Calls for Ireland to double number of permits to protect migrant fishermen | Global development | The Guardian

Calls for Ireland to double number of permits to protect migrant fishermen | Global development | The Guardian: "The Irish government will have to issue at least 1,000 work permits to non-EU migrant fishermen – double the number announced by the government last week – if they want to provide protection to all those currently working on Irish trawlers, according to representatives from the Irish fishing industry.

On Friday the Irish government said it was planning to issue 500 work permits for migrants employed in its fishing industry who are from outside the European Economic Area, and ensure they are paid the national minimum wage. The announcement followed a three-week inquiry prompted by a Guardian investigation into alleged labour abuses on Irish fishing trawlers."



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Guardian research suggests mental health crisis among aid workers | Global Development Professionals Network | The Guardian

Guardian research suggests mental health crisis among aid workers | Global Development Professionals Network | The Guardian: "A worryingly high proportion of aid workers have experienced mental health issues, exclusive findings from the Guardian can reveal.

79% of the 754 respondents to the mental health and wellbeing survey on the Global Development Professional Network stated that they had experienced mental health issues. The overwhelming majority, 93%, believe these to have been related to their work in the aid industry.

Over three quarters of those that took the survey were female and the majority of participants identified as international staff working at an international NGO.

The findings raise fresh concerns over the wellbeing of staff in the profession, and lends further weight to the arguments of a small but growing number of figures questioning the quality of support and protection provided by humanitarian organisations. “This is a huge, hidden and important issue,” said one anonymous contributor to the survey.

Over half of contributors said they had experienced or been diagnosed with anxiety, and 44% with depression. Panic attacks and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were also cited among over a fifth. While there was little gender differentiation for these results, men were almost twice as likely to cite alcoholism than women."



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Infographic: The Screening Process for Refugee Entry into the United States | whitehouse.gov

Infographic: The Screening Process for Refugee Entry into the United States | whitehouse.gov: "Summary: A step-by-step guide to the rigorous process for refugee entry into the U.S."



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Map of Terror: Where Will ISIS Strike Next? - NBC News

Map of Terror: Where Will ISIS Strike Next? - NBC News: "But the senior U.S. intelligence official said the recent attacks raise concerns about one worst case scenario that the CIA has long feared — that senior military officers from Saddam Hussein's vaunted Baathist Party are leading ISIS efforts to attack the West.



One of the biggest strategic blunders of the Iraq war was the Bush administration's demobilization of the Baath party's military and police agencies in 2003, which created a vast reservoir of men who were heavily armed, well-trained, bitterly resentful and unemployed. In recent years, authorities have gathered evidence that some of these men, including former senior Baath party military officials, have not only joined ISIS but have provided training and strategic operational guidance to the terror network that have helped it take so much territory in Iraq and Syria."



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US issues worldwide travel alert over terror threats - BBC News

US issues worldwide travel alert over terror threats - BBC News: "The US has issued a worldwide travel alert for its citizens in response to "increased terrorist threats".
The state department said "current information" suggested the Islamic State [IS] group, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and others continued "to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions".
The alert, it said, will remain in place until 24 February 2016."



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US issues worldwide travel alert over terror threats - BBC News

US issues worldwide travel alert over terror threats - BBC News: "The US has issued a worldwide travel alert for its citizens in response to "increased terrorist threats".
The state department said "current information" suggested the Islamic State [IS] group, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and others continued "to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions".
The alert, it said, will remain in place until 24 February 2016.
France, Russia, Mali and several other countries have seen deadly attacks in the past month.
A US state department representative told BBC News there was "currently... no reason to believe that US citizens would be specifically targeted"."



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Dianne Feinstein Says Islamic State Stronger, Criticizes U.S. Approach

Dianne Feinstein Says Islamic State Stronger, Criticizes U.S. Approach: "Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said Secretary of State John Kerry gave the panel a more comprehensive picture last week of the U.S. strategy to combat Islamic State, including talks in Vienna to find a diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis.

However, she said on CBS, "I don't think the approach is sufficient to the job." 

Feinstein said President Barack Obama's decision to send 50 special forces to Syria will not solve the problem and advocated a larger, more specific special operations plan.

