Unicef use the force of Ewan McGregor to bolster east Africa drought appeal
August 12, 2011 No Comment
Star Wars actor to spearhead fundraising push as efforts to help Somalia and other affected areas gather momentum Unicef , the UN agency for children, has enlisted Ewan McGregor – the actor best known for his roles in Trainspotting and the Star Wars prequels – in a campaign to raise money for the drought and famine that has affected 12 million people in east Africa. McGregor, an ambassador for Unicef UK, will appear on cinema screens urging audiences to contribute £5 via text message donations before turning their phones off. Cinema chains Odeon, Vue and Picturehouse are partnering Unicef in the appeal. The clip will also be broadcast online and on television. The clip shows McGregor saying: “Before the film starts, I’d really like your help. Before you switch it off, it would be great if you could take out your phone. Right now, 250 children are dying in Somalia every day. That’s one little girl or boy dead every six minutes. This is a famine. And children are dying. They desperately need life-saving food and water. And they need it now. It’s simple: they’re hungry, we can help. It’s time to share.” McGregor is joining efforts to raise money for east Africa, which has been hit by the worst drought in 60 years. The situation in Somalia is particularly precarious. It has suffered from conflict for decades and Islamist insurgents al-Shabaab have refused access to most western aid agencies, including the UN’s World Food Programme. Several musicians from across Africa have appeared on a YouTube video calling on governments and Africans to “act for Africa” in response to the crisis that has affected Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya as well as parts of South Sudan, Eritrea and Uganda. Some of Kenya’s leading singers and TV stars, including Nameless, The Villagers, Sara Mitaru and Juliani appear on the video. Even a spoof Liz Jones in Somalia Twitter page , poking fun at the Daily Mail columnist, has managed to raise £27,000. Some businesses, including British Airways, National Bank of Kuwait and Eli Lilly, have donated money. Dahabshiil, headquartered in Whitechapel, east London, has given $100,000 (£61,477) to victims of the drought and has urged other international businesses to follow suit. The company’s chief executive, Abdirashid Duale, says Dahabshiil, which handles remittances, has seen a 10% rise in money sent to east Africa since a crisis was declared last month, although he declines to give detailed figures. For the Somali diaspora alone, Dahabshiil remits a large proportion of an estimated $1.6bn sent every year. Duale says the Somali community in the UK has been mobilising to raise money. “They come to our office wanting to donate in any way they can, they are organising in cafes, mosques and in the community,” said Duale. “The events in London have affected everybody and maybe overshadowed the crisis in east Africa but every Friday people come together for prayers and I’m sure today they will gather in mosques and donate what they can.” Duale says there has been a good response from aid agencies, religious leaders, the general public and all Somalis, but it is the business community that can make a real difference now. “We, as kith and kin Somalis, with the same culture and the same religion, urge the international business community to dig deep and provide the final push the people of east Africa need, especially during this holy month of Ramadan,” he said. So far the British public has given nearly £50m towards the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal , which groups several British charities. “At a time when the UK’s reputation is in the global spotlight for the wrong reasons, the British people can be rightly proud that they are world leaders in responding to acute need,” said Brendan Gormley, the DEC’s chief executive. “‘But the scale of want is enormous – more than 12 million people across the region need support. Public acts of generosity must be matched by government action, and that unfortunately has been in short supply. The UN appeals are still woefully under funded.” A UN consolidated appeal, trying to raise $2.4bn for east Africa , has so far received $1.2bn, a 52% shortfall. UN appeals are rarely – if ever – fully funded, however. Of current appeals, only Afghanistan, which is 63% funded , is anywhere near target. Famine Malnutrition Somalia Africa Ewan McGregor Mark Tran guardian.co.uk
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Guardian/ICM poll: Only 30% think David Cameron responded well while 54% think police are under resourced Voters back the police rather than David Cameron over the handling of riots, according to a Guardian/ICM poll. It shows that under a third of voters think the prime minister has done a good job – while overall trust in the police’s fairness remains strong. The poll, carried out online this week as politicians and the police became increasingly critical of each other’s performance , suggests neither Cameron nor the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, have impressed the public with their response. Only 30% say Cameron has done a good job, against 44% who say the opposite, a net negative score of -14. For Johnson, the figures are 28% good job and 38% bad, a negative of -10 points. By contrast, 45% think that the acting commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Tim Godwin, has done well against 27% who say the opposite – a positive score of 18. Another online poll, conducted this week by YouGov, found similar levels of support for the police response over that