LA PAZ, Bolivia -- The slogans and posters of Che Guevara notwithstanding, this is not Havana circa 1969, nor Managua, 1979. Instead, the fervor in the offices of the Deputy Ministry of Decolonization could only be felt in the Bolivia of President Evo Morales, who seemed to be sailing toward a victory in an election on Sunday. The writing on the wall here, literally, is in two indigenous languages -- Quechua and Aymara -- unmistakable signs of the political movement that has shaken the institutions of this impoverished nation."Jisk'a Achasiw Tuq Saykat Taqi Jach'a P'iqincha," says the greeting at the office of Monica Rey, who explains that it is Aymara for the new unit she leads, the Directorate for the Struggle Against Racism."We are in the process of conquering our country's minds and, even more challenging, its fears," said Ms. Rey, listing a variety of projects, including changing the portraits on Bolivia's currency from the white men who long ruled the country to indigenous heroes like Túpac Katari and Bartolina Sisa, leaders of an 18th-century revolt against Spanish rule.With a sharply weakened opposition and his visceral connection to the indigenous majority -- who make up more than 60 percent of the population -- Mr. Morales, 50, is arguably the nation's strongest leader in decades.
LA PAZ, Bolivia -- The slogans and posters of Che Guevara notwithstanding, this is not Havana circa 1969, nor Managua, 1979. Instead, the fervor in the offices of the Deputy Ministry of Decolonization could only be felt in the Bolivia of President Evo Morales, who seemed to be sailing toward a victory in an election on Sunday.
The writing on the wall here, literally, is in two indigenous languages -- Quechua and Aymara -- unmistakable signs of the political movement that has shaken the institutions of this impoverished nation.
"Jisk'a Achasiw Tuq Saykat Taqi Jach'a P'iqincha," says the greeting at the office of Monica Rey, who explains that it is Aymara for the new unit she leads, the Directorate for the Struggle Against Racism.
"We are in the process of conquering our country's minds and, even more challenging, its fears," said Ms. Rey, listing a variety of projects, including changing the portraits on Bolivia's currency from the white men who long ruled the country to indigenous heroes like Túpac Katari and Bartolina Sisa, leaders of an 18th-century revolt against Spanish rule.
With a sharply weakened opposition and his visceral connection to the indigenous majority -- who make up more than 60 percent of the population -- Mr. Morales, 50, is arguably the nation's strongest leader in decades.
TOKYO -- Four teenagers from an American military base in Japan were arrested on charges of attempted murder on Saturday for allegedly toppling a woman riding her motorbike, causing her to suffer a serious head injury. In the August episode, which has received national coverage in Japan, a 23-year-old motorbike rider suffered a fractured skull when she hit rope that the authorities say had been strung across a road by the four teenagers near the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo. The suspects are three boys and a girl, ages 15 to 18, who all are children of United States military personnel. Local police officers arrested them after surveillance videotapes showed them near the site of the crash. One of the teenagers sought help from a passer-by for the injured woman, according to news reports.
TOKYO -- Four teenagers from an American military base in Japan were arrested on charges of attempted murder on Saturday for allegedly toppling a woman riding her motorbike, causing her to suffer a serious head injury.
In the August episode, which has received national coverage in Japan, a 23-year-old motorbike rider suffered a fractured skull when she hit rope that the authorities say had been strung across a road by the four teenagers near the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
The suspects are three boys and a girl, ages 15 to 18, who all are children of United States military personnel. Local police officers arrested them after surveillance videotapes showed them near the site of the crash.
One of the teenagers sought help from a passer-by for the injured woman, according to news reports.
From 1952 to 2004, there have been approximately 200,000 accidents and crimes involving U.S. soldiers, in which 1,076 Japanese civilians have died. Over 90% of the incidents were vehicle or traffic related. [10] According to the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement U.S. personnel have partial extraterritorial right, so in most cases suspects were not arrested.[10] In 1995, the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl by two U.S. Marines and one U.S. sailor led to demands for the removal of all U.S. military bases in Japan. Other controversial incidents include helicopter crashes, the Girard incident, the Michael Brown Okinawa assault incident, and the death of Yuki Uema. In February 2008, a 38-year-old U.S. Marine based on Okinawa was arrested in connection with the reported rape of a 14-year-old Japanese girl.[11] This triggered waves of protest against American military presence in Okinawa and led to tight restrictions on off-base activities.[12][13] U.S. Forces Japan designated 22 February as a Day of Reflection for all U.S. military facilities in Japan, setting up a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Task Force in an effort to prevent similar incidents.[14]
MANILA -- The military arrested dozens of people and seized caches of weapons after martial law was imposed over the weekend in a southern Philippine province where 57 people were killed in a massacre two weeks ago, officials said Sunday. The military has detained nearly 50 people in the province, Maguindanao, in a bid to quell a rebellion by supporters of a powerful political family accused of carrying out the massacre, said an army official, Maj. Randolph Cabangbang. Among those arrested over the weekend were six members of the Ampatuan family, including the patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Sr., and his son, Zaldy, the governor of the five-province Muslim autonomous region that includes Maguindanao. A seventh member, Andal Ampatuan Jr., had been arrested before the crackdown. The military said Sunday that it had raided a property owned by the family patriarch and found 40 firearms, including Armalite assault rifles and ammunition. The raids came after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo proclaimed martial law in Maguindanao, citing a breakdown of law and order.
MANILA -- The military arrested dozens of people and seized caches of weapons after martial law was imposed over the weekend in a southern Philippine province where 57 people were killed in a massacre two weeks ago, officials said Sunday.
