Human Rights

Yesterday’s discovery of the body of Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, a crime reporter and columnist for the regional daily Notiver in the east-coast port city of Veracruz, adds her name to the long list of journalists who have been murdered or have disappeared in Mexico. A total of 77 have been killed since 2000 and 23 have gone missing since 2003.

Heavy clashes have erupted in the Somali capital of Mogadishu after African Union troops launched operations against the militant group, al-Shabab. The AU says it is trying to protect famine relief efforts from al-Shabab, which has reportedly tried to block the delivery of aid after initially denying that a famine is taking place. At least 6 people were killed in the violence

Mr. Pierre Galand, the international coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, confirmed at a Cape Town press conference on Thursday that the Tribunal´s third session will be held November 5-6 in Cape Town, South Africa. The Russell Tribunal on Palestine is an international people’s tribunal to promote peace and justice in Palestine and the Middle East.

By Aljosa Milenkovic

As Greece faces the worst economic woes in its history, Greek journalists struggle with their own fears and their failures in covering the crisis.

One of the most popular editorial coping mechanisms is to blame the problem on others, in this case the European Union. Many in Greece consider the EU to be part of the problem rather than the solution.

South Sudanese population estimated in 9 million people, is overwhelmingly young, rural, poor and uneducated; only 4% of its vast arable land is cultivated; half the population does not have access to safe drinking water, and only one person in five uses a health-care facility in their lifetime.

Hundreds of gay couples got married across New York state Sunday after it became the sixth and most populous state in the United States to recognize same-sex marriages. New York joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia in allowing same-sex unions. But gay marriage is still specifically banned in 39 states.

Tragically, a night before she arrived home for a brief family reunion before starting another contract as a domestic worker in Hong Kong, Florence “Dom-an” Macagne Manegdeg’s husband “Pepe” was assassinated. The perpetrator was alleged to be a military man. That was November 28, 2005, in the tobacco fields of San Esteban, Ilocos Sur, Northern Philippines.

The Water Sanitation and Hygiene Group (EWASH) issued a report saying that even though Israel announced last year that it will ease the blockade; Gaza Strip residents still don’t have clean water running from their taps as up to 95% of water for domestic supply in the Gaza Strip is still below the minimum WHO standard for drinking water and unfit for consumption.

Despite attempts by Chinese authorities to suppress any form of social change, young Chinese people both in and out of the country are constantly finding new ways to be heard. In 2010 alone there were 320,000 incidents of civil unrest. A move is underway to unite the diverse protests and rebrand them the “Jasmine Revolution”, following in the footsteps of Tunisia.

Nery Jeremías Orellana, 26, the manager of Radio Joconguera in the town of Candelaria, in the western department of Lempira, was gunned down yesterday morning, bringing the number of Honduran journalists killed since the start of the year to three. A total of 12 journalists have been killed in the past 18 months in Honduras without any of their murders being solved.