First National Congress against Homophobia in Haiti
The LGBT community in Haiti gathered more than three hundred men and women of sexual orientation stigmatized by Haitian society to tell the country to cease discriminatory practices against them.
A man, slightly disguised, who spreads his fingers in speaking at the Hotel Montana, Thursday, May 17 at the first National Congress of the Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Population of Haiti, said he was proud to belong to the LGBT community.
In the hall resounded a voice: "Lese nou viv!"
On the occasion of this event, several institutions supporting International Day against Homophobia were present at the Hotel Montana: Housing Works, the initiator of the movement that works with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA); UNAIDS, UNDP; Sérovie; Women in Action against Sexual Discrimination (FACDIS), the Ministry of Public Health, AIDS and Promoters Target Zero and Kouraj, a newly created organization.
Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was declaired on December 1948, it was not until June 2011 that the world would see a resolution of the Council of Human Rights and an equally historic report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the laws and practices that discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identities.
The resolution recalled that "human rights are universal, and therefore should apply without discrimination to lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender persons," said the Acting Deputy Special Representative of the UN Mission for the Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Nigel Fisher.
The LGBT community openly in front of more than three hundred members of organizations from seven area departments of Haiti, people stigmatized for their sexual orientation by Haitian society, Nigel Fisher stressed that the recognition of LGBT rights is a concept struggling to take root in the social and normative in different countries.
According to the sources of the High Commissioner, Nigel Fisher revealed a series of violations throughout the world against LGBT. "Murder, rape and physical attacks, arbitrary detention, denial of right to assemble, or discrimination in employment, education and access to health, are just some of the violence suffered by LGBT in UN member countries. Haiti is unfortunately not an exception. In a country where the socio-economic conditions are already precarious, the respect for economic, social and cultural rights is a mirage for LGBT. You are subject to marginalization and exclusion from society. Moreover, given the prevalence of HIV / AIDS in Haiti, LGBT are stigmatized by the public but also the medical profession. They can not discuss openly with doctors or seek care."
Stories Member of an organization that defends the interests of the LGBT community, Jean-Louis of Sérovie explains: "In 2003, two of my friends were returning from a party about eleven o'clock at Poste-Marchand. Sniffing they were gay, young men beat them savagely. One of them lost an eye. A patrol of the National Police on site did not even help.
Ala pa gen nasyon chans! "Jasmin, nicknamed tati, has claimed exclusion. "My mother has eight children, I am always on hand. "His friend was raped by a group of handymen. It took him right away to a clinic for prophylaxis. He was ashamed to go to complain to the police.
President Kouraj, Jeudy Charlot assumes and proclaims her gender. Having completed his studies in law, working on his thesis project. "My subject is the issue of homosexuality in Haiti. Reality. Legal approach. We fight against homophobia in Haiti. We have a structure to fight against all forms of stigma and discrimination. We have fifty active members. We take this opportunity to thank UNAIDS that allows us to gather in this room to discuss the problems we face."
Executive Director of Women in Action against sexual discrimination, Marjorie Lafontant supports the same battle as Charlot: "We fight for the rights of lesbians, gay, transgender, bisexual and transvestites are respected in Haiti."
Chinese Caribbean workers accused of illegal fishing
Chinese immigrant workers believed to be attached to the VC Bird International Airport expansion project were reportedly caught fishing buckets of juvenile conch from the grassy areas along Shell Beach. Marine conservationist Eli Fuller said based on reports, a group of Chinese immigrants gathered to collect a quantity of marine life for their own consumption. The police were called, but eyewitnesses said the police took so long to respond that by the time they arrived, the catch was already gone. Fuller said while he does not believe the conch was meant for export or sale, stricter measures must be implemented to safeguard delicate marine life that is guarded by legislation.
“Conchs have to be a certain size according to the law," Fuller said, "and they were all juvenile conch."
According to Fuller, there have been several reports of Chinese immigrant workers “doing things like that”.
Caribarena
Grenada PM can be re-elected, says chief of staff
A top advisor to Prime Minister Tillman Thomas is confident that the Grenadian leader could be re-elected on the strength of the same issues that propelled his National Democratic Congress (NDC) to victory in 2008.
William Joseph, chief of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, described the issues he said were central to the 2008 win as the “NDC mantra.”
It’s a “body of things,” such as good governance and the extent to which the NDC intended to practice “genuine democracy,” that convinced Grenadians to vote the National Democratic Congress over then ruling New National Party (NNP), Joseph said.
“These things are important to people,” Joseph said, adding that they still “resonate” with Grenadians almost four years after the NDC’s election victory.
As the party completes its fourth anniversary in office and prepares for the next general election, it faces several internal and external challenges.
In the past three weeks, it has been hit by the resignation of the tourism and foreign ministers, who both have complained about the leadership style of Thomas and the economic development focus and emphasis of the government.
In addition, high unemployment has been a sore point among Grenadians and a subject on which the NNP has constantly attacked the government.
Joseph, a former director of the Grenada Board of Tourism, acknowledges that there may be some disappointment with how the government has performed, but believes the NDC’s positive is the leadership of Thomas.
