LONDON has been appointed by the Aegis Trust – an independent, international organisation that is dedicated to eliminating genocide – to secure a sponsor for the charity’s “Candles for Rwanda” campaign.
The online Candles for Rwanda global campaign marks the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and is being primarily driven by a series of viral films which show prominent celebrities, politicians and diplomats lighting candles in memory of those who lost their lives. The films, which aim to encourage donations, feature individuals including Scarlett Johansson, Ben Affleck, Sandra Bullock and David Cameron. The films can all be viewed at www.candlesforrwanda.org/donateand on YouTube.
LONDON is working with Aegis Trust to secure corporate sponsorship for the initiative and to develop the online campaign in order to maximise public awareness and increase the number of donations made.
Commenting on their appointment, Michael Moszynski, CEO of LONDON said:
“Aegis Trust has achieved an amazing coup in securing the support of some of the most prominent people on the planet for this very important initiative. However without corporate sponsors to secure funding of £250,000 to promote global awareness of the initiative, people will not know about the campaign or how to donate.
This is a global issue and a global campaign so as a new type of global agency we are giving our time at no cost to do what we can do to help spread the word. I would like to personally appeal for an individual, media owner or company to come forward to help make this happen. ”
Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, said:
“The backing of prominent world figures for Candles for Rwanda has created an opportunity to change the lives of people still suffering from one of the international scandals of the past two decades. They are not sitting with a begging bowl. But we owe it to them to lend a hand in rebuilding their lives and their country. There couldn’t be a better partner than LONDON behind this; I know with support from sponsors something special can happen.”
The Aegis Trust welcomes the arrival in the Hague of Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, leader of the United Redemption Front (URF), in response to the summons issued under seal by the International Criminal Court on 7 May for his suspected role in the attack on the African Union base at Haskanita, North Darfur, in October 2007. This is the first time that an individual charged with crimes under international law has presented himself to court in response to a summons.
"Attacks on peacekeepers can never be tolerated and those responsible must be brought to justice," says Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust. "Abu Garda's arrival in the Hague increases the pressure on others to follow suit, not least the Sudanese Government, which has so far refused even to recognise the authority of the ICC, never mind send any of the suspects in its ranks to the Hague."
Abu Garda is one of the three rebel commanders previously subject to sealed indictments for the Haskanita attack, in which twelve AU peacekeepers were killed. It is widely believed that the URF is not the only rebel group facing the sealed indictments. The other suspects have yet to come forward, although the leaders of all the major rebel groups in Darfur have made statements of intent to cooperate with the ICC - most explicitly in a short film released through the Sudan Tribune on 2 March this year (see http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article30331).
What do Kofi Annan, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen, David Cameron and Desmond Tutu have in common?
This week they are among the first public figures to light ‘Candles for Rwanda’ on camera – encouraging people everywhere to join a global initiative via the website, www.candles4rwanda.org, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 1994 genocide and lift destitute survivors out of poverty.
“During a 100 days from 7 April 1994, a million children, women and men were slaughtered in Rwanda, simply because of who they were,” says Stephen Twigg, a Director of the Aegis Trust, which is helping to coordinate the initiative. “Today, despite the trauma of the past, Rwanda is rebuilding and full of hope for the future. However, it remains one of the poorest countries in the World, and thousands of those who survived – many of them widowed or orphaned by the genocide – remain destitute, unable to keep shelter over their heads or put food on the table. ‘Candles for Rwanda’ is intended to help change all of that.”
Lifting destitute survivors out of extreme poverty
For every donation you give – either through www.candles4rwanda.org, or by texting ‘CANDLES’ to 82010 to give £5.00 – a candle will be lit on your behalf and placed in remembrance at mass graves in the grounds of the Kigali Memorial Centre, where 250,000 victims of the genocide lie buried.
The first few pence pay for the candle. The rest of the donation goes directly to meet the needs of the most destitute among the survivors, lifting them out of extreme poverty and giving them a chance to start rebuilding their lives. The growing sea of candles at the Kigali Memorial Centre, and the very practical support that comes with it, will show survivors they are not forgotten; that people the World over do care about their suffering.