"We need to be aggressive now," she told "Face the Nation.""



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New study suggests we're sending our kids to school too young - ScienceAlert

New study suggests we're sending our kids to school too young - ScienceAlert: "How old should our children be before they start a formal education? That's the question asked by new research from academics at Stanford University in the US, and it turns out that it might be better for our youngsters if they started school later – a whole year later in the case of the Danish children involved in the study.

Researchers used surveys filled out by tens of thousands of parents in Denmark, where youngsters typically start kindergarten at the age of six. Those who started aged seven showed lower levels of inattention and hyperactivity, factors known to be influential in improving self-regulation, which in turn is linked to academic achievement. The effects persisted up until age 11.

"We found that delaying kindergarten for one year reduced inattention and hyperactivity by 73 percent for an average child at age 11," explained Stanford's Thomas Dee in a press release."



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Dozens killed in Nigeria market bombing - Al Jazeera English

Dozens killed in Nigeria market bombing - Al Jazeera English: "At least 32 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a blast at a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola, the Red Cross and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

The explosion occurred at a fruit and vegetable market beside a main road in the Jimeta area of Adamawa's state capital on Tuesday night.

The area, also housing a live stock market, was crowded with shoppers."



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As a HIV-positive person, I have watched the Charlie Sheen controversy unfold with sadness and horror | Voices | The Independent

As a HIV-positive person, I have watched the Charlie Sheen controversy unfold with sadness and horror | Voices | The Independent: "And it goes to show that certain sections of the media must resist propagating the myth that HIV is a death sentence to both the people it affects, and those who come peripherally into contact with it. In a time in which HIV rates have never been higher globally, never has there been a more urgent time in which to talk more openly about sex, STIs and (most of all) HIV. 

While treatment options have never been better, the reception of Sheen’s diagnosis clearly highlights how public and media perception simply haven’t kept pace with medical breakthroughs. The lengths to which Sheen went to buy the silence of those who knew of his diagnosis and the media witch-hunt which eventually forced his hand are shocking facts to face up to given this is 2015. "



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After Attacks, France Increases Its Commitment To Refugees | ThinkProgress

After Attacks, France Increases Its Commitment To Refugees | ThinkProgress: "French President Francois Hollande promised to honor his commitment to take in tens of thousands of refugees on Wednesday. He said France would do so despite concerns raised by ultra-right nationalist leaders that refugees might pose a security threat to the country.
“Some people say the tragic events of the last few days have sown doubts in their minds,” Hollande said, but added that it is a “humanitarian duty” to help the throngs of refugees who have landed on European shores after fleeing conflict and hardship in countries like Syria and Afghanistan.
In a speech to mayors from around France, Hollande said France would welcome 30,000 refugees over the next two years. That’s even more than the 24,000 he committed to accepting in September."



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Senegal plans to ban full-face amid militant threat - BBC News

Senegal plans to ban full-face amid militant threat - BBC News: "Senegal plans to ban women from wearing the full-face Islamic veil in public in an attempt to curb jihadi activity, the interior minister has said.
The move should not be seen as anti-Islamic, as Senegal was a mainly Muslim state, Abdoulaye Daouda added.
If the plan becomes law, Senegal will be the fifth African state to restrict the wearing of the full-face veil.
In another move to target militants, all unregistered Sim cards are to be deactivated by the end of November."



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Nigerian troops free 241 women, children in Boko Haram camps - CNN.com

Nigerian troops free 241 women, children in Boko Haram camps - CNN.com: "(CNN)The Nigerian military rescued 241 women and children in a raid on two camps controlled by the Boko Haram terrorist group, the country's military said Wednesday.

The Tuesday operation unfolded in the villages of Jangurori and Bulatori, the statement said.

The operations also netted the arrests of 43 militants belonging to the Islamist group, including a local leader, Bulama Modu, who the Nigerian military says was acting as the "emir" of the village of Bulakuri."



