BBC refuses to broadcast charity appeal for Gaza aid - Το BBC αρνείται να μεταδώσει έκκληση για ανθρωπιστική βοήθεια στη Γάζα - CNN

Demonstrators protest at the BBC's central London offices Saturday against the broadcaster's decision.

25/1/2009

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The BBC is refusing to broadcast a plea from leading British charities for aid to Gaza, saying the ad would compromise the public broadcaster's appearance of impartiality.

The decision prompted weekend protests in England and Scotland, with one group saying Sunday that 100 people had occupied the foyer of the BBC building in Glasgow, Scotland and would not leave until the BBC runs the ad.

The Disasters Emergency Committee, which includes the British Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children and 10 other charities, plans to launch the ad on Monday.

British broadcasters, led by the BBC, originally declined to air the appeal -- but in the face of criticism from government ministers and others, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 changed their minds. CNN was not approached to broadcast the ad, a DEC spokesman said.

About 5,000 people demonstrated in front of the BBC's Broadcasting House in central London on Saturday over the broadcaster's stance. Seven people were arrested. Watch protest against BBC decision »

In Glasgow, the London-based Stop the War Coalition said Sunday its supporters had moved into the foyer of the BBC building in what the group described as a peaceful protest.

The group did not plan to move beyond the foyer but intended to stay there until the BBC changes its decision, said Keith Boyd, a coalition member who called CNN on Sunday.

"Primarily we are asking that the ad be shown," Boyd said.

The BBC press office would not confirm whether its Glasgow office was being occupied or if protesters were even there.

"We don't comment on individual demonstrations," a statement from the BBC press office said.

The BBC is standing by its decision to not air the ad, director general Mark Thompson wrote in a blog post on the corporation's Web site.

"We concluded that we could not broadcast a free-standing appeal, no matter how carefully constructed, without running the risk of reducing public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in its wider coverage of the story," he wrote Saturday.

"Inevitably an appeal would use pictures which are the same or similar to those we would be using in our news programs but would do so with the objective of encouraging public donations. The danger for the BBC is that this could be interpreted as taking a political stance on an ongoing story," Thompson said.

"Gaza remains a major ongoing news story, in which humanitarian issues -- the suffering and distress of civilians and combatants on both sides of the conflict, the debate about who is responsible for causing it and what should be done about it -- are both at the heart of the story and contentious," he added.

The BBC, which is funded by an obligatory license fee paid by every British household with a television, is required by its charter to be impartial. It does not carry commercial advertising but does broadcast charity appeals.

The DEC is "disappointed that the BBC declined to support the Gaza appeal," the spokesman told CNN. "It might limit the reach of our key message to the general public."

The spokesman, who asked not to be named, said the BBC had to make its own decision about impartiality.

"That is a decision they must make. We have no view on that subject," he said.

Many readers of Thompson's blog post did have a view, however. The statement got hundreds of comments, most of them critical of the BBC.

A commenter who signed in as "bully--baiter" said the BBC was taking a side, no matter what it did.

"Sorry Mr. Thompson but you cannot have it both ways. If deciding to accede to the DEC request would be seen as political then deciding not to accede to it is also political. Don't insult me with your disingenuous attempts to suggest it is otherwise," the commenter wrote.

Other commenters simply rejected Thompson's position out of hand.

"I think the reasons for blocking help for a grave humanitarian disaster are simply astounding," "brit--proud" wrote. "How can simply bringing food, medicines and homes to hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians be seen as political impartiality? How stupid do the BBC think the British public are?"

But the corporation had its defenders as well.

"The last thing I want to do, is fund the BBC to broadcast propaganda," "SternG" wrote: "There's no way I will pay the BBC to air the DEC's politically-motivated 'appeal' for Gaza. Gaza is run by a government which is internationally recognized as a terrorist group, including by the EU. There is no doubt that some aid/fund will be 'procured' by Hamas. ... Good decision BBC."

British broadcasters have refused to air some previous DEC appeals, the umbrella organization's spokesman said.

A planned 2006 appeal for aid to victims of the war in Lebanon was scrapped because "there were genuine concerns, shared by the aid agencies, about the deliverability of aid."

Thompson cited doubts about whether DEC members could get aid to Gaza as a secondary reason for declining to take the ad.