of politicians. There is some evidence – on a smaller and therefore less precise sub-sample – that Londoners judge Johnson less harshly than the rest of the country. In the capital, his net negative score is only -3. Despite the scale of the rioting, and accusations that the police mishandled the initial disorder in Tottenham, public trust in the police seems uniformly strong. Overall 61% of those polled say they are confident that the police enforce the law fairly, uniformly and without prejudice. By contrast a total of 36% say they are either not at all (10%) or not very (26%) confident. There is some evidence that younger or poorer people are less likely to trust the police than older or better-off ones, but in all categories a majority are satisfied. However, the public are far less confident about the police’s ability to keep order. A majority say they think the police lack sufficient resources. The finding could add to opposition to cuts in police numbers and funding. In the Commons on Thursday, Cameron came under fire from the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, and some backbenchers over plans for cuts and the head of the Association of Chief Police offciers (Acpo), Sir Hugh Orde, has warned they will restrict the police’s ability to respond to disorder. While 41% say they are either very (6%) or quite (35%) confident the police have been given adequate resources, 56% say the opposite. People on lower incomes are the most likely to think the police are under-resourced. There is also widespread agreement about the main causes of the riots and looting. Asked to pick from a list of possible reasons, 45% blame criminality on the part of the rioters. Older voters and richer ones are most likely to lay the blame on this. Of other possible reasons, 28% cite lack of respect within families and communities. Only 8% think a lack of jobs for young people is the main reason. A further 5% say the shooting by the police of Mark Duggan, which led to the initial disorder in Tottenham, was the main cause, while 4% blame the coalition government, 2% the police and 2% the state of the economy. At the bottom of the list only 1% blame racial tension – a finding that suggests these riots are being seen differently by the public to those of the 1980s. • ICM Research interviewed a sample of 2,008 adults aged 18+ online on 10-11th August 2011. Interviews were conducted around the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Police UK riots David Cameron Metropolitan police London Boris Johnson Julian Glover guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Fox News’ Megyn Kelly returns from maternity leave with a more liberal perspective on mandated benefits and entitlement programs.
Continue reading …I used to be an executive recruiter and I can tell you recruiting firms usually promise clients they will go out and find top-notch candidates who are already employed and not looking for work (that’s what makes them “recruiters” — they recruit people). But I can also tell you most clients don’t pay that much attention to what the recruiting company tells them, they just want to fill the position. So I’d have to say recruiters are probably the ones pushing the “no unemployed” language, because they promised the clients. But I’m a little surprised if staffing companies are doing the same thing, because staffing tends to be entry or mid-level jobs, not executive or professional career-track positions, and those clients are a lot more concerned with filling the position quickly, with competency and reliability the main criteria. If you want a job and think you’re qualified, ignore the ad and apply anyway: A recent report by the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, called out 73 businesses for asking in job postings that applicants be currently employed. “This perverse catch-22 is deepening our unemployment crisis by arbitrarily foreclosing job opportunities to many who are otherwise qualified for them,” NELP said in the report. The Huffington Post reached out to half the organizations cited in the report, and 19 responded. While several staffing firms defended the ads, employers disavowed them, saying they’d been written by a person outside the company and that they were completely unaware of the language used. For instance, a spokesperson for AIELLO Home Services, an HVAC company based in central Connecticut, said his company would never run a job ad that specified applicants should already have jobs. “If you like to make money and have a flexible schedule, then a challenging and exciting opportunity awaits you,” an online job ad for the company said. “And if you are currently employed , believe enough in yourself and your abilities to make a positive career move…you and your family will be glad you did.” (The ad also specified: “NO prior industry experience required!”) After HuffPost forwarded the ad to the spokesperson, marketing manager Phil Clement, he looked into it and then said it was a mistake. “The ad is a pick-up from some consultant who has helped us in the past find sales people,” said Clement. “The ad is even copyrighted by him. We’ve just put our address at the bottom and hoped to uncover one or two experienced sales people along the way.” Clement said his company has no policy against hiring the unemployed. “AIELLO simply wants to hire good people. There is absolutely no policy written or ‘understood’ that we will only recruit from the employed,” Clement said, adding that he himself had been out of work for two months when the company hired him this year. “As my own hiring should testify,” Clement said, “AIELLO definitely hires the unemployed.”
