The News Review:
- The incalculable alternative to success
- Freedom a deadly word in Africa
- Why she should be locked up forever
- War: Rules of Engagement by Tim Collins
The incalculable alternative to success
Jamaica Observer – May 29, 2005
Afghanistan collapsed after the sudden withdrawal of the Soviet Union in the face of a military defeat. Angola had a similar experience after their colonial overlord, Portugal, withdrew in the face of pressure from the liberation movement. In Sierra Leone and Congo, the state was looted into putrescence, thus inviting rebellion and ultimately, collapse. The World Bank does not use the term ‘fail’ to describe states under stress, but has developed a list of some 30 of what are described as “low-income countries under stress” (LICUS) states that face a range of challenges. This larger group of countries, mostly in Africa, are close to failure. Some, such as Zimbabwe, are, in the words of The Economist, “cantering towards a cliff-edge”. Others, having recently failed, appear to be recovering, if fitfully: Afghanistan, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Liberia all fall into this category.
Freedom a deadly word in Africa
Guardian – May 29, 2005
He was in Nairobi last week at the International Press Institute world congress, doggedly championing his freedoms and trying to raise money to buy an old press and start again. Paul Kamara, by contrast, wasn’t there to be met. He was editor of the leading opposition paper in Sierra Leone, jailed by President Kabbah, (below) for exposing the fact of Kabbah’s past criminal convictions. His story – from his prison cell – had to be read by colleagues campaigning for his release. Lite at end of tunnel? Not yet’We’re three months into ES Lite and we think it’s gone extremely well,’ says the finance chief of the Daily Mail and General Trust, reporting to shareholders. ‘But the paid-for Standard ‘s circulation looks remarkably stable. It’s a great product’…
What can we do? asked other editors in the hall. It’s a damnably difficult question. But didn’t Tony Blair send our troops into action to rescue Sierra Leone from chaos? Is this what they risked their lives for? And isn’t The Gambia still a sun-drenched holiday favourite for package tourists who don’t read the Independent or The Point ? There is something the press in every country can do. It can care, and it can ask questions.
Why she should be locked up forever
NEWS.com.au – May 29, 2005
In that case, the prosecution had demanded the death penalty and the judges, including Judge Linton Sirait, from the Corby case, had sentenced both to life in prison – the main reason being that they were convicted of supplying and not importing drugs. Corby’s conviction was on the charge of importing the drugs. The prosecution would also cite a case from last year where a man from Sierra Leone was sentenced to life in jail. When he appealed to the High Court, the sentence was increased to death. The defence has already indicated that they will appeal against the judges’ decision to disregard the evidence of defence witnesses. Share this article.
War: Rules of Engagement by Tim Collins
Times Online – May 29, 2005
As SAS operations’ officer, for instance, he helped organise the dramatic Special Forces mission in Sierra Leone that rescued a group of Royal Irish soldiers captured by the West Side Boys terrorist gang. In an anecdotal footnote, he says that 1 Para recovered a former British Army SLR rifle from the gang. The serial number revealed that it had been used by 1 Para on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry 1972. The footnote adds that the rifle had been declared destroyed when the Saville inquiry into the shootings asked for it. Collins was effective as commanding officer (though he clearly ruffled a few feathers).