There are two major reason why nation goes to war -

i) The quest for expansion
ii) The collective / payment of blood debt.

UN investigators in the Democratic Republic of Congo say they have found mass graves with about 30 bodies in an army camp in the east of the country.

For more ------------ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6180004.stm

A French woman who rules as queen of an African village has launched a campaign to woo her subjects away from witchdoctors.

Marie Claude Lovisa was crowned last year as Queen Mawulolo, which means "God is Great" in the local Ewe language of the small West African country of Togo, which along with neighbouring Benin is the birthplace of the voodoo religion.

The village of Tove, some 80 km (50 miles) northwest of the capital Lome, has renamed itself Lovisakope, which means "Lovisa's village".

Having built the settlement's first health centre, Lovisa toured the village of some 300 inhabitants on Sunday to urge people to take advantage of the clinic's free medicines.

"I realised that people weren't going to hospital because it was so far from the village and they preferred to treat themselves traditionally, which prompted me to install this health centre with help from friends in Togo and Europe," Lovisa told Reuters.

She added she was making door-to-door calls to persuade her subjects to visit the health centre instead of witchdoctors.

Lovisa recognises her situation is exceptional in a conservative country where female chiefs are extremely rare.

"I was crowned traditionally, something really extraordinary for a European, a white woman in Togo."

The French woman, who has lived in Togo for eight years, has adopted 10 children who live on her farm and she regularly organises the distribution of clothing to local people.

"The women here, we are proud to have a woman as village chief. She has done a lot for this village. She is our sister," said elderly villager Amah Eklou.

Changes changes changes, one parmenent thing I ever know is changes. As this world itself now needs on going changes just as animated tree which is compusory as every tree withers to bring forth good ever green leaves.

Madonna recently caused controversy when she adopted Malawian boy David Banda. She was criticised for taking him away from his father and his culture. So what will his life here really be like? Stand-up comedian Joy Carter, 36, empathlses with David's situation. She was adopted in Nigeria Iin 1970 by British couple Daphne and Rex Carter. Here, she told Daily Mail of the difficulties she faced growing up so far from her roots.

The group of 12-year-old boys pushed me up against the playground walls and sneered menacingly: 'Nigger, blackie ... Go back to where you came from.' Shamed and humiliated, I dug my chin into my chest, wishing I could disappear. Perhaps I wondered, I should be sent back to Nigeria or maybe, I wished in vain, I could turn into a white person, then I would be line and no one would hate me anymore. I am adopted. It is not something I am ashamed of.

In fact, I am proud of my (adoptive) parents for daring to save a desperately ill African child and caring for her like one of their own. But ever since I was young, I have been bullied. Children have ignored me, picked on me, even subjected me to physical violence, all because I was black and everyone around me including my parents, was white. For the long years I was bullied - until the age of 18 when I left my home in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire to study art in London - I hated myself and everything my black heritage suggested.

The bullies made me feel worthless and I truly believed if I was white, like everyone else, I'd be happy. Even now, 36 years on, a successful stand-up comic and someone who is finally comfortable in her own skin, I still don't feel like an African woman. Instead, I'd describe myself more as a white person in a black person's body. Although I would never want to put off any parents from adopting a child abroad, I hope my story will at least make them think.

People like Madonna seem to assume it will be easy for their child to adjust to life in Britain; they think they are being altruistic. But in reality that is not necessari1y the case, for the difficulties of being a black African child in a predominantly white area can be overwhelming. I should know it almost destroyed me. My Own parents never set out to adopt me. They were working as Christian missionaries in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria in 1970, when a fellow missionary rescued me from a roadside.

The woman had been driving along a dirt road when she was motioned to stop by a distressed old woman. As she stopped the car the old lady beckoned her to a clearing in the trees. By the time my parents' friend got there, the old woman had already disappeared. But Enid found two, severely ill, newborn baby girls. Both had terrible skin, covered in lesions and one was coughing violently.

She bundlied them into her car and rushed to the local hospital in Lagos. On arrival, one of the babies had already died, but the other - me - although suffering from pneumonia and dehydration was alive. Doctors weren't sure of my chances - no one even knew how old I was or how long I'd been in the clearing without food. Yet one thing was certain: in order for me to survive, I needed full-time care and love. That's when my parents, Daphne and Rex Carter, stepped in. They already had a two-year-old son Stephen - but they had seen me in the hospital and were desperate to help.

A few weeks later, after the worst of the pneumonia had cleared, they took me back to their small home in Lagos. I was named Joy - a name recognisable in England as well as Nigeria - and they nursed me back to health. In 1972 my parents returned to England and settled in Leicester. My dad, an accountant, had found a job there and Mum - who had just given birth to my younger brother David took a job as an English teacher. It was an idyllic childhood. I adored my parents and brothers, and blossomed into a happy, healthy and confident young girl.

My parents told me about my history when I was about four years old, but they did so in such a gentle and loving way that I never once considered myself any less loved. I never considered myself worse off for being a different colour. It was never an issue in our house and, too young to know any different, I just thought it was normal not to look like your parents. When I started school I made lots of friends.

