Fighting intensifies in southern Philippines: military

Zamboanga, Philippines: Fighting between Islamic rebels and Philippine troops intensified Sunday, dimming hopes of renewed peace talks with the southern separatists, government and military officials said. More than 100 Muslim fighters have been killed in four days of clashes with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Mindanao island, said military spokesman Colonel Julieto Ando.

AFP/Google, August 24, 2008

Rights advocates defy Israeli blockade of Gaza

Two boats carrying more than 40 international human rights advocates landed in Gaza on Saturday, challenging an Israeli blockade of the Hamas-run territory. The human rights advocates, ranging in age from 22 to 81 and coming from about a dozen countries, set sail from Cyprus on Friday morning to make a symbolic stand against what they called Israel's "illegal"; and "immoral"; siege of Gaza. They were carrying 200 hearing aids for children in Gaza and thousands of balloons.

The New York Times, August 23, 2008

Thousands of children fight war in Congo

For the past two years, Benjamin was a child soldier in a rebel militia. Then two weeks ago, he made his escape. It was daytime when Benjamin slipped out of the rebel camp with his AK-47 rifle over his shoulder. He travelled on foot down seldom-used roads past farms and grazing cows in the green mountains of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The National, August 23, 2008

How a team of Scots hopes to liberate Sierra Leone using the power of books

Olaudah Equiano knew the power of words; the power to free a people from slavery and to make amends for bloody conflict. Unlike most West African slaves of the 19th century, Equiano was given the gift of literacy, and his autobiography depicting the horrors of slavery formed the basis of William Wilberforce's abolition campaign. Now, with the help of a team of young Scots, Equiano's name will once again be used to help right a wrong when the first library built in Sierra Leone since the devastating 11-year civil war is named after him.

The Sunday Herald, August 16, 2008

IRIN - Humanitarian news and analysis

The principal role of IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) is to provide news and analysis about sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia for the humanitarian community. While IRIN is part of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, its services are editorially independent. In addition to news reports and in-depth articles, the IRIN website includes a range of multimedia services: film and TV, radio, photography, blogs, maps, and RSS news feeds.

http://www.irinnews.org/

Fouad's Baghdad

Fouad Hady, a former film student in Iraq who spent 1999 in immigration detention in Australia, before settling in Melbourne, returns to his home country every so often to document the changes there. In this latest story for Dateline, he films in the well-to-do suburb of Karrada, near the Green Zone. The people he films painfully demonstrate what life is now like for ordinary Iraqis. Fouad's story is a disturbing but powerful social history of a suburb that was once affluent and peaceful, but now knows nothing but constant power cuts, precious little running water and the continuous threat of insurgent attack.

Dateline, SBS TV, Wednesday, August 27 @ 8:30pm (repeated Thursdays and Mondays @ 2:30pm)

Breaking barriers to peace

God of all,
as we walk together,

Open our hearts
To your tenderness.

Open our minds
To your understanding.

Open our lives
To your challenge.

We are one people, many nations,
Building hope through steps for peace.

One world with many barriers,
Breaking chains so we dance free.

One voice that shouts for justice
Shatters hatred, calls for change.

One God, one world, one people,
Turning tables, share the feast. Amen

© Linda R Jones, CAFOD www.cafod.org.uk