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UK couple charged with sedition in the Gambia
Missionary couple accused of writing to individuals and organisations abroad to 'excite disaffection against the president'
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Esther Addley: Horror revisited for Rwandan genocide survivor
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/25141?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Horror+revisited+for+genocide+survivorch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Rwanda+%28News%29%2CCongo+%28News%29%2CHuman+rights+%28News%29%2CGender+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CAid+and+development+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CWomen+and+women%27s+interests%2CLife+and+stylec5=Society+Weekly%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CWomenc6=Esther+Addleyc7=2008_12_05c8=1129271c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Rwandac13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FRwanda" width="1" height="1" //divpLeah Chishugi describes herself as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. Now 34, she grew up in eastern Congo but by 16 she had moved to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, to find work as a model, later marrying and having a son. In 1994 she was caught up in the conflict and wounded, and her father was killed. She escaped only after being left for dead under a pile of corpses, fleeing to Uganda, and later South Africa and the UK, where she was granted asylum. /ppIt was this summer, after the death of her mother, whom Chishugi, 34, describes as "the biggest supporter of the women in the east part of Congo", that she decided to return to record women's experiences in the lawless region. "It is not normal for women to suffer so much," she says. "We have to refuse to allow this suffering to continue." She says she is the first person from "the outside world" to reach the villages, thanks to her ability to blend in with locals - she speaks 15 African languages. /ppVisits to Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, and a meeting with the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, have convinced her that neither government is concerned about the women's situations. /pp"I am not a politician but I want to let the world know what is going on. I believe that Kagame, [Joseph] Kabila [the Congolese president] and [Laurent] Nkunda [the Tutsi rebel leader] all know exactly what is going on." /ppAfter arriving in Britain in 1997, Chishugi trained as a nurse and until recently worked at the Royal Free hospital in London, where she lives with her "lovely son". She is now in the process of setting up a charity called Everything is a Benefit to distribute food and medical aid to the women of eastern Congo. /pp"I am grateful to have my life, grateful to have a roof over my head and grateful to live in Europe. I want to fundraise to help these women and take back medical supplies. I am a survivor of genocide and this trip has changed me. It made me see that because I had to chance to survive now I have a chance to change things for other people who are suffering."/pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/rwanda"Rwanda/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/congo"Democratic Republic of the Congo/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/humanrights"Human rights/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gender"Gender/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/internationalaidanddevelopment"International aid and development/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/women"Women/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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School accused of Mumbai terror role opens its doors
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/18532?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+School+accused+of+Mumbai+terror+role+opens+its+doorsch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Mumbai+terror+attacks+%28News%29%2CIndia+%28News%29%2CPakistan+%28News%29%2CTerrorism+-+international%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Saeed+Shahc7=2008_12_05c8=1129193c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Mumbai+terror+attacksc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FMumbai+terror+attacks" width="1" height="1" //divpAt first sight, they could be the grounds of an English public school, with neatly trimmed lawns and earnest young pupils walking between classes. But this is the site that India believes is the headquarters of the terrorist group responsible for last week's Mumbai attacks. /ppBoarding houses provide spartan accommodation, and orderly rows of trees line the sprawling site, just outside the eastern city of Lahore. Smartly turned-out pupils perform science experiments in the classrooms, peering into microscopes and connecting electric circuits. There is a farm, a swimming pool and a hospital. /ppIndia, and some western terrorism experts, believe this is the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned Islamist group suspected of carrying out last week's Mumbai attacks. But according to the organisers of a tour of the site yesterday, it is simply the educational and charitable arm of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an Islamic group that is legal in Pakistan but declared a terrorist organisation by the US./ppFollowing Pakistan's ban on Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2002, it is widely believed to have morphed into Jamaat-ud-Dawa, though the two claim to have no link./ppThe campus, set in countryside at Muridke, an hour's drive from Lahore, is the place that India would be likely to target if it took retaliatory military action over the Mumbai attacks. /pp"This is a residential and educational complex," said Abdullah Muntazir, Jamaat-ud-Dawa's spokesman, taking journalists around the Muridke site yesterday in a media charm offensive launched by the group. "You can see for yourself. This is all Indian propaganda."/pp"Jamaat-ud-Dawa speaks up very loudly against Indian conspiracies; we let the public know that India is the real enemy. That's why they always point at us."