Europa Newswire

Meryl Streep Speaks Against Gender Discriminatory Laws, Calls for ‘Equality Now’

Europa Newswire

March 5, 2010

By Amy Lieberman

UNITED NATIONS – While more than half of 52 highlighted countries have repealed discriminatory laws against women and girls in the past five years, new laws repressing female’s rights continue to pop up worldwide, according to Equality Now, an international human rights non-profit organization that presented its findings at the United Nations Secretariat today, in the midst of the 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

And while the United Nations has taken great strides in leading member-nations forward in upholding the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, in which governments pledged to rescind all sex discriminatory laws, the Secretariat continues to prove its own shortfalls on 1^st Avenue, in New York City, according to Equality Now Executive Director Taina Bien-Aimé.

Brazil to Host Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Europa Newswire

By Amy Lieberman

March 4, 2010

UNITED NATIONS – Brazil might be hosting the Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Brazil this April, but the nation’s hospitality doesn’t necessarily reflect on its own issues with crime, according to Julio Cezar Zelner Goncalves, Brazil’s ambassador to the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime.

“I really don’t see the connection,” Goncalves told Europa Newswire, following the Tuesday afternoon briefing on the conference. “Brazil is no better or worse than anybody else in the world. It’s a country, like any other, where there is violence on some streets and streets that are quite safe, depending on where you are.”

Battisti case overshadows Berlusconi visit

Europa Newswire

Photo: José Cruz/ABr

Renata Giraldi Reporter Agencia Brasil

Brasília – On March 9, Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, arrives in Brasília. It is expected that by the time he lands a decision will have been reached on whether Cesare Battisti is a common criminal or a political prisoner. And that decision will determine Battisti's future.
If president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decides he is a common criminal who murdered four people in the 1970s, he will be sent back to Italy to serve out a life sentence and Berlusconi will be pleased.
If Lula decides Battisti acted against (in the 1970s) and fled from (in the 1980s) a repressive, undemocratic Italian government in an effort to make the world a better place, then Battisti will be allowed to remain in Brazil with refugee status and Berlusconi will be disappointed.
However, even if Lula decides to allow Battisti to remain in Brazil, it is almost certain the case will once again return to the Brazilian Supreme Court because in doing so Lula will breach an extradition treaty with Italy (this treaty dates from 1989). 

Allen Bennett - translator/editor The News in English - - contains additional information

Source: Agencia Brasil

Hillary visits congress and calls for help from Brazil

Europa Newswire

Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABr

Priscilla Mazenotti Reporter Agencia Brasil

Brasilia - In a visit to the Brazilian Congress and meetings with the presidents of the two legislative houses, Michel Temer (PMDB-SP) (Chamber of Deputies) and José Sarney (PMDB-AP) (Senate), the American Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said the United States would like help from Brazil in dealing with the nuclear proliferation, the Iranian nuclear program and the new situation in Honduras.

Big Kenny

Europa Newswire

Photo: Joan E. Kretschmer, U.S. Navy

Port-au-Prince - Country singer Big Kenny, from the group Big & Rich, and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Shilling perform for service members at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti

Source:U.S. Navy

Rebuilding Chile - A Roof for Chile

Europa Newswire

Photo: Alex Ibanez

The President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, visited the workshops of emergency housing program "A Roof for Chile".

Source: Government of Chile

President Barack Obama

Europa Newswire

Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama signs H.R. 4691, Temporary Extension Act of 2010, in his private office in the residence of the White House, March 2, 2010.

Source: White House Photo.

First American Woman to Walk in Space

Europa Newswire

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Sunday Williams

ORLANDO, US - Astronaut and U.S. Navy Reserve Capt. Kathy Sullivan stands during her induction into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame as photos from her accomplishments flash on a screen behind her. Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space.

Source: Navy Visual News Service

SG. Ban Ki Moon Meets Actor Orlando Bloom at Los Angeles Reception

Europa Newswire

UN Photo/Mark Garten

Los Angeles, United States - 01 March 2010 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) poses for a photo with actor Orlando Bloom at a reception for the Global Creative Forum in Los Angeles, California.

Source: UN Photo.

Ban Ki Moon Meets UN Haiti Envoy and Actor Kiefer Sutherland in Los Angeles

Europa Newswire

UN Photo/Mark Garten

Los Angeles, United States - 01 March 2010 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) and his wife, Yoo Soon-taek (second from right), pose with William J. Clinton (second from left), UN Special Envoy for Haiti and former U.S. President, and Kiefer Sutherland, protagonist of popular series "24", at a reception for the Global Creative Forum in Los Angeles, California.

Source: UN Photo.

Ban Ki Moon Meets Actor Samuel L. Jackson and Wife at L.A. Reception

Europa Newswire

UN Photo/Mark Garten

Los Angeles, United States - 01 March 2010 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with actor Samuel L. Jackson (centre) and Mr. Jackson's wife, LaTanya Richardson, at a reception for the Global Creative Forum in Los Angeles, California.

Source: UN Photo.

Chile Earthquake - ONEMI - Spanish Only

Europa Newswire

Photo: Alex Ibanez

Martes, 02 de Marzo de 2010

De acuerdo a información actualizada, 796 víctimas fatales se registran a nivel país producto del terremoto, de las cuales 587 corresponden a la región del Maule;  92 al Bíobío; 48 O´Higgins, 38 a la región Metropolitana; 18 a Valparaíso y 13 a la Araucanía.

La Directora Nacional de ONEMI Carmen Fernández se encuentra en la Región del Bío bio, efectuando coordinaciones de operaciones de emergencia en terreno junto a otras autoridades nacionales y regionales.

Leased for $20 a Year, U Thant Island Remains Largely Untouched, Unknown

Europa Newswire

March 2, 2010

By Amy Lieberman

UNITED NATIONS – With only a few sparse trees and jutting rocks to bear, the miniscule 100-by-200 foot island in the middle of the East River unsurprisingly remains unnoticed by most.

“That, over there?” questioned a United Nations K-9 security officer, when prompted to identify the spot of land directly across from the United Nations Secretariat. “I have no idea. Roosevelt Island?”

Not quite.

The islet, made from excavated subway rubble in the late 1800s, is officially called Belmont Island, but since the late 1980s has adapted the moniker U Thant Island, named after the Burmese Secretary-General from 1961 to 1971.

It bears a history much more complex and quirky than its small radius would ever imply – yet information on U Thant Island is strikingly difficult to come by.

The United Nations historical archives lack even one file on this island; the most comprehensive body of information on U Thant Island, found on Wikipedia, is also slightly misleading, as it says that the land is owned by New York City, and overseen by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. 

Secretary Clinton Arrives in Chile

Europa Newswire

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is greeted at the airport by President Michelle Bachelet of Chile in Santiago, Chile March 2, 2010.

Source: State Department photo

Chile Earthquake - Status of the Hospitals - Spanish Only

Europa Newswire

Photo: Alex Ibanez

Martes, 02 de marzo de 2010 

Región de Valparaíso:

El Hospital Gustavo Fricke esta siendo abastecido mediante sistema de suministro externo de agua potable, debido a que sufrió rotura de estanque. La solución temporal permite que este permanezca operativo para atención de pacientes.

A causa de daños estructurales severos, se cierra el Hospital de Putaendo, 7 de sus pacientes fueron trasladados al Hospital de Llay-Llay.