Segacs's World I Know

Archive for the ‘Rest of the world’ Category

Hugo Chavez is trying again to become dictator-for-life, after being narrowly defeated last time around. Venezuelans vote in a referendum this Sunday to get rid of term limits. Observers are pessimistic that the opposition will be able to pull off a miracle a second time, but polls are close enough to think that the “no” side at least has a fighting chance.

Meanwhile, without George W. Bush in office anymore, Chavez has redirected his efforts towards the world’s favourite scapegoat: Venezuela’s Jewish community. In the past few years, antisemitism in Venezuela has reached staggering levels, and there’s every indication that things are only going to get worse.

The People’s Democratic Republic of Death Camps has expelled UN monitors and announced plans to resume its nuclear weapons program.

On a scariness scale of one to ten, this little tidbit of news ranks somewhere around a… zillion. Even though it’s not exactly news that North Korea has nuclear capabilities, the fact that it’s being openly defiant about it and making threats isn’t exactly what we refer to as “good news”.

Possibly the least reassuring quote in the subject comes from South Korean PM Han Seung-soo:

“Although we are at an impasse, I’m sure that China, together with the other partners, will be able to solve this problem eventually.”

Thanks. That’ll help everyone sleep more soundly, I’m sure.

• Does anyone really still believe that Mugabe will go quietly? Didn’t think so.
• Here we go again: The construction on St-Laurent launches full steam ahead into round 2… as though round 1 wasn’t a strong enough demonstration of the city’s incompetence.
• Duh alert: Allophones have a harder time getting jobs than Francophones do in Quebec. Really? Is the sky blue, too?
• You know it’s hockey fever when… even the police cars are flying Habs flags. Too bad our idiot mayor doesn’t give the same fan-dom rights to the firefighters.
• The Habs decimated the Bruins on Thursday, but just barely eked out a win last night. 2-0 is 2-0 and we’ll take it, surely. But we’re going to have to step it up quite a bit tonight. Go Habs Go!
• Hockey fever on the road: Boston is being invaded by supporters of the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge. Should be an interesting mix in the stands tonight at the TD Banknorth Centre. Then again, the Bruins fans deserve it for inadequately supporting their team. As of Friday when I last checked, there were still tickets available for tonight’s game on the Bruins’ official website. Shameful.
• Did someone forget to tell it that it’s spring? After teasing us with gorgeous balmy weather, it’s been overcast, chilly, rainy and even threatening snow this weekend. Come back, sunshine!
• Good friends… good crepes… goodbyes. Well, two out of three ain’t bad.

Hugo Chavez’s referendum on his bid to become a sweeping dictator was narrowly defeated, 51% No to 49% Yes. (Hmmm, what other referendum do those results remind you of?)

The defeat was astonishing, particularly because Chavez had pulled pretty much every trick in the book to stack the deck, from bribing people with promises of a shorter workday and more pensions, to shooting protestors, to shutting down all non-state-run media. Didn’t he read the chapter in the megalomaniac how-to book on how to stuff the ballot boxes?

People are breathing easier today. But Chavez isn’t one to be graceful in defeat. What will happen next is anyone’s guess.

The U.N. took a break from its usual Israel-bashing agenda today to call out some actual human rights violators:

A United Nations panel rebuked Myanmar, Iran and North Korea on Tuesday for human rights abuses, overcoming objections by developing nations that the move amounted to “demonization” of some states.

The resolution on North Korea expressing concern about systematic and widespread rights violations won the strongest support in the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee, passing by 97-23, with 60 abstentions.

Another resolution strongly condemning the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was passed by 88-24, with 66 abstentions, in what Britain said was “a declaration of support for the Burmese people’s desire for change.”

A third vote expressing deep concern at rights violations in Iran was passed by 72-50, with 55 abstentions.

The non-binding resolutions will be sent to the 192-member General Assembly, which generally votes in the same way as the committee.

The representative from Uganda was among several members of the Non-Aligned Movement, which groups 115 mostly developing nations, who argued against singling out some states.

He said such issues were best left to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council and should be addressed through dialogue rather than what he called the “demonization” of some countries.

Demonization, eh? You mean, what is usually done to Israel in a typical U.N.’s day’s work?

Lisa posts her thoughts following a fascinating interview with five refugees from Darfur currently staying on an Israeli kibbutz. An absolute must-read.