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How do we respond to democracy's 'rollback' crisis? | Devex

How do we respond to democracy's 'rollback' crisis? | Devex: "Fighting the rollback is about more than just language, though. Values tend to be broad concepts, but protecting them needs attention to detail — another important lesson from Seoul. What exactly are the democratic norms that are threatened by regulatory restrictions on NGOs? How exactly can traditional values, faiths or beliefs be reconciled with universal human rights?  And what impact will an obscure U.N. General Assembly resolution have on the international standards that have been adopted by the U.N. since 1948?

Unless we get this right, it is too easy to paint our reaction as unfounded or culturally insensitive. And sometimes we are wrong. Lawyers are our friends in this work, working with all those that bear witness. This is well-trodden ground for the human rights community, but I think the democracy-strengthening community is struggling with it a bit, for example in looking at “non-Western democracies.”"



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Unveiled women drivers in Iran to have cars impounded - Yahoo News

Unveiled women drivers in Iran to have cars impounded - Yahoo News: "Tehran (AFP) - Iranian women who fail to wear the veil when driving will have their cars impounded for a week and are likely to be fined, police warned Sunday.

In the past week, about 10,000 motorists have received warnings, with 2,000 facing further action for breaking "social norms", but the new measure to confiscate cars will come into force nationwide."



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Nepal's PM asks India to lift undeclared blockade - Yahoo News

Nepal's PM asks India to lift undeclared blockade - Yahoo News: "KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal's prime minister has asked neighboring India to lift an "undeclared blockade," saying the Himalayan nation is facing a severe fuel shortage and trouble obtaining medicine and food supplies blocked at the border."



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Paris attacks: Bataclan and other assaults leave many dead - BBC News

Paris attacks: Bataclan and other assaults leave many dead - BBC News: "France has declared a national state of emergency and tightened borders after at least 120 people were killed in a night of gun and bomb attacks in Paris.
Eighty people were reported killed after gunmen burst into the Bataclan concert hall and took dozens hostage.
The siege ended when security forces stormed the building.
People were shot dead at bars and restaurants at five other sites in Paris. Eight attackers were later reported killed.
Police believed all of the gunmen were dead but it was unclear if any accomplices were still on the run after the string of near-simultaneous attacks.
Paris residents have been asked to stay indoors and about 1,500 military personnel are being deployed across the city."



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At least 120 dead in Paris attacks, Hollande declares emergency | Reuters

At least 120 dead in Paris attacks, Hollande declares emergency | Reuters: "Gunmen and bombers attacked restaurants, a concert hall and a sports stadium at locations across Paris on Friday, killing at least 120 people in a deadly rampage that a shaken President Francois Hollande called an unprecedented terrorist attack.

A Paris city hall official said four gunmen systematically slaughtered at least 87 young people attending a rock concert at the Bataclan music hall. Anti-terrorist commandos eventually launched an assault on the building. The gunmen detonated explosive belts and dozens of shocked survivors were rescued.

Some 40 more people were killed in five other attacks in the Paris region, the city hall official said, including an apparent double suicide bombing outside the national stadium, where Hollande and the German foreign minister were watching a friendly soccer international. Some 200 people were injured.

The coordinated assault came as France, a founder member of the U.S.-led coalition waging air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq, was on high alert for terrorist attacks ahead of a global climate conference due to open later this month."



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Teacher's quiz: How many migrants to push overboard? - CNN.com

Teacher's quiz: How many migrants to push overboard? - CNN.com: "(CNN)To the teacher, the assignment was a simple question of physics. To critics, it was a tasteless assignment about death at sea.

A teacher in the eastern Polish city of Bialystok gave the size of a boat and the number of people on board.

The students' assignment? To calculate how many Syrian refugees had to be thrown overboard for the boat to stay afloat and reach Greece.

The teacher, Grzegorz Nowik, said it was a matter of holding the students' attention.

"Pupils are not interested when I explain the lift of a wooden block floating on water," he said. "I told them it was a joke while saying words to be written down.""



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Refugee crisis: German man takes in 24 asylum-seekers and describes his 'disappointing' experience | Europe | News | The Independent

Refugee crisis: German man takes in 24 asylum-seekers and describes his 'disappointing' experience | Europe | News | The Independent: "And he said that it was the reactions from those around him - not from the actions of refugees - that disappointed him most. 

