Japan remembers earthquake, tsunami with silence, rallies
Year after 16,000 killed, country grapples with the human, economic and political toll
msnbc.com news services
With a minute of silence, prayers and anti-nuclear rallies, Japan marked on Sunday the first anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a radiation crisis that shattered public trust in atomic power and the nation’s leaders.
A year after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake unleashed a wall of water that hit Japan’s northeast coast, killing nearly 16,000 and leaving nearly 3,300 unaccounted for, the country is still grappling with the human, economic and political costs.
Thousands of Chinese trafficking victims rescued by police
Police freed more than 24,000 abducted women and children across the country as nearly 3,200 gangs were broken up
Associated Press in Beijing
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 11 March 2012 06.50 GMTChinese police rescued more than 24,000 abducted women and children across the country last year, the country’s Public Security Ministry said on Sunday.
Trafficking in women and children is a big problem in China, where traditional preference for male heirs and a strict one-child policy has driven a thriving market in baby boys, who fetch a considerably higher price than girls. Girls and women also are abducted and used as labourers or as brides for unwed sons.
Sri Lanka: A child is summarily executed
Footage of atrocity committed at the end of the government’s war with the Tamil Tigers is revealed
Sunday 11 March 2012
It is a chilling piece of footage that represents yet another blow for the beleaguered Sri Lankan government in its attempts to head off a critical resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.
The short clip dates from the final hours of the bloody 26-year civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist rebels of the Tamil Tigers, the LTTE.
A 12-year-old boy lies on the ground. He is stripped to the waist and has five neat bullet holes in his chest. His name is Balachandran Prabakaran and he is the son of the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Zuma’s next visit provokes political storm in Harare
South African President Jacob Zuma could fly into a stormy political atmosphere when he visits Harare
JAMA MAJOLA | 11 March, 2012 00:31
Since he came into office in 2009, about the same period as Zimbabwe’s coalition government was formed, Zuma’s relations with President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF have never been so low.
Mugabe and his loyalists are firing missiles at Zuma to provoke him into a fight over the GPA and elections. They have even threatened to give Zuma, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitator in Zimbabwe, the red card if he continues pushing them to implement the GPA and the roadmap towards elections.
Syria crisis: Annan to renew talks with Assad
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, on a two-day peace mission to Damascus, is due to hold a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
11 March 2012 Last updated at 04:48 GMT
On the first day of talks, President Assad rejected any political dialogue while “armed terrorist groups” were operating in the country.
Mr Annan is trying to arrange a ceasefire and gain greater access for humanitarian aid agencies.
He will later travel on to neighbouring countries, the UN says.
Diplomatic sources say his first port of call may well be Turkey, which has taken a tough line against President Assad’s deadly crackdown.
Garzón’s quest for justice crosses a red line in Spain
Judge Baltasar Garzón raised hackles in Spain when he began investigating civil war and Franco-era crimes, ignoring an amnesty law. The effort has effectively ended his career – but started a long-stifled conversation.
By Andrés Cala, Correspondent
Spain’s crusading judge Baltasar Garzón took on drug lords, Basque terrorists, state-sponsored paramilitaries, South American dictators, and US officials accused of torture. But nothing, not even his legal bravado, could fend off a Supreme Court verdict last month that ended his career as an international judge.
Judge Garzón, to many a global human rights champion, crossed what many Spanish politicians considered a red line when, in 2008, he began investigating crimes committed during Spain’s 1930s civil war and the regime of Gen. Francisco Franco that followed. Many Spaniards, not just politicians, prefer to keep those abuses in the past for the sake of national reconciliation.
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