“There really is no case against Tillman Thomas that people have,” Joseph told MTV News.
While Grenadians have established cases against former leader Keith Mitchell, and first Prime Minister Eric Gairy for his “excesses,” there is none against Thomas who “stands out above” the two, Joseph said.
Cuba says prison population at more than 57,000
More than 57,000 people are in jail in Cuba, according to a rare report about the prison population published by the Communist Party newspaper, Granma.
Granma said efforts had been made to improve conditions for the 57,337 inmates, and that 23,000 had prison jobs and were being paid.
Dissident groups have put the prison population between 70,00 and 100,000.
Granma's report came as a UN panel held a hearing on Cuba, including alleged degrading treatment of inmates.
The article in Granma said rehabilitation programmes were under way, with education and training being provided at all levels.
It noted that an investment plan running until 2017 aimed to improve prison infrastructure and improve living conditions for inmates.
About half of the inmates were in open jails, Granma said.
And the 23,000 prisoners who were working were being paid the same amount as other workers, the paper added.
Dissidents groups say prisoners are used to work for government-owned businesses but receive very little, if any, pay.
White collar crime
According to the official figures, some 10,000 prisoners have been released over the past six months, including 2,900 freed as a goodwill gesture over New Year.
These have included common criminals and political prisoners.
There has been, however, a reported increase in the number of people jailed for corruption, with some reports speaking of 400 officials and managers jailed.
This suggests that the Cuban government now sees white collar crime as its main challenge, says BBC Mundo Havana correspondent Fernando Ravsberg.
The UN Committee Against Torture on Tuesday began a hearing into Cuba.
Issues raised included poor prison conditions, the use of solitary confinement, and "short" detentions where people were held usually for just 24 hours as a possible deterrent.
Cuba's Deputy Attorney General Rafael Pino Becquer told the hearing that Cuba was working to improve its prison system and that there had been no deaths in custody as a result of wrong-doing since 1997.
Dominican Republic vote: Hipolito Mejia decries result
Opposition candidate Hipolito Mejia has attacked the results of the Dominican Republic's presidential election, vowing to work for electoral reform.
But Mr Mejia, a former president, appeared to concede, saying he assumed his role as leader of the opposition.
Official results from Sunday's poll gave victory to Danilo Medina from the governing party by 51% to 47%.
Election observers said there were isolated cases of vote-buying but these did not affect the overall result.
Mr Medina, who succeeds President Leonel Fernandez, said he would be a leader for all Dominicans.
His running mate was Margarita Cedeno, Mr Fernandez's wife and the current First Lady.
Mr Fernandez, who has overseen one of the Caribbean's fastest-growing economies, was barred from standing for a third consecutive term.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Mejia said the election outcome was "the product of manipulation and an abuse of power", referring to alleged use of government resources to influence voters.
But Mr Mejia, president himself from 2000 to 2004, appeared to concede.
"I am assuming my role as leader of the opposition in the national interest, to preserve the peace and tranquillity of the Dominican family," he said.
Rising crime, unemployment and inflation in the Caribbean country were the main issues of the campaign.
Opinion polls had suggested a tight race, with the outcome possibly decided by the ballots cast by Dominicans in the United States.
The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, and the economy has been growing steadily, at about 4.5% a year.
But more than 30% of its 10 million citizens still live below the poverty line.
War crimes suspects use blackmail, says new ICC chief
The incoming chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says some countries are being blackmailed by suspected war criminals.
Fatou Bensouda said suspects were threatening to continue killing people unless arrest warrants were dropped.
She said world leaders should resist pressure from people such as Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda.
The ICC accuses him of recruiting child soldiers for the same rebel group as his co-accused, Thomas Lubanga.
In March Lubanga was the first person convicted by the court of war crimes.
Gen Ntaganda remains at large and is spearheading a mutiny that has left tens of thousands of people homeless.
Gambian lawyer Ms Bensouda takes over from Louis Moreno Ocampo as chief prosecutor of the ICC next month.
Gen Ntaganda - who is known as the Terminator - denies masterminding a mutiny by former members of the CNDP rebel group.
Euro Zone Assessing Possible Greek Exit
Sixteen nations in the euro currency union have started to assess what financial complications might occur if debt-ridden Greece leaves the monetary compact.
Even as they voice the hope that Greece stays in the eurozone, European leaders have in recent days increasingly discussed the possibility that the Athens government may end its euro alliance and resume use of its one-time currency, the drachma.
Analysts fear that a “Grexit,” as some are calling it in Europe, could disrupt international financial markets and cost European banks billions of dollars in losses if Greece defaults on its debts.
French President Francois Hollande has proposed using euro bonds as a way of averting the crisis, something Germany fiercely opposes. Klaus Larres, professor of international relations at the University of North Carolina, told VOA that bonds would mean sharing the debt among EU members and that Germany as the richest country in the bloc would bear the majority of the burden.
