the 10 members of Congress for “being distressingly naïve or disgustingly corrupt,” and in return for “a few well-placed donations,” serving the interests of Azerbaijan, “a corrupt kleptocracy ruled by the Aliyev family, which lines its pockets while keeping political dissent firmly quashed.”

 

Dozens of Ukraine’s most dangerous prisoners escape as shell hits high-security jail in besieged Donetsk

Posted on by
Reply

Donetsk

 

Dozens of Ukraine’s most dangerous prisoners have escaped from a high-security jail after it was hit by shelling in Donetsk.

Authorities say one prisoner was killed while 106 inmates escaped from the jail, on the western outskirts of the besieged Ukrainian city, after it was hit during fighting between government forces and separatist rebels.

City council spokesman Maxim Rovensky today said a riot broke out at the jail after it was hit by a direct rocket, which also left three inmates injured.

He said the fugitives include people jailed for murder, robbery and rape.

Ukrainian government forces have over the past week intensified their push on Donetsk and have succeeded in surrounding it.

Rovensky said at least 10 homes, shops and garages were hit by overnight rocketing. He added that 20,000 people are living without electricity.

 

Inmates at Donetsk's high-security prison

Why smiling won’t help if you are feeling miserable: Experts advise letting unhappiness lift before attempting grin to stop brain linking happy act to sadness

Posted on by
Reply

Next time you think about cheering somebody up when they are upset, perhaps it might be best to just leave them alone.

Trying to make somebody smile when they are miserable could actually make them feel worse, a study has found.

smile

If you force a friend to grin when they are in a bad mood then their brain starts to associate it with sadness instead of joy.

And next time they smile it could bring back miserable memories instead of lifting the bad mood.

It was carried out by Anirban Mukhopadhyay, an associate professor of marketing at Hong Kong University Science and Technology, who said you should wait until your unhappiness lifts before attempting a grin.

The study results showed that if you are faking a smile then it won’t cheer you up and that you are just using it to ‘mask’ your inner sadness.

Obama Authorizes Air Strikes, Humanitarian Aid Mission in Iraq

Posted on by
Reply

President Obama said Thursday he has authorized “targeted” air strikes if necessary to protect American interests in Iraq from insurgent forces that are taking over the country’s northern cities.

Obama

If the terrorist group ISIS reaches Erbil, the president said he will call in U.S. air strikes. The U.S. has an embassy and other staffers in the city. Air strikes have also been authorized to protect families fleeing ISIS in the Sinjar Mountains.

An air drop of food, water and medicine made at the request of the Iraqi government has been completed, the president said in the statement from the White House.

U.S. aircraft, escorted by fighter jets, dropped 5,300 gallons of fresh drinking water and 8,000 meals ready to eat.

The emergency effort is being deployed to help a group of 40,000 Yazidis, a group of ethnic Kurds, who fled villages in northern Iraq under threat from ISIS.

The Yazidis fled to the Sinjar Mountains, in a remote part of northern Iraq near the border of Syria, where they are stuck without food or water while ISIS forces are gathered at the base of the mountains.

 

That’s why they say mind the gap… Commuters manage to free man wedged between a train and platform by lifting the carriage off his leg

Posted on by
Reply

պատահար

Commuters and railway staff teamed up to free a man by rocking a train carriage to free his leg after he became trapped between the platform and a carriage on Wednesday morning.

The man was boarding a rush hour train at Stirling station, 9km northwest of Perth, Western Australia, at 8.50am when he slipped and one leg became wedged in the gap.

Quick-thinking passengers and staff saved the man leg’s, as it was being squeezed by the 10,000-tonne of train, by collectively rocking the carriage.

An ambulance was called to the station but the man did not sustain any serious injuries.

պատահար

Sunken ferry, carrying 300, not found

Posted on by
Reply

unnamed (10)

 

Պադմա գետ

 

A full day after a passenger ferry with as many as 300 people on board sank in Bangladesh, hundreds of anxious people waited on the bank of the Padma river until late evening as a search for bodies failed to turn up any sign of survivors.