“I will never forget going to visit the genocide memorial centre in Kigali,” says David Cameron. “Someone once said that while one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is just a statistic. We must prove that wrong. We owe that to those who survived.”
“This candle, I want to light for you.”
The first candles lit in Rwanda as part of the initiative will be in the National Stadium, Kigali, during the official commemoration of the genocide on the night of 7th April. As thousands of candles are lit across the pitch, a short film featuring high profile figures taking part in the initiative will be displayed on the stadium’s main screen.
In the face of genocide, words can seem futile. Some of the stars – Samuel L Jackson, Clive Owen and Adrien Brody among them – chose to light their candles in silence. Some reflected on what they themselves were doing in 1994 when the genocide happened, or talked about their own experience of Rwanda. Others simply offered a moving dedication of their candle-lighting to the victims and survivors.
“I want to light this candle for those people who were killed, and the parts of us that were killed, as people in humanity, to allow these things to happen,” said Forest Whitaker, who in 2007 won an Oscar for his screen portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. “I want to light this candle in hope, with the hope that things like this will never happen again. With the hope that those souls who have passed, and those souls who have been scarred, move upward towards the light. I want to light this candle for love, because it represents the spark that we have inside of all of us. This candle, I want to light for you... I want to light for us.”
The politicians and stars...
Those taking part in the launch of ‘Candles for Rwanda’ include Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Clive Owen, Forest Whitaker, Adrien Brody, John Hurt, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Natalie Portman, Zero 7, Reverend and the Makers, Mattafix, Mia Farrow, Sidney Poitier, Samuel L Jackson, Hugh Dancy, Sandra Bullock, Switch foot, Lucy Liu and Madeleine Albright. They also include survivors: Holocaust survivor Martin Stern, Cambodian survivor Samol Loeng and Darfuri survivor Ibrahim Issa Korkor.
Film clips featuring these people lighting their ‘candles for Rwanda’ will be available to view online at www.candles4rwanda.org. They will also be available to view on multiple social networking sites, including YouTube and FaceBook.
See Samuel L Jackson's message:
Other celebrities, politicians and public figures from around the world will be announcing their support for the initiative during the course of the 100-day commemoration period, building to concluding announcements on 16 July.
Partners involved in the ‘Candles for Rwanda’ initiative include Rwanda15 (the official Rwandan commemoration), the Imbuto Foundation, Kigali City Council, Ibuka, the Aegis Trust, Three Generations, Eye Spy Films, The Infantry, The Harry Potter Alliance, PR4 and Instigate Debate.
The OFT has referred the completed acquisition of Julian Graves Limited by NBTY Europe Inc (NBTY), which owns Holland & Barrett, to the Competition Commission.
Julian Graves is a large independent specialist natural food and ingredients retailer, with over 350 stores in the UK, whilst Holland & Barrett is the UK's leading health food products retailer with over 500 stores across the country. At a local level, the parties are both present in at least 200 locations across the country, in many cases on the same high street.
The OFT's investigation focused on the extent to which the companies are close competitors for the supply of nuts, seeds and dried fruit in the UK, and how much the parties are constrained by competition from other suppliers, such as supermarkets and independent retailers.
Documents provided by both businesses indicated that they viewed themselves as close competitors for these products, and regularly monitored each other's prices. In addition, consumer survey work undertaken by the parties revealed that a large number of customers saw the businesses as closest substitutes for these products.
The OFT did not receive sufficient evidence that supermarkets and other retailers currently provide an adequate constraint on the parties. The OFT was also unable to confidently rely on the possibility that supermarkets and other retailers would enter the market or expand their current product offerings on a sufficient scale or swiftly enough to replicate the loss of competition arising from the merger.
The parties also overlap in the supply of vitamins, minerals and supplements, but whereas Holland and Barrett is a significant player in the market, Julian Graves sells only limited quantities. As a result, the OFT was able to rule out competition concerns on this basis.
Today's referral follows an OFT own-initiative inquiry.
Amelia Fletcher, OFT Senior Director of Mergers, said:
'This merger involves a potentially substantial loss of competition between two large national players operating within the same retail sector.
