Jailed editor wins newspaper award

ERITREA: Eritrean-born newspaper editor Dawit Isaak received the Golden Pen of Freedom Award for 2011 last week for an enduring commitment to the press and human rights, reported the BBC. Isaak remains in an Eritrean prison where he has been since 2001 without charges after publishing demands for democratic reforms in that country. The government of Eritrea closed down all private press in 2001, citing risks to national security. Isaak returned to Eritrea in the 1990s from Sweden, where he also holds citizenship, to start Eritrea’s first independent newspaper. The World Association of Newspapers called Isaak an inspiration to journalists everywhere.

Khadr apologizes

CUBA: Omar Khadr apologized last week to the widow of the soldier he pleaded guilty to killing, the CBC reported. In an unsworn statement before the military court, Khadr spoke of the things he had thought of while in prison and his hopes of one day becoming a doctor. Meanwhile, a special United Nations representative for child soldiers urged the U.S. to allow Khadr to return to Canada to serve his sentence and receive rehabilitation. Others have criticized how the U.S. dealt with Khadr, noting that his charges did not amount to international war crimes and calling his plea deal disgraceful.

Indonesia suffers double disasters

INDONESIA: The death toll reached 377 last week in a pair of disasters that struck different regions of Indonesia, Reuters reported. A tsunami struck western islands on Monday, killing 343 people, before a volcano on the island of Java erupted Tuesday, killing another 34. The volcano erupted again on Thursday as some of the 40,000 evacuees began to return home, but no additional casualties were reported. The tsunami was triggered by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and debate is ongoing as to whether an early warning system installed after the 2004 tsunami was effective.

$2 billion for biodiversity

JAPAN: Japan’s prime minister announced last week that his country would provide $2 billion over the next three years to assist developing nations to preserve their ecosystems and prevent loss of biodiversity, according to Al-Jazeera. The news came at the tail end of a 12-day United Nations summit on biodiversity in the Japanese city of Nagoya. Delegates from more than 190 countries attended the summit, which sought to create a plan to prevent species extinction over the next decade. Scientists at the summit estimated that roughly one-fifth of the world’s vertebrates are threatened with extinction, also noting that biodiversity is important for human survival.

Burning ship seeks assist

ENGLAND: A mysterious fire aboard a fishing ship off the coast of Britain and France last week led to an emergency rescue operation to evacuate the 98 crew members on board, according to CNN. The ship, called Athena, was more than 200 miles from land when the fire occurred, leading to difficulties as Royal Navy helicopters attempted to reach the location without running out of fuel. All crew were safely transferred to a passing cargo ship that is now accompanying the limping vessel back to port in Britain, where the fire that continues to burn will be extinguished and investigated.

Published in Volume 65, Number 10 of The Uniter (November 4, 2010)