A unanimous decision was made by the United Nations Security Council for the approval to put forth a resolution for the conflicts caused by Somali pirates that have been lurking on the waters -- which will allow other countries to hunt down the pirates on land as well as at sea.
The resolution, which was brought by the US, is merely an extension of the abilities and authority that countries already have in order to pursue the pirates in Somali waters.
China has said to be extremely serious in considering dispatching naval ships to the region; however, the country will need to have granted permission from the transitional Somali government. This proposition and approval was a result of the seizure of several vessels by Somali pirates off Yemen.
On Wednesday morning, a Chinese-owned ship was attacked by the pirates in the Gulf of Aden but had successfully thwarted them -- this, just a day after three other ships were attacked and seized by pirates. The Chinese ship was able to fend off the raiders long enough for air support to arrive.
"Military helicopters came and they managed to chase the pirates away," said Noel Choong, of the International Maritime Bureau.
According to Peter Greste, of the BBC network, the UN's attempts to stop piracy has somewhat caused the latest attacks by pirates, bringing the tally to 42 as the number of successful hijackings in the region this year alone. The BBC's correspondent also adds that fourteen ships from foreign countries and their crew of well over 200 are still being held.
The UN resolution was one of four that was approved by the Security Council since June to fight against piracy off the Somalian coast.
With this resolution put forward, countries are given authority for up to a year to enforce a stoppage on anyone in the Somali territory who plans, or helps carry out piracy and armed robbery at sea -- by "all necessary measures."
This US-drafted resolution was co-sponsored by Belgium, France, Greece, Liberia and South Korea.
One of the countries that showed criticism for the proposed resolution was Indonesia, which suffers from piracy, as the country feared that chasing pirates on land could become a constant pattern. However, in the end, the country voted in favor.
On Tuesday, one of the vessels that were seized was a Malaysian tugboat which was returning home through the Gulf of Aden from the Middle East until pirates raided the boat armed with rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapon -- according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Along with the Malaysian tugboat, a 330 foot Turkish cargo ship was captured as well as a private yacht.
5:00 AM - December 4, 2008
Takeru V. Maeda
Dundee Kicks off Event
The Scotland-based Youth End Poverty (YEP) is
putting together - what is considered to be - an event bigger than anything that
came before to mark World AIDS Day in Dundee.
Those who will be attending the event include politicians, special guests from South Africa, and those with HIV.
With this event, project leader, Nick Henderson, intends to get fellow students, residence, and young people to interact with decision-makers and debunk myths and other false notions about HIV/AIDS. "They [his fellow students] don't know how they get it. They hear the words and hear it associated with Africa but they don't really notice that it's anything to do with us back home, in actual fact it can affect anybody and everybody," says Henderson, adding, "We're going to be presenting an idea that Youth End Poverty has developed for universal testing in Scotland. It's called the 'I Know' campaign and it's based on having very large, very visible HIV testing centers on university and college campuses where people can go to get a rapid 20-minute HIV test; they also get the pre and post-test counseling."
"You also get a bracelet that's made by poor women in South Afrtica which says, 'I Know' as in 'I know my status' and that should help develop discussion with our friendsand family around HIV/AIDS," said Henderson. Members of the event have been handing out close to 500 condoms over the last few days and have seen the shyness amongst many people who have taken them. Some of the members have personally approached and questioned some of their fellow students at Dundee University about their outlook on AIDS.
"There are quite a lot of people who don't know a lot about AIDS, they don't know the connection between HIV and AIDS and quite a lot of people are reluctant to talk and are kind of awkward about it," says Aneglina Borgius - 24, from Sweden - who believes that people in her home country are more agreeable to discuss safe sex.
"I did get some answers back that people that are homeless have AIDS and they didn't want to be touched or whatever by people with AIDS, so they might be blaming peoplefor being poor and having AIDS," she adds. She also states, "People here are embarrassed about getting condoms, so it's a less open society about sex, which is probably worse if you look at the AIDS question."
According to their facebook page, Youth End Poverty is a volunteer
organization with the direction of raising
awareness of youth poverty not only in Dundee, Scotland but around the globe as well. They aim for young people from the ages of
16 to 25 years of age and intend to arrange
workshops to discuss the poverty issue and perhaps draw up plans for any action against it.
'Are You Positive?' -- a BET Network Special
On Monday night's BET network, a short television special was aired to mark World AIDS Day with the aim to debunk one of the biggest myths of those affected by HIV/AIDS. The thirty-minute special presents the lives of four people, who are reasonably described as average Americans, with the intention of provoking viewers into guessing which two of the four profiles are HIV-positive.
In the opening segment, we briefly come to learn the lives of the four subjects of the program -- what they do now, or has done in the past -- but it ends on a sort of cliffhanger, cutting just after each of the subjects say, "I'm HIV-" It leaves us wondering if they're either "HIV positive" or "HIV negative."