Greek protests after shooting of second teen - CNN

19/12/2008

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Thousands of youths demonstrated in central Athens Friday as anger flared in the Greek capital following the shooting of another teenager.


High school students protest in front of their school in the western Athens suburb of Peristeri.

A group of youths targeted the French Institute, a language and cultural institute, and police scrambled to the scene to contain the incident.

The situation began heating up during a protest rally Thursday that followed the bizarre shooting of a high school student in an Athens suburb earlier this week.

The 17-year-old was hit in the hand by an unknown assailant as he was talking to a group of schoolmates in the western suburb of Peristeri. Initial police reports showed the student -- the son of a leading trade unionist -- was hit with a .38-caliber handgun.

Police said no officers were patrolling the region at the time of the incident.

The mysterious shooting has enflamed widespread student anger over the fatal police shooting of a 15-year-old boy December 6, which sparked Greece's worst riots in decades. Watch more about the flare-up of protests »

Students rallied Friday in response to the shooting of the 17-year-old. One of the rallies was planned for central Athens; the other in the suburb where the student was shot.

Later in the day, scores of artists are scheduled to gather in central Athens to stage a protest concert in response to the initial shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

Daily protests since the December 6 shooting, including riots, have thrown Greece into turmoil and have become a simmering anger about the conservative government's handling of the economy, education, and jobs.

Student unions were also gathering to across the country to determine their course of action for the next few weeks.

At least 800 high schools and 200 universities remain shut as thousands of youths have seized the grounds and campuses in protest.


The unrest is threatening the government's hold on power, with some opposition groups calling for fresh elections. Stores and international businesses have been attacked, and at least 280 people have been detained by police. Of that total, 176 were arrested, 130 of them for looting.

Of the two officers involved in the death of the 15-year-old, one is charged with premeditated manslaughter and the other with acting as an accomplice.

U.S.: India prepared for strike on Pakistan - Οι ΗΠΑ πιστεύουν ότι η Ινδία ετοιμάζει επίθεση στο Πακιστάν - CNN

One U.S. official said India's air force "went on alert" following the attacks in Mumbai.


CNN
15/12/2008

From Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States believes that India's air force began preliminary preparations for a possible attack against Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the recent massacre in Mumbai, CNN has learned.


One U.S. official said India's air force "went on alert" following the attacks in Mumbai.

Three Pentagon officials have individually confirmed to CNN that the United States has information indicating that India began to prepare air force personnel for a possible mission.

The officials offered very few details, but one said India's air force "went on alert." This is the first publicly known indication that perhaps the two nuclear powers were closer to conflict in the days after the Mumbai attacks than previously acknowledged.

A second official said the United States concluded these preliminary preparations would have put India quickly in the position to launch airstrikes against suspected terrorist camps and targets inside Pakistan. During these preparations, a number of senior U.S. officials were urging India to exercise restraint -- which apparently it did.

Wing Cmdr. Mahesh Upasani, an Indian air force spokesman, said the service had no comment on the report. Watch Miss Pakistan talk about the Mumbai attacks »

Since the Mumbai attacks, Pakistani security forces raided a camp near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, according to military sources. It was the first sign of government action against Lashkar-e-Tayyiba -- the Pakistan-based Islamic militant group India says was behind the killings of more than 160 people in Mumbai -- since the attacks.

Also, Pakistani authorities have banned a charity linked to last month's Mumbai attacks and placed its leader under house arrest. The move came after the U.N. Security Council designated the charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a terror organization because of its links to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

Indian police say the only surviving suspect, identified by Indian authorities as 21-year-old Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, is from Pakistan's Punjab province and the nine other alleged attackers were also from Pakistan. Pakistani officials have denied that assertion, blaming instead "stateless actors."

Until now, the Bush Administration has publicly said it saw no signs of military movement by India and no indication that the Indian government was preparing any type of retaliation.


The Pentagon officials broadly described the activity as checking on the status of crews, fighter jets and weapons that were available. The extent of the reported preparation was not immediately known.

Also, one of the Pentagon officials confirmed that the United States has intelligence indicating a single Indian aircraft violated Pakistani airspace twice on Saturday. The United States believes the incursion was inadvertent, the official said, adding that there is no information to indicate it was planned.

