BuzzFeed

For five days now hundreds of Central Americans -- children, women, and men, most of them from Honduras -- have boldly crossed immigration checkpoints, military bases, and police in a desperate, sometimes chaotic march toward the United States. Despite their being in Mexico without authorization, no one has made any effort to stop them.

Organized by a group of volunteers called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan is intended to help migrants safely reach the United States, bypassing not only authorities who would seek to deport them, but gangs and cartels who are known to assault vulnerable migrants.

Organizers like Rodrigo Abeja hope that the sheer size of the crowd will give immigration authorities and criminals pause before trying to stop them.

"If we all protect each other we'll get through this together," Abeja yelled through a loudspeaker on the morning they left Tapachula, on Mexico's border with Guatemala, for the nearly monthlong trek.

When they get to the US, they hope American authorities will grant them asylum or, for some, be absent when they attempt to cross the border illegally. More likely is that it will set up an enormous challenge to the Trump administration's immigration policies and its ability to deal with an organized group of migrants numbering in the hundreds.

The number of people who showed up to travel with the caravan caught organizers by surprise, and has overwhelmed the various towns they've stopped in to spend the night. Pueblos Sin Fronteras counted about 1,200 people on the first day.

Israeli troops wound dozens on Gaza border as Palestinians bury [15] dead from earlier violence, Reuters Staff

An Israeli military spokesman said he was checking the details of Saturday's unrest. It broke out when Palestinians gathered on the border between the Hamas-run enclave and Israel then began throwing stones. Palestinian health officials said about 70 [MOAR] were wounded.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Fate of a UK "Protectorate"
Sierra Leone heads to the polls to seek successor to Koroma

Whoever succeeds Koroma, who is stepping aside after his maximum two five-year terms in office, faces an uphill struggle to overturn [200] years of hardship. A slump in the price of its commodity exports since 2015 and the Ebola crisis in 2014 and 2015 crippled the economy, which shrank by a fifth in 2015.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Koku Anyidoho Granted Bail 30 Mar

The embattled Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho has been granted bail after spending two nights in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
[...]
Mr Anyidoho was picked up at the International Press centre on Tuesday for making comments deemed treasonable. He was subsequently charged with treason.
[...]
Mr Anyidoho landed in hot waters when, in an interview on Accra-based Happy FM, he called for the overthrow of President Nana Akufo-Addo over the ratification of the controversial defence cooperation agreement between Ghana and the US.

run up

Ghanaians protest over expanded military co-operation deal with U.S. 28 Mar
"They (the American military) become a curse everywhere they are, and I am not ready to mortgage my security"
'Ghana First:' US military deal leads thousands to protest
"Wherever the U.S. has built bases in Africa there have been terrorist bombings. It is a major security threat to Ghana and we must oppose it."
Ghana: Parliament Ratifies Ghana/U.S. Defence Agreement 26 Mar
"Infuriated by the failure of the report to reflect their disapproval, the stage was set for confusion after attempts by the Ranking on Defence and Interior was denied the opportunity on the floor."
What is in the 2018 Ghana-US military agreement that you can't find in a 1998 document 23 Mar

The current agreement says, "Ghana hereby provides unimpeded access to and use of agreed facilities and areas to United State forces, United States contractors, and others as mutually agreed. Such agreed facilities and area: or portions thereof, provided by Ghana shall be designated as either for exclusive use by United States forces or to be jointly used by United States forces and Ghana. Ghana shall also provide access to and use of a runway that meets the requirements of United States forces."

Ghana Backs Germany for UN Security Council Seat During Berlin Talks, "special relationship"
"Up to 50,000 people of Ghanaian origin are believed to be living in Germany; the second largest of the country's diaspora populations in Europe, after the UK. The Volta Region of Ghana was part of the German colony of Togo before World War One."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Ha'aretz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Canada, Germany and Italy are among the countries that will take in asylum seekers after Israel signed a deal with the UN refugee agency canceling its mass deportation plan.

La Repubblica

Ma la Farnesina nega. "Non c'è alcun accordo con l'Italia nell'ambito del patto bilaterale tra Israele e l'Unhcr per la ricollocazione, in cinque anni, dei migranti che vanno in Israele dall'Africa e che Israele si è impegnata a non respingere", precisano fonti del ministero degli Esteri. E poco dopo arriva anche la precisazione dagli uffici di Netanyahu: "L'Italia era solo un esempio, il Primo ministro non intendeva in modo specifico quel paese", così un collaboratore del premier israeliano ha risposto ad una domanda dell'agenzia Ansa sulle affermazioni riguardanti l'Italia come luogo di destinazione di una parte dei migranti ora in terra israeliana.

Maybe the UK should try this approach: "Russia was only an example" etc.

Hankoreh | Editorial | Park's sentence an appropriate punishment for the severity of her crimes

Former president Park Geun-hye has been sentenced to 24 years in prison and a fine of 18 billion won (US$16.8 million). This is the punishment that the law hands down to a woman* who described her trial as "political retribution passing as the rule of law." While this is effectively a life sentence for Park, given her age of 66 years, it cannot be described as harsh given the severity of the crimes that she committed.

Trials are still pending for charges that she took bribes from the National Intelligence Service's special activity [!] fund and that she violated election law. It is likely that her sentence will become even heavier. She obviously brought all this upon herself, not only through the influence peddling itself but also through her consistently haughty demeanor and her defiance of the will of the people through her attempts to game the justice system. This sentence brings to a close the initial trial of her influence peddling, showing that the history of Korean democracy has been elevated to the next level through the power of 14 million protesters at the candlelit rallies....

We won't be see any of that in westworld. Rather, more paradoxical political cant.
VOA | South Korean President Calls for Change to Single Term Limit Oct 20016

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has called for a constitutional amendment to permit two terms for the country's president. Currently, the president can hold office for only a single five-year term.
[...]
"The single five-year presidency makes it difficult for the government to pursue consistent and sustainable policy goals," she said.

One of the goals might include pressing North Korea on its nuclear weapons program. Park also said that changes in policy have made it difficult for South Korean economic leaders to carry out long-term plans. She said the current single term system has served its purpose....

* Time'sUp story developing ....


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

27 FEB: NYT | U.N. Links North Korea to Syria's Chemical Weapons Program
"The possible chemical weapons components were part of at least 40 previously unreported shipments by North Korea to Syria between 2012 and 2017 of prohibited ballistic missile parts and materials that could be used for both military and civilian purposes, according to the report, which has not been publicly released but which was reviewed by The New York Times."
12 MAR: REUTERS | Russian agencies say Syrian army found rebel chemical weapons workshop in Ghouta
"MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syrian military said on Monday that it had found a rebel workshop in eastern Ghouta used to make chemical weapons, Russian news agencies reported on Monday citing a Syrian colonel."
26 MAR: Syrian rebels withdraw from Ghouta
"Rebel fighters agreed to be transported to northern Syria after the government's month-long offensive to capture the last major rebel stronghold near the capital Damascus."
01 APR: WaPoo | The Latest: Russia in talks with last rebel group in Ghouta

A council member of the opposition-controlled town of Douma in the eastern Ghotua suburbs of Damascus says reports of an agreement to surrender the town to the central government are not true.

Iyad Abdelaziz says there is no agreement reached to have the Army of Islam rebel faction leave Douma for north Syria and hand over the town to government forces. He says, however, that "humanitarian cases" will be allowed to evacuate on Monday. ...

07 APR: Trump says 'big price to pay' for Syria chemical attack
"A joint statement by the medical relief organization Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) [1], [2], [3] and the civil defense service, which operates in rebel-held areas, said 49 people had died in the attack late on Saturday in the town of Douma. Others put the toll even higher."
::
Near the beginning, around 2013, I compared al Arabiya to Anglo-american reporting. As the migration gather momentum I noted with interest Syrian men complaining to al Arabiya that families left behind were being held for ransom.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Ha'aretz

Israel announced on Tuesday that it had barred Dublin Lord Mayor Mícheál Mac Donncha from entering the country - while he was already in the West Bank city of Ramallah and had flown to Tel Aviv.

The announcement, by both the Interior and the Strategic Affairs Ministries, said that Mac Donncha would be denied entry to Israel over his ties to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

[...]

The Interior Ministry confirmed to Haaretz that Mac Donncha had entered the country, initially saying that he must have arrived before the ministry's instruction was delivered.

Later the Interior Ministry admitted that Mac Donncha was able to enter Israel due to the fact that his name was misspelled. A spokesman for Interior Ministry Arye Dery admitted that "we made a mistake at the border crossing."