Leicester had several Asian families so I didn't feel out of place. I distinctly remember a white child in my class pointing and looking at me strangely, but as she never said anything I didn't understand why. Then when I was eleven, my dad was offered a new Job in Scunthorpe. My parents knew it was a predommantly white area but, with three children to support, the opportunity of a better paid job was too hard to turn down.

My brothers and I were really excited about the move - I never imagined how my life was going to change in a matter of weeks. It started on my first day of secondary school. It sounds ridicuIous, but I thought all the kids ...couId hate me because my mum had nsisted I wear a pair of horrible grey oafers to match my grey school uniform. When the children in my class stared nastily at me as I walked into the classroom on my first day, I was convinced it was because of the shoes.

I remember standing there feeling so stupid. Not one single person spoke to me all day. When I got home that night, I got really upset and begged my mum to let me wear my favourite high-heeled black shoes the next day. In the morning, I was really excited to get to school and start making friends. I did my hair nicely and even put on some lip gloss. But as I walked into class, the same thing happened.

All the kids stopped and stared. Some even physically turned away. It took a few seconds for it to sink in - the sea of white faces, all staring back at me, it wasn't the shoes. They didn't like me because I was black. I remember standing there thinking: 'What am I going to do now? I didn't have an answer. Every day, I would sit on my own in breaktimes, listening to chants of 'nigger' and 'blackie'. But within weeks it had escalated. I had one of those hip-top desks and every morning when I went to sit down for registration, insult after insult had been carved into the wood: 'dirty', 'foreigner', 'go back home'.

I was miserable and incredibly lonely. I did confide in my family, who were terribly upset and complained to the school. Yet nothing changed - we weren't just fighting the bullying, we were fighting people's attitudes. I tried to hold my head high, but then the insults escalated to physical violence. In the playground groups of boys would shove and kick me to the ground and in the dinner hall other children threw their leftover food at my head.

Only one girl with bright red hair and freckles was nice to me. She was teased for being clever and ginger - but she couldn't defend me against the cruel bullies. My elder brother Stephen, who was blonde, blue-eyed and handsome, tried his best to help me. If I was being shouted at or pushed in the playground he'd stand next to me and the bullies would leave. But as we were in different years, we finished school at different times and the worst violence happened at the end of the day, when lines of boys would wait for me on the road. They'd spit on me, throw food and try to trip me up.

Then one day, a young boy threw a rock at my head. I ran home in tears to my mum, who sat with me on the sofa, putting a bandage on my bleeding head. She was distraught, but no matter how many times we told the teachers, the bullying continued. I don't blame my mum for not doing any more to help bullying wasn't a big issue like it is today.

Her attitude was that we had to grit our teeth and get through it. The National Front had quite a lot of support up North and we didn't know there was anything we could do to combat it. Parents, who were being fed racist jokes by comedians like Jim Davidson, were just feeding the same attitudes down to their children. I hated my life and my confidence hit rock bottom.

I stopped eating properly because I hated being in the dining room where food was thrown at me. Instead, I'd sit by the pond near our school and feed my lunch to the ducks. My weight plummeted to seven stone - for my 5ft 9in I was terribly thin. I felt so worthless, I wanted to disappear and thought if I stopped eating, it might happen. In school I'd walk with my head down, stooped over, hoping the bullies would ignore me. Feeling so terrified all the time, I could barely bring myself to speak and I developed a debilitating stutter.

My parents were worried, of course, but I tried to hide my problems from them. I'd wear baggy clothes and told them it was just me growing too fast that made me look so skinny. One day, when I was 14, I decided that the only way to put things right was if! I could turn myself white. I'd go to the chemist on weekends and buy light foundation makeup. It upset me more when I looked in the mirror after applying it and my black skin stared back. I went to libraries and read up on skin lightening. It was too expensive and dangerous "

Yet I would still stare at pictures of pretty white girls, wanting to be them. The only upshot of being so lonely was that I worked hard at school. I got seven GCSEs and two As for A level. I was offered a place at Wunbledon College of Art, South-West London, to study theatre design-my ticket out of the white areas of Lincolnshire.

Although I knew I was going to miss my parents, I couldn't walt to start a new life away from the bullies. In my first week at the art college I felt happier and more liberated than ever before. London was full of faces of every colour even in my class there were people from three or four different countries. It was amazing not to be judged or looked at strangely.

I was also introduced to my first black friend - a girl called Tace, whose family were originally from the Caribean. We met at the church I'd joined in central London and it was the first time in my life I'd met someone who I could relate to 'colour-wise'. That first afternoon as we sat talking about our lives and families, I cried. Tace looked quite similar to me and it was a bit like having a surrogate sister. A few weeks after we'd become friends Tace invited me to have lunch at her parents' house. Her family were amazmg. We sat down to a lunch of traditional African food - jerk chicken.

Each mouthful was like entering a new world - part of a different history. It all felt amazing, as if I was piecing together my heritage. After lunch, Tace showed me around her house, which was covered in family pictures. I stopped in front of one of Tace and her mother and a little chill ran down my spine.