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Number of incidents in waters of Nigeria and Benin fuel fears region’s pirates could pose similar risk to shipping as Somalia’s Pirate attacks off the coast of west Africa have increased sharply, figures show, raising fears that the region could emulate Somalia as a menace to shipping. Nigeria and Benin have reported 22 piracy incidents so far this year, including two in recent days, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said. Benin did not suffer any such attacks last year. “I believe we are nearly at a crisis here, and if it’s a crisis there has to be action,” Rear Admiral Kenneth Norton, of the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa, told the Associated Press. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, which stretches along the coasts of a dozen countries from Guinea to Angola, has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings, cargo thefts and large-scale robberies over the past eight months, according to the Denmark-based security firm Risk Intelligence. Nigeria, Benin and nearby waters were this month listed in the same risk category as Somalia by the London-based insurers Lloyd’s Market Association. Neil Smith, its head of underwriting, said: “It’s always been a concern for the shipping industry. The model that’s taken root in Somalia might spread to other areas.” Pirates pose a threat to commercial shipping coming into Lagos’s busy Apapa Port and the thriving used car market based in Benin’s commerical capital, Cotonou. Benin collects 40% of government receipts from port activities each year. Maxime Ahoyo, its navy chief of staff, said: “Dozens of ships are already fleeing our shores due to fears of these pirates.” While lower than the 163 attacks attributed to Somali pirates in the first half of 2011, analysts say the number of attacks off Nigerian waters is under-reported because some ships carry illegal oil cargo and others fear their insurance rates will rise. Cyrus Moody, a manager at the IMB, said: “It’s definitely more than we are showing in ours stats. We are calling for vessels to report more when incidents happen. This is the only way for a realistic picture of the crisis.” West African pirates may have been encouraged by the impact of their Somali counterparts but there also important differences, analysts say. Their focus tends to be on robbery rather than seizing vessels. Those from Nigeria have also been more willing to use violence, beating crew members with rifle butts and electric cables and shooting and stabbing those who get in the way. At least two fatalities are known to have occurred. In some cases, crew members are taken ashore and held for ransom. Pirates from Benin have tended to steal oil cargo and then release the ship. Moody said: “The recent incidents off Benin have been very different from Somalia. They do not hijack the entire vessel as the Somalis do. The incidents are more hit and run and robberies. “We don’t believe the Somali model is being copied. Lawlessness and lack of government in Somalia allows pirates to keep vessels on the coast for months on end. We hope that won’t be possible in west African countries or anywhere else.” Officials from Nigeria’s navy, its maritime industry and other groups met US officials aboard the HSV 2 Swift off Nigeria’s coast this week to discuss issues including anti-piracy strategies. The US and other western nations have an anti-piracy armada patrolling the waters off east Africa, but there is no west African counterpart, leaving Nigeria and its neighbours to stop the growing attacks on their own. Experts believe many of the pirates come from Nigeria, where corrupt law enforcement allows criminality to thrive. Antony Goldman, a west Africa analyst at London-based PM Consulting, said the illegal sale of oil had created “a culture of lawlessness” in the coastal zone. He added: “In Somalia, you’ve got no government. In Nigeria there is a maritime capacity, but there’s an issue of the extent to which the security forces are working with armed groups.” Piracy at sea Africa Benin Nigeria David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Surrey police officer alleged to have given information to tabloid about investigation into teenager’s murder The police watchdog is investigating an allegation that a Surrey police officer gave information about the Milly Dowler murder investigation to the News of the World. On Friday the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it was investigating the claim following a voluntary referral from the force about an allegation that an officer gave information to the newspaper in relation to the investigation into Dowler’s murder in 2002. “An IPCC deputy senior investigator has been over at Surrey police this morning to get more information about the case and will be writing to the Dowler family, via their solicitors at their