Two new flags will be flying high at the Olympic Games in Rio.
For the first time, South Sudan and Kosovo have been recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Kosovo, which was a province of the former Yugoslavia, will have 8 athletes competing; and a good shot for a medal in women's judo: Majlinda Kelmendi is considered a favorite. She's ranked first in the world in her weight class.
(PHOTO: Workers set up camp at Santiago's Rio Mapocho/Mason Bryan, The Santiago Times)Chile nears 1 month without mail service as postal worker protests continue. This week local branches of the 5 unions representing Correos de Chile voted on whether to continue their strike into a 2nd month, rejecting the union's offer. For a week the workers have set up camp on the banks of Santiago's Río Mapocho displaying banners outlining their demands; framing the issue as a division of the rich & the poor. The strike’s main slogan? “Si tocan a uno, nos tocan a todos,” it reads - if it affects 1 of us, it affects all of us. (Read more at The Santiago Times)
WHO convenes emergency talks on MERS virus
(PHOTO: Saudi men walk to the King Fahad hospital in the city of Hofuf, east of the capital Riyadh on June 16, 2013/Fayez Nureldine)The World Health Organization announced Friday it had convened emergency talks on the enigmatic, deadly MERS virus, which is striking hardest in Saudi Arabia. The move comes amid concern about the potential impact of October's Islamic hajj pilgrimage, when millions of people from around the globe will head to & from Saudi Arabia. WHO health security chief Keiji Fukuda said the MERS meeting would take place Tuesday as a telephone conference & he told reporters it was a "proactive move". The meeting could decide whether to label MERS an international health emergency, he added. The first recorded MERS death was in June 2012 in Saudi Arabia & the number of infections has ticked up, with almost 20 per month in April, May & June taking it to 79. (Read more at Xinhua)
LINKS TO OTHER STORIES
Dreams and nightmares - Chinese leaders have come to realize the country should become a great paladin of the free market & democracy & embrace them strongly, just as the West is rejecting them because it's realizing they're backfiring. This is the "Chinese Dream" - working better than the American dream. Or is it just too fanciful? By Francesco Sisci
The South: Busy at the polls - South Korea's parliamentary polls will indicate how potent a national backlash is against President Lee Myung-bak's conservatism, perceived cronyism & pro-conglomerate policies, while offering insight into December's presidential vote. Desire for change in the macho milieu of politics in Seoul can be seen in a proliferation of female candidates. By Aidan Foster-Carter
Pakistan climbs 'wind' league - Pakistan is turning to wind power to help ease its desperate shortage of energy,& the country could soon be among the world's top 20 producers. Workers & farmers, their land taken for the turbine towers, may be the last to benefit. By Zofeen Ebrahim
Turkey cuts Iran oil imports -Turkey is to slash its Iranian oil imports as it seeks exemptions from United States penalties linked to sanctions against Tehran. Less noticed, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Iranian capital last week, signed deals aimed at doubling trade between the two countries. By Robert M. Cutler
HUM HUMOR
"CLIMATE CHANGE: EVERYWHERE"
CARTOON: Peter Broelman, Australia/BROELMAN.com.au)
Do you have your eye on the world? Help us expand the global perspective and tell the stories that shape it. SHARE what's happening locally, globally wherever you are, however you can. Upload your news, videos, pictures & articles HERE & we'll post them on MY HUM PLANET CONNECT. Learn something NEWS every day! THX
(HN, June 24, 2010) -- MASERU, Lesotho -- The number of orphans in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho continues to surge, with the latest data indicating as many as 270,000 - up from 180,000.
The figures were derived from the 2006 census and this newest number was recently released. However some sources put the number of orphans as high as 400,000.A woman in Maseru selling World Cup t-shirts (HN, 2010)
Most of the orphans come from families devastated by HIV AIDS. Lesotho has the third highest HIV AIDS rate in the world - with almost 30 percent of the adult population affected - according to the charitable organization Sentebale. It estimates that every day, 100 children in Lesotho are devastated by the death of a parent. With so few orphanages in the country only about one percent have access to institutionalized care.