They looked so alike - something totally alien to me. I was so entranced I could barely tear myself away from it. The few days after my lunch with Tace were like a revelation - just knowing there were other black families out there comforted me enormously. But I still struggled with my image and in relationships.

There was still a part of me that didn't believe I was good enough and I expressed this by continuing to eat sparsely - I was only eight stone. I also let myself get involved in violent relationships. I know it sounds stupid, but I didn't think I deserved any better. All my teenage life I had been abused by different men - be it verbally or physically - and I didn't know I deserved any different. My parents were terribly worried about me during this time - they knew I was unhappy, but I refused to listen to them when they told me they loved me and were always there for me.

I felt like it was my fault for being black and the colour of my skin was the cause of all my problems. Tace was aware of my many issues and after years of begging me to get counselling I finally agreed in 1996, aged 26. In my first session, the counsellor told me, very seriously, that I was a beautiful person. It wasn't an easy process, but gradually as weeks and months went by, I started to believe her.

For the first time, I'd look at my face in the mirror and see an attractive person. She also got me to address my feelings about my parents and suddenly I realised I had so many questions. like, why did they pick me? Why didn't they just leave me in Africa when I was better? Or had they ever thought of sending me home when I reached 16? My whole life I'd struggled with a sense of belonging, either in England or to my family. I couldn't believe that my parents could really love me when everyone else around me appeared to hate me.

A few months into the counselling I phoned my parents and asked them everything. They listened quietly and calmly replied that there had never been a thought of sending me home or not loving me. They'd seen me in hospital and were determined I was going to survive. After that, they never wanted to be apart from me. I was their daughter.

Hearing those words was the first time I'd really accepted that I was part of a family. And it had taken me 26 years to get there. In the last ten years since I've come out of counselling I have turned my life around. Having therapy enabled me to accept who I was. I stopped hating myself and I knew I wanted to turn my previous bad experiences into something positive.

That's when I decided to take up stand-up comedy. It's taken a long time to work on my material and establish my name, but I'm getting there. A few months ago I was asked by a documentary company if I wanted to retrace my roots for a TV programme. It will be the first time since my parents took me to England that I will have been to Nigeria and I feel it's the right time to investigate my heritage. I'm sure It will be emotional and it will be a big step for me to spend time in a country full of black people.

I hope it brings me closer to understanding who I am. People have asked me if I feel anger towards my parents for taking me away from my culture. The answer would be no, because what sort of life would I have led in Africa? I'm 36, but being born into Nigeria in a war, I would have been lucky to survive 30 days, let alone 30 years.

But that's not to say things haven't been hard. I know I am blessed to have loving parents and a safe environment to grow up in but I also suffered terribly. Madonna should not underestimate what she has taken on.

Kofi Annan will give his last major speech as UN Secretary-General on December 11 at the Truman Presidential Museum & Library in Independence, Mo. His speech, directed particularly to the American people, will focus on the principles of global governance and the need for accountable leadership at both the national and global level. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon will take over the position of Secretary-General on January 1, 2007.

The right structure makes for that melt-in-the-mouth sensation.

"When it comes to the crunch, some chocolates simply taste better than others. But researchers are just beginning to understand that the taste depends on which crystalline forms predominate as the chocolate cools in the factory. Some of these crystalline forms are not very palatable--others are sensational. The British chocolate manufacturer Cadbury is helping to finance the research.
Although Cadbury has been making chocolate since 1831, only now are researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and the Central Laboratory of the Research Council at Daresbury teasing out the secrets of the perfect chocolate.

"Cadbury knows about the process of making chocolate," says Alexandra Rossi of Heriot-Watt. "But there was not a lot of information about how it crystallises."

Cocoa butter, the main solid fat in chocolate, can crystallise into six different arrangements of molecules known as polymorphs. The form that predominates in the best-tasting chocolate is form V. This polymorph also makes the chocolate look glossy and melt in the mouth. The best bars do not taste too sticky or thick. They are also more resistant to "fat bloom" --a cloudy discolouring seen on some chocolate bars. The Heriot-Watt researchers have been working out which conditions will allow form V to dominate, and how to stop the other forms from displacing it.

In conjunction with researchers at Daresbury, Rossi and her colleagues constructed a test cell to mimic what happens in the factory. They pumped liquid cocoa butter heated to 50 °C into this cell. The liquid was "crash cooled" at a rate of 7 °C to 8 °C a minute until it reached 22° C, and then the mix was held at that temperature. All the time the cocoa butter was being monitored to see when and why the different polymorphs emerged.

The researchers irradiated the cooling cocoa butter with X-rays and measured the diffraction patterns produced. The different crystalline forms scattered the X-rays in distinctive patterns, enabling the team to work out the precise temperature at which the different forms appeared and disappeared.
The temperature in the test cell can be raised or lowered and the cocoa butter mixed more or less vigorously. By varying the conditions, Rossi and her colleagues discovered the importance of mixing. Without mixing, form V does not appear, and less palatable crystalline forms predominate (see Diagram).