request, this afternoon and offering to meet to give them more detail,” the commission said. “Until then, it would not be appropriate for us to make any further detail public.” The Guardian understands that the allegations relate to the early stages of the investigation into Dowler’s disappearance. It is thought a Surrey police officer met a female journalist from the News of the World at a social event in London and told her details about the leads officers who were working on the case were following. It is not thought he was paid for that information. Sources claimed the officer in question was publicly admonished in front of colleagues when the paper subsequently published the information in a story, taken off the case and then disciplined. The Dowler family’s solicitor, Mark Lewis, said he had not been told how long the IPCC investigation will take. “They need to look at their own information about who the officer was, what he said and what he gave out,” he told the BBC News channel, referring to the information passed voluntarily to the commission by Surrey police. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . News of the World Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Milly Dowler Crime Police James Robinson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …When Greg Gutfeld popped onto the scene of Fox News he instantly tried to sell himself as a male Ann Coulter impersonator issuing out insults to liberals at a rapid fire pace. He’s the Ken Doll model. Greg once was at the helm of Maxim UK, but didn’t last there after the mag lost sixteen percent of its readers and then got sued. He stayed around the publishing industry for a while though. After I saw him do his thing as a guest on Fox, I knew Roger Ailes would find something for him to do over and he was later handed a late night show called Red Eye . And as usual to his particular form of humor sarcasm, liberals remained the butt of his jokes. That’s fine, have a good time with it. Although Canada didn’t care much for him belittling their troops. There’s something about kids and conservatives though. It drives them nuts if they appear to be linked to anything progressive. A video made as part of the Contract for the American Dream campaign really riled his show up. The idea that progressives want to live in a welfare state, drink brews all day, drive around in pink Cadillacs and never work a day in their lives while living off your tax dollars has been going around since the early days of Ronald Reagan and Tricky Dick, but this segment really turned ugly. After airing the video — part of the “Contract for the American Dream” campaign – Fox News contributor KT McFarland said, “These kids are a bunch of dorks.” Later, a co-panelist, comedian Joe DeVito, stated of the children, “Those little bastards are making me so angry.” GREG GUTFELD (host): KT, is it OK for — to use kids to sell a political agenda? Or does it come off as crass to you? McFARLAND: I think that just — the more we see of this, the better. These kids are a bunch of dorks. I grew up — I grew up in the era when the libs were supposed to be the cool guys. They were having, you know, the pool parties where everyone was getting thrown in. I was a Republican — I was, like, you know, like, the little White House thing, and everybody [inaudible] had their Peter Pan collars. These guys are a bunch of dorks. I mean, that looks like it’s something that the good old Republicans had put out for the state fair. GUTFELD: That’s an interesting point. So you’re saying it’s almost reversed it now, where the left has become the right in terms of earnestness and humorlessness, that now it is almost rebellious to be on the other side. I didn’t think of it that way, KT, but that’s why you are here. And Joe, that’s why you’re not here. What do you make of this, Joe? I saw you – I saw you tearing up. I thought you might have liked it. DeVITO: I did, because those little bastards are making me so angry that — this video reminded me of — the other night you were talking about the interview with Gwyneth Paltrow. GUTFELD: Yes. DeVITO: And you could not make a parody that would hits the points better than what they’re actually putting out there. This was so — I am glad they are calling it the “dream,” because you are dreaming if you think this stuff is going to work. A couple of the points – free medical coverage like in other advanced countries — like Greece and England, the continental model we’re supposed to be so jealous of. Pony rides — not on the list. Why such hatred of the children? It’s really odd. Bash the group and politics, but when conservatives use children in ads we don’t attack the child actor. It’s just creepy. Duncan Black observes : I’ll never really quite understand how conservatives get so much joy in punching down instead of punching up. Always picking on someone smaller than themselves. That’s what bullies do.
