The UN Human Rights Council has decided to send a fact-finding mission of five "highly qualified persons" plus the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan to make recommendations to the government of Sudan and the Darfur insurgencies. This is an important step to bring to an end a conflict which began in 2003 and is growing more destructive each day.
Video: With the 109th Congress now over, the telecom bill HR 5252 has now been defeated. We now have a historic opportunity to take Internet Freedom to the next level in the new Congress. However, the companies are launching a counter attack in the New Year, taking the fight state by state instead. We need to raise the alarm now to protect neutrality nation-wide, and to campaign for a faster, more open and accessible Internet in 2007.
Signaling a potentially momentous change in its foreign policy toward Myanmar, Thailand's new Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand has said he intends to reassess, and possibly abandon, the previous Thai government's controversial joint-plans with Myanmar's military junta to build five hydroelectric dams along the Salween River. More recently, Thailand's new Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram echoed those sentiments, telling news reporters in Bangkok that Thailand's 'cosy' commercial relationship with Myanmar is at an end. However, Nitya went on to say, "Some of the discussions relating to energy cooperation probably will continue," though he declined to give further details.
Sixty-three Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) members were arrested on November 29 during a peaceful launch of its People's Charter. They were taken to Bulawayo Central Police Station. WOZA leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were among those arrested.
"Honest hope derives from a belief that positive change is possible in the world. And we will only believe this if we experience ourselves changing. The key is risk, doing that which we thought we could not do."-Frances Moore Lappe
Hope and risk. For those of us committed to transformative change it is this combination that fuels our actions-the belief that change truly is possible and that we are willing to take risks to create a better society. But sometimes the risk is too great. All too often those actions which would accurately reflect our values are compromised or avoided simply to maintain survival. This is particularly common in situations that directly affect our lives.
Palestinian groups have recently suggested a ceasefire, in exchange for a cessation of Israeli violence. Ehud Olmert responded with a conciliatory speech, cleverly timed with President Bush's arrival to Jordan on November 29 for a two-day conference with top Iraqi officials.
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