They also found that small differences in temperature can create big differences in the taste of the chocolate. The unpalatable II and III forms appear between temperatures of 22·3 °C and 23·55 °C but form V makes its appearance at only slightly higher temperatures of 23·86 °C. Rossi says that now the researchers understand how cocoa butter reacts to cooling and mixing they will start to make the process more representative of chocolate manufacture by combining the solid fat with more of the ingredients in chocolate bars."

A Nigerian woman, her two children and brother were found stabbed to death in their home in Gosforth, near Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
Detectives have, however, begun questioning a 33-year-old man, Neil Crampton, in connection with the deaths.
The UK police said all four were victims of knife attacks in separate rooms of the £350,000 semi-detached house in a tree-lined suburban street.
Officers said they received a call from a man saying he had killed his "entire family" in Newcastle.
They later found the bodies of Olufunke Sobo, 36, her brother Yemi, and her children, Abigail, 12, and Steven Crampton, five, in Hawthorn Gardens.
Neil Crampton was arrested on Tuesday and taken into custody yesterday. He had not been medically fit enough to be interviewed.
Post-mortem examinations were also taking place yesterday afternoon, and expected to continue until today, to determine how the four died.
Meanwhile, shocked children at Archibald First School and Gosforth Central Middle School where Steven and Abigail were pupils are being offered counselling.
Det Supt Steve Wade of Northumbria Police had told a press conference that the house, where the incident occurred, is owned by Sobo's mother, Tunde Sobo, who was born in Nigeria but a British citizen and has lived in the country for 50 years.
He said: "Very sadly, Tunde had just arrived back from a family holiday in Nigeria and the first she knew of the attack was when she turned up at the scene and the police cordons were in place."
Family tributes were paid to Yemi Sobo, who was well known in Newcastle as a freelance photographer working in city nightclubs.
His family said he enjoyed life and had many friends. Ms Sobo was described as a "loving mother" to her children.
In a joint statement, the children's schools said: "This is a tragic and heartbreaking event that has greatly affected the communities of both schools.
"Stephen was a very friendly boy who enjoyed school. He was popular with staff and children and he will be missed by all at Archibald.
"Abigail was a clever girl. She was always cheerful and willingly embraced all opportunities that came her way."
Hawthorn Gardens is in a quiet residential area and is made up of semi-detached homes with enclosed gardens.
Neighbours spoke of their shock when the area was cordoned off.
Jean Alexander, 89, a neighbour who heard Steven's cries yesterday morning before police arrived, said: "I thought nothing of it at the time and just assumed he was being mischievous or having a tantrum."
Elizabeth Cessford, another neighbour, recalled regularly seeing the children playing happily in their garden from her upstairs window. She said: "It is devastating. I never thought it could happen here and not to a lovely young family like that. They were a joy — the little ones.
"I watched them playing all summer from my upstairs window, which overlooks their garden. Their garden is always full of toys. They spent a lot of time jumping on their trampoline together.
"They looked a very happy, contended young family. I can't imagine what led to this or who on earth would wish to hurt them. I knew nothing of this until I went to the shops and found the whole street had been cordoned off. It's just awful."
Peter Garvey, 71, a retired gas engineer, said: "They were a nice family. The little girl in particular was lovely. She was tall for her age and a happy little thing. She used to ride her bike in the street.
"I didn't see the little boy as much as his sister, but he was a friendly little chap as well. It's such an awful thing to happen and hard to imagine why anyone would do such a thing."
Former colleagues of Sobo, from when she worked behind the counter at Gosforth Post Office, described her as a "lovely, friendly woman who adored her kids".
Friends of the Cramptons described them as a "lovely, quiet family" and Neil Crampton as a "canny lad". One said: "He has been no trouble at all since he returned to live with his mum and dad."
Det Supt Steve Wade, leading the investigation, confirmed it was being treated as a murder inquiry involving four members of the same family. He said: "I need to speak to anyone who heard any disturbances at this address either last night or early this morning."

As the gale of impeachment sweeps across the country, Nigerian Bar Association National President, Chief Olisa Agbakoba, has warned that going by the manner in which governors are being impeached unconstitutionally, President Olusegun Obasanjo may soon be impeached by the National Assembly, if nothing was done to check the menace.
Agbakoba, who raised the alarm in Awka, yesterday, contended that impeachment have been so much abused by state assemblies, who do it without recourse to laid down constitutional measures.
According to him, “yesterday, Plateau State House of Assembly purportedly impeached governor of the state with only six of its members. You are familiar with the case in Oyo which is coming up in November. So we see a growing spate of impeachment across Nigeria. And the concern that we have as lawyers is that if it continues the way it is going, the problem is that one day even Obasanjo may be impeached.
“If lawmakers now realise that all they have to do is to gather in a hotel and sit and take a decision without caring about quorum, then nothing stops members of the House of Representatives or the Senate from coming one day to say they have impeached the President. That is the big issue and major constitutional burden, which sometimes is built by the so-called anti-corruption programme of the government, which is also supportable. "Most of the governors have not conducted themselves properly.
But in the case of Anambra, there has been no accusation on the part of anybody that he has been involved in any form of money laundering or embezzlement.”
It is shocking that 14 people who say they are members of the Assembly in Anambra who are even afraid to live in Awka and have translated themselves to Asaba and can only do their work when they are protected by federal police will come here and purport to disgrace the sanctity of the Assembly”, he said.

