Amnesty Int'l: Mali suffering its 'worst crisis'
16 May 2012 - The West African state of Mali is suffering its worst crisis in half a century after a coup in the capital and a rebel takeover in the country's north, an international human rights group said in a report released Wednesday. Amnesty International documents a host of human rights abuses committed in the country including summary executions, arbitrary detentions and assaults. The rights group says that all parties to the conflict are believed to be responsible for human rights violations. The north of Mali was taken over by a mix of Tuareg separatist forces and Islamist fighters in late March. Government forces, left in disarray after a coup in Bamako just a week before, fled the north without putting up resistance. In a matter of days, the Islamist fighters had seized control of the three largest towns in the north and have since attempted to impose Shariah law. Amnesty says the humanitarian catastrophe that has been unleashed by the twin events is the worst the country has suffered since independence from France, five decades ago. (more)

Two Mexican generals detained for alleged drug gang ties
16 May 2012 - Investigators are questioning Mexico's former deputy defence minister and a top army general for suspected links to organized crime, in the highest level scandal to hit the military in the five-year-old drug war. Mexican soldiers on Tuesday detained retired general Tomas Angeles Dauahare and general Roberto Dawe Gonzalez and turned them over to the country's organized crime unit, military and government officials said. Dauahare served as No. 2 in the armed forces under President Felipe Calderon and helped lead the government's crackdown on drug cartels after soldiers were deployed to the streets in late 2006. He retired in 2008. Dawe Gonzalez, still an active duty general, led an elite army unit in the western state of Colima and local media said he previously held posts in the violent states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua. The charges, if proven true, would mark the most serious case of military corruption during Calderon's administration. (more)

Syria sugar refineries paralysed, smuggling seen soaring
16 May 2012 - Escalating violence in Syria has slowed sugar refining to a virtual standstill, with smuggling set to rise as Western sanctions hobble trade finance and disrupt imports of the staple sweetener, trade sources said. While those sanctions are not meant to target food imports, the complexity of trade, including extensive due diligence, is hampering deals. Trade sources told Reuters that Syria's four sugar refineries were either shut or producing modest amounts, with unrest contributing to the disruptions. Syria is also facing problems buying grain from international markets. 'We face difficulty in importing food because Lebanese banks and traders in the United Arab Emirates refuse to deal with Syrians,' a Syria-based source familiar with the matter said. Because of the conflict, one million out of Syria's 23 million population now need humanitarian help, according to a UN mission which visited in March. The United Nations has rebuffed a demand by Damascus that it manage the delivery of all humanitarian aid and the UN insists on having some control. (more)

Britain bedeviled by binge drinking
16 May 2012 - Binge drinking has reached crisis levels in Britain, health experts say, costing the cash-strapped National Health Service 2.7 billion pounds (US$4.4 billion) a year, including the cost of hospital admissions related to booze-fuelled violence and longer-term health problems. Unlike all other major health threats, liver disease is on the rise in Britain, increasing by 25 per cent in the last decade and causing a record level of deaths. Doctors believe rising obesity is combining with heavy drinking to fuel the spike in liver disease, which is hitting more young people than ever. The legal drinking age in Britain is 18, but many drinkers start younger. Social workers say lax control of retail sales and cheap alcohol -- commonly available for less than 70 pence ($1.10) a can in supermarkets and liquor stores -- makes it easy for young people to experiment with liquor. Cut-price booze has been blamed for the increasingly popular practice of 'pre-loading,' where drinkers indulge in shop-bought drink at home before they head out to bars and pubs, where the drinks are much more expensive. (more)

12 killed, villages razed in northeast Nigeria
15 May 2012 - Gunmen surrounded villages in northeast Nigeria and set them ablaze, killing at least 12 people and wounding 48 others in violence that could spread as attackers remain hiding in the rural region. The attacks targeted four villages early Sunday morning in a remote area of Adamawa state. The number of dead could rise as relief workers remain unable to reach the villages affected and about 2,000 people have fled. Volunteers 'could not get safe access to these affected communities as the gunmen are said to be in the bush around the communities changing plans,'. It estimated as many as 100 gunmen attacked the villages. Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people, often sees outbreaks of violence across religious lines. However, the attacks often find their root in political and economic problems. Meanwhile, the nation is facing increasingly bloody sectarian attacks from a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram. (more)

At least 44 killed in offensive on Yemen militants
15 May 2012 - At least 44 people including 30 Islamist militants were killed overnight in Yemen, officials and residents said on Tuesday, as the government pressed ahead with a new US-backed offensive against insurgents in the south. The Islamist rebellion is of serious concern to the United States and to Yemen's much bigger neighbour Saudi Arabia, which both fear that instability could give al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing a bigger foothold near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea. Residents and local officials said heavy fighting erupted late on Monday between the army and militants in an area called al-Jabalain in the south, as troops tried to advance on the militant-held city of Jaar. United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations working in Yemen called in a statement on 'involved parties to take all necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and to minimise collateral damage'. (more)

India state faces corruption scandal in low-caste parks
15 May 2012 - Of the many recent corruption scandals rocking India, none threaten to deliver the same symbolic blow as Uttar Pradesh's planned investigation into parks honouring the contribution of dalits, the lowest Hindu caste. A new state government is investigating millions of dollars it says were misappropriated by former Chief Minister Mayawati's administration as it built the statues and monuments. The park project has been a magnet for criticism in one of India's poorest states, where tens of millions suffer from malnutrition and many still die from treatable diseases such as cholera and diarrhea. Though she spent more on parks than on medical supplies, Mayawati has insisted the sprawling pavilions brought a long-overdue sense of pride to the dalit community. Police are investigating how the administration paid about $15 million for 130 stone elephant statues, or more than $115,000 each, while the artisans were promised only one-tenth that price. Money is said to have been misappropriated when buildings and walls were constructed, destroyed, and then rebuilt repeatedly. Palm and date trees were planted only to be uprooted and thrown away. Many contract prices were inflated. (more)

Children at risk as 'button' battery use grows: US study
15 May 2012 - Children face a growing risk from 'button' batteries, according to a US study showing a near doubling of emergency room visits in the past two decades as the objects can cause electrical or chemical burns if swallowed. Most of those emergency room trips are due to coin-shaped batteries that have become ubiquitous in toys, remote controls and hearing aids, and represent a shiny temptation to curious toddlers, according to a study in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 'Button' batteries carry extra risks, experts said, because they can send an electrical current through esophageal tissue, eventually even burning a hole in the trachea or the esophagus -- without children showing any signs of immediate injury. Using a nationally-representative sample of about 100 US hospitals with 24-hour emergency rooms, researchers calculated that more than 65,000 children under age 18 had a battery-related emergency visit between 1990 and 2009. (more)