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Train speeds reduced and new rail projects blocked as critics fear high-speed service is rife with problems A Chinese bullet train manufacturer has recalled 54 trains, in the latest sign that the government has launched an overhaul of the beleaguered high-speed rail network in the wake of last month’s fatal crash. The hugely ambitious project was a matter of national prestige – evidence that China could build not only faster but, said officials, better than anyone else. But the disaster at Wenzhou in Zhejiang province killed 40 people and sparked an outpouring of public fury which focused not just on the safety of the line but also on the authorities’ handling of events, with accusations that they were seeking to cover up problems. Many saw it as emblematic of the dangers of China’s accelerated development. The recall is not directly linked to the collision, which involved trains made by a rival firm. The recalled trains are from the Beijing-Shanghai line, which launched on 1 July to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist party – but has suffered repeated delays. But the announcement comes days after officials imposed a moratorium on new rail projects and the rail minister announced a reduction in train speeds. Experts believe it is part of a wider overhaul of the powerful railways ministry, which began when the minister – who championed the aggressive roll-out of high-speed rail – was ousted in February. He is expected to face corruption charges. State-owned China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd said the recall applied to model CRH380BL trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai line. Spokesman Tan Xiaofeng said experts will examine whether sensors are halting trains unnecessarily because they are faulty or too sensitive – for example being set off when a door is ajar or a passenger smokes in a toilet. “When problems occur, we don’t wish to hide them,” he said. “We put life before everything else.” He said the line had suffered “frequent quality problems” due to components from American, European and domestic suppliers. Earlier this week, the company announced a temporary halt to production of the trains. Zhao Jian of Beijing Jiaotong University, a prominent critic of the expansion programme, said the recall and the cutting of train speeds would help rebuild confidence. “I think the public will be less worried, at least less worried than if the speed was not slowed down,” he said. “In my eyes, this is the state council correcting the “great leap” by the last leadership of the ministry of railways … This is definitely a major step”. But he said there were a series of problems to be exposed, such as “debt, technical safety and the fact that high-speed rail will not ease China’s transportation difficulties and isn’t suitable for China’s economy”. Zhao said he believed the concerns about high-speed rail would ensure drastic reforms, with authorities likely to merge the ministry of railways into a transport super-ministry – as they tried to do several years ago, only to be thwarted by the rail ministry. Ren Xianfang, senior China economist for IHS Global Insight, said the Wenzhou disaster had convinced officials to “rectify the excesses” of its system. Ren likened the impact of the crash to the way that Fukushima had turned the Japanese public against nuclear power, adding: “It is quite clear now that stepping on the brake is the only viable policy option.” The days after the crash saw an extraordinary spate of bold reporting from Chinese media, who challenged the official response before they were reined in. China has the world’s largest high-speed train network, rolled out at a frenetic pace. But critics argued even before the crash that the focus should be on expanding freight and lower-cost services that ordinary citizens could afford, rather than on prestigious high-tech projects. Safety concerns were also raised. Sun Zhang, a professor at the railway and urban mass transit research institute of Tongji University, told China Daily that he supported the idea of cutting train speeds, saying China should take time to test the system and gain experience. He said it took Japan almost half a century to increase the speed of its Shinkansen bullet train from 210 kilometres an hour [130mph] to 300kph. “So it’s impressive, and at the same time a bit worrisome, that China managed to achieve speeds of 350 kilometres an hour in just seven years,” he added. Officials initially blamed the July crash on faulty signals equipment, but a senior investigator told the Beijing Times on Friday that the crash also exposed management failings and could have been avoided. “There were serious flaws in the system design that led to an equipment failure,” said Luo Lin, the minister of China’s state administration of work safety. “At the same time, this exposed problems in emergency response and safety management after the failure occurred. “This was a major accident involving culpability that could have been totally avoided,” he said. Additional research by Han Cheng China Rail transport Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Train speeds reduced and new rail projects blocked as critics fear high-speed service is rife with problems A Chinese bullet train manufacturer has recalled 54 trains, in the latest sign that the government has launched an overhaul of the beleaguered high-speed rail network in the wake of last month’s fatal crash. The hugely ambitious project was a matter of national prestige – evidence that China could build not only faster but, said officials, better than anyone else. But the disaster at Wenzhou in Zhejiang province killed 40 people and sparked an outpouring of public fury which focused not just on the safety of the line but also on the authorities’ handling of events, with accusations that they were seeking to cover up problems. Many saw it as emblematic of the dangers of China’s accelerated development. The recall is not directly linked to the collision, which involved trains made by a rival firm. The recalled trains are from the Beijing-Shanghai line, which launched on 1 July to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist party – but has suffered repeated delays. But the announcement comes days after officials imposed a moratorium on new rail projects and the rail minister announced a reduction in train speeds. Experts believe it is part of a wider overhaul of the powerful railways ministry, which began when the minister – who championed the aggressive roll-out of high-speed rail – was ousted in February. He is expected to face corruption charges. State-owned China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd said the recall applied to model CRH380BL trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai line. Spokesman Tan Xiaofeng said experts will examine whether sensors are halting trains unnecessarily because they are faulty or too sensitive – for example being set off when a door is ajar or a passenger smokes in a toilet. “When problems occur, we don’t wish to hide them,” he said. “We put life before everything else.” He said the line had suffered “frequent quality problems” due to components from American, European and domestic suppliers. Earlier this week, the company announced a temporary halt to production of the trains. Zhao Jian of Beijing Jiaotong University, a prominent critic of the expansion programme, said the recall and the cutting of train speeds would help rebuild confidence. “I think the public will be less worried, at least less worried than if the speed was not slowed down,” he said. “In my eyes, this is the state council correcting the “great leap” by the last leadership of the ministry of railways … This is definitely a major step”. But he said there were a series of problems to be exposed, such as “debt, technical safety and the fact that high-speed rail will not ease China’s transportation difficulties and isn’t suitable for China’s economy”. Zhao said he believed the concerns about high-speed rail would ensure drastic reforms, with authorities likely to merge the ministry of railways into a transport super-ministry – as they tried to do several years ago, only to be thwarted by the rail ministry. Ren Xianfang, senior China economist for IHS Global Insight, said the Wenzhou disaster had convinced officials to “rectify the excesses” of its system. Ren likened the impact of the crash to the way that Fukushima had turned the Japanese public against nuclear power, adding: “It is quite clear now that stepping on the brake is the only viable policy option.” The days after the crash saw an extraordinary spate of bold reporting from Chinese media, who challenged the official response before they were reined in. China has the world’s largest high-speed train network, rolled out at a frenetic pace. But critics argued even before the crash that the focus should be on expanding freight and lower-cost services that ordinary citizens could afford, rather than on prestigious high-tech projects. Safety concerns were also raised. Sun Zhang, a professor at the railway and urban mass transit research institute of Tongji University, told China Daily that he supported the idea of cutting train speeds, saying China should take time to test the system and gain experience. He said it took Japan almost half a century to increase the speed of its Shinkansen bullet train from 210 kilometres an hour [130mph] to 300kph. “So it’s impressive, and at the same time a bit worrisome, that China managed to achieve speeds of 350 kilometres an hour in just seven years,” he added. Officials initially blamed the July crash on faulty signals equipment, but a senior investigator told the Beijing Times on Friday that the crash also exposed management failings and could have been avoided. “There were serious flaws in the system design that led to an equipment failure,” said Luo Lin, the minister of China’s state administration of work safety. “At the same time, this exposed problems in emergency response and safety management after the failure occurred. “This was a major accident involving culpability that could have been totally avoided,” he said. Additional research by Han Cheng China Rail transport Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …‘I feel like I’ve saved a life’: the women clearing Lebanon of cluster bombs