Indeed, the rescuers failed even to trace the sunken ferry, leading to frustration and anger among those awaiting news of loved ones.

The crowds on the riverbank launched an impassioned protest against what they said was the administration’s inept handling of the situation.

Պադմա գետ

unnamed (9)

Authorities blamed conditions for the slow pace of the rescue.

The rescuers believed that the strong current may have moved some of the bodies a significant distance from the scene of the accident.

Saiful Hassan Badal, chief administrator of Munshiganj district told CNN the ferry had about 300 people on board when it sank, according to witnesses. Nearly 100 passengers were rescued shortly after the capsizing.

However, he said they were yet to be sure about how exactly how many people were missing because there were no records detailing how many people were traveling on the ferry.

 

180 bananas, 8kgs of potatoes and 14kgs of rice a week … and STILL hungry: Meet the nine-year-old girl with an insatiable appetite who weighs the same as a Great Dane

Posted on by
Reply

Սումա

Standing at just 3ft 5ins, and tipping the scales at a flabbergasting 14st 5lbs (203lbs), this child weighs five times more than she should.

Meet nine-year-old Suman Khatun – one of the fattest kids in the world.

In one week, Suman, from West Bengal, India, munches her way through an incredible 14kgs of rice, 8kgs of potatoes, 8kgs of fish and about 180 bananas.
The shocking video also shows her gorging on her favourite Bengali sweets and cream cakes, dwarfing her classroom peers and seemingly struggling to get out of bed.

All my friends are thin, but I am fat,’ says young Suman disconsolately.

ՍումաSuman Khatun2

‘I have problems in standing, sitting, sleeping, playing and running with my friends.’

Her parents claim they are powerless to prevent her stomach-defying eating habits.

‘I am very concerned about her future, as my other kids are normal,’ says mum Beli Bibi.

‘It’s painful,’ she adds.

They have requested the help of the local doctor to manage her weight, who says:

‘We think she has hyperthyroidism, but she needs to be examined.

‘If it’s not controlled, she might get diabetes or heart diseases.’

 

Massive explosion caused by ‘gas leak in sewage system’ kills 15 and injures hundreds as it rips through city in Taiwan

Posted on by
Reply

տայվան,պայթյուն

 

At least 15 people have died and almost 230 injured after a huge explosion in Taiwan caused by a suspected gas leak.

Multiple explosions happened early on Friday in Kaohsiung city in the south of the island after reported leaks in the sewage system.

Witnesses said the gas leaks started at about 9pm, forming white fog, before fire could be seen and explosions heard on several streets.

Photographs from the scene showed overturned cars and destroyed roads, while some observers saw bodies on the streets.

Taiwan’s National Fire Agency said 15 people were killed and 228 were injured. It added that five firefighters were among the dead.

 

‘You fancied a shower too? Snap!’ Shocked homeowner discovers a crocodile hiding in his bathroom

Posted on by
Reply

Dad Finds Croc In Bathroom When Going For A Shower

 

Kalpesh Patel could be forgiven for making a snap decision not to take a shower.

After entering the bathroom of his home in western Indian the 41-year-old discovered a five-foot long crocodile had beaten him to it, and had taken up residence under his shower taps.

He said when he told his wife and children not to go in the bathroom because there was a reptile there, not surprisingly, they didn’t believe him.

So Mr Patel got his neighbours at Sojitra village, Gujarat, located about 80 kilometres from the city of Ahmedabad, to take a look, and they confirmed the find.

Mr Patel said he had no idea how the crocodile got into his home, ‘but we weren’t prepared to let it out again’.

The police were called and forestry officials then captured the crocodile.

Police said that the crocodile had been transported to a lake in the nearby Malataj village of Anand district where it had been released unharmed.

 

Paris for 80p a night? Hotel in the French capital launches innovative ‘pay want you want’ scheme – and prays not to go bankrupt

Posted on by
Reply

Paris-towerParis is known as many things – a city of romance, fine restaurants, epic landmarks and grand architecture.