“(Using ) euro bonds really means that other European countries will pool all their resources to bail out Greece, or any other country which may be in danger. However, as the Germans are the richest country in Europe, economically, most of the euro bonds will actually be financed by the German government and the German government does not want to pay for the debts of the other EU countries, particularly those in the south. That actually is an old idea, which (President) Hollande has resurrected. From the German point of view that is understandable, but commentators have pointed out that at some stage, someone will have to make sacrifices for the common good and that country will probably have to be Germany.”
Larres said that Mr. Hollande's proposal to use EU structural funds to finance infrastructure projects in the whole of Europe, including Greece, is a good idea, but it is doubtful that it can prevent the collapse of the Greek economy.
Officials disclosed Wednesday that earlier this week key eurozone financial leaders agreed that each of the 16 other euro nations should prepare contingency plans about what the effect would be in their countries should Greece quit the currency union.
Greece's European neighbors and the International Monetary Fund earlier this year approved billions of dollars in the country's second bailout in two years, contingent on Athens adopting sharp austerity measures that have proved highly unpopular for the Greek populace. After a splintered election earlier this month, Greece's fractious political parties were unable to forge a new coalition government, and a new round of voting is set for mid-June.
Chinese manufacturing activity 'contracts in May'
China's manufacturing activity contracted in May, a survey has shown, indicating that the rate of growth in the economy is continuing to slow.
The HSBC Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) fell to 48.7 from 49.3 in April.
The data comes amid fears that a global economic slowdown may hurt demand for China's exports in key markets such as the US and Europe.
The PMI is a key indicator of manufacturing activity and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The HSBC index has remained below that mark for seven straight months now. The official PMI data for May is expected to be released in the first week of June.
'Slew of measures'
China's economic growth has been slowing, but there are fears that the slowdown may be faster and bigger than previously expected.
China's government has pledged that it will take fresh measures to boost domestic consumption and investment to ensure that the economy continues to grow at a robust pace.
Analysts said the slowdown in manufacturing may see Beijing step up those efforts even more.
"Policymakers have been and will step up easing efforts to stabilise growth, as indicated by a slew of measures to boost liquidity, public housing and infrastructure investment and consumption," said Qu Hongbin, HSBC's chief economist.
Mr Qu added that once these measures start to take affect, the fears of a sharp slowdown were likely to abate.
Hewlett-Packard to cut 27,000 jobs by the end of 2014
Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest maker of personal computers, is to cut 27,000 jobs by end of 2014.
The company said the cuts - about 8% of its workforce - will reduce costs by up to $3.5bn (£2.2bn) a year.
HP said in a statement that the money would be reinvested into the company.
The move was part of a "productivity initiative designed to simplify business processes" and comes as rival products such as the iPad tablet computer eat into HP's sales.
As part of the changes, the head of HP's Autonomy division, Mike Lynch, is being replaced by Bill Veghte, HP's chief strategy officer. Mr Lynch will leave after what HP called a "transition period".
Mr Lynch founded software company Autonomy as a small start-up and turned into one of the UK's largest technology companies.
It was bought by HP last year for more than $10bn.
HP employs about 350,000 people worldwide and about 20,000 in the UK. A spokesman said it was too early to say exactly where the job cuts would hit, but no part of the business would escape some losses.
"We have not yet announced specific plans with regards to specific locations. We do expect the workforce reduction to impact just about every business and region," the spokesman said.
'Exceeded outlook'
News of the job losses overshadowed the release on Wednesday of HP's latest quarterly results. The company's profits and revenues were both better than analysts had estimated.
California-based HP reported a 31% fall in profits in the second quarter to $1.6bn. Revenue in the period fell 3% on a year ago to $30.7bn.
Meg Whitman, HP's chief executive, said: "This quarter we exceeded our previously provided outlook and are executing against our strategy, but we still have a lot of work to do."
The former chief executive of eBay joined HP in September, vowing to turn around the company after a series of problems including a failed tablet computer and an announcement that it was considering an exit from the PC business.
Her predecessor, Leo Apotheker, was ousted after just 11 months on the job.
HP's shares, which fell as much as 5% on Wednesday and closed 3% down, were up 6.6% in after-hours trading on Wall Street.
Google did not breach Oracle patents, a court has found
Google did not infringe patents owned by software developer Oracle, a jury in a California court found on Wednesday.
The Silicon Valley giants had fought over whether Google used Oracle's Java programming language in its Android mobile operating system.
Two weeks ago the same jury ruled that Google infringed Oracle's copyright, but could not agree whether Google's actions constituted "fair use".
The internet search giant maintains Android was built "from scratch".
Oracle sued Google in August 2010, saying Android infringed its intellectual property rights.
Google said it does not violate Oracle's patents and that Oracle cannot copyright certain parts of Java, which is an "open-source", or publicly available, software language.
Without a finding against Google on the "fair use" issue, Oracle cannot recover the up to $1bn (£637m) in damages it was seeking.
The case focused not on using the Java programming language itself, but rather the use of 37 application programming interfaces (APIs) which help developers create software on the platform.
With internet innovation moving fast, it is common for software writers to adapt APIs that mini-programs use to "talk" to one another.
The jury concluded that Google infringed on 37 copyrighted APIs but it also agreed that Google demonstrated that it was led to believe it did not need a license for using Java.