Daily Archives: November 11, 2014

Nigeria, Women

Bring Back Our Journalists

Foreign Policy

The sloppy, pop-humanitarian coverage of the Boko Haram cease-fire-that-wasn’t isn’t just bad journalism — it’s a missed opportunity.

BY Lauren Wolfe   
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There was never any cease-fire. War in Nigeria will not end anytime soon and the hundreds of schoolgirls from the northeastern town of Chibok kidnapped back in April will not — not now, maybe not ever — be coming home. So announces the leader of Boko Haram, the militant group that has brought all this havoc to the country, in a video released Oct. 31. Continue reading Bring Back Our Journalists →

Migration

Massachusetts Schools Welcome New Students Who Fled Danger

By Jane Regan and Yuxiao Yuan

SOMERVILLE, Massachusetts, Nov 8 2014 (IPS) – Pedro sought a safer life. He traveled to Somerville from Chalantenango, El Salvador on foot, by bus, car, and in the back of a tractor-trailer truck.

Now he’s one of 60 new students from Central America who have enrolled in Somerville Public Schools after making it to the Texas border on their own or with other children, part of a wave of 70,000 youth who crossed the border earlier this year. And the district is concentrating on when those students are going, not where they’ve been. Continue reading Massachusetts Schools Welcome New Students Who Fled Danger →

Migration

Decision Time on Immigration

New York Times

Immigration activists at a rally in Washington on Monday. Credit Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Immigration activists at a rally in Washington on Monday. Credit Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

President Obama said on Wednesday that he would act on his own by the end of the year to “improve” the immigration system, presumably by giving many — perhaps millions — of the country’s unauthorized immigrants temporary protection from deportation and permission to work. He has said this before, only to back off in deference to election-year politics.

Now the election is over, and the only thing to say to the president is: Do it. Take executive action. Make it big. Continue reading Decision Time on Immigration →

Peace, Women

Women Challenged by Rising Extremism and Militarism

A woman and child at Za’atri refugee camp, host to tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by conflict, near Mafraq, Jordan. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten
A woman and child at Za’atri refugee camp, host to tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by conflict, near Mafraq, Jordan. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 6 2014 (IPS) – Ongoing military conflicts in the strife-torn Middle East – specifically in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Palestine – have resulted in widespread civilian casualties, impacting heavily on the most vulnerable in besieged communities: women and children.

The biggest death toll has stemmed from the civil war in Syria, currently in its fourth year, followed by casualties from the devastating 50-day Israeli air attacks on Gaza last August. Continue reading Women Challenged by Rising Extremism and Militarism →

Environment, Uncategorized

Industry Lashes Out With Lawsuit Hours After Landmark Fracking Ban

Common Dreams

Supporters of Denton’s fracking ban say justice will prevail

Andrea Germanos, staff writer

The oil and gas industry wasted no time in filing a legal challenge to the fracking ban voters just passed in Denton, Texas. (Photo: Vertigogen/flickr/cc)
The oil and gas industry wasted no time in filing a legal challenge to the fracking ban voters just passed in Denton, Texas. (Photo: Vertigogen/flickr/cc)

Mere hours after voters in Denton, Texas made history by enacting the state’s first ban on fracking, the oil and gas industry has challenged that move with a lawsuit.

Supporters say the ban, which passed with the support of nearly 59 percent of voters, said it was necessary to protect the city from the polluting and dangerous process. Continue reading Industry Lashes Out With Lawsuit Hours After Landmark Fracking Ban →