GREEK GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS SHOOTING - CNN (VIDEO)

H ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΚΥΒΕΡΝΗΣΗ ΚΑΤΑΔΙΚΑΖΕΙ ΤΟΝ ΠΥΡΟΒΟΛΙΣΜΟ



ΜΗΝ ΑΠΕΛΠΙΖΕΣΤΕ ΟΜΩΣ!
ΥΠΑΡΧΟΥΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΟΛΥ ΧΕΙΡΟΤΕΡΑ!
ΔΕΙΤΕ ΤΟ ΠΑΡΑΚΑΤΩ!

ΘΕΕ ΜΟΥ, ΑΡΑΓΕ ΒΛΕΠΕΙΣ ΚΙ ΕΣΥ;

BAGHDAD BOMBING / Ο ΒΟΜΒΑΡΔΙΣΜΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΒΑΓΔΑΤΗΣ - CNN (VIDEO)

Τουλάχιστον 16 νεκροί.

POLAR BEARS STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE - CNN (VIDEO)

Tuberculosis: A new pandemic? CNN.com

By Patrice Poltzer
For CNN
14 November 2008

LONDON, England -- Many people think of tuberculosis as being a disease from the past. The truth is far from it: Tuberculosis is mutating into dangerous new strains for which there is no known cure.

Unlike less virulent strains, XDR-TB does not respond to the antibiotics that are usually used to treat TB. The disease is virtually incurable and threatens to become a pandemic.

About 40,000 new cases of XDR-TB emerge every year, the World Health Organization estimates.

Award-winning photojournalist James Nachtwey, who has chronicled the death and devastation the disease is bringing to many countries around the world, describes XDR-TB as "a merciless, man-eating predator lurking in the shadows."

He warns: "If it's not contained, the consequences could be dire."

Nachtwey, who has been covering humanitarian crises for more than 30 years, was awarded a TED prize in 2007 which gave him $100,000 and one wish to change the world.

Each month CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta brings viewers health stories from around the world.

His wish centered on spreading awareness of this deadly form of TB and the images are borne out of Nachtwey's frustrations with the underreporting of what is potentially a global health crisis.

His photos tell the grim stories of impending death. In one, a man's suffering is so palpable that it is almost impossible to tear your eyes away from him. See Nachtwey's arresting photos »

Another image shows a woman in a Thai hospital staring vacantly, as if resigned to the fact that death is soon approaching.

Yet another shows the look of helplessness on a mother's face faintly reflected in the terrified eyes of her ailing child. And so the images continue, revealing with each click of the mouse a photo that is more haunting than the last.

Nachtwey traveled to seven different countries, including Cambodia, South Africa, Swaziland and Siberia, and used his photography to tell the story of a disease that primarily afflicts developing nations, but has been found elsewhere worldwide.

His work is documented at XDR-TB.org, a Web site solely dedicated to telling the story of the disease through his powerful images.

Health experts say that the tragic thing about XDR-TB is that it should not exist. TB in itself is curable. But if anti-TB drugs are not properly administered or used, the disease can mutate into deadlier strands such as XDR.

And the life-saving drugs used to treat regular TB only cost $20 per patient in the developing world, according to the WHO.

But there haven't been enough funds raised to combat the disease, which is strongly linked to poverty.

Furthermore, according to Louise Holly from Action, a group aimed at controlling the spread of TB, no new scientific developments to combat TB have been made in more than 40 years.

Holly told CNN that people have many misconceptions about TB.

"The drug resistant strand is a highly contagious airborne disease. With increased travel and globalization, it is possible for anyone to pick up the disease, even in developed countries like the U.S. and UK," she said.

Holly said that TB can be transmitted in overly populated areas, which include poor villages and prisons, but also in cosmopolitan places, such as London or New York, where people work closely together and ride crowded public transportation.


Currently, treatment options for XDR are virtually non-existent. Those most susceptible to it are people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV.

Holly told CNN that as serious as the XDR strand is, it could serve as a wake-up call to the public that the disease still exists and that people should view tuberculosis as a modern-day ailment.

MIRIAM MAKEBA IS DEAD (CNN VIDEO)