But it all comes at a price, boasting some of the most expensive accommodation in the world.

However, one hotel is hoping to change all that, by allowing holidaymakers to pay what they believe is a reasonable rate for their stay this summer.

Hotelier Aldric Duval has launched the enterprising ‘Payez ce que vous voulez’ (‘Pay what you want’) promotion in a bid to draw extra guests to Tour d-Auvergne, his three-star hotel in the central Opera district of the city.

The idea is simple. A visitor can pay exactly what they want to stay the night.

Normally, double rooms at the hotel would cost at least €190 (£150) – but should they decide that it is an appropriate amount, visitors can pay as little as €1 (80p).

The promotion runs until August 10.

The point of the scheme, he says, is to give customers a little financial freedom in a city of notoriously high costs.

He hopes that visitors to the city will treat the scheme as a good deal, but not abuse it.
The scheme has proved sufficiently inspiring that Mr Duval has had enquiries from other hoteliers in Paris – and further afield in Nice and Cannes – as to how it works.

 

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem Write Open Letter Condemning Israel’s Actions as ‘Genocide’

Posted on by
Reply

bardem-cruzSome celebrities have voiced their opinion over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Penelope Cruz, her husband, Javier Bardem, and Spanish movie director Pedro Almodovar were among some Spanish stars who described Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza as “genocide.”

Penelope, Javier, Pedro and other Spanish actors, directors and writers wrote an open letter to Spanish-language news wire Europa Press.

The group urged Israel to “lift the blockade, which the Gaza Strip has suffered for more than a decade.” They also asked the country to “open border crossings to facilitate the mobility of the population, the entry of medical equipment, medicines and food.”

Meanwhile, Madonna expressed her opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via Facebook on July 23. She posted a picture of flower arrangements and captioned it with, “These flowers are like the innocent children of Gaza! Who has a right to destroy them? No one!!! Cease fire! #peaceinthemiddleeast.”

HE SECRETARY-GENERAL — MESSAGE ON WORLD DAY AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

Posted on by
Reply

պանգի մուն

 

Human trafficking is a callous global industry that denies victims their rights and dignity and generates billions of dollars for organized criminal networks.  Most of those trafficked are vulnerable women and children deceived into a life of suffering.  They are exploited for sex and forced to work in conditions akin to slavery.

 

This first World Day against Trafficking in Persons is a call to action to end this crime and give hope to the victims, who often live unrecognized among us.  To stop the traffickers, we must sever funding pipelines and seize assets.  I urge all countries to ratify and fully implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol on Trafficking in Persons.

 

Enforcement, cross-border cooperation and information-sharing can all be effective, but ending human trafficking also means tackling the root causes.  Extreme poverty, entrenched inequality and a lack of education and opportunity create the vulnerabilities that traffickers exploit.  Ultimately, the best protection is to accelerate development for all.

 

Victims of trafficking who are fortunate enough to be freed need assistance to regain their rights and reintegrate into society.  The UN Trust Fund for the Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, works on their behalf but needs additional funding.  I appeal to everyone to support the UN campaign, “Have a Heart for Victims of Human Trafficking”.

 

Let us open our eyes to this crime and our hearts to the victims.  It is time to say no to human trafficking.

Report: Dozens killed, injured in China terror attack

Posted on by
Reply

A gang wielding knives and axes attacked civilians, a police station, government offices and smashed vehicles in a restive region of China, the country’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, citing local police.

china-xinjiang-police

The incident — called an “organized and premeditated” terror attack — occurred Monday in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Police officers at the scene shot dead dozens of people in the mob. Thirty-one cars were vandalized, including six that were set ablaze.

It was not immediately known how many people were killed and injured.

The location, Shache County, is where nine people authorities describe as terrorists attacked a police station, hurled explosives and torched police cars in December. Police shot and killed eight people in that attack.

There have been other attacks in the region in recent months.