"The real disappointment that happened to us came in the form of ordinary text messages, death threats on the street, or insulting letters at the front door. 

Or simply by school friends, that rather cry and quote the AfD [Germany’s right-wing political party].

Instead of tackling the crisis, we act as if there is no tomorrow. Wake up finally!"



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The incidents that led to the University of Missouri president’s resignation - The Washington Post

The incidents that led to the University of Missouri president’s resignation - The Washington Post: "Tim Wolfe’s resignation Monday as the University of Missouri System president came after months of escalating racial tension surrounding high-profile incidents on the flagship campus in Columbia, Mo., and student criticism about the administration’s response.

Here’s a rundown of what happened leading up to Wolfe’s announcement that he was stepping down from his post leading the four-campus system."



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Man of the world | The Economist

Man of the world | The Economist: "Once, Humboldt seemed to be on everybody’s lips; his portrait even hung in the palace of the King of Siam. Born into an aristocratic Prussian family, he showed an early and insatiable curiosity for the natural worlds “perpetual drive”, he said, as if chased by “10,000 pigs”. As young men he and his brother, Wilhelm, were lights in Berlin’s intellectual circle which, though admittedly small, included Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. But always Humboldt was consumed by Fernweh, a longing for distant places. His misery was to be “too good a son”. A cold and distant mother (his father had died when he was young) had strict ideas about what it meant to be a member of the Prussian elite. In 1790, at 21, he was all set for a career in the ministry of mines. Then came Humboldt’s jubilee with the death of his mother and a generous inheritance."



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The Essential Heartlessness of the Sharing Economy Will Be Revealed Now or Later, Maybe Via Deaths at Airbnb

The Essential Heartlessness of the Sharing Economy Will Be Revealed Now or Later, Maybe Via Deaths at Airbnb: "Of course, were Airbnb to invest in safety requirements by offering home inspections or by analyzing photo content to target higher-risk properties and features (pools, saunas, trampolines, etc.) with site-specific safety recommendations, such a program could be far more costly, and might jeopardize Airbnb’s covetable neutrality as a platform. The irony is that amateur innkeepers who couldn’t be trusted with the banal task of photographing and marketing their properties are expected to excel at hospitality’s most important rule: keeping guests safe and alive."



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Silicon Valley’s New Philanthropy - The New York Times

Silicon Valley’s New Philanthropy - The New York Times: "The tech world is home to some of the planet’s wealthiest entrepreneurs and most dynamic philanthropists, 21st-century heirs to Carnegie and Rockefeller who say they can apply the same ingenuity and zeal that made them rich to making the rest of the world less poor. San Francisco also has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the nation, with the wealth distortion most concentrated among the very people who are driving the economy as a whole.

A similar paradox seeps into philanthropy. Tech entrepreneurs believe their charitable giving is bolder, bigger and more data-driven than anywhere else — and in many ways it is. But despite their flair for disruption, these philanthropists are no more interested in radical change than their more conservative predecessors. They don’t lobby for the redistribution of wealth; instead, they see poverty and inequality as an engineering problem, and the solution is their own brain power, not a tithe."



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IITA Promotes a Solution that Puts Smallholders’ Food, Nutrition and Income in a Bag | Inter Press Service

IITA Promotes a Solution that Puts Smallholders’ Food, Nutrition and Income in a Bag | Inter Press Service: "The case for the PICS bag is compelling. By hermetically sealing dried produce, they keep the insect threat at bay. That in turn revolutionizes the potential value of the food that farmers grow, as they face lower risks of losses from voracious weevils who can easily destroy half a crop in less than two months when traditional storage methods are used. With their crop better protected, smallholders can assure they have enough to eat at home and can actually command higher prices for what they take to market because they are no longer forced to sell into seasonal gluts out of fear that their goods would spoil. An early analysis found that cowpea farmers raised their income by almost 50 per cent by using the bags.

IITA has been promoting PICS, helped by a host of partners and the Gates Foundation, for seven years now.