'In the absence of sufficient evidence that competition from other retailers will prevent the merged firm from raising prices or lowering quality at the expense of consumers, we must refer this to the Competition Commission for fuller inquiry.'
The Competition Commission is expected to report by 3 September 2009.
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today (Thursday, 19 March) announced details of a new multi million pound fund to support communities in managing local pressures from migration.
The long term benefit to the UK economy from migration is significant and will be vital to ensuring the UK's economic recovery.
Nonetheless the Government recognises that migration can place short term pressures on local public services including councils, schools, NHS and the police.
Today's announcement - £70m over the next two years - is about ensuring that those pressures are managed effectively for the benefit of the whole community.
Economic migrants and students coming to the UK from outside the EU will be charged a levy in addition to their normal visa application fee. The revenue will form the Migrants Impact Fund. The Fund will mean that migrants are being asked to pay an additional contribution to that which they already make through taxes, to support the communities in which they live.
All regions of England will receive a proportion of the funding. The amount each receives will be weighted towards the areas where international migration has had the greatest short-term impact.
Funding will be allocated to local projects from Government Offices working closely with local partners. It will be targeted at projects which have identified innovative solutions to migration related pressures - where possible involving and benefiting a number of local services. It is not intended to replace mainstream service provision, which already has improved mechanisms for reflecting changes in population.
Projects considered for funding must be able to demonstrate that they bring benefits to the settled as well as the migrant community in an area. For example additional English language provision for migrants will mean reducing the cost to public services from translation and interpretation. Projects might also include taking action against rogue landlords, extra teachers in school with high migrant populations, measures to increase GP registration, or targeted support for policing.
Hazel Blears said:
"Migration brings significant benefits for this country. But it is a complex area never far from heated public debate. That is why we need an honest discussion about it, that acknowledges the local pressures which migration can create in our communities and on our public services.
"It is crucial that we manage migration in an active way and the measures that we are taking across Government are helping to do this.
"The new Migration Impacts Fund, that comes from an extra levy on new migrants as they enter our country, will support local services like health, police, and schools to manage any pressures. It will also help ensure that those who arrive here learn to speak English so they can work to support themselves, get to know their neighbours and participate fully in our society.
"We have a shared responsibility to work together, live together and get along together, whether born in Britain or coming from abroad. I want Britain to be a place where decency, hard work, and respect for the law and for each other are values we all sign up to as citizens. We all have a responsibility to make that happen."
Alongside the new funding Ms Blears and Ms Smith also set out a range of significant and practical actions the Government is taking to maximise the benefits of migration and manage its impact with measures tailored to meet current economic challenges.
These measures are brought together in Managing the Impacts of Migration: Improvements and Innovations. This is an update on the actions Government is taking to crack down on illegal migration (including introducing a single border force) introducing a points-based system to ensure we get migrants with the skills and talents Britain needs, getting tougher with those who outstay their welcome and with those who don't play the by the rules. It also sets out how measures are being taken against those who seek to exploit migrants and continues Government's focus on integration and on ensuring people from different backgrounds get along together.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said
"We are determined to ensure migration works for everyone. Our tough new points system means only those we need - and no more - can come here and its flexibility allows us to raise or lower the bar according to the needs of the labour market and the country as a whole.
"Last month we announced a tightening of the points based system for foreign workers. We've raised the bar to entry for highly skilled migrants and said that employers must have advertised skilled jobs for two weeks in a Jobcentre Plus before they can offer it to a foreign worker. These two changes will mean that only those who make the biggest economic contribution or are filling jobs that people here do not want can come here.
"On top of this, we are now confirming a cash boost - worth £70 million over two years - to help deal with the impacts of migration on a local level. This money will be made available - quickly and directly - to all local services across the country, including police, schools and hospitals."
The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has today written to the Prime Minister regarding the alleged complicity of the UK security and intelligence Agencies in torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Speaking on behalf of the Committee, the Chairman, Dr Kim Howells, MP said:
"In 2007 the Intelligence and Security Committee published a report on Rendition. This considered whether the UK security and intelligence Agencies had any knowledge of, and/or involvement in, rendition operations, and their overall policy for intelligence sharing with foreign liaison services in this context. The report detailed four cases of rendition dating back to 2002 which illustrated key developments in the awareness of the changing nature of the US rendition programme. One of these cases was that of Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian national."
