Comparing Mumbai to 9/11 Diminishes Both Tragedies

Published on Thursday, December 4, 2008 by The Guardian/UK

by Priyamvada Gopal
(http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/04-7) 

We must not let ’9/11′ become a horrific status symbol signalling arrival into the fraternity of wounded superpowers.

Every brutal massacre of defenceless innocents must draw from us a kindred horror, whether it is Hiroshima 1945, Deir Yassin 1948, Sharpeville 1960, Halabja 1988, New York 2001, Gujarat 2002, or Haditha 2005. But each also bears the imprints of its place and time and we must commemorate them accordingly.

Police feared ‘airport stand-off’

Police feared ‘airport stand-off’

By Dominic Casciani BBC News

An Israeli general wanted for alleged war crimes escaped arrest in the UK because British police feared an armed confrontation at Heathrow airport. Documents seen by BBC News reveal how Major General Doron Almog managed to fly back to Israel when police failed to board his plane in September 2005.

He stayed on board for two hours after a tip-off that he was facing detention.

Police were concerned about a potential clash with Israeli air marshals or armed personal security on the plane.

Egypt ‘torturing HIV sufferers’

Egypt ‘torturing HIV sufferers’

HIV-positive Egyptian men are tortured and chained to hospital beds while awaiting unfair homosexuality trials, a human rights group has claimed.

Kenya’s children scarred by violence

Kenya’s children scarred by violence

By Matt Prodger BBC News, Nairobi

Van is 13-years-old and comes from the town of Eldoret – one of the flashpoints of Kenya’s recent ethnic violence. As he talks about the events that befell his family a fortnight ago, his voice drops to a whisper.”My mother was attacked by men with machetes. I didn’t see it – when I arrived, there was only blood on the floor.”

Pakistan: Scotland Yard Should Quit Flawed Bhutto Inquiry

Independent International Investigation Needed to Conduct Credible Probe

(Taken from www.hrw.org)

(New York, January 24, 2008) – The UK’s Scotland Yard should not be part of a flawed Pakistani investigation into the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged Pakistan to seek an independent international investigation of the murder, such as under United Nations auspices.Human Rights Watch said that the Pakistani government has a well-documented record of failing to conduct impartial investigations of human rights abuses, including political killings.  
 

Survivors recall church inferno

Survivors recall church inferno

A Kenyan mother escaped from Tuesday’s church arson attack in the town of Eldoret, only to see her young child tossed back into the flames.

Campaign for release of Saudi blogger

Campaign for release of Saudi blogger

Saudi officials revealed on Tuesday that they had detained leading blogger Fouad al-Farhan.

Benazir e-mail implicates Musharraf in death

Benazir e-mail implicates Musharraf in death
28 Dec 2007, 2118 hrs IST,CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA,TNN

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto implicated military ruler Pervez Musharraf in her death in an e-mail she sent to a friend, it has been revealed, even as the US media began an unsparing review of Washington’s support to the dictator and the country’s pervasive military.

US aid ‘diverted’ in Pakistan

US aid ‘diverted’ in Pakistan

More than $5bn in US military aid to Pakistan has often failed to reach frontline units fighting al-Qaeda and the Taleban, the New York Times says. It quoted officials saying much of the money was diverted to weapons systems designed to counter India, rather than to fighting Islamist militants.

The US provides the money to reimburse Pakistan for military operations carried out in its “war on terror”.

Obituary: Benazir Bhutto

Obituary: Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto followed her father into politics, and both of them died because of it – he was executed in 1979, she fell victim to an apparent suicide bomb attack.