Angelina Jolie and William Hague Open London Summit on Rape in War Zones

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William Hague and Angelina Jolie attend sexual violence in war summit in London

Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie are today attending the opening of a four-day summit on sexual violence in war being held in London.

The event, which is the biggest of its kind ever held, will take place over four days, and includes film screenings, theatre and art as well as the attendance of high-level foreign delegates.

The foreign secretary, who has worked closely with Hollywood star Angelina Jolie for over two years, today described sexual violence in conflict zones as "one of the great mass crimes of the 20th century and the 21st century".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning Mr Hague said the crime has affected most continents in the world and in particular countries such as Syria, Rwanda, Congo and Colombia.

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"If anything, this is getting worse - war zone rape as a weapon of war, used systematically and deliberately against civilian populations," he said.

Mr Hague praised Jolie, who is a special envoy for the UN Commissioner for Refugees, saying she had made an "enormous transformative" difference to the campaign.

"What this campaign needs is big powerful governments of the world, like us, with a big diplomatic network and a big development budget to really get involved and take action, as we are," he said.

In pictures: Launch of international anti-rape summit

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"But it also needs people who will be listened to in a different way from governments and speak with their own personal authority and Angelina Jolie brings that.

"She is very committed to this, very knowledgeable about the issues, she has come up with many of the ideas for the campaign.

"She and I have been working closely on this for the last two years and we will keep doing so."

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The event, which is taking place at the ExCel conference centre in London Docklands, is being attended by representatives from 140 nations.

Mr Hague has called on the nations involved to write action against sexual violence into their army training.

Organisers have expressed their wish that the conference will mark the moment the subject comes to wider public attention.

Mr Hague and Ms Jolie joined forces to launch the Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) in 2012, with a UN Declaration of Commitment to Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict.

The foreign secretary became committed to the agenda after seeing Jolie's film 'The land of Blood and Honey' about the horrors of sexual violence that militias and armies perpetrated during the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.

In Bosnia, as many as 50,000 women were raped — many in special rape camps. Virtually none of them have received any form of justice.  In Rwanda the figure is thought to be upwards of 500,000.

Nations taking part in the summit also included the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia - countries where sexual violence had happened "on a vast scale", Mr Hague told the BBC.

The aim is now to take concrete steps to improve lives of victims and to establish best practice for obtaining witness testimony of crimes of sexual violence in conflict.

Hague and Jolie are today opening the Global Summit Fringe, which aims to increase awareness of sexual violence in conflict. They are also taking part in meetings with youth delegates.

Tomorrow they will attend an event to launch the international protocol to help strengthen prosecutions for rape in conflict.

On Thursday, delegations from more than 100 countries will attend and Mr Hague will chair a ministerial meeting on security in northern Nigeria.

On Friday, Mr Hague, Jolie, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon (by video message) and US Secretary of State John Kerry will speak in a closing plenary session.

From today until Thursday there will be some 140 free events open to the public.

Events and performances include the Royal Court Theatre presenting the world premiere of award-winning Liberian Girl.

There will be an exclusive screening of In The Land Of Blood And Honey, with the opportunity to hear its director Jolie and Mr Hague discuss the film and how it inspired the initiative that led to the summit.

As part of the £TimetoAct campaign, a short animation has been produced to portray the horror of rape and sexual violence through the eyes of a child.

Obama talks about Oregon Shooting Gun Laws and recent High School Shootings

Waiting and hoping after Oregon school shooting They stopped in fire lanes, on medians, in spaces so tight one man wedged his sedan between two cars and climbed out of his sun roof. They double-, triple- or quadruple-parked, spilling into driveways and crosswalks, disregarding every traffic law. By NIGEL DUARA and JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press READER COMMENTS Read all 1 comments Post a comment advertising Click here TROUTDALE, Ore. — They stopped in fire lanes, on medians, in spaces so tight one man wedged his sedan between two cars and climbed out of his sun roof. They double-, triple- or quadruple-parked, spilling into driveways and crosswalks, disregarding every traffic law. The loved ones of the children at Reynolds High School in the Portland, Oregon, suburb of Troutdale knew that a student was shot to death during the second-to-last day of school. And they knew the shooter was dead. They also knew that the 3,000 children who survived would be waiting for them at a grocery store parking lot a mile away. Details spilled out in fits and starts on Tuesday. The shooting started in a gym detached from the main school building. A 14-year-old boy named Emilio Hoffman was fatally shot in the boys' locker room. Physical education teacher Todd Rispler also was in the gym and was grazed by a bullet. But he escaped serious injury and managed to alert school officials of the shooter. "This is a lockdown," the school announced over the speaker system, according to junior Andrea Chanocua. "This is not a drill." Locked in a classroom, sophomore Dominic Senarsky, 16, said he followed the police response by listening to scanner traffic with a phone app. "I was scared, because we were listening directly to it, so we knew everything that was going on," he said. The shooting broke out as the school day started and students prepared to take final exams. Senarsky was studying for his test in health class when he heard teachers yelling to get into a classroom. "I didn't think this was how I was going to end the year," he said. Nearby, in the grocery store parking lot, parents waited for three hours or more. Details were frustratingly thin. Chanocua, 16, didn't bring a cellphone to school. Her mother saw the commotion on television, but doesn't speak English, so she was at a loss until her sister-in-law, Laurie Garcia, came home from work. Garcia rushed to the parking lot and waited, along with hundreds of others. Once the school buses of students started arriving, parents craned their necks to see who stepped off. The first students spilled off the buses around 11 a.m. They were crying or smiling through tears, some with eyes shut tight or shocked wide open. The thing they all shared was a look, even for a moment, of happy recognition. Then the kids collapsed into their parents' waiting arms, accepted a grateful backslap or shrugged their shoulders and grinned with embarrassment. Chanocua was happy to find her aunt. "You're OK," Laurie Garcia said, who grabbed and pulled Chanocua to her. "You're OK." In the aftermath, the governor called the violence senseless, the Troutdale mayor praised the police response, and the school district superintendent said she had once hoped she could get through her career without a school shooting. Hoffman, who died, was the only teenage boy in his house, said Savannah Venegas, who dated him a year ago, "so (his mother) was very protective of him." "He was such a good kid, a quiet kid," Venegas said. "He didn't stir up trouble. Just a down-to-earth guy." The shooter was later found dead in a separate bathroom. Police didn't release many details of the shooting, but said he used a rifle. Perhaps no school district better reflects the changing face of Oregon than the one in Troutdale. This was not a shooting at a school in the posh suburbs or the inner city. Reynolds High School is harder to categorize. The school draws from a diverse group, including far-east residents of Portland and agricultural families from the Columbia Gorge. "This is a tragedy that affects our whole community," Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson said. "This is not supposed to happen in any school, or to any child."