By now, most everyone knows about the terrorist bombing on the Samjhauta Express train between India and Pakistan, which killed at least 66 people:

Two bombs exploded aboard a train bound from India to Pakistan, sparking a fire that killed at least 66 passengers on Monday, an apparent attempt to sabotage a peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals.

One person was detained in connection with the midnight blasts on the train about 80 km north of New Delhi, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was quoted as saying.

The Samjhauta Express runs between Dehli and Attari in India and Wagah and Lahore in Pakistan twice a week, and is nicknamed the “Friendship Train” or the “Peace Train”, due to its route between the two rival countries. The symbolism of literally trying to derail peace must have been too tempting for the terrorists to resist.

Meanwhile, neither India nor Pakistan appears prepared to take the bait:

There was no finger-pointing by India and Pakistan, as there has been so often in the past after violent attacks.

The prime ministers of the two countries called each other and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said the attack would not be allowed to undermine the two countries’ peace efforts.

Progress? Or numbness to terrorism in a part of the world that has seen far too much of it already? It’s hard to say. But more people are dead for no reason today. That’s all anyone can state for certain. The rest? Who knows?

If you picked this week, you may want to start mentally planning what you’re going to do with all the cash. The secrecy surrounding Castro’s condition would seem to indicate that he’s going from bad to worse.

Luckily for Fidel, he’s already managed to pass his revolutionary torch.

Yesterday’s Ynet had a piece about female Sudanese refugees from Darfur who have found their way to Israel and the private shelter that has offered them a refuge:

Eleven young women and 18 of their children are living in a shelter in a community in the Carmel region. The only difference between them and the rest of the residents is their origin: They have all escaped from the terror of genocide in Darfur, they have all somehow infiltrated into Israel and left behind families that they will never see again.

These women are not only haunted by the atrocities they have endured and by the family they have left behind – probably never to see again – but they face extreme hardships in Israel. Most crossed the border illegally from Egypt after enduring many hardships in their journeys, and their husbands are in prison. They are young women struggling to raise babies alone without any means of support besides the donations that keep the shelter running. They are in a land and culture that couldn’t be more different from their own. And the Israeli government, despite being openly sympathetic to their plight on a world stage, is not offering much help:

“The state claims that the refugees are a security threat because they are citizens of an enemy country, and I want to mention that during the Holocaust Jewish refugees were turned away from numerous countries with the excuse that they were German citizens. We cannot forget that we are talking about human beings, even if their religion and skin color is different. We have to give them the opportunity to continue on with their lives and overcome what they have lived through”.

I don’t mean to pick on the Israeli government here; obviously, Israel needs to balance its security concerns against its humanitarian ones. And the whole world should be doing more, Canada included.

Still, these women are eager to try to rebuild their lives in any way they can:

“The most important thing for them is education. They want to send their children to kindergarten and to school and to learn Hebrew. They all willingly learn about Judaism and the traditions of the Jewish people, and every Friday we have a Shabbat party.

“They also want to go to work, and are always asking me to try to arrange work for them. Every visitor is inundated with questions, maybe he has news from their husbands in prison, or knows when they will be allowed to go to work.”

The shelter needs help, and I encourage everyone to consider making a donation:

The shelter subsists solely on donations and needs all possible supplies: baby supplies such as blankets, sheets, clothing, cribs and carriages; a dryer; toys; and books in Arabic and English ,and Hebrew and English school books. To donate email sigal@hotline.org.il

Let’s spread the word.

This is the seemingly-innocuous beginning to the plot of pretty much every B-grade horror movie:

A German pensioner who won a prize and worldwide fame for breeding his country’s largest rabbit — Robert, a 10.5kg (23lb) bruiser the size of a dog — has been offered an unusual opportunity to exploit his talents overseas.

Karl Szmolinsky has been given a contract by North Korea to supply giant rabbits to help to boost meat production in the reclusive Communist country, which is suffering severe food shortages. The only problem is that such huge rabbits consume vast quantities of food themselves as they grow.

Of course, if they ever get around that problem, we could be in for trouble. Today, it’s simply breeding large rabbits to feed starving people. Tomorrow, the supersized bunnies could be roaming the globe. They’re big… they’re furry… and they bite!