In order that orphans and vulnerable children receive proper services several months ago, the country's Department of Social Welfare started a project to register all children that fall into this category. And in order to improve the well-being of vulnerable children, the government recently launched a "Child Grants" programme that provides a regular and unconditional quarterly payment of about $38 to orphans and other vulnerable children.
According to UNICEF: "The nexus of significant levels of poverty, chronic food insecurity and a high prevalence of HIV has dealt a serious blow to child survival, development and protection in Lesotho."
So ravaged is Lesotho by HIV AIDS and poverty that earlier this month several hundred people marched through the capital, Maseru, pleading for the landlocked country to be annexed by its wealthier neighbour, South Africa. Indeed, one South African immigration officer today, referred to Lesotho as the "tenth province." She said thousands of people cross the border every day for work, though numbers are said to have dropped due to tighter movement restrictions imposed for the ongoing World Cup matches in South Africa.
(HN, June 22, 2010) -- Today all eyes on the continent will be on the South African team at the World Cup to reverse a string of humiliating losses chalked up by African teams Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire.Johannesburg fan Tamara Sutila shows her support for "Bafana Bafana"
In a few hours Bafana Bafana (the boys, the boys) meet France in a do or die soccer encounter in the South African city of Bloemfontein. The South Africans need several goals in order to stand a chance at progressing into the second round.
One local newspaper today instructed South African players to "storm the Bastille" in their meet-up with France. The South African team tied with Mexico in the opening match of the World Cup, but lost to Uruguay a few days later.
Should South Africa be defeated today, it would signify the first time a host nation fails to make it to round two.
The hopes for an African win is palpable in the country's airports, shopping malls and streets. After all, this is the first World Cup to be played on African soil and the poor performance thus far by the continent's teams has thrown fans into a collective depression.
This morning at Johannesburg International Airport dejected fans from Cameroon were headed home, unable to afford a longer stay in South Africa.
Asked what he thought about the poor performance of the Cameroonian and other African teams, one departing fan said: "I think it has to be back to the drawing board for our teams. They havent been communicating well internally."
Ghana, and to a lesser extent Algeria and Nigeria, are among the other African teams that still stand a chance at progressing to the second round.
South African political and sports leaders are reminding their countrymen that no matter what the outcome of today's match, the host country must continue to play the perfect host to the world.
"Over the past few weeks South Africa has undergone an extraordinary revival of its national spirt," said Archbishop Emeritus Demond Tutu. Observers here say the Cup has been extremely helpful in boosting the spirits of South Africans - many of them concerned about poverty, crime, unemployment, and factionalism within the African National Congress.
Of the more than 400,000 foreign tourists who have come for the World Cup, there are only about 50,000 African fans who bought tickets. The difficulty and cost of acquiring tickets, and the expense of flights and accommodation have been factors in keeping African fans at home.
In hosting the World Cup, some South African opinion leaders are hoping that it will bring a change in the mindset of the political, business and sports elite. Said columnist John Carlin: "South Africa...is at a crossroads. Either the spirit imposes itself of those who have contrived to get the country ready for the World Cup, whose hard and honest toil is ensuring that so far everything is going well or, after the World Cup has come and gone, the spirit of the Bafana 'black elite' reigns in the land. At which point we might as well forget all notion forever of this country re-establishing itself - as it did during the Mandela glory years - as a light and example to Africa, let alone the world."
-- Reporting by HUMNEWS staff in Johannesburg, SA.
The video story below of Somalian refugees fleeing to Dadaab, Kenya is but one example of the work UNHCR is doing and the condition many refugees from around the world live in today.
(HN, June 20, 2010) -- Today marks the 10th year that World Refugee Day will be recognized around the globe. From June 18 to 20 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commemorates World Refugee Day encouraging people from around the globe to host events in order to draw the public’s attention to the millions of refugees worldwide who are forced to flee their homes.
In 2000 The United Nations General Assembly, in Resolution 55/76 decided that from 2001, June 20 would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. UNHCR was originally established in 1950, to help an estimated 1 million Europeans uprooted as a result of World War II to return home. In the 1960’s, the decolonization of Africa produced the beginning of the continent’s many refugee crises. New waves of refugees emerged in the following decades as a result of displacement issues arising in Asia and Latin America, continuing in Africa and turning full circle, at the end of the century, in Europe from the series of wars in the Balkans.
Today the refugees of concern to the UNHCR span the globe. More than half are in Asia and another twenty-two percent in Africa. Latin American countries host hundreds of thousands of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons (IDP’s); most come from Colombia. In the Middle East there are an estimated 1.8 million Iraqi’s seeking shelter overseas – while the largest number of refugees are from Palestinian territories with an estimated 4.7 million seeking a home. In Eastern Europe, statelessness, particularly as a result of the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, remains an issue of concern throughout the region. The precise number of people who are fleeing their homes in Eastern Europe is not known - but may be as high as 120,000 - as UNHCR is only beginning to quantify the problem.
Refugees live in a wide variety of conditions, from well-established camps and centers to makeshift shelters to living in the open. The United Nations Refugee Agency operates in 110 countries, this year, has a record annual budget of $3.058 billion (U.S.) for 2010 in order to help an estimated 40 million people return to their home of origin, integrate locally or resettle in a third country.
Among the longest-standing refugee camps are the ones located in the countries adjacent to the Palestinian Territories - Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. There is now an entire generation of young people who know no life outside the walls of a refugee camp. In some of the countries, the refugees are banned from working and their children have limited access to services.
The latest wave of refugees to become part of UNHCR's case load are the more than 100,000 refugees that have fled Kyrgyzstan because of ethnic violence.
So heavy is the strain on UNHCR's resources that the Geneva-based agency suffers from a chronic shortage of donor funds.
On World Refugee Day, Seeking a Place to call "Home" (VIDEO REPORT)
(UN News) -- The United Nations is marking World Refugee Day by urging governments and individuals not to forget the 15 million men, women and children who have been uprooted by conflict or persecution and are unable to return to their homes.
The theme for this year’s observance on 20 June is “Home,” and highlights the need to ensure that all refugees can have a place to call home, whether they return to their places of origin, settle in host countries or re-settle in a third country.
“Refugees have been deprived of their homes, but they must not be deprived of their futures,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message to mark the Day, calling for working with host Governments to deliver services, and intensifying efforts to resolve conflicts so that refugees can return home.
A recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted a decline in the number of refugees who are able to go home. In 2005, more than a million people returned to their own country on a voluntary basis.
Last year, only 250,000 did so – the lowest number in two decades. The reasons for this include prolonged instability in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and southern Sudan.
“Despite the decline in voluntary repatriation opportunities for refugees, UNHCR is working hard on solutions,” High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in his message.
Mr. Guterres is marking the Day in Syria, which, according to Government estimates, hosts over 1 million refugees, the majority from Iraq. It was announced today that 100,000 Iraqi refugees have been referred for resettlement from the Middle East to third countries since 2007, a major milestone for one of the world’s largest refugee populations.
He stressed the need to find solutions to help ensure that refugees have a place to call home, to do more to combat misunderstandings about refugees, and to provide education and other skills training so that even if they do not have homes they can still have a future.
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and award-winning actress Angelina Jolie is in Ecuador, where she is highlighting the challenges facing refugees.
“Having a home, a place where we belong, a place where we feel safe is something most of us take for granted,” she said on the occasion of World Refugee Day. “Yet those who flee from conflict and persecution no longer have their homes, and it will be years before they can even return. In fact, many may never go home again.”
There are around 51,000 registered Colombian refugees in Ecuador, but UNHCR estimates that about 135,000 people are in need of international protection. This makes Ecuador the country with the largest refugee population in Latin America.
Mr. Guterres and Ms. Jolie are taking part today, along with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a live video link – “WRD Live” – which will connect with Washington DC, Malaysia, Syria, northern Ecuador and DRC to talk to refugees about their experiences.
For the first time, the 79-year-old Empire State Building in New York will be lit blue on 20 June to honour the world’s refugees. Other global landmarks that will turn blue include the ancient Coliseum in Rome and – also for the first time – the bridge across the Ibar River in the divided Kosovo town of Mitrovica.
World Refugee Day activities also include film screenings, photography exhibitions, food bazaars, fashion shows, concerts and sports contests across countries in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas and Africa.
(HN, June 19, 2010) -- Alhassan Rano is technologically advanced compared to the average resident of Nigeria’s Kano state. With an advanced laptop and Nokia phone - and with accounts on Gmail and Facebook - he is able to communicate with the outside world with ease.Two boys blowing on the iconic vuvuzela at a public fan park in Soweto
But with 20-plus hours of daily power outages and dial-up connectivity speeds, it’s often a challenge to surf the web, let alone attempt online shopping. Moreover, the health worker has no credit card to divert part of his meager wages to online shopping.
When FIFA announced that the first-ever World Cup to be held on the African continent would be in South Africa in June 2010, soccer-crazed Africans greeted the news with a collective glee. Many - like Alhassan - dreamed of traveling to the wealthiest country in Africa to catch some of the matches.
Tickets for the World Cup 2010 first went on sale on February 20, 2009, followed by four additional sales phases.
Speak to most Southern Africans and the common refrain is that FIFA “didn't take into account the needs of the locals,” as put by Mboni, a young male soccer fan from Johannesburg who spoke to HUMNEWS today at a mostly empty public fan park in the centre of town.
Despite pronouncements by South African FIFA organizing chief Danny Jordaan that “we want this to be a World Cup for Africa,” selling tickets almost exclusively online froze many Africans out of the action and out of the stadiums. According to Internet World Stats, Internet penetration in Africa was only 6.7% in the second quarter of 2009 - compared to a worldwide average of 24.7%.
Even in host country, South Africa, there are less than 5-million Internet users in a country with a population of almost 50-million.
Aside from the difficulty of obtaining even one of the some 3-million tickets made available - many matches sold out within hours - the cost of intra-Africa flights (a weekend flight to Johannesburg clocks in at $2600) and accommodation in South Africa would have made a trip to the World Cup out of the question for someone like Alhassan in Nigeria.
Indeed, at Saturday's matches with teams from Cameroon and Ghana, few fans from either country were visible in the stands, even with sizeable Diaspora communities in Johannesburg.
Not being able to afford World Cup tickets is not limited to out-of-towners. Many expatriates in South African complain of ticket prices as high as $900 (for the Category One final) - IF they are available. Those with resident cards have had access to as many as 15,000 discounted tickets - some as low as about $20.
One Johannesburg-based business writer said that even in South Africa, credit cards are out of reach of millions. Those who have them either distrust submitting their credit card details or do not know how to use online purchasing. “We are about as inclined to give our credit card details as going to live on the moon,” she said.
While the several fan parks in host cities have become popular free venues to take in the games via huge screens, some fans say FIFA didn’t take into account that the World Cup would be taking place in winter. Indeed, this evening, there were only a hand full of fans at the free fan park in Newtown in Johannesburg - many driven away by temperatures hovering around freezing.
One retired resident of Soweto told HUMNEWS that, with a pension of only about $150-a-month, there was no way he could afford tickets to any of the games. "If I take 150 Rand out of the 1,000 Rand I don’t have anything left for essentials,” he said.
Many tickets were put onto the local market closer to the opening day of the World Cup, but by then it was too late for many South Africans. “We have a tendency to leave things to the last minute,” said Mboni. “It’s hard to change plans at the last minute.”
--Reporting and photo by HUMNEWS staff, Johannesburg, SA
(HN, June 17, 2010) - The winter sun is blazing outside as about 20 children draw, play and chat inside a huge white tent in the middle of Johannesburg’s sprawling Soweto Township.A young boy at the Safe Play Area in Soweto shows off his drawing
The set-up is one of several so-called `Safe Play Areas’ supported by UNICEF and other organizations to keep vulnerable children protected from those who prey on young victims. They are situated in remote, fenced off areas of the public fan parks for the month-long World Cup here in South Africa.
Visiting the historic township yesterday was highly symbolic as it coincided with International Day of the African Child - a public holiday to mark the June 16, 1976 Soweto Uprising, when mass protests were sparked over a government decision to enforce education for Afrikaans.
But yesterday a festive atmosphere could be seen everywhere in Soweto’s public fan park. Children blew the iconic vuvuzelas in unison, while gigantic loudspeakers and videos screens relayed key moments from a match the previous evening.
The `Safe Play Areas’ have also served an unintended purpose: to keep children fed during the four-and-a-half weeks that they are out of school. Because schools are closed nationwide for the World Cup, many students are missing out on the daily crucial hot meals that are routinely provided at many educational institutions.
The `Safe Play Area’ in Soweto provides one hot meal to the several dozen children - who average about eight to nine years old - dropping in each day, said Carol Bews, Assistant Director of Johannesburg Child Welfare, which has received funding from UNICEF to run several areas at public fan parks where thousands gather to watch World Cup matches on giant, outdoor screens. “With the schools being closed for four and a half weeks children are going to go hungry during this time.”
At the public fan park in Soweto, there is enough capacity for up to 30,000 visitors and officials worry that in other locations, children can end up separated from their parents and are easy prey for traffickers and others. Those wanting to enter the `Safe Play Area’ are provided with blue wrist bands, with their name and parent’s phone number scribbled on.
“We need to ensure that children are safe. There is a potential for children getting lost, abused or neglected,” says Bews. She added that amid the festivities of the World Cup, some parents may have had too much to drink and are unable to provide proper supervision of their children.
One group of siblings that dropped in yesterday – a child aged eight and two other’s two six years old - said they only had one living parent. As in other parts of Africa, HIV/AIDS is a common factor in the premature death of parents, leaving many children orphaned or with just one parent.
The children who visit the `Safe Play Area’ do more than play. Bews said they are offered awareness sessions on such topics as “stranger danger” - to help better equip them for dealing with potential predators - such as child traffickers.
In a place like Soweto - where poverty levels are high - there are many families headed by only one parent. Says Bews: “That means children have to become almost adult-like at a very young age. We see young children looking after younger siblings....children who are way too young to take on that responsibility.”
Bews said grave cases where children require special child protection services are referred to entities that have specialized skills and programs. Many of the child protection services in South Africa are provided by non-governmental organizations such as the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society.
It only takes a short time in South Africa to realize how soccer flows through the veins of almost everybody here - both young and small.
In a place like Soweto - densely populated, containing about one-third of Johannesburg’s population and with high unemployment of up to 50% - soccer provides a glimmer of hope unlike anything else. Many of the drawings created by children the day we visited - on the evening of the crucial match between South Africa and Uruguay - anticipated the competition and included the South African flag with pride.
Bews said that because soccer does not require special shoes or equipment, the game is accessible to anyone. She recalled seeing two groups of children at a squatter’s settlement in downtown Johannesburg play with makeshift soccer balls that were made of metal bottle tops and plastic Coke bottles.
“We have seen that children can really lose themselves in soccer. They become children again, which is really important. And they’ll play with anything at hand,” said Bews. “They learn how to deal with life through soccer. They learn how to deal with conflict, how to be a team player, how to win, how to lose. And it’s something that equips them for life.”
Of course the Soweto `Safe Play Area’ has its own fenced-in soccer pitch just to add to World Cup excitement.
--- Reporting/photo by HUMNEWS staff in Johannesburg, SA
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Bloody clashes in Kyrgyzstan’s south have been dominating headlines in the international media for the past several days. Scenes of rioting crowds watched by seemingly clueless law enforcement officers remaining passive have flashed on television screens around the world, suggesting a direct link between the state and the marginalized groups. Pictures of young men agitated by a feeling of impunity riding captured armored vehicles are coupled with text saying that the government is unable to normalize the situation. The printed and electronic media, blogs are full of stories describing horror, violence and lawlessness.
The coverage of the events in the South has been immediate but its accuracy left much to be desired. It is vitally important that conflicts should be covered, and, preferably, by free media, who adhere to impartiality. However, reporting on Kyrgyzstan shows that even those enjoying freedom of the press fall victim to stereotyping, generalization and misrepresentation.
Today Kyrgyzstan is shown in international media as a failed state that is about to cease to exist, a country gripped by civil war, where ethnic cleansing and genocide of ethnic Uzbeks takes place. How and why did such an image of Kyrgyzstan and its people arise? Whatever the reason - uninformed reporters or superficial analysis - is of little importance now: major messages have been communicated and fixed in the minds of millions of people creating fertile ground for panic and rumors.
What happened in the south was horrible – the dead, wounded, refugees and victims of violent crimes. The number of people killed is higher than reported in official statistics because only those who have been delivered to specialized medical institutions for identification are included in the statistics. While houses and shops were torched on a scale hitherto not seen in Kyrgyzstan, these were not acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide of Kyrgyzstani Uzbeks. Central and local governments, police and army, government and non-government organizations did not engage in acts that violated the civil rights of Kyrgyzstani Uzbeks. The Kyrgyz Republic's identity as a state is based on citizenship, not ethnic origin.
Kyrgyzstan does not have a policy that separates or discriminates on the basis of ethnicity. That is why police officers died trying to calm mobs of young Kyrgyz and Uzbeks who were provoked by specially trained mercenaries. Liberal use of the words "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing," irresponsible distribution of information, or, what is much worse, willful distortion of information, have damaged not only the people of Kyrgyzstan, but ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries.
It is particularly sad that the clashes in two Southern regions of Kyrgyzstan are labeled as ethnic conflict. Willingly or unwillingly, those who do so confuse causes and consequences. The bloodshed in Osh and Jalalabad was caused not by inter-ethnic tension between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, but by willful provocations that were aimed precisely at causing bloodbath between the two peoples. The perpetrators were nationals of Kyrgyzstan and other countries, while the funding and overall coordination came from ex-President Bakiev's closes relatives. Their purpose was to create havoc to ensure that the 27 June referendum on the new constitution that establishes a parliamentary democracy does not take place.
There were at least three groups of mercenaries. One included highly trained snipers who went around town in cars with tinted glasses, shooting both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Presumably, these snipers were the same snipers who shot at the people from the roof of the Government Building in Bishkek in April.
There were also arsonists, who were responsible for setting buildings on fire in Kyrgyz and Uzbek districts. One of the things that contributed to the panic was that the arsonists set on fire buildings with slate roof. At high temperature slate cracks loudly with a sound that can be mistaken for gunfire.
The third group consisted of instigators who prompted males to avenge by spreading rumors of multiple atrocities: committed by Kyrgyz against the Uzbeks, committed by Uzbeks against the Kyrgyz. These planned and deliberate actions caused the conflicts on the night of June 10-11 and the timing was to coincide with the 20th anniversary of serious inter-ethnic disturbances that took place a year before Kyrgyzstan became an independent state in 1991. Subsequent events followed the intended scenario and resulted in clashes between the two communities.
The new coalition interim government was not ready for this development and lacked capacity to intervene to turn the events around quickly, which the mercenaries took advantage of very well. There were cases when residents of neighboring ethnic districts tried to reconcile with each other, but were shot at by unknown snipers. Gunmen fired on trucks that distributed humanitarian aid, sabotaging relief efforts and creating an impression among the people of Osh (who suffered from lack of food and other essentials) that the local and central government abandoned them.
The masterminds of these provocations that caused numerous civilian victims and a flood of refugees knew precisely of various long running social, community and criminal (especially narco-business) tensions which existed in the south and were able to take advantage of weakness of the interim government.
Rehabilitating towns and villages and, most importantly, returning to normal life in Osh and Jalalabad will take years and colossal resources. Kyrgyz citizens will face a wave of post-conflict gore and negative information. A representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that the events were orchestrated and planned in advance by shadowy groups and not a spontaneous inter-ethnic clash.
Free media would do a great service to all Kyrgyzstanis by stopping reproduction of clichés and paying more attention to the young nation that tries to create its own civic identity.
Ms. Nogoibaeva is President of Institute for Policy Analysis in Bishkek.
(HN, June 16, 2010) -- During the surprisingly durable performance by the North Koreans against Brazil yesterday evening, official broadcasters zoomed in on a group of male fans clad in red outfits, waving the flags of the Hermit Kingdom and banging small bricks together.North Korean fans take cues from a leader at the match in Johannesburg. Credit: Sienna Reynaga
Jarring in a sea of yellow in the packed Ellis Park Stadium were a group of 40 men, appearing to be between the ages of 40-60. Identically dressed with red hats, scarves, brick clappers, flags and sweaters they were there to cheer on the team that has mystified World Cup watchers for the months approaching the games.
In the Tuesday night game, North Korea did not disappoint and ended the 90 minutes only down 2-1 against the World Cup favorite Brazil. It was the first time the team was seen in public as all of their practices have taken place behind closed doors.
Apparently meticulously screened by officials in Pyongyang, the North Korean fans appeared to hardly interact. The red jackets were led by two crowd leaders who prompted them to cheer, chant and clap the bricks together at the appropriate times. The performance was reminiscent of the crowds of trained Chinese fans that were bussed into the Bird’s Nest Stadium during the 2009 Beijing Summer Olympics.
A Korean translator was on hand to handle the throngs of reporters who flocked to the group. As reporters from Russia to Brazil attempted to ask members of the group questions, it was quickly apparent they did not speak English (or at least were instructed to pretend not to). The translator asked two members of the group select questions about their trip, but refused to ask anything political.
The fan group looked unphazed by the almost zoo-like treatment they received from those attempting to take pictures with them, trying to talk to them, taping them and just plain staring.
When asked if they had plans to follow the North Korean team around the country (they play next on Monday in Cape Town against Portugal) a positive nod was the response.
(HN, June 15, 2010) --- It's a chilly, normally quiet winter night in the Johannesburg suburb of Yeoville. A small community centre hidden behind the Main Street shops is bursting at the seams as Africans from many countries are glued to a TV monitor tracking the Ivory Coast vs Brazil World Cup match.Armstrong Lagoze found hope through sport - and South Africa
There is endless cheering, shouting, whistle-blowing and back-slapping as the bonhomie lights up the dark corners of a spartan meeting room.
The Cameroon community is one of the smaller African Diaspora communities in Johannesburg but many of them - like Armstrong Legoze - have made their mark here, by building successful businesses and establishing impressive networks.
Football, being the ultimate unifying sport, has brought dozens of Africans together tonight to cheer on teams from the continent. Even though many of the fans tonight are not from the Ivory Coast, any single cheer is obviously sparked by an Ivorian goal or deceptive move. Even though this is the first World Cup to take place on the African continent, teams from the region - including South Africa - have maintained a relatively low-key profile on the playing field.
The cheers tonight are often punctuated by the arrival of a steaming plate of rice and fish, expertly prepared by a small African canteen outside. Beer flows freely, as does the wafts of smoke from lit cigarettes.
When asked what attracted them to South Africa, many people in the Club Camerounais say opportunity - and many indeed seem to be leading productive lives, with no plans to return to Cameroon.
Legoze is a perfect example. Living and working here for more than a decade he has established a thriving business as a personal trainer for members of Johannesburg’s elite.
When asked what he misses about home, he says very little - except for the food. Even with a Master’s degree there was very little promise of work back in Cameroon, Legoze said.
What brings hope to the average Cameroonian? Of course soccer, Legoze replies. “Soccer is like a hope. It can help bring you out of poverty.
“You use soccer to come out of poverty because often times it is the only way. The beauty of the sport is you dont need any soccer boot, you don’t need a uniform, you don’t need nothing.”
---Reporting and photos by HUMNEWS in Johannesburg
(HN, June 15, 2010) Starting today, HUM News takes its front row seat at the World Cup in South Africa to report on the backstories surrounding the world’s most watched sporting event.
Four countries that fall within HUM’s definition of a ‘geographic gap' are represented at the World Cup. They are: North Korea, Algeria, Ghana and Cameroon.
(Tonight North Korea competes in the first round against Brazil in a sold out match in Johannesburg. The North Koreans so far have held all of their practices behind closed doors).
Along with a small editorial team now on the ground in South Africa, HUM will utilize a team of writers, editors, stringers and commentators spread across the globe.
The HUM News site at www.humnews.com will serve as the main portal for World Cup coverage. In addition the news agency will be sharing video, audio, images and text with a variety of media outlets, big and small. Instant updates and links to stories will be posted on the HUM News Twitter feed at @humnews.
The World Cup is the second major global sporting event to be covered by HUM. Earlier this year, the Atlanta-based news service deployed a large team to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, where about a dozen HUM countries competed for the medal stand. Over four consecutive days, HUM’s unique brand of coverage was streamed live to Barcelona, where it was displayed at the Intel booth at the Mobile World Congress.
Star Alliance partners Air Canada and Lufthansa assisted HUM’s journey to South Africa.
(HN, Opinion Piece, June 9, 2010) The Fifa Soccer World Cup kicks off on Friday. This is an opportune occasion to reflect on the fact that sport is meant to foster social cohesion, bring different cultures together in a celebration of healthy competition, and to overcome the diffidence and even contempt that all too often divide countries and communities in the political and social arenas.
The movie Invictus, about how former president Nelson Mandela used rugby to build a common national identity, was one such reflection. And the choice of SA, a country that renounced the institutionalised racism of apartheid, as the host of the World Cup, is a perfect opportunity and platform to renew our efforts to combat discrimination in all its forms.
As a victim of racism and a sports fan, I urge all who play or simply watch sport to use the World Cup as a catalyst to call for global action against intolerance and racism. These are scourges that affect countless women, men and children around the world and that must be challenged at every turn.
Indeed, fear, intolerance and xenophobia can all be combated with the diametrically opposed values of fair play and co-operation that are so central to team sports such as football. The World Cup is perhaps the highest expression of football’s ability to join millions of people from around the world in a common and joyous pursuit.
We all have our favourite team but let us not forget that the World Cup allows us to connect with others whose history, culture and traditions we may otherwise never have been exposed to. We are all enriched by this contact. Our common passion for football reinforces the bonds of community pride, makes explicit our shared aspiration for excellence, and channels and elevates our instinct of competition.
But let us also be vigilant about racism and other manifestations of intolerance that poison sport — particularly football — and that undermine its positive message and bring it into disrepute. This happens all too often when the supporters of competing teams use slurs and even violence to vilify and attack their opponents.
Regrettably, even the players have at times been prone to such despicable behaviour. Professional footballers are rightly obliged to uphold the highest standards of sportsmanship, both ethically and under Fifa’s code of conduct, which includes provisions on nondiscrimination. Yet, on occasion, rich clubs and rich national bodies have escaped more severe sanction by paying derisory fines after serious racist incidents during matches.
National football authorities everywhere must back their strong rhetoric with serious and consistent disincentives. Manifestations of racism or intolerance in or around the stadiums during the World Cup should be swiftly addressed and the perpetrators isolated. The clear message of the World Cup must be that there is no place for racism and intolerance in sport.
At the same time, the World Cup should maximise the potential of this sport to educate ever-expanding constituencies and attract talent irrespective of social status and position in life. For many poor athletes, soccer has offered a way out of exclusion. Their accomplishments have inspired others to follow suit. In every society, successful sportsmen and women are role models whose behaviour is closely scrutinised and even emulated. Young minds are especially influenced by both positive and negative messages received from those they respect, particularly their sports heroes.
Ultimately, the real winners of this year’s World Cup will be those who celebrate and uphold in words and in deeds its values of fair play, honest competition, respect and tolerance both on and off the field. Let’s kick discrimination off the field. Let’s tackle exclusion. Let’s put racism offside.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
HUMNEWS: CLOSING THE GEOGRAPHIC GAP IN MEDIA. Human Media, 2017.
All original material on HUMNEWS.COM is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
This means you are welcome to use, distribute and share our original material but we ask that you give us credit for it, don't try to make money off of it, or alter the originally-published work.
Please note: Some images and video used on HUMNEWS.COM are sourced from other individuals and organizations. In this case, you will need permission to republish them from their creators, as they may have different copyright terms.
HUMNEWS Website Header Photo Credit: NASA Visible Earth http://visibleearth.nasa.gov
;)
Look for HUMNEWS in the News Section of PULSE @
Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 11:13AM ;)
A woman in Maseru selling World Cup t-shirts (HN, 2010) ;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