One of the issues for PICS bags is that they need to be manufactured locally. That is being organized in a slew of African countries, most recently Rwanda. In Nigeria, the company Lela Agro has churned out more than a million PICS bags. But even once that process has been licensed and authorized and built, the supply chain still needs a distribution network."



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Indonesia is burning. So why is the world looking away? | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian

Indonesia is burning. So why is the world looking away? | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian: "I’ve often wondered how the media would respond when eco-apocalypse struck. I pictured the news programmes producing brief, sensational reports, while failing to explain why it was happening or how it might be stopped. Then they would ask their financial correspondents how the disaster affected share prices, before turning to the sport. As you can probably tell, I don’t have an ocean of faith in the industry for which I work. What I did not expect was that they would ignore it."



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UN body calls for Malaysia's Anwar to be freed: family - Yahoo News

UN body calls for Malaysia's Anwar to be freed: family - Yahoo News: "A UN body has determined that former Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been jailed in violation of international law and called for his immediate release, according to a copy of the opinion released by his family.

Anwar, 68, was jailed in February for five years after being convicted for sodomising a male aide. He denies the charge, calling it a frame-up by Malaysia's long-ruling government to cripple a resurgent opposition.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Anwar was denied a fair trial and that the charges were pursued for political reasons, according to the document released by the family Monday."



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U.S., allies conduct 10 air strikes in Syria, 17 in Iraq: U.S. military - Yahoo News

U.S., allies conduct 10 air strikes in Syria, 17 in Iraq: U.S. military - Yahoo News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Sunday and 17 in Iraq, the U.S. military said, stepping up its air assault in Syria as fighting on the ground escalated."



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South Africa yellow maize scales 2015 high as drought fears mount | Top News | Reuters

South Africa yellow maize scales 2015 high as drought fears mount | Top News | Reuters: "JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African prices for yellow maize, used mostly for animal feed, scaled their highest peaks in 2015 on Monday as drought concerns mounted, fueling food price pressures in Africa's most advanced economy.

Another poor maize harvest would have serious implications for Africa's most advanced economy as it would pressure food prices and inflation and so could influence the timing of rate hikes by the central bank, which is in a tightening cycle."



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UN Frontline Staff Consider Their Options as Pay Cuts Loom | Inter Press Service

UN Frontline Staff Consider Their Options as Pay Cuts Loom | Inter Press Service: " When the world’s most powerful ambassadors gathered in New York last week to celebrate the United Nations’ 70th anniversary, it would have been undiplomatic to mention the looming crisis facing the UN’s proudest achievement – its humanitarian aid programmes.

But the diplomats and political leaders at the anniversary concert in the General Assembly Hall with Lang Lang and the Harlem Boys Gospel Choir were well aware that they have just a few months to avert a fundamental threat to the UN’s ability to deliver its aid programmes effectively.

UN professional staff who deliver emergency relief in some of the most dangerous places in the world are now considering their options after learning that the value of their pay and allowances, including the right to family leave, will be cut by up to 10% next year, after a three year pay-freeze. The cuts will be heaviest at the lower grades, thereby falling disproportionately on staff recruited from the same developing countries that the UN is trying to help.

When the cuts were announced to World Food Programme workers in South Sudan, a staff association representative who was there said: “Everyone looked like they’d been punched in the stomach.”"



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This Map Shows How Large Europe’s Refugee Crisis Really Is | TakePart

This Map Shows How Large Europe’s Refugee Crisis Really Is | TakePart: "It’s been called the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II. But while the stories of people fleeing violence and oppression have shocked the world, grasping the scale of the number of migrants seeking asylum on the continent can be difficult.

That’s where Lucify, a data visualization company based in Helsinki, hopes to help. The company used data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the origin and destination of all the refugees in its database over three years to create an interactive graphic of the mass movement of people into Europe."



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Austria tightens asylum policy for Afghans | World news | The Guardian

Austria tightens asylum policy for Afghans | World news | The Guardian: "The Austrian cabinet is to introduce a law to make the country less of a magnet for tens of thousands of Afghans fleeing a surge of violence as Taliban insurgents intensify their attacks.