As a so-called gimmick, many would find this documentary approach bothersome and perhaps even infuriating, especially if there was no solid theme or argument made to prove a serious point: that none of us have a sure way of distinguishing, either by visual means or by a short biography, who could be HIV-positive or not. Some time ago, AIDS became a plague in the more impoverished parts of Africa, yet, we haven't fully confronted the human and financial toll of making an effort to get it under control. Although, there has been headway and improvement through medicine and in the public knowledge of the condition.
One of the subjects in the show was diagnosed with HIV 15 years ago and, by visual impression, lives a relatively normal life. However, a necessary measure to take on your way to living with HIV is knowing if you even have it; thus, which brings us to the metaphorical door of opportunity -- to get tested. Getting tested for HIV is one of the things that the television special strongly promotes, joining others who feel mutual.
The four subjects range between their 20's and their early 30's. The group includes a research assistant at Sloan-Kettering, a motivational speaker and other normal folks. Some have yielded to high-risk behavior much earlier in their lives while others didn't. However, their behavior doesn't build an absolute link to their HIV status, as a result, which is one of the issues tackled by the program. In succession, this helps the program focus on maybe the most sensitive facet of HIV/ AIDS - the fallacy that it's a "gay disease." For many, that was always a very grim and upsetting stereotype and is surely proven inaccurate by the documentary special, while also citing that heterosexual women are now the common infectees,
One half-hour special is barely enough to make the viewer feel that they're gotten to know the subjects -- Devin, Jamie, Keith and Makesha -- but we know enough to understand the issue at hand for some of them. Their overall optimistic outlook carries out all they can to underscore the program's topic: "that where HIV or AIDS are concerned, ignorance is not bliss. It can be death."
AIDS Gets the Boot
Goalkeeper, Alok Satyal, made a courageous full extension dive for a volley but came up short, unfortunately. Striker, Deepak Bista, just scored a triumphant second goal for the ARV Superstars, that had proven to be the clinching goal of the game against the blue-and-white colored HIV Warriors. There were about a couple thousand spectators sat along the stands who cheered and hooted for the players on the pitch. The men and women players garbed in the blueand-orange kits happily celebrated amongst each other whilst the police clapped on in observance.
"Love life - stop AIDS," screamed a billboard slogan, amongst the many signs that bordered along the national football stadium. On one hand -- being a sport-loving country as it is -- Nepal is probably looked upon as more of an underachiever than a champion in international sports; but on the other hand, the country stands on par amongst the most successful competitors with their undeniable spirit. This event -- that helped mark World AIDS Day's 20th Anniversary -- brought together about 48 players in a coed match which inspired a tremendous sense of charity and goodwill.
A charity organization that uses media for social messages, such as, Equal Access and its radio program Saathi Sanga Manka Kura (Chatting with my Best Friend), will hand over its proceeds to the care and treatment of children with HIV, throughout the country. Most of the players were people living with HIV while the rest consisted of celebrities and stars with different lifestyles. Deepak Bista (who scored the latter goal) is actually a tae kwon do star athlete. Other famous players who took the field were professional soccer players, national cricket players, a formal Miss Nepal, a student political leader and nationally acclaimed singers and actors -- all of whom wanted to give something back to the society that honored them.
"I had so much fun," said national soccer star Nirajan Rayamajhl shortly after the game. "I've never felt quite like that when I've played before." Among others that day, Rayamajhl said that most Nepalis lack adequate knowledge about HIV and AIDS. Nonetheless, you still see billboards with messages about prevention and condoms in the capitol city of Kathmandu, as well as other parts of the country affected by HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that 70,000 people are HIV-positive, leaving many to feel there is more to be done for this socially conservative country. "The message of today's match is inclusion," said one of the organizers, Nirmal Rijal of Equal Access. "We play together - men and women, HIV-positive and negative. Also we wanted to engage the celebrities."
Rijal also mentioned that there were many orphans who were infected, themselves; still, there aren't any national child-specific HIV/AIDS programs available; stating, "It's high time for this to be addressed." After the match, many cheered and celebrated in the arms of teammates as each playerreceived a certificate of appreciation. A comic actor by the name of Deepak Raj Giri, who stars in an enormously popular television series called Bitter Truth, informed the BBC that the people in Nepal, with HIV, still have the burden of a stigma attached to them.
"People don't want to touch or shake hands with them. I've even heard of a doctor not wanting to," he said. "So I'm very happy we could all play football together." The comedian, shamefaced, reflected on having to play on the losing team. "I lost this game because there was a goalkeeper," he said, straight-faced. "I told him not to look at the ball when I was in possession - just look here and there. But totally he looked at the ball. If he hadn't, I'd have scored two or three goals!"
