Tuesday 31 May 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi confirms plans for Myanmar campaign journey

     
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Hong Kong - Nobel Peace laureate and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Monday confirmed she plans to travel around Myanmar in the next two months to campaign for political change.
The journey, which she confirmed in an internet broadcast to students in Hong Kong, would be her first outside the capital Yangon since her release from house arrest in November.
Asked about media reports of her intended journey, Suu Kyi told her Hong Kong audience: 'I hope to be able to travel out of Rangoon (Yangon) in a month or two.
'I have not been given any particular assurances by the authorities, but I believe that it is the right of every citizen of Burma to have her security assured by the government.
'Where I shall be going I cannot yet say because we are trying to work out a sensible itinerary. As soon as we have decided on that that, we shall make it public.'
The last time Suu Kyi ventured out into the provinces on the campaign trail in 2003, her vehicles were attacked by pro-government forces and she was arrested.
Suu Kyi spoke for 90 minutes in a live discussion with an audience at the University of Hong Kong.
The event, called A Centenary Dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, marks the first time Suu Kyi has accepted an invitation from an Asian university to speak since her release from house arrest.
During the session, Suu Kyi was asked if she had any message to send to Beijing and said she would welcome any dialogue with Chinese officials.
'My message to the Chinese leaders is very simple,' she said. 'China is a great country, the Chinese people are a great people with a marvelous and long history behind them.
'You can afford to take new steps, you can afford to be daring, you can afford to allow room for all kinds of opinion.'
Asked what she would say to those fighting for freedom of speech in China, she said: 'If you are trying to achieve freedom in China, you are not alone.
'There are many people all over the world who are trying to do the same thing and we are all with you.'
Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar independence hero Aung San, was released after being kept under house arrest for about 15 of the previous 20 years by the military junta which ruled from 1962 to 2010.
The 65-year-old leads the country's National League for Democracy party, which was effectively blocked from contesting the November general election, the first in 20 years.
The election, labelled a sham by Western democracies, brought to power a government led by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, headed by former general Thein Sein.

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'It's OK for Saudi women not to drive'

The issue of Saudi women and driving triggered a heated debate at the New Arab Women's Forum yesterday.

    * By Eman Mohammed, Staff Reporter
    * Published: 23:04 October 21, 2007
    * Gulf News

    * 0Share

    * Image Credit: Vazhisojan/Gulf News
    * Princess Haya at the forum. From left: Raouf Abou Zaki, General Manager of Al Iktissad Wal Aamal Group; Princess Haya; Raja Al Gurg, President of the Dubai Business Women's Council, and Nadine Abou Zuki, Chair of the New Arab Woman Forum.

Dubai: The issue of Saudi women and driving triggered a heated debate at the New Arab Women's Forum yesterday.

Nawal Al Shalhoub, wife of the Saudi Consul General in Dubai, said during a panel discussion about women and public affairs that she did not think it necessary for Saudi women to drive as they have full rights.

"Women don't have to drive in Saudi Arabia because they are used to having drivers or can always be driven by family members," she said.

Nawal, who has lived in Dubai for 10 years and drives her own car, says it is OK for her not to drive in Saudi Arabia.

Nadine Al Bedair, a Saudi presenter and producer of Al Hurra TV, who was in the audience at the Emirates Towers, responded: "She doesn't have the right to speak on behalf of all Saudi women who don't have any social or political rights. It's humiliating to say that."

Nawal later told Gulf News that Saudi women receive a lot of support from the government.

"They stand by us, help us to develop and encourage our efforts," she said.

She said able and intelligent women could reach the top of their profession, pointing to women in positions as doctors, nurses and pilots. Nawal does not see any social pressure on women.

"They have all their rights and choices in life," she said, adding the media made up a lot of harassing stories which were not true.

Nadine, a young presenter of a talk show called Mosawah, which means equality in Arabic, said she wondered why Nawal was speaking on behalf of Saudi women if, as she claimed, they have full rights.

"I wonder why she is taking part in the forum," Nadine said.

"I don't have one single political right, I can't be promoted to any high position in the public or private sectors, I can't study, work and marry without written approval from my guardian."

Women are treated as incomplete people, she said.

Nadine thinks Nawal has insulted Saudi women when she said they have full rights.

"Poor women are begging to live because they are banned from working and have no support. I don't know why the truth is being twisted," she said.

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Monday 30 May 2011

Dalai Lama formally devolves political powers


Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has devolved his “formal authority” to the elected leadership of the Tibetan exiles, an official said here Monday.
But he clarified that the Dalai Lama would stay committed to the cause of Tibet and will continue to be the spiritual head of the Tibetans.
“Whatever amendments we (Tibetan parliament) have made in the charter, have been approved by His Holiness. He gave his approval yesterday (Sunday). Now, Dalai Lama’s administrative and political powers are vested with the democratically elected leaders,” Tenzin Norbu, a spokesperson for the parliamentary secretariat, told.
The parliament-in-exile Sunday presented the amendments to the Dalai Lama for his ratification. After giving his approval, the Dalai Lama vested the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and its elected leadership with the powers and responsibilities formerly held jointly by him and the CTA.
During the additional three-day session of parliament that ended May 28 (Saturday), it approved a new preamble and inherent rights and responsibilities to be assigned to the Dalai Lama under Article 1 of the charter.
As per the amended charter, the powers earlier vested with the Nobel laureate as head of the executive under Article 19 have been delegated to the Kalon Tripa or the prime minister.
Accordingly, the Kalon Tripa is empowered to approve and promulgate bills and regulations passed by parliament.
Other responsibilities have been devolved to parliament and the judiciary.
Another landmark amendment made to the charter is the annulment of Council of Regency enshrined in Articles 31 to 35, whose provisions earlier empowered the council to assume the Dalai Lama’s role in circumstances when the latter is not acting as head of the state.
Parliament has also approved that the title of “Tibetan government-in-exile” be changed to “Tibetan administration”.
Under the new charter, the Dalai Lama’s duties will include providing advice and encouragement with respect to the protection and promotion of the physical, spiritual, ethical and cultural wellbeing of the Tibetan people and remaining engaged in the efforts to reach a satisfactory solution to the Tibetan issue.
He will provide suggestions to the assembly of Tibetan people’s deputies and Kashag (cabinet), including the community and its institutions in exile, at his own initiative or at the request of those bodies.
The spiritual leader will continue to meet world leaders and other important individuals and organisations to speak on behalf of the Tibetan people as well as designate representatives and special envoys appointed by the cabinet to serve the interests of the Tibetan people in any part of the world.
“The new duties are not binding on the Dalai Lama,” says an official statement of the CTA.
“The parliament successfully carried out the democratic reforms… On the one hand we feel sad with the change, but our sadness is far outweighed by the happy feeling that the Dalai Lama’s visions to fully democratise the Tibetan polity have been realised,” Speaker Penpa Tsering said in his closing remarks at the additional session of the parliament-in-exile.
The 75-year-old Dalai Lama, the global face of the Tibetan exile movement, shocked many Tibetans March 10 by announcing that he would hand over power to the elected leadership.
It was half a century ago that the Dalai Lama, whom China brands a separatist, fled Tibet after an anti-Communist revolt in 1959. He has since headed the Tibetan administration here, which is not recognised by any country.
Around 100,000 Tibetans live in exile in India.
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World No Tobacco Day 2011

bacco Day 2011

13 January 2011 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) selects "The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" as the theme of the next World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on Tuesday, 31 May 2011.

MPOWER brochures and other resources

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and its guidelines provide the foundation for countries to implement and manage tobacco control. To help make this a reality, WHO introduced the MPOWER measures to assist in the country-level implementation to reduce the demand for tobacco, contained in the WHO FCTC. These brochures are intended to further this support, summarizing key data and recommendations in each of these measures.

Barack Obama visits Joplin tornado scene

President described the scene as 'heartbreaking' and promised a 'national response' to the tornado that struck a week ago
  • The Guardian,
  • Article history
  • Barack Obama
    President Barack Obama views damage from the tornado that devastated Joplin. Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    It was, said Barack Obama, the worst destruction he had ever seen. As the president flew over the small town of Joplin, Missouri, one of those travelling with him said it looked as if the heart of the city had been destroyed by a giant bulldozer cutting a swath nearly a mile wide. On the ground, Obama described the scene as "heartbreaking" and promised a "national response" to the tornado that struck a week ago, killing at least 139 people and leaving scores missing. More than 900 were injured. The president returned from his much heralded tour of Europe to pay a sobering visit to Joplin, a city of about 50,000 people which was hit by the deadliest tornado in the US in more than 60 years. His motorcade moved along a main street that one of those accompanying him described as looking as if it had been destroyed by a giant bulldozer. Most of the houses are reduced to debris. Trees were not only stripped of their branches but their bark, leaving unusually white wooden stumps. Obama stopped to talk to survivors who spoke of a miracle that they had survived when others had not. "Sorry for your loss," he told an anguished woman, hugging her twice as they talked One of those the president spoke to was 85 year-old Hugh Hills who was holding a large American flag in front of his largely destroyed house on Kentucky avenue. Hills told Obama he had "just pulled my chicken pot pie out of the oven when I looked at the TV and it said the storm is coming. And then the TV cut off". Hills said he hid in a cupboard while most of his house was destroyed around him. The president said afterwards that he had listened to "harrowing stories but also miraculous stories". "Obviously, it is going to take years to build back," he said. "This is just not your tragedy. This is a national tragedy, and that means there's going to be a national response. "What I've been telling every family that I've met here is we're going to be here long after the cameras leave. We are not going to stop until Joplin is fully back on its feet."
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