/ppThe carefully orchestrated visit took foreign and local journalists around the beautifully equipped school and hospital. The school follows the national curriculum, the headteacher, Rashid Mehnaz, said, taking pupils from around the country. The poor were given financial help, with richer pupils paying fees. Mehnaz condemned violence, saying suicide attacks were "absolutely wrong - it is forbidden in Islam"./ppA press conference and sumptuous lunch was laid on for journalists. However, the madrasa, mosque, and other facilities remained out of bounds, and once the official tour was over the media were no longer welcome. Although the group had said anyone was welcome to look around the site at any time, the Guardian's attempt to take up this offer after the tour was met with a heavy-handed response: burly young men arrived on motorcycles and circled, demanding that we leave. /ppGiven the attention that has suddenly been focused on Lashkar-e-Taiba, and on to the complex at Muridke, the invitation to visit may have been arranged after a prod from the Pakistani authorities. /ppCertainly there were plain-clothed officials present, who said they were members of "special branch" - often a euphemism for the Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency. They wanted to provide an armed escort back to Lahore, but why intelligence agents were there - and why an escort might be necessary - was unclear. Muridke is not in a dangerous part of Pakistan, and the offer was declined. /ppIt has long been said that the ISI has secretly backed Lashkar-e-Taiba, though the agency always rejects the accusation./pp"The Indian media is creating a hype, but I don't think they'll bomb us," said Muntazir. "If they did, it would be up to the government of Pakistan and the armed forces to deal with it."/ppHe said Jamaat-ud-Dawa was a peaceful group, but it had "supported" Lashkar-e-Taiba until that organisation was banned. He said that "morally", they still backed those who were fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. Lashkar-e-Taiba is the leading such group. "The [Kashmiri] freedom fighters are doing their job very well. Their cause is just," said Muntazir. "But I can't speak on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba."/pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mumbai-terror-attacks"Mumbai terror attacks/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/india"India/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/pakistan"Pakistan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/terrorism"Global terrorism/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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America's dispossessed invited to $1m inaugural ball
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/45275?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+America%27s+dispossessed+invited+to+%241m+inaugural+ballch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Obama+White+House+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Ewen+MacAskillc7=2008_12_05c8=1129191c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Obama+White+Housec13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FObama+White+House" width="1" height="1" //divpWashington's inaugural balls are glitzy affairs, the preserve of the rich, famous or politically well-connected. But to mark the swearing-in of Barack Obama as president on January 20, there will be a new addition: the People's Inaugural Ball./ppHundreds of disadvantaged Americans - including people who are homeless, disabled soldiers and victims of domestic violence - are to be invited. For three days, they will stay free-of-charge at a luxury hotel close to the White House. Tuxedos and ballgowns for the night are to be provided, along with hairdressers and beauticians./ppEarl Stafford, a Virginia-based businessman who is covering the $1m-plus costs, admitted yesterday there was an echo of Pygmalion in his plan. /ppAt a press conference in Washington yesterday, he said he wanted to invite America's dispossessed and distressed. "This celebration would be incomplete without such people," Stafford said. "We are thrilled to give them a front-row seat on this momentous occasion in history."/ppAsked what his motivation was, he hesitated because he said the media did not like talk about religion, but added that his inspiration had come from his Christian faith. /ppObama's inauguration is set to be the biggest in US history, with 4 million people expected to line the Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue to hear him deliver his speech on the steps of Congress. In the evening, he and his wife, Michelle Obama, will drop in on about half a dozen balls, normally staying no longer than 20 minutes./ppStafford, who runs a charitable foundation, will invite 1,000 people to his ball, at the Marriott Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. At least a third will be from a poor background, he said. They will be chosen by grassroots organisations throughout the US involved in fighting deprivation./ppThe 300 will stay at the hotel for three days, with all meals provided. On January 19, Martin Luther King Day, Stafford is to host a prayer breakfast and lunch for the 1,000. On Inauguration Day, they can watch the inaugural parade from the hotel terrace before attending the ball./ppStafford, 60, one of 12 siblings, served in the US air force before founding a company that provides simulated weapons training for the defence industry./ppAlthough he voted for Obama and contributed funds to his campaign, Stafford's plan is not linked to the Democrat's victory. He had been thinking since March about doing it, but on a more modest scale, hiring a few rooms in the centre of Washington to host a party for the dispossessed. He checked out a few locations but found they had already been booked./ppThen he read a Washington Post article about the Marriot offering a $1m-package dubbed "Build Your Own Ball". "The Lord spoke to me and I thought, 'Yes, that is what I want to do'" he said./ppObama's team has not yet said which balls the new president will be attend, but Stafford is hoping for a visit./pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-white-house"Obama White House/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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Zimbabwe declares cholera emergency