The military has detained nearly 50 people in the province, Maguindanao, in a bid to quell a rebellion by supporters of a powerful political family accused of carrying out the massacre, said an army official, Maj. Randolph Cabangbang.
Among those arrested over the weekend were six members of the Ampatuan family, including the patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Sr., and his son, Zaldy, the governor of the five-province Muslim autonomous region that includes Maguindanao. A seventh member, Andal Ampatuan Jr., had been arrested before the crackdown.
The military said Sunday that it had raided a property owned by the family patriarch and found 40 firearms, including Armalite assault rifles and ammunition.
The raids came after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo proclaimed martial law in Maguindanao, citing a breakdown of law and order.
CHICAGO -- Despite opposition from congressional Republicans, the Obama administration is signaling that a state prison in rural Thomson, Ill., will probably become the new home for scores of terrorism suspects now housed at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Officials from the White House, Defense Department and U.S. Bureau of Prisons spent two hours last week briefing more than a dozen members of the Illinois congressional delegation in the office of Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). To reassure skeptical Republicans, they emphasized security. Although the officials left open the possibility that another site could be chosen, participants emerged from the session convinced that the U.S. government will buy the largely unused $145 million Thomson Correctional Center, which was built in 2008. If all goes well, administration sources involved in closing the Guantanamo Bay prison anticipate a handover of the Thomson facility by late winter. It would then take several months to prepare the prison to a level "beyond supermax" and put the staff in place, according to federal estimates. In Thomson, a town near the Mississippi River, popular support is strong for a federal purchase of the prison. Unemployment in the area is 10.5 percent, and the White House suggests that as many as 3,000 jobs could be created -- some going to local hires, others to people who would move to the area.
CHICAGO -- Despite opposition from congressional Republicans, the Obama administration is signaling that a state prison in rural Thomson, Ill., will probably become the new home for scores of terrorism suspects now housed at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Officials from the White House, Defense Department and U.S. Bureau of Prisons spent two hours last week briefing more than a dozen members of the Illinois congressional delegation in the office of Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). To reassure skeptical Republicans, they emphasized security.
Although the officials left open the possibility that another site could be chosen, participants emerged from the session convinced that the U.S. government will buy the largely unused $145 million Thomson Correctional Center, which was built in 2008.
If all goes well, administration sources involved in closing the Guantanamo Bay prison anticipate a handover of the Thomson facility by late winter. It would then take several months to prepare the prison to a level "beyond supermax" and put the staff in place, according to federal estimates.
In Thomson, a town near the Mississippi River, popular support is strong for a federal purchase of the prison. Unemployment in the area is 10.5 percent, and the White House suggests that as many as 3,000 jobs could be created -- some going to local hires, others to people who would move to the area.
The global fight to clear unexploded bombs and landmines gets little coverage, but the work is changing millions of lives.Square foot by square foot, the world is winning one of its few good wars: the one against landmines. Last week, at a virtually unreported conference in Colombia, organisations tackling the mines - which continue killing and maiming long after the cause in which they were planted has been won or lost - heard that vast areas of the planet's former conflict zones are being cleared. There is still much work to be done, but progress so far offers the hope that, one day, they will be eradicated. In the past 10 years, according to the newly published Landmine Monitor Report 2009, more than two million emplaced mines have been cleared, and some 44 million held in stockpiles destroyed. The past year has been the best ever for mine destruction, with an area the size of Brussels cleared. All told, the past decade has seen land equivalent to twice the area of London made safe.
Square foot by square foot, the world is winning one of its few good wars: the one against landmines.
Last week, at a virtually unreported conference in Colombia, organisations tackling the mines - which continue killing and maiming long after the cause in which they were planted has been won or lost - heard that vast areas of the planet's former conflict zones are being cleared. There is still much work to be done, but progress so far offers the hope that, one day, they will be eradicated.
In the past 10 years, according to the newly published Landmine Monitor Report 2009, more than two million emplaced mines have been cleared, and some 44 million held in stockpiles destroyed. The past year has been the best ever for mine destruction, with an area the size of Brussels cleared. All told, the past decade has seen land equivalent to twice the area of London made safe.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan - An estimated $10 million a day is smuggled out of Afghanistan, most of it through Kabul's international airport, rather than through secret routes over the mountains or across the desert, the country's finance minister said Sunday. The amount of corruption, both by public officials and officials of private companies, makes him embarrassed to acknowledge while traveling that he is an Afghan, Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said. "Corruption is a stronger threat than terrorism for Afghanistan," said Zakhilwal, who was appointed in February and is the top financial advisor to President Hamid Karzai. "It is a cancer, a disease. It has destroyed the reputation of Afghanistan." The $10-million figure comes from a 19-day undercover study conducted by the U.S. that estimated $190 million left the airport undetected during that period, Zakhilwal and U.S. officials said. No similar study was done for the international airport in Kandahar. Much of the hot cash ends up funding the Taliban insurgency, U.S. and Afghan officials said.
"Corruption is a stronger threat than terrorism for Afghanistan," said Zakhilwal, who was appointed in February and is the top financial advisor to President Hamid Karzai. "It is a cancer, a disease. It has destroyed the reputation of Afghanistan."
The $10-million figure comes from a 19-day undercover study conducted by the U.S. that estimated $190 million left the airport undetected during that period, Zakhilwal and U.S. officials said. No similar study was done for the international airport in Kandahar. Much of the hot cash ends up funding the Taliban insurgency, U.S. and Afghan officials said.