Days after Germany said it would tighten its asylum policy on Afghans, the new law would force most to wait for three years rather than one before their families are able to join them. It would also make them prove they have an independent source of income, health insurance and accommodation."



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IRIN Middle East | Lebanese law forces Syrian refugees underground | Lebanon | Syria | Governance | Refugees/IDPs

IRIN Middle East | Lebanese law forces Syrian refugees underground | Lebanon | Syria | Governance | Refugees/IDPs: "RIYAQ, 2 November 2015 (IRIN) - Ibrahim waited outside the legal clinic with his most valuable belongings – Syrian ID, passport, a document proving his status as a UN-registered refugee and a notarised pledge promising not to work in Lebanon – all in a crumpled shopping bag.

The 47-year-old father of five from Aleppo meets all the requirements for a residency permit in Lebanon, but when he last applied he was told his promise to stay jobless wasn’t believable and he therefore needed a Lebanese citizen to vouch for him.

So he did what most others do. He became illegal.

A complicated set of laws has made obtaining legal residency in Lebanon so difficult that an estimated two-thirds of the country’s Syrian refugees now lack the proper papers, putting them at constant risk of arrest.

Ibrahim chanced it to seek out legal advice, crossing Lebanese army checkpoints on his way through the eastern Bekaa Valley, but found little respite. “The lawyer said there was nothing to be done: either find a sponsor or lay low,” he told IRIN, still clutching the shopping bag."



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Kenyan youths renounce crime to protect forests | Top News | Reuters

Kenyan youths renounce crime to protect forests | Top News | Reuters: "He and other young people resorted to crime to support themselves after the ban on cutting down public forests put a stop to the lucrative local trade of transporting logs for sale, which many had quit school to do.

Now their knowledge of the timber trade is being put to good use.

Group members select a specific ringtone on their cell phones to notify each other when they are alerted to tree-felling activities."



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Veteran Ugandan leader and rival get green light to run in 2016 election | Top News | Reuters

Veteran Ugandan leader and rival get green light to run in 2016 election | Top News | Reuters: "KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's electoral commission approved on Tuesday veteran leader Yoweri Museveni's bid to extend his three decades in office, kicking off campaigning for the presidential election due in early 2016.

The commission also gave the green light to Museveni's ally-turned-rival Amama Mbabazi, a former prime minister, to run in the election.

Museveni, 71, in power since 1986, is one of Africa's longest-ruling leaders. His critics accuse him of wanting to be president for life and of grooming his son, army brigadier Kainerugaba Muhoozi, to succeed him, charges he denies."



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Sierra Leone set for Ebola all clear as it approaches 42 days without a fresh case | Global development | The Guardian

Sierra Leone set for Ebola all clear as it approaches 42 days without a fresh case | Global development | The Guardian: "Sierra Leone is expected to be declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation on Saturday, when it will have gone 42 days without any fresh case of the virus.

Celebrations are being prepared but the optimism is tempered by caution because the virus is still affecting neighbouring Guinea, which has recorded four cases in the past fortnight.

In a grim reminder of how the virus cuts through families, all four patients are siblings, infected by their mother. She had tested positive after caring for her sister who died of the disease."



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Cyclone Chapala Hammers Yemen; At Least 3 Dead | The Weather Channel

Cyclone Chapala Hammers Yemen; At Least 3 Dead | The Weather Channel: "As Chapala made landfall Tuesday, it dumped enormous amounts of rainfall on the arid coast – as much as a decade's worth, according to some forecasts. This caused major flooding and swamped entire towns."



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“Orphan Crops”: What They Are, Why They Matter and What’s Being Done - RTB-CGIAR

“Orphan Crops”: What They Are, Why They Matter and What’s Being Done - RTB-CGIAR: "Orphan crops are those that aren’t traded internationally, and therefore tend to get less attention in terms of research of agricultural training and extension, such as cassava. They’re typically grown in Africa, Asia, and/or South America and eaten as part of local diets. Because they get less research attention, the breeding technology for orphan crops is lagging way behind modern technology. That means that the seeds farmers plant are less likely to be resilient to drought, flooding, or extreme temperatures; lower in productivity; and more vulnerable to pests and disease."



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