August 12, 2011 No CommentAn all-female team is doing the hazardous and painstaking work of removing unexploded Israeli ordnance from the 2006 war Only up close does it become clear that some of the bulky figures in armoured vests scouring the fields of southern Lebanon for unexploded cluster bombs are wearing hijabs under their protective helmets. Once local teachers, nurses and housewives, this group of women are now fully trained to search for mines and make up the only all-female clearance team in Lebanon, combing the undergrowth inch by inch for the remnants of one of the most indiscriminate weapons of modern warfare. Leading the women in the field is Lamis Zein, a 33-year-old divorced mother of two and the team’s supervisor. She was one of the first recruits for the team, which was set up by the de-mining NGO Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA). “When I heard they were recruiting I applied straight away,” said Zein. “At the beginning men were surprised to see us in the field, wearing the same protective equipment as men, doing demolitions of bombs like men. But we work together well as a team of women. We share things that we wouldn’t with male colleagues. We are good at what we do and we are showing that women can do any kind of job.” Their painstaking task became necessary five years ago this week, after Israel rained cluster munitions on southern Lebanon to a degree the UN condemned as a ” flagrant violation of international law “. Fighting had begun in July 2006 when Hezbollah, the armed Islamic group that had been terrorising Israel with rocket attacks, went one step further and ambushed an Israeli patrol, killing two soldiers and kidnapping two more. By mid-August ceasefire talks were on the cards. But Israel’s final assault in the last 72 hours before peace on 14 August was to fire as many as 4m cluster bomblets into southern Lebanon. Cluster bombs burst open in mid-air and release bomblets that are supposed to detonate on impact, but many of the ones fired on Lebanon did not explode, lying on the ground instead like landmines with the potential to blow up at any time. The women’s team works in tandem with other teams of searchers, all co-ordinated by the Lebanese army, to clear up the unexploded ordnance that still litters the countryside. “Women are more patient than men,” said Zein. “That is why we are good at this job. We work more slowly – and maybe we are a little more afraid than men.” Whatever the sex of those searching the undergrowth, the risks are still the same – one careless move and they could lose a leg. The previous day a searcher in another de-mining team was injured, reminding everyone of the dangers of the job. Everyone has their blood type embroidered on their vests for good reason. “My kids always worry about me, especially yesterday when they heard about the accident,” says Abeer Asaad, team member and mother to five daughters. “They asked me to quit my job yesterday, they were so scared.” “I was unemployed when I heard that NPA was recruiting women for a de-mining team and I applied without telling anyone, not even my husband. When he found out he didn’t want me to do it. I was scared too. Just hearing the word ‘bomb’ would make you scared. But when I began to work it was different, especially when you are careful all the time and follow the rules. You need to be alert and focused when you are in the field, and you must check the ground slowly.” Zein too says her family have come to accept her job after four years in the field. “I was an English teacher for eight years. I wanted a change, and this could not be more different than teaching. “Of course, my family was worried but now they ask me every day how many clusters I found, how many I destroyed.” She is the only woman in the country to be trained in explosives demolition and at the end of the day detonates the bomblets they find. “I am so happy when we find them and I can carry out what I have been trained for.” They have found 38 bomblets in the field they have been working in since May, and two on the road up to the site which vehicles use every day. Others who have come so close to bomblets have not been so lucky. There have been nearly 400 casualties, including more than 50 deaths, since 2006. It was a year after the war that Rasha Zayyoun joined the list of casualties. Life had been returning to normal for the then 17-year-old and her family after the devastation of the previous summer. Her father brought home a bushel of thyme he had harvested for Rasha to clean, but neither of them noticed a bomblet hidden among the leaves. As she began work her finger got caught on the device and thinking it was a piece of rubbish, she threw it aside. As it hit the ground it exploded. Rasha lost her left leg below the knee. “It was so painful. It was like torture,” she said at her family home in the village of Maarakeh where she is trying to build a life for herself as a dressmaker. “I have a prosthetic leg now but I can only walk for a few minutes on it.” Stories like Rasha’s are what make Asaad sing and dance when she finds a bomblet. “I feel like I have saved a life,” she beams. “If I find a cluster and take it out, then there will be no victim from it. The feeling is beyond description.” “We feel like we are doing something for Lebanon,” says Zein. “We are making it safe for children to play in the fields and we are letting farmers go back into their fields to earn money for their families.” Lebanon is spearheading efforts to convince more countries to sign an international treaty banning cluster bombs and next month it is hosting an international convention to promote the cause. But while the debate on the use of cluster bombs continues, for the women of NPA’s Team 4 another working day is over. By 3pm, with the temperature higher than 40C, the women pack up their kit, pile in to a minivan and head back to their families. Zein tallies up their achievements for the day: 330 sq metres cleared, one cluster bomblet found and destroyed, all the team home safe. It has been a good day, But with 18m sq metres of land still to clear, there are many more to find before their job is done. Israel Arms trade Lebanon Middle East Cluster bombs Rachel Stevenson guardian.co.uk
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