"Since our report was published there have been a number of new developments on which, as we already made clear in our 2007-2008 Annual Report, we have been conducting further investigations over the past year. One of these developments dates from mid- 2008, when we were informed by the Director General of the Security Service that new information had come to light about the Binyam Mohamed case which had been overlooked during the Committee's original rendition inquiry."
"The Intelligence and Security Committee does not investigate individual cases - any allegations of misconduct by, or on behalf of, the UK intelligence and security Agencies are a matter for the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), which is the appropriate statutory body to undertake a full independent investigation of such allegations. This Committee's role is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the security and intelligence Agencies. However, in this instance we considered that this new evidence had a far wider significance that went beyond an individual case, and that it raised questions about the policy and procedures that our security and intelligence Agencies follow. As such it was clearly a matter for the Intelligence and Security Committee and we therefore considered that a further detailed investigation was essential."
"As a result we have taken further, in depth, evidence from the intelligence and security Agencies, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We have today reported our findings on a number of aspects - including the issues raised about the policies that the UK security and intelligence Agencies have followed and should follow - and made recommendations to the Prime Minister."
"The issue of whether an officer from the Security Service committed a criminal offence in relation to the case of Binyam Mohamed is currently under investigation by the Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions. The Committee will therefore not be making any further public comment at this time."
"The Chief Medical Officer's suggestion to reduce over consumption of alcohol by increasing the price of alcohol is a start but only a small part of the solution." saye Sarah Payne, Chief Executive of YWCA. " There is some evidence that increasing the price of alcohol helps reduce drinking but why penalise moderate drinkers whilst at the same time not tackling the root cause? We understand that the Government needs to do more to reduce the problems associated with binge drinking. However, from our day to day work we believe that the root of binge drinking by young women is linked to them having low self esteem, confidence and self worth. To tackle this work needs to be carried out to build up young women's confidence, to help them develope skills, gain work which in turn will develope their sense of worth."
Sarah goes on to say "High quality education will also help by showing young people that alcohol can be addictive and heavy consumption of alcohol can often lead young women into unsafe situations such as unsafe sex and walking alone alone late at night."
She continues "Our research shows that young people get involved with alcohol for a number of reasons. Apart from low self esteem another is boredom, We therefore also call for more safe, interesting and secure places to go and things to do, especially in the evenings and at weekends."
The economic impact of global warming has been grossly underestimated and scientists must warn that inaction will spell disaster, top economist and climate change expert Nicholas Stern said on Thursday.
Stern told 2,000 climate scientists that they had failed to clearly tell humanity what it faces if global temperatures reach the upper range of forecasts made by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).
"You have to tell people very clearly and strongly just how difficult (a temperature rise of) four, five, six or seven degrees Celsius is," he said. "Billions of people would have to move and there would be very severe conflict," Stern told scientists at the Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen".
Stern told the conference that the global recession presents an opportunity to build a more energy-efficient economy. He said; "Coming out of this we have got to lay the foundations for a low-carbon growth, which is going to be like the railways, like the electricity, like the motorcars, this is going to be over the next two, three decades the big driver in investment"
In the UK as well as the world, we live in interesting times. The global economy is in tatters, there is war all over the place and not content with killing and maiming each other, we're also destroying the environment we live in. In the UK we have a failing government and one could go far enough to say a failing political system. There is a lot going on that makes the blood boil. News Rage is a state of angry mind coupled with the actual venting of that anger which manifests itself in the publication of interesting and hopefully entertaining but highly critical articles about something that has been reported in the news within the last 24 hours.
I really hope you enjoy this blog and if you think there is anything I can do to improve things or if you are interested in contributing to News Rage UK, please send an email to graeme@newsrage.co.uk .
Eurozone: UK ready to back IMF bailouts
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Britain is standing by to give more money to the IMF so that it can, in
turn, lend more money to Eurozone countries like Greece, Italy or Spain who
are str...
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