Ethiopia claims foiling terrorist attack after US warning

The US Embassy in Addis Ababa urged American citizens residing or traveling to Ethiopia to exercise caution over a possible attack by a Somali terrorist group.

The safety advisory in the embassy said was issued due to threat from Al-Shabaab against Ethiopia and western interests in Ethiopia. Citing to multiple and ongoing credible threats, the US embassy urged its citizens to take the highest precautions to maintain their personal safety and security.

US and Canadian embassies in Addis Ababa issued alerts that terror groups want to attack Ethiopia and Western interests inside Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian  news media  claimed that  Alshabaab plans to bomb some targets in Addis were foiled after the security forces captured a bomber who is suspected to be a member of Alshabaab. Security officials in Ethiopia say, Ashabaab have at several times tried to carry out bomb attacks inside Ethiopia but were unsuccessful.

The US embassy said that there have been a number of incursions along the Ethiopian-Somali border in recent weeks urging its citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to enhance personal security.

“While there is no known specific information regarding the timing or location of an attack, we would like to remind U.S. citizens to be especially vigilant in areas where large numbers of US and western citizens congregate, including restaurants, hotels, bars, places of worship, supermarkets, and shopping malls” the statement said.

According to Ethiopian government unverified report last  October , a bomb killed two Alshabaab members who were trying to plant it . This   incident happened at Bole Mekaa'iil in Addis Ababa. Police believe that they were intending to explode that bomb at Addis Ababa Football Stadium where a match

would take place.

Horn of Africa Refugee basher sentenced to nine years jail

Timothy Williams was today sentenced to nine years jail over the attack that occurred outside Wollongong train station, south of Sydney, last October.

The vision shows 26-year-old Williams knocking the unidentified man to the ground with a single punch.

Williams then continues to hit and hold the victim in a headlock as he tries desperately to flee his attacker.

It is not known what provoked the attack, which left the refugee with several injuries.

Illawarra resident Williams was sentenced to nine years jail, with a non-parole period of six years.

Williams' associate in the attack - a 28-year-old woman - will be sentenced tomorrow

Mariam's brother: She should be executed

US warns of possible terror attack in Ethiopia - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

June 1, 2014 (ADDIS ABABA) - The US Embassy in Addis Ababa urged American citizens residing or traveling to Ethiopia to exercise caution over a possible attack by a Somali terrorist group.

The safety advisory the embassy said was issued due to threat from Al-Shabaab against Ethiopia and western interests in Ethiopia.

Citing to multiple and ongoing credible threats, the US embassy urged its citizens to take the highest precautions to maintain their personal safety and security.

“The Embassy continues to receive credible threat reports of Al-Shabaab’s intent and capability to attack Ethiopia and western interests in Ethiopia” it said in a statement Sudan Tribunereceived on Sunday.

The embassy said that there have been a number of incursions along the Ethiopian-Somali border in recent weeks urging its citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to enhance personal security.

“While there is no known specific information regarding the timing or location of an attack, we would like to remind U.S. citizens to be especially vigilant in areas where large numbers of US and western citizens congregate, including restaurants, hotels, bars, places of worship, supermarkets, and shopping malls” the statement said.

The embassy highly recommended for Americans living in Ethiopia and those travelling to Ethiopia to enrol in the Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

“The STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in an emergency. If you don’t have Internet access, enrol directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate” it added.

Ethiopia, which is a regional security partner of the United States government, has a deployed forces in war torn Somalia to help the weak government battle the Al-Qaeda-allied Al-Shabaab group.

In the past Al-Shabaab has repeatedly warned to carryout massive attacks in Ethiopia in retaliation for its military intervention and Addis Ababa takes such threats seriously.

However government officials often disclose that the country’s defence force and intelligence are capable enough to thwart Shabaab’s terror plots and to defend the country from any external enemy.

Addis Ababa says it will remain determined to keep its troops in Somalia till order, peace and security is fully restored in Somalia.

However Ethiopian opposition politicians on the contrary call on government for immediate pull-out arguing keeping the troops longer will increase the risk of retaliation attacks against the horn of Africa’s nation.

Controversy over soldier exchanges

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