by Jessica Reed
Guantanamo’s 5th anniversary is looming. We published a lot about the topic in the past few years, with highlights such as Clive Stafford Smith’s “torture: an idea of our time” and “Guantánamo and back: an interview with Moazzam Begg”. Last December Amnesty launched a global action against Guantanamo, which started with the very mediatised procession of volonteers dressed as prisoners slowly walking from Big Ben to Dowing Street. Learn about it here.
A lot is happening in Africa. Starting with the World Social Forum 2007, which this year will be held in Kenya. Patricia Daniel will be covering the 5 day event for us, blogging it live from Nairobi. She will however focus on women’s perspectives: is another world possible without them?
Combats are still raging as the US bombards islamic militia positions in Southern Somalia, which underline two distinct levels: the great parade of justice whih walks hand in hand with the executions of dictators, and yet the continuous re-engagement of the USA in wars, on grounds too often poorly defined. Meanwhile, some Ethiopian blogs are claiming Somalian developments were used to mask internal crackdown on Ethiopian dissidents.
Now to the topic of energy and seasonal remarks (in winter, countries with important ressources seem to enjoy reminding their counterparts of their power): Belarus complained that Russia is aggravating the trade battle that could have an impact as far as Germany, as they stopped pumping oil to Europe last monday via the pipelines that cross Belarus, which “accuses its neighbor of siphoning off oil” : it turns out the country with pipelines ends up having as much power as the country producing energy, as Russia finds itself quite restricted. The EU stepped in and tried to diffuse the quarrel, as the EU Commission should release a report on energy policy early next week.
And while we are talking about oil - Hugo Chavez made great use of his country’s ressources, as he engaged in talks related to energy with China last year, prompting some commentators to call it the new Axis of Oil. He now seems to be more highly focused on nationalisation than ever, as his platform solidifies, finding its roots in South-American socialism. He also denied a license renewal to an opposition broadcaster, accusing the TV station of “backing plots to oust him“.
And finally for some tech-related news: Mia Farrow will be “among those discussing and answering questions about the genocide in Darfur and the worsening situation in neighboring Chad at a live, virtual 3-D event in the on-line community Second Life.” (raising your eyebrow? Me too). But that’s nothing compared to MI5’s latest project: to use e-mails to send terror alerts. I’d rather rely on Chris Rock’s horoscope which supposedly predicts our future: “Scorpio - you’re gonna die. Gemini -you’re gonna die, etc”. This am sure will really happen, in due time.