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/64163?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Zimbabwe+declares+cholera+emergencych=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Zimbabwe%2CCholera+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Chris+McGrealc7=2008_12_05c8=1129204c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Zimbabwec13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FZimbabwe" width="1" height="1" //divpZimbabwe has declared a national health emergency days after playing down an escalating cholera outbreak that has already claimed more than 500 lives. The move appeared aimed at winning aid from countries and organisations that have been isolating Robert Mugabe's regime. /ppBritain joined the EU and other international organisations in immediately pledging assistance. Gordon Brown said the UK was helping because the cholera outbreak showed that Zimbabwe was a failed state with a government unable to protect its citizens from disease. /ppOfficially, more than 560 people have died from cholera and about 12,000 have been infected after an outbreak triggered by years of neglect of water systems, resulting in open sewage running through some townships. Nearly half the deaths have been recorded in the capital, Harare. Doctors believe many more in rural areas have not been recorded. /ppThe World Health Organisation said the fatality rate - 4.5% of those contracting cholera - was more than four times greater than it normally is when managed with rehydration salts and medicines./ppThe epidemic has spilled over to South Africa, and the government there said it would hold an urgent meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, where millions of people are also facing severe food shortages, a teetering health system and rampant hyperinflation. /pp"There are very clear signs ... people are beginning to die of starvation. South Africa and SADC [the Southern African Development Community] can't just fold our arms," said a government spokesman, Themba Maseko./ppHowever, Kenya's prime minister, Raila Odinga, told the BBC that intervention should mean removing Mugabe from office. "Powersharing is dead in Zimbabwe and will not work with a dictator who does not really believe in powersharing. It's time for African governments to take decisive action to push him out of power."/ppThe chairman of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, Douglass Gwatidzo, said the state of emergency was overdue: "They should have done that two or three weeks ago when the figures of cholera-related deaths were still low. However, it's better late than never."/ppThe European commission has pledged more than $12m (pound;8m) to contain the outbreak. The International Red Cross and WHO are supplying drugs. /ppIn a statement released by Downing Street, Brown said: "The international community's differences with Mugabe will not prevent us [helping]. We are increasing our development aid, and calling on others to follow suit. For once we agree with the government of Zimbabwe: this is a national emergency."/ppThe state-run Herald newspaper quoted Zimbabwe's health minister, David Parirenyatwa, as appealing for help to get the main hospitals working again after staff stopped coming to work because their pay did not cover the cost of transport. /ppHowever Zimbabwe's economy continued its collapse under the weight of hyperinflation, which is officially put at 231m percent but is said by economists to be much higher./ppThe Zimbabwe dollar lost more than 60% of its value yesterday after the limit on cash withdrawals from bank accounts was officially raised to Z$100m. The expected flood of scarce cash on to the streets saw the value of a new Z$100m drop from pound;33 to pound;10 in minutes. /ppLong snaking lines formed outside banks long before opening time. Thousands of people waited patiently, but by the end of the day many had still not got their money./pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/zimbabwe"Zimbabwe/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/cholera"Cholera/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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World news in brief
More news from around the world
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King's illness deepens Thai crisis
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/71783?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+King%27s+illness+deepens+Thai+crisisch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ian+MacKinnonc7=2008_12_05c8=1129197c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand" width="1" height="1" //divpIll health forced the king of Thailand to miss a state-of-the-nation speech yesterday, which many had hoped would soothe the country's tensions./ppConcerns have increased over the ailing king - and a potential political vacuum in the wake of the airport debacle that paralysed the vital tourist sector and did untold damage to Thailand's export-driven economy. Luxury hotels in Bangkok have only single-digit occupancy rates and few bookings over the usually busy Christmas period. Tourists were still struggling to leave the country yesterday, with most forced to use U-Tapao, an overcrowded Vietnam war-era airbase./ppThe revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej had been due to address the nation on the eve of his 81st birthday. The blockade of the international Suvarnabhumi airport and Bangkok's Don Muang domestic airport was called off after a court sacked the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, and disbanded the governing party for electoral fraud./ppThe government's spokesman said yesterday that a parliamentary session set for Monday to allow the six-party coalition to choose a new prime minister had been cancelled. A new date would be chosen./ppSigns of frailty in the king - regarded as semi-divine - is a huge cause for concern, with Thai society now at its most bitterly divided between the rural poor supporters of the government and Bangkok's monarchist-military elite, which backed the airport protest./ppA number of times during his 62-year reign the world's longest-serving monarch has stepped in to adjudicate in such conflicts, sometimes on the side of the military, sometimes for democrats./ppCrown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn reassured Thais over his health in remarks broadcast on national radio, explaining the king had a throat infection and was weak but not seriously ill./pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/thailand"Thailand/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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Pakistan has enough data to take action, says Rice
US secretary of state says Islamabad given sufficient 'information' to take action against people behind Mumbai terror attacks
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Inside the villages where every woman is victim of hidden war
