Headines for Friday, August 14, 2009

Islamist group clash leaves 6 dead in Gaza
Violence today erupted in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah.  FSRN’s Rami Almeghari has the story.

At least 6 people have been killed, and 40 others injured, in clashes in the Southern Gaza city of Rafah… between personnel of the Hamas-led interior ministry and a Salafi Islamist group whose aim is implement Shari'a law.  The fighting broke out after a Salafi Imam gave a sermon criticizing Hamas and pledging his and his supporters’ allegiance to al-Qaeda.  The clashes came just hours after the Hamas Prime Minister proclaimed that no fundamentalist Salafi groups were operating in Gaza.   Rami Almeghari, FSRN, Gaza.

Week-long climate talks in Germany accomplish little
The international Climate Change meeting in Bonn, Germany ended today without much progress.  International leaders are scrambling to come up with treaty language ahead of the major climate change summit being held in Copenhagen in December.  There, world leaders hope to ratify a treaty that will replace the Kyoto treaty.   Secretary Yvo de Boer voiced disappointment in the lack of progress.

“As Copenhagen approaches, I keep hearing those who say that we can delay action on Climate change.  That we can survive a rise of over two degrees temperature increase, that we can safely cut costs and safely cut corners, and that there are other priorities that we need to be focusing on.  And I believe that this is the way to a global disaster.  A climate change deal in Copenhagen this year is simply an unequivocal requirement to stop climate change from slipping out of control."

Negotiators have 15 more bargaining days left.  The next meetings are scheduled next month in New York.

Death toll following Tawain typhoon topps 500
The President of Taiwan said today, the death toll following Typhoon Morakot is at 500 and will eventually be higher.  The storm hit the island earlier this week.  102 inches of rain caused flash flooding and massive mudslides.  Video footage from the AP show rescuers helping survivors cross rivers of rushing, muddy water and villagers in harnesses being eased on rip lines across washed out bridges, hundreds of feet over a stream bed.  Despite the rescue efforts, President Ma Ying-jeou is undergoing increasing criticism for not doing enough.

US Senator travels to Myanmar to meet with military junta
Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia touched down in Myanmar today, with the intention of meeting with the leader of the country’s military junta, Senior Genral Than Shwe.  Webb is not officially representing the White House, but is expected to discuss the recent sentencing of Pro-Democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Early this week, Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest for violating the terms of her previous house arrest.  Critics say the government issued the sentence to keep Suu Kyi out of the picture in the coming elections.

The UN Security Council has issued a statement, renewing its call on Myanmar to release all political prisoners and allow for truly free and fair elections.  But the Council’s statement comes without any real teeth.  Security Council President John Sawers.

“No one is setting a timetable on this, but the Government of Myanmar have their objectives which is the process that they have set out.  The international community has some reservations about that process.  We set some of them out in the statement today and if the Government of Myanmar want their process to have international credibility, they know what they have to do.”

Overall, the international community seems a bit stymied about how to handle the unpopular verdict and how to respond to the government of Myanmar.  The first group to take concrete actions against the country’s leadership was the European Union.  It says it will level sanctions against the judiciary and state-run press of Myanmar.

Report: Right wing militia groups on rise in US
Extreme right-wing anti-government militia movements are now seeing a reemergence – that according to a new report released by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  FSRN’s Shuhei Nakayama has more.

Groups of paramilitary militias, tax defiers and so-called "sovereign citizens” that initially emerged in the 1990s are now experiencing a second wave of activity.  The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that videos of militia training are being posted on the internet, militant camps are emerging all over the nation, and around 50 new milita training group have emerged in less than two years.

But the report warns the US government of the potential danger of overlooking the growing movement, citing the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building as a prime example of home-grown anti-government extremism.  Shuhei Nakayama, Free Speech Radio News.