Distrust and displacement on Kachin frontline - The Irrawaddy
Laja Yang, Kachin State, Burma - Seng Tawng and her husband are two new names added to Kachin State’s growing number of internal refugees. “There was more fighting last Sunday,” said Maran Naw Bawk. “It was the closest yet to our village, so we think it is not safe any ...
Aung San Suu Kyi hits the campaign trail in Myanmar - Christian Science Monitor
PATHEIN, MYANMAR - “We have not seen The Lady [a popular local nickname for Aung San Suu Kyi] here in more than 20 years,” said Kyaw Win, as he linked arms with other local volunteers in Pathein to prevent the eager, surging crowd from swarming Aung San Suu Kyi's vehicle.
After sodomy acquittal, Malaysia's Anwar pressing for power - Christian Science Monitor
KUALA LUMPUR - According to Pui Yee Choong, a political researcher at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, today's verdict will allow the incumbent government to say “that it has never been the case that anyone from the ruling party wanted to end Anwar’s political career,” she says.
China's new European trade hub: An Irish town of 18,000 - Christian Science Monitor
The Athlone Institute of Technology hosts more than 200 Chinese students – one of the links that helped bring the trade hub to the town, says Prof. Ciaran Ó Catháin, the president of the school and one of the players in the project negotiations. Professor Ó Catháin would not disclose ...
Finding Cannibals: filling the North Korea news gap - PBS Mediashift
SEOUL - Amid the news vacuum, the gossip mill prompts prurience, however, and an often vain search for non-existent horror stories. The DailyNK laments that it gets repeatedly asked - by one reporter in particular - "if we have any stories of cannibalism in North Korea.”
Meditations of a detained monk in Vietnam - Asia Times
HO CHI MINH CITY - Emerging from the anterooms of the Thanh Minh Zen monastery, Thich Quang Do nodded and smiled, extending a handshake firm enough to belie his 83 years.
Floods hit hard in southern Pakistan – The Sunday Tribune/Today’s Zaman/Evening Herald
On the road in northern Sindh, Pakistan - Dirty, tired and bedraggled, Imran beckons us over to the womenwho fled their village. They came thirty miles on foot only to spend almost three weeks here in the dead heat at this makeshift camp outside Sukkur in southern Pakistan. “Take some ...
Bad cops, mean streets – Sunday Tribune/VoA/RTÉ World Report
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE - The police stop us all the time. Sometimes they try to take money from us, sometimes they threaten to arrest us. But the usual trick is to check our handbags. They plant some drugs, then tell us to come with them to the station. The only ...
Sectarian tensions heat up in Lebanon – The Washington Times
BEIRUT - "A lot of Saudi money has been put into the north to cultivate Wahhabi/Salafist ideology, to counter Hezbollah," reflecting wider Sunni-Shi'ite regional rivalries, said Ahmad Moussali, a professor of political science and Islamic studies at the American University of Beirut. "These radicals see the Lebanese army as weak, ...
‘They come at night, sometimes they kill’ – The Irish Times
El-Fasher, Darfur, Sudan - Kultum explained: "Nobody is guarding the camp. If you have one donkey, one goat, they will take it. If you complain, they will kill you." She added cautiously: "You cannot see who does it, it is at night. It is too dark."
Man faces trial for bombing – ISN
September 8th, 2005
DUBLIN – A member of a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has been ordered to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the 1998 Omagh bombing, considered the worst attack in North Ireland in the last 30 years.
Sean Hoey faces a total of 58 charges relating to the bombing that devastated the Northern Irish town of Omagh and other activities attributed to the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA) in 1998. (more…)
‘Love Ulster’ campaign sparks criticism – ISN
August 30th, 2005
DERRY – A new grassroots campaign dubbed “Love Ulster”, on Monday began disseminating newsletters across Northern Ireland aimed at denouncing nationalist dominance over the political process.
The Love Ulster campaign will disseminate 200,000 free newsletters across Northern Ireland, highlighting unionist concerns at political concessions granted to Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) since the latter’s statement that it was ending its nearly four-decade campaign of violence against British rule. (more…)
‘Colombia Three’ fugitives still ‘missing’ – ISN
August 11th, 2005
DERRY – The three Irish Republican Army (IRA) men who re-emerged in Ireland eight months after disappearing from Colombia, where they were due to face 17 years in prison, remain missing in Ireland.
There whereabouts of Niall Connolly, James Monaghan, and Martin McCauley – dubbed “The Colombian Trio” – are still unknown six days after they revealed their return to an Irish television station.
The men were sentenced to 17 years in prison in Colombia, convicted after an initial acquittal was overturned of training leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and of travelling on false passports.
The Colombian vice-president and unionist parties in Northern Ireland have called for the men to be extradited to Colombia to face their sentences. (more…)
DUP to stall peace talks – ISN
August 5th, 2005
DERRY – Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party has threatened to delay talks on restarting the stalled peace process.
Meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday in London, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) outlined its position on political talks aimed at restoring the devolved government to Belfast.
DUP leader Reverend Ian Paisley said the party would require a “prolonged period of assessment” to ascertain whether the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had truly given up its armed campaign. He called for “total decommissioning that everyone can be satisfied with”. (more…)
Britain to halve troops in N Ireland – ISN
August 3rd, 2005
Derry – The British government has announced a radical overhaul of its military and security structure in Northern Ireland, pledging to halve its troops to just over 5,000, end army support for the police, and close down 26 of 40 army sites.
The move follows an announcement last week by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that it would end its 30-year campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.
On Tuesday, Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, said the British government’s pledged would be “achievable within two years” provided the “enabling environment is established and maintained”. “Enabling environment” is code for the disarming of the IRA. (more…)
IRA to end armed campaign – ISN
July 29th, 2005
BELFAST – In what is being described as a historic move, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on Thursday announced an end its armed campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.
The announcement was read by a former IRA prisoner, and stated,
“All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All Volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever.”
The statement called for two independent witnesses – a Catholic and Protestant clergyman – to act as independent witnesses to the destruction or “decommissioning” of the IRA’s arsenal.
The statement described an internal consensus that the goal of a united Ireland could be now achieved through conventional political means, but reaffirmed the IRA view that “the armed struggle was entirely legitimate”. (more…)
Loyalist parades turn violent – ISN
July 13th, 2005
DERRY -Eighty police were injured last night as violence erupted in a Catholic-nationalist area of north Belfast after a day of Protestant Orange Order parades throughout Northern Ireland.
Tensions were high in the run-up to the parade through the mainly nationalist Ardoyne area of north Belfast. While the morning parade passed off peacefully, the return of the Orangemen through the area on Tuesday evening proved troublesome.
Last year, British Army units were attacked by nationalist rioters alleging a heavy-handed response to peaceful protests at the Orange Order march through the Ardoyne.
No army units were deployed to Ardoyne this year. However, efforts by Sinn Féin – the political party linked to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – to ensure that nationalist youths were restrained during the marches do not appear to have been completely successful. (more…)
Unionists choose new leader – ISN
June 27th, 2005
DERRY – Sir Reg Empey was elected as the new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) on Friday, after gaining 53 per cent of the party vote in the second ballot, replacing the David Trimble as the embattled party’s head.
Empey, a member of Northern Ireland’s suspended legislative assembly, succeeds Nobel Laureate Trimble, who resigned after the UUP’s heavy defeat at the May General election.
After his victory in Friday’s ballot, Empey said he would remain as leader for no more than five years. (more…)
Two arrested for McCartney murder -ISN
June 2nd, 2005
DERRY – The British police arrested two men on Wednesday in connection with the January murder of Robert McCartney in Belfast.
A 49-year-old man was detained in Belfast. The other, aged 36, was arrested in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, follow-up searches have been taking place in the Markets area of Belfast, close to where the killing took place.
McCartney was murdered on 31 January outside a pub near the Catholic-nationalist Short Strand enclave in East Belfast.
The murder was blamed on members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), three of whom were expelled after the paramilitary group conducted an internal investigation. (more…)
EU approves McCartney civil action funds – ISN
May 11th, 2005
DERRY – The European Parliament on Tuesday voted to provide funds to the family of Robert McCartney, who was murdered in Belfast in January by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), for their quest for justice in the controversial case.
In an unprecedented move, a large majority of European parliamentarians voted to fund a possible civil action by the family, should the current criminal case continue to falter. (more…)