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/40674?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Inside+the+villages+where+every+woman+is+victim+of+hidden+warch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Congo+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CWomen+and+women%27s+interests%2CLife+and+style%2CGender+%28News%29%2CAid+and+development+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CHIV+%28Science%29%2CSciencec5=Society+Weekly%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CWomen%2CHealthc6=Chris+McGrealc7=2008_12_05c8=1129272c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Democratic+Republic+of+the+Congoc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FDemocratic+Republic+of+the+Congo" width="1" height="1" //divpThey came out of the forest. Men with guns appearing barely human to the frail, ageing woman who months later recounted her ordeal, bent double after surgery to save her womb./pp"They didn't look like men. Their skin was covered in cuts. Their clothes were completely torn. They became someone else, not humans," she said at a hospital in the often fought-over town of Rutshuru in eastern Congo. /ppBut the woman still recognised the men who descended on her village as members of the Mai Mai ethnic militia. Their preference for wearing animal skins and amulets, popular for their supposed magical powers of protection, distinguished them from the government soldiers, foreign rebels and other armed gangs who have also contributed to the wholesale rape of hundreds of thousands of women and girls over more than a decade of conflict. /ppIt took months for the 58-year-old woman from Kindu to reach Rutshuru hospital for treatment and to tell her story. The Mai Mai shot her husband when he didn't have any money to hand over. When her children screamed they shot them too. Then the woman was raped by five men. One of her attackers nearly destroyed her womb by thrusting his gun into it. She fled her village. As she travelled to Rutshuru she was raped again, this time by Rwandan Hutu extremists who fled to Congo after leading the genocide in their own country. /pp"It is impossible to live in safety. They have murdered my children, they have murdered my husband. They have raped me so many times. I do not know who is alive and who is dead in my village," she said. /ppHers is not an unusual account from survivors of villages in eastern Congo subjected to repeated attacks in which women and girls were serially raped and the men killed. Health clinics in the region treat tens of thousands of women for sexual assault every year, and doctors say that is a fraction of those who were attacked. Last year, Meacute;decins Sans Frontiegrave;res estimated that 75% of all the rape cases it dealt with worldwide were in eastern Congo. Many young women have been abducted into sexual slavery. In some villages, armed groups kill the men and rape all the women. Many are left HIV positive and pregnant. In some larger towns, such as Shabunda, Congolese human rights groups estimate seven out of 10 women have been raped./ppstrongMutilation/strong/ppDoctors say the onslaught against women is notable not only for its scale but for its brutality. Gang rapes are commonplace and frequently accompanied by torture in which women are mutilated by having guns or stakes thrust into their vaginas, or their genitals slashed with knives. One in four who make it to hospitals in Goma and Rutshuru require major surgery. More than a third are teenagers./ppHuman rights groups say that while rape is a product of many conflicts, its systematic nature in Congo makes it a "weapon of war" used to terrorise and punish communities or as a tool of ethnic cleansing./ppImmaculee Birhaheka, the head of Paif, a women's rights group in Goma, said almost no woman outside of a few major towns is safe. She describes what happened in a string of villages along the rudimentary road south from Goma toward Bukavu, 75 miles away. "The women who come from there tell us that every woman in every village has been raped over the years. There is not one who was not attacked, they told us. Some of them were captured and taken into the forest for months, even two years. When they are released some are in such bad condition that they die./pp"The women don't talk about it as a weapon of war but they say they are seriously targeted, that it is very organised. It's clear from the behaviour of the soldiers that they have permission to attack women. Their commanders do not stop it and may even order it."/ppOne of those commanders is Colonel Edmond Ngarambe who serves in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group of Hutu exiles born out of the Interahamwe militia that led the genocide in Rwanda. The FDLR controls about 40% of the territory in the two Congolese provinces worst hit by conflict, North and South Kivu./ppLast year, in a village south of Bukavu, he admitted his men were responsible for systematic sexual assaults on women. "This thing of rape, I can't deny that happens. We are human beings. But it's not just us. The Mai Mai, the government soldiers who are not paid, the Rastas do the same thing. And some people sent by our enemies do it to cause anger against us," he said./ppThat many other groups - from the Mai Mai to Tutsi rebels and the Rastas, a group of defectors from the likes of the FDLR - are also responsible for mass rape is not in doubt. But around Bukavu the victims tend to point the fingers at Ngarambe's men. /ppIt may be no coincidence that rape was an integral part of the mass killings in Rwanda 14 years ago. The international tribunal trying those responsible for organising the genocide made a landmark ruling that for the first time defined rape as an act of genocide under international law if it is part of a systematic move to wipe out an ethnic group./ppBut others too are responsible. Forces under the command of the rebel Congolese Tutsi general, Laurent Nkunda, who recently seized swaths of territory in North Kivu, have a long history of assaults on women. Three years ago they attacked Bukavu. A Human Rights Watch report said Nkunda's forces "went house to house raping and looting". Among the victims were teenagers and three girls of three years old. /ppstrongRetribution/strong/ppMSF says that "while rape is etched into the general framework of violence", it's also seen as legitimate "additional retribution" by the armed groups against civilians who fail to hand over food or are perceived as supporting their enemies./ppMany women have to make the appalling choice between risking rape by venturing out of their villages to tend their crops in order to feed their children, and seeking a modