On his U.S. visits, the Dalai Lama attracts spiritual followers, spiritual seekers, politicians and civic leaders. He also draws people who don't care a whit about Buddhism but suppor

Shanghaiist

Meet the new head of the Tibetan government in exile: Lobsang Sangay Shanghaiist Welps, the election results are out and the new political leader for the Tibetan government in exile is drumroll please...Harvard-educated Lobsang Sangay. He won 55% of the votes, over Tenzin Tethong (37.4%) and Tashi Wangdi (6.4%). ...

Outlook

'Before '59, It Was An India-Tibet Border. Defence Bill Wasn't High.' Outlook Lobsang Sangay, the newly elected Kalon Tripa (prime minister) of the Tibetan government-in-exile, describes India as his second home and proudly declares he grew up in its “unity in diversity" atmosphere. It was only natural then that he was rooting ... The Dalai Lama and America the BuddhafulMinneapolis Star Tribune The Dahai Lama arrives in Minn. for first visit since 2001Minnesota Public Radio All Tibetans reading from the same pageThe Voice of Russia Pioneer Press -SodaHead News -KARE all 16 news articles »

Over 83 protesters are still detained without charge in South Darfur Sudan Tribune May 6, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — Over 83 people arrested by the Sudanese security service in South Darfur since last month are still in prison since last month protests against president Bashir government organized by the supporters of the rebel Sudan ...

Review: Samite's music a humanitarian gesture Reading Eagle ... of three days of workshops in the Reading and Muhlenberg school districts for Samite, made possible by a grant from the Reading Musical Foundation, which allowed more than 400 students to benefit from this extraordinary musician and humanitarian. ...

Independent media network The Democratic Voice of Burma reports that 17 of its video journalists are under detention in Myanmar. Some are serving sentences of 27 years for reporting about the real situation inside Myanmar. Written by Mong Palatino · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon...

The website of Singapore's National Art Gallery features interactive games and other educational resources to teach children and the general public about art. Written by Mong Palatino · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Mexican citizens are on alert over a reform to the National Security Law. After much pressure, the project is now on hold. According to human right groups, political annalists, lawyers and even some politicians, the reform would legalize the abuses of the army against civilians in the name of national security.

A new media boot camp will be held later this month a day before the Mekong Tourism Forum in Pakse, Champasak, Laos. The event will gather travel bloggers who are expected to learn more about the tourism potential of the Mekong region. Written by Mong Palatino · comments (0) Share:...

Anilnetto links to an article published by Aliran about the amount needed to wipe out poverty in Sarawak, Malaysia. Written by Mong Palatino · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

The House of Opium in Thailand features the history of opium and its trade in The Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia. It also has a collection of materials which celebrate the culture of north Thailand. Written by Mong Palatino · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon...

MAN, Côte d'Ivoire, 4 May 2011 – Reine Kpea Zehe, her husband and sister-in-law pack two heavy bags filled with cooking pans and clothes on to a small barge on the Liberian side of River Nuon, a 50-metre wide border with Côte d'Ivoire.

NEW YORK, USA, 6 May 2011- Mother's Day is celebrated on different dates in countries around the world, most commonly the second Sunday in May. But wherever and whenever it is observed, the day pays tribute to a universal form of devotion: a mother's love and sacrifice for her children. Here is one example of that devotion in action.

CHHATTISGARH, India, 6 May 2011 – When Pausha Madharia, 16, speaks, she gives voice to the hopes, dreams and fears of every child in the Indian State of Chhattisgarh.

Weasel Zippers

The Dalai Lama and America the Buddhaful Minneapolis Star Tribune He's the glue that held his people together after China invaded Tibet in 1950, which later caused him to flee to India, where he's led Tibet's government-in-exile. "His Holiness is the heart and soul of the Tibetan people," said Tsewang Ngodup of the ... The Dahai Lama arrives in Minn. for first visit since 2001Minnesota Public Radio Thousands greet Dalai Lama in St. PaulPioneer Press Even the Dalai Lama Signed Off on Osama bin Laden Killing: Are You With Him?SodaHead News KARE all 14 news articles »

Basoli Affirms Keenness on Mediation in Darfur Peace Sudan Vision regarding Darfur peace, has affirmed his keenness on the mediation of the peace process until it is concluded, which came during his meeting with Ahmed Ibn Abdullah Al-Mahmood; Qatar State Minister of Foreign Affairs to congratulate him on his ...

The nuclear energy industry only exists thanks to what insurance experts call the "mother of all subsidies", and the public is largely unaware that every nuclear power plant in the world has a strict cap on how much the industry might have to pay out in case of an accident.

Tunisians are back on the streets calling for the overthrow of the government, after former Interior Minister Farhat Rajhi announced on Facebook that Tunisia continues to be run by a shadow government, headed by a friend of Ben Ali, Kamel Ltaief, among other things. And once again, protesters were faced with police brutality and repression.

Debtocracy, a documentary by Katerina Kitidi and Aris Hatzistefanou about the causes and possible solutions of the Greek debt crisis, can be viewed with the English subtitles beginning today. It's distributed under Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license and allegedly has had over 1 million views so far. This “documentary produced...

In the last several years, West Bank Palestinian villages have seen their land claimed both by Jewish settlements in the West Bank and by the security wall erected by Israel. In villages such as Nabi Saleh, Bi'lin and Ni'lin, village residents have responded by holding weekly nonviolent protests. The week after Hamas and Fatah inked their unity agreement was no exception.

Maternal health is a human right for every woman. Yet the United States lacks a robust government response to this critical problem including the lack of nationally standardized protocols to address the leading causes of death in childbirth – or … Continue reading →

On March 16th, 2011 when Phuntsok Jarutsang, a 21 year-old Tibetan monk from Kirti Monastery, doused his robes in petrol and set himself ablaze, he sent a spark through the Tibetan world. Following Phuntsok’s death, over a thousand brave Tibetans in Ngaba (Ch: Aba County), took to the streets. Their protest was swiftly quelled by [...]

The Guardian

Sudan at a crossroads The Guardian We must also not lose sight of Darfur, where much still needs to be done to finally resolve the conflict in that region. For nine years, Darfuris have endured violence, displacement and poverty. This situation is deplorable and intolerable. ... Africa: South Sudan - Rethinking Citizenship, Sovereignty And Self-DeterminationAllAfrica.com Divisions in Sudan's Ruling Party and the Threat to the Country's Future StabilityPR-USA.net (press release) all 13 news articles »

The Guardian (blog)

Boxing-Pacquiao the humanitarian with his coat of many colours Yahoo! Eurosport UK "He is such a humanitarian, such a caring person for the poor and he is so consumed with doing good. "That's why I believe his accomplishments outside of boxing will eclipse anything he does in boxing, even if he is universally recognised as the ... Boxer Manny Pacquiao a humanitarian who can hurtLos Angeles Times Mosley's secret weapon: an iron chinESPN Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley, Charice to sing PH AnthemZeibiz AHN | All Headline News -NESN.com all 819 news articles »

CTV.ca

Syrian president to let UN assess humanitarian situation Irish Times UN CHIEF Ban Ki-moon declared yesterday that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had agreed to permit UN teams to assess the humanitarian situation in the country following seven weeks of unrest. The announcement coincided with protests in a dozen Syrian ... SYRIA: Who is Behind The Protest Movement? Fabricating a Pretext for a US-NATO ...Intifada Palestine Activists: 6 killed in Syria by security forcesThe Associated Press UN mission to visit Syria's DaraaIndependent Online Montreal Gazette -The Guardian (blog) -The National all 1,885 news articles »

(New York) - The United States should demonstrate its concern over the Chinese government's crackdown on dissent by raising human rights at all segments of next week's US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Human Rights Watch said today.

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(New York) - The UN General Assembly should strongly reject Syria's candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch said today. Syria's attempt to join the council in the midst of its brutal crackdown on largely peaceful protests is a travesty, Human Rights Watch said.

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In Hollywood Westerns, the sheriff engages in a shootout with bad guys and wins. Such was the story of Wyatt Earp, who killed rustlers in the "Gunfight at OK Corral". Then there is the American cowboy, represented by John Wayne - tall, handsome, Anglo-Saxon – who rides into town whistling before he dispatches the "bad guys" sometimes represented by "Indians" like Geronimo, the Apache, who supposedly terrorised innocent settlers.

Small and medium-sized companies in Central America are the targets of foreign development aid programmes aimed at fighting the region's high poverty levels.

As controversy mounts over the efficacy of microfinance as a global poverty-alleviation effort, the 15th Global Microcredit Summit, scheduled to kick off on Nov. 14 in Valladolid, Spain, will be forced to answer critical questions about poverty, resources and tactics.

Côte d'Ivoire's president was officially sworn-in today. A brief overview of the current situation, and what to look out for in coming weeks and months.

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DSG Asha-Rose Migiro will leave NY on May 9^th to head to Geneva to chair the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

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New York Daily News

With Budget Unveiling, Bloomberg Draws the Battle Lines WNYC "We are forced to do the best we can with what we've got. The state has shifted the burden from them to us." Following the unveiling of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's final budget, the battle lines are now drawn between the mayor and City ... Bloomberg to cut more than 6000 NYC teaching positionsCNN International Bloomberg's $65.7 Billion New York City Budget Proposes 6000 Teacher CutsBloomberg NYC Mayor's Budget Would Cut 1 Out Of 12 TeachersNPR Brooklyn Daily Eagle -Patch.com -The Associated Press all 331 news articles »

I spent part of Wednesday at MIT’s Communications Futures Program, where the topic at hand was internet openness. Political scientist Shirley Hung opened the afternoon session with a discussion of “a different vision of openness”, looking at the Chinese internet. Hung suggests that the authorities who control the Chinese Internet believe their internet is open, [...]