Agbakoba had earlier filed a motion on notice at the court (6) of the Awka High court demanding orders of interlocutory injunction to restrain the Speaker of the House, Mr. Mike Balonwu and 14 others as well as the new Governor Dame Virgy Etiaba and their agents or privies from parading or having any dealings in respect of the impeachment of Governor Peter Obi by the said Assembly.

The motion which is between the factional speaker Ben Chuks Nwosu twelve others and the other factional Speakers, Mr. Mike Balonwu seventeen hers including Governor Virgy Etiaba was adjourned to the 28th of November 2006 by the presiding judge, Justice Peter Obiorah had also prayed for an order setting aside “all proceedings in the passage of motion to investigate the notice of Allegation of misconduct”

“All proceedings leading to the purported directive to the Honourable Chief Judge of Anambra state setting up the panel of seven. All proceedings leading to the purported removal from office of Mr. Peter Obi as governor of Anambra state”.

The motion also prayed for an order of injunction restraining the 17th defendant, (Etiaba), “Whether by herself or through her agents from acting as governor of Anambra State”.

Further hearing on the matter was fixed for Nov. 28, 2006. :angelic:

"At a time when, more than ever before, human beings throughout the world form a single society, we cannot afford divisions that threaten the very notion of an international community. That is why associations such as yours are more important than ever." UNSG Kofi Annan's message to the 38th Plenary Assembly of the World Federation of United Nations Associations.

Kofi Annan's message resonated with UNA delegations from 59 countries. They stated in "The Buenos Aires Declaration - We the Peoples supporting the United Nations for a Fair and Peaceful World" that they had decided 'not to pursue conflictual paths in considering issues of acute contemporary conflict'. Through dialogue, they affirmed the value of the World Federation as a forum for cooperation and creative problem solving. Separate resolutions were adopted, all by consensus, on the Middle East, establishing a Weapons of Mass Destruction free zone in the Middle East, Iraq, an Arms Trade Treaty, lifting of the US embargo on Cuba, an end to the building of the wall between Mexico and the US, support for the Alliance of Civilizations, and a call for setting up a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

The week-long Plenary Assembly opened on 6 November 2006 in the Palace of the Congress of Argentina, with a showing of the first video on the World Federation. The International Symposium on the UN Millennium Development Goals followed. Speakers included representatives of the United Nations, political leaders, notably The Hon Daniel Scoli, President of the Senate, The Hon Daniel Filmus, Minister of Education of Argentina, and Mr Jose Gregori, President of the Human Rights Commission of Sao Paulo, Brazil and NGO activists, notably Mrs Estela Carlotto, Grandmother of the Plaza de Mayo.

A highlight was the presentation by Dr. Hans Blix, Chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, of a certificate to the winner of the Global Essay Competition on Peace and Disarmament, Ms. Immaculate Motsi from Zimbabwe. Dr. Blix, who was himself a world essay competition winner in 1950, was later unanimously elected to be the 22nd President of the World Federation. Representatives of UNAs of Germany, Nepal and South Africa were elected to be Vice- Presidents.

The message of the President of the General Assembly, Her Excellency Al Khalifa, advising of her intention to hold a series of thematic debates on the topics of development, gender and dialogue among civilizations, was much appreciated by delegates. They affirmed that UNAs would build partnerships in support of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, declared their support for human rights education and decided to convene, in 2007, an Expert Panel on the implementation of international human rights treaties. In support of dialogue among civilizations, the UNA-Spain offered to host a meeting of UNAs from the Middle East to discuss and agree on areas of practical cooperation that could serve to contribute to a cessation of violence, greater understanding and a lasting and durable peace.

In the course of their commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the World Federation, delegates recalled the early leadership role of Eleanor Roosevelt and the continuing commitment of UNAs to human rights education, their role in the struggle against apartheid and in setting up the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Newly established UNAs of Albania, Armenia, Bolivia, Burundi, Comores, Haiti, Macedonia, Mozambique and Syria were welcomed as full members of the World Federation. Increased priority will be given to promoting cooperation between UNAs at the regional level, including through annual regional Model UN Conferences in Africa, Asia and Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Looking to the future, the World Federation's Constitution was amended to integrate a new youth movement into the organization's structure. A new program to facilitate international networking among young professionals was launched. The young participants at the Plenary ran their own parallel conference, actively debating issues, drawing up a list of projects and electing a coordinating committee of nine members from Australia, Germany, Guatemala, India, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, USA and Venezuela.

Other elections resulted in Mr Pang Sen of UNA-China becoming the Chairman of the Executive Committee, to which UNA delegates from Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russia, UK, USA, and Venezuela were elected to join the 8 existing members. Ms Pera Wells from Australia was elected as Secretary-General until the next Plenary Assembly, which will be hosted by the UNA-Republic of Korea in Seoul in 2009.

Messages to the Plenary Assembly from the UN Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly, the Buenos Aires Declaration, all of the resolutions and the link to the video are available on the World Federation's website: www.wfuna.org

Contact:
Fruzsina Molnar
molnar@wfuna.org
(212) 963-0970

Following controversies that greeted the on-going voters registration excercise, a group has appealed to the electorates to excercise some restraints while allowing the Independent National Electoral Commission to sort out the problems.
An Enugu based Non Governmental Organisation under the aegis of Women Society and Politics (WSP), said while the electorates continue to express total dissatisfaction over the bottleneck being experienced in exercise across the country, INEC should as a matter of urgency, intensify efforts in putting things right.
According to the group in a press statement issued by its National Co-ordinator, Mrs Chinwe Ugwu Oloto, although from every indication, it is quite clear that INEC is undergoing some difficulties in discharging the all important assignment, but the electorate should be patient with the Commission, as there are still room for improvement.

Dissatified with the on-going registration exercise, members of House of Representatives recently invited INEC Chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu, to the National Assembly to give explanations on why the exercise is experiencing such alarming hiccups.
WSP appealed to Nigerians to see the bottleneck as a challenge and general problem that affects the entire electorate, adding that the issue should not be politicised.
It said, going by the position of the lower chambers, reverting to the manual registration system will amount to waste of fund and time, considering the whopping sums expended in procuring the electronic machines.

This message is about Human beings, Democracy, UNHCR, Refugees, The Iraqis, Islam, Kurds, Human rights, Respect, Money, Donations, Angelina Jolie, Pavarotti, Giorgio Armani, Donors, Peace, History, Campaigns and about you if you care about these words.

Hi there,

I am SAM, an Iraqi refugee living in Lebanon at the moment; I have spent the last 10 years of my life as a refugee registered with the UNHCR in Beirut. The last 4 years, I have spent as an activist for
peace and human rights (especially refugees and asylum seekers) on the Internet; I'm also books author and ebooks publisher. I have launched many campaigns to improve our situation as refugees in Lebanon and hopefully bring more understanding to our problems worldwide. I helped make many changes and improvements at the UNHCR office in Beirut; I used the Internet as the field for my activities (you can read more about that in my free ebook 'MY CAMPAIGNS'). All my ebooks are free and could be download from my sites.

This is my newest campaign, it's about the illegal and humiliating actions of the UNHCR, who using photos of refugees as banners and human-buttons to collect money. This is an abuse of the dignity and humanity of the refugees and must stop immediately and a clear public apology present by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. My friends, I am talking about the pictures you can see here: http://unews.125mb.com/human-buttons.htm

Where you can read the rest of this message as web page. Also you can read my new campaign 'Urgent, we need smile' here: http://h1.ripway.com/saad6/smile.html


For more info about UNHCR and life of refugees you can read my free ebooks. I invite you as fellow humans and members of the world community to support my campaign by reading my article on my site and see the human-buttons. The campaign is to support and improve the UNHCR http://www.unhcr.ch especially after the last scandals in the UN and UNHCR, just for example:

The refugees allege that UNHCR staff is selling most of the food items they are supposed to be supplied."They aren't supplying sufficient food to us because they sell most of the food items," they allege: http://allafrica.com/stories/200503140214.html
Here is another example: Burmese Refugees Withdraw Protest Against UNHCR http://www.mizzima.com/archives/news-in-2005/news-in-april/12-April05-22.htm

"We make demonstration and fast because the UNHCR office in Cairo did nothing for our problem..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4440730.stm

Together we will build better world.

You could reach me fast via this form: http://g.1asphost.com/lebanon1/email_me.htm
and if you like to know more about me, you can google for my name 'osam altaee'.

Thanks
THE TRUTH WARRIOR
http://499angels.net/unews

Nigeria electoral system is naira for naira, stockfish for stockfish and rice for rice. Or one can simply say is "an electoral system where the Masess will exchange their congugal right with mere money and food items".
A system where a some of our politicians are openly and crudely announce to us how He would match naira for naira, stockfish for stockfish and rice for rice to have as many votes as He want, And always respones from the weakened opposition is " yes take their naira, stockfish and rice, but vote for me". This is a normal electoral campaign chorus in Nigeria.

Of-course, most politicians will always use a small bet on hook to catch a big fish, a system which helps us to keep stealling away our children's inheritance in place of naira, stockfish and bags of rice. This system has been drawing Nigeria backwards since it's very attrative to seat on Power where Oil runs into money without squashing some part and hence who can be trusted?

Selfishness and lack of brotherly trust has made Nigerian administration very poor because none is now working for Nigeria but for him or herself benefits.

Secondly, masses can not demonstrate their anger over misconduct of public functionary, such demonstration will turned into a shooting range by our ubiquitous mobile Policemen or politically cordoned off. Recently, Hungarians went out into the street to protest against their Prime Minister who lied on the economy to the electorate to win election, but in Nigeria, either the ruling party will decied for themself whom to impeach to favour themself without give room for the Masses or soilder and mobile policemen are dispatched to shooting anyone demonstrating for administrative misconduct and no way a particular problem can parmenently resolve, things going backwards instead of forwardness...