I spent the past two days in Cambridge, primarily around MIT, and almost exclusively talking about the “Arab Spring” and what we’ve learned about social media and protest in authoritarian states. Early Wednesday morning, the MIT Museum hosted a “soapbox” session, which put Dr. Marlyn Tadros and me in dialog with Egyptian protesters and bloggers, [...]

Kenyan blogger Clay Onyango comes up with the main reason why Osama was killed by the US administration whose president’s name begins the letter O while Crazy Nairobian explains what would have happened if Osama was killed by movie heroes such as Jack Bauer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Lee and Jason Statham.

Award-winning Tunisian blog Nawaat, which has been instrumental in reporting the Tunisian Revolution, has declined the Arab eContent award, in protest against the Bahraini government's censorship policy and violations of human rights. The Arab eContent is both organised and sponsored by the Bahrain government.

André-Michel Essoungou writes the following on the site reseautelecom.com: “According to the ITU [International Telecommunication Union], investments in the African mobile phone sector, the prime mover of information and communication technologies, went from US$8.1 billion in 2005 to nearly US$70 billion today. These technologies are about to become the driving...

Twitter users in Syria are reporting that mobile internet telecommunications have been disrupted today, as protests continued across the country. Some also report that landlines and electricity have been disconnected in different areas.

Pedazos de La Isla reports that the Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Resistance Front has publicly requested - and since received - proper medical service and housing conditions for an HIV-positive mother and her young child. Written by Janine Mendes-Franco · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon...

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that “former government minister and People’s National Movement (PNM) stalwart, Kenneth Valley died this morning.” Written by Janine Mendes-Franco · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Plain Talk calls for reason in the ongoing battle between local farmers and the Housing Development Corporation, saying, “I have called for a land use policy from this government and the last and I am not the only one. Farming for self sufficiency should be one of our front burner...

Uncommon Sense blogs about how the authorities “have responded to Andy Frometa Cuenca, a political prisoner on hunger strike since April 16 to demand his release and that of all political prisoners in Cuba.” Written by Janine Mendes-Franco · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon ·...

WICB Expose says that “Shivnarine Chanderpaul is just the latest in a long line of great West Indies cricketers to be mistreated by the West Indies Cricket Board” and links to an interview with the cricketer to support its claim. Written by Janine Mendes-Franco · comments (0) Share: facebook ·...

Just the Facts provides an English translation –and explanatory notes– of the 10 questions Ecuadorians will be voting on tomorrow, May 7: “Polls indicate that while awareness of the questions is low, all of them will be approved.” Written by Silvia Viñas · comments (0) Share: facebook · twitter ·...

Clinton raises alarm on rising food prices: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Friday that global shortages of food and spiraling prices threaten widespread destabilization and is urging immediate action to forestall a repeat of the 2007 and 2008 crisis that led to riots in dozens of countries around the developing world. (AP)... Read More »

This year, our campus students brought in 7,000 new ONE Campus Challenge members, generated 8,000 petition-signers and wrote more than 4,000 letters to Congress. Across the nation, students took action and made a tremendous impact on the lives of the world’s poorest people. In addition to the OCC Grand Prize winners, this year we’ve decided... Read More »

Oxfam condemns the use of excessive force and violence against protesters by the Syrian security forces, which has already led to many hundreds of deaths. 

Reports of the shelling of cities, cutting off water and electricity, food shortages in besieged towns, mass arrests and preventing assistance to the wounded are violations of international law.

The Syrian authorities must abide by their obligations under international law and immediately halt the killing of protesters and other grave violations of their human rights. 

The international community must take urgent action to help the people of Syria, including, as a first step:

• Applying intensive diplomatic pressure on the government of Syria to respect human rights and end the violence against its own citizens.
• Ensuring the provision of adequate humanitarian assistance both inside Syria and in neighboring countries that are receiving people fleeing from the violence, should it be needed.

Oxfam supports the rights of all to live in dignity with political freedom and with full social and economic rights and opportunities. They should be able to express their opinions freely and to demonstrate peacefully, without running the risk of violent oppression.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation in Syria, and are ready to provide humanitarian assistance if required.

CAMDEN, USA, 29April 2011 – Growing up in the one of the most dangerous cities in the United States of America, Marcell Jenkins, 12, never ventures more than a few blocks from his home alone.

A Man Arrested in Eastern Tibet for Freedom Slogans Tibet Post International Dharamshala: - Lobsang Palden, a local Tibetan official of Thangjuk township, Dege Dzakhog county, eastern Tibet ( Ch: Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan), has been arrested after he drawing slogans calling for freedom in Tibet and long life ... and more »