2007 is another election year in Nigeria, and we should ask ourselves if it is not time we say "NO" to naira, stockfish and rice offers and instead face reality and choose for ourselves good candidate and build up a good governace and say stop to election rigging.

Introduction -
A cluster bomb is a small explosive submunition or bomblet that is delivered to its target in a large canister or shell.
Cluster bombs are indiscriminate. They cannot distinguish between civilian and military targets. Their wide-area coverage and poor targeting mechanisms nearly guarantee that unintended victims will die or be injured, even when the weapons function as designed.
Cluster munitions continue to kill long after a war ends because these weapons often fail to explode on contact as designed.

Activation -
As the weapon falls the tail fins cause it to spin. The spin rate can be varied in six stages and up to 2,500 rpm. The canister is set to open at one of 10 pre-set altitudes, from 300 to 3,000 ft.
This combination of height and spin determines the area over which the bomblets will be scattered when the weapon opens.

Dispersal -
The 202 bomblets are yellow cylinders about the size of a drinks can - 8 ins long and 2.5 ins across (20 x 6 cms).
As they fall, they deploy inflatable tail pieces for stability and to make sure they descend nose down.

The bomblets -
The BLU-97/B bomblets have:
a shaped explosive charge for piercing armour
a case which is scored so that it fragments along precise lines, creating about 300 shrapnel fragments a ring of incendiary zirconium for starting fires.

Effective area -
The area covered by the bomblets depends on the spin rate and opening height of the weapon.
Typically they might cover an area about 650 by 1,300 ft (200 by 400 m) - about the size of eight football pitches.

Blast -
When they explode, the bomblets cause damage and injury across a wide area.
The explosive charge is capable of piercing armour to a depth of about 7 ins (17 cms). The blast has a radius of as much as 250 ft (76 m).

One variety of cluster bomb has heat-seeking bomblets which direct themselves at vehicles. Others are used to scatter landmines.


Frequently Asked Questions -
1) What is a cluster bomb?
2) What is the difference between a landmine and a cluster bomb?
3) What is the problem with cluster bombs?
4) How are cluster bombs cleared?
5) How wide an area does a cluster bomb cover?
6) Aren't cluster bombs banned?
Pls for answers to this questions visit http://www.mcc.org/clusterbombs/faq/

The Case for a Ban -
Mennonite Central Committee believes that cluster munitions should be banned. We come to this position through a combination of deeply-held beliefs about the use of violence, and long-term practical experience with cluster munitions in affected communities. Cluster munitions have an indiscriminate track record, create the effect of a mine field, and are not "safe" to use anywhere.

Beliefs about Violence and Peace
Mennonite Central Committee is an agency of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in the U.S. and Canada. Our understandings of Christian faith, and our history as a people have fostered a commitment to the power of love and justice as the way of God in our world. Our history is filled with the stories of people who have suffered isolation, harm, and death, rather than commit violence or go to war. We oppose the killing of soldiers as well as the killing of civilians, because we believe all people are created and loved by God. Thus we oppose all war, seeking rather to build cultures of peace and to use the power of love and nonviolence to resolve conflicts.

Our call for a ban on the use of cluster munitions springs first from these basic beliefs and commitments.

Our experience in Laos, adds very practical and urgent reasons to call for a ban. These reasons also move us to advocate for an immediate moratorium on the use of cluster munitions. A moratorium on the production, use and transfer of cluster munitions is an achievable first step that can be accomplished in the short term. We hope that in the long term, the world will choose to ban these dreadful weapons. We offer the following reasons in support of a ban:

The Indiscriminate Track Record
During the 30+ years since the Indochina War, cluster munitions have maintained a persistent and predictable record of maiming and killing innocent people, many of them children.

It is often difficult for cluster munition technology to discriminate between civilian and military targets, because of targeting difficulties and wide area footprints.

Civilian casualties after war often occur due to the high numbers of unexploded submunitions left behind. The curious shapes and colors of cluster munitions make them almost irresistible to children. A child’s playful exploration often turns into tragic injury or death.

This long track record provides the basis on which cluster munitions must be judged. For over 30 years, cluster munitions have proved themselves to be weapons with clear indiscriminate effects. For this reason alone, cluster munitions should be banned.

Mine Field Effect
In nearly every instance when cluster munitions are used, they create the effect of a mine field.

Cluster munitions are small and numerous, packaged in delivery systems which can drop thousands of submunitions on an area in a very short amount of time. Since they are dropped from the air or fired from rockets and artillery projectiles, they are very difficult to track, map, or find. With dud rates ranging from an estimated 2% to 30%, they create large, unmapped minefields in areas where people live or will return to live. Many of the submunitions are buried underground, gradually coming to the surface over time, or as a result of agricultural activity.

This mine field effect is some discounted or ignored in international fora because it is not part of the design of a cluster munition. We believe the mine field effect is the basis on which cluster munitions should be judged, and for this reason, cluster munitions should be banned.

No "Safe" Usage
Mennonite Central Committee believes there is no "safe" or "appropriate" use of cluster munitions. It is widely asserted that cluster munitions should not be used in population centers due to their wide area footprints. This is a good principle, and should not be violated. However, this does not make cluster munitions "safe".

Even if cluster munitions are used against troop concentrations in rural areas, they may later cause large numbers of casualties among civilians who must live and work in the area. For example, the bombing in Laos during the secret air war was largely in rural areas. Yet these are the areas where casualties continue to occur even 30 years later. Gardening, preparing the rice fields for planting, herding cattle, collecting firewood, or digging for roots in the forest are all risky activities in the areas attacked by cluster munitions.

In summary, cluster munitions are indiscriminate in their effect, they create the effect of an unmarked minefield, and there is no safe place to use them. For these reasons, they should be banned.

Development and Timeline =1868
Declaration Renouncing the Use, in Time of War, of Explosive Projectiles Under 400 Grammes Weight

Development and Timeline -

Declaration of St. Petersburg =
This declaration restricted the "employment of arms which uselessly aggravate the suffering of disabled men or render their deaths inevitable."1 Austria-Hungary, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, North German Federation, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Württemberg2 all attended the conference and were party to this declaration.

For more information visit http://www.mcc.org/clusterbombs/timeline/

In Focus: Africa

THE PRESIDENT: I just had a meeting with the presidential Special Envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios. I asked Andrew to serve our country and really serve the cause of humanity by taking on this important assignment. He's working very closely with Secretary Rice. He brought -- he was just there for 10 days, he came back with a grim report about the human condition of a lot of people who suffer. And, you know, Andrew -- the good thing about Andrew is -- one thing, he puts a report out there, but he also understands we've got to do something about it.

And the United States is going to work with the international community to come up with a single plan on how to address this issue and save lives. And Andrew is going to work with other partners in peace, and they'll take that plan to the current government of Sudan.

One element of the plan is something that I strongly supported all along, and that there needs to be a credible and effective international force to go into Darfur to save lives, to make it clear that the international community respects human life, and the international community will work in concert to save human life.

Andrew, I want to thank you for taking on this assignment. The situation in Darfur is on our minds. The people who have suffered there need to know that the United States will work with others to help solve the problem. And the government of Sudan must understand that we're serious -- when you deliver a message to them, on behalf of our government, that we're earnest and serious about their necessity to step up and work with the international community. So thank you, Andrew, for that.

Today, as well, we have news out of the Far East. There is an agreement to restart the six-party talks concerning North Korea. I'm pleased, and I want to thank the Chinese for encouraging the meeting that got the agreement to get the six-party talks restarted. I've always felt like it is important for the United States to be at the table with other partners when it comes time to addressing this important issue.

And so I thank not only the Chinese, but the South Koreans, the Japanese, and the Russians for agreeing to come back to the table with North Korea. We'll be sending teams to the region to work with our partners to make sure that the current United Nations Security Council resolution is enforced, but also to make sure that the talks are effective; that we achieve the results we want, which is a North Korea that abandons their nuclear weapons programs, and her nuclear weapons, in a verifiable fashion in return for a better way forward for her people.

And so I'm very pleased with the progress being made in the Far East. Obviously, we've still got a lot of work to do. But I want to thank the Secretary for her good work when she went out to the region, and assure the American people we'll continue to work to resolve this in a peaceful way.

Thank you.

Hi, Friends!
I hope you have everything you want this weekend!

On Friday, 3 November 2006,

Mrs Virginia Etiaba was sworn in as Nigeria's first female governor after Anambra state legislature impeached Peter Obi for gross misconduct. Visit //

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6112950.stm

" Seventy years is all we have -eighty years, if we are strong; life is soon over, and we are gone" Psalm 90:10.

Can you avoid aging? Imagine when we always enjoying the prime of life. Imagine vigorous health and kneenness of mind that never fade. Does such a deligtful prospect sound like fantasy to you? then consider this curious fact: Although some species of parrots can live up to a hundred years, Mice rarely live more than three years. Such diverse life spans have led some biloogist to reason that aging must have a cause and that if aging has a cause, it may have a cure.

The search for an effective treatment for aging has attracted investment from drug companies. In addition, for people born after the second world war and now entering their 60's, finding a way to slow down aging has become a personaly concern.

They study of aging has also become a major priority for numerous researchers in genetics, molecular biology, zoology, and geronology. The book ' WHY WE AGE', by Steven Austad, says; "There is a subduced but palpable excitement in the air now when geronologist meet. We are closing in on the fundamental processes of aging."

Ideas to explain aging abound. One view is that aging result from wearing out; another is that aging is programmed. Some say that the answer inloves both ideas. How well is the aging process understood? Is there reason to expect an effective treatment for aging??

More than 70 Muslim workers at France's main airport have been stripped of their security clearance for allegedly posing a risk to passengers.
Visit // http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6108574.stm

Posted by: "Michael Lucivero"
Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:46 am (PST)

The Great Decisions 2007 briefing book is an excellent way for students to explore key global issues and concerns facing the international community.

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---
Foreign Policy Association
470 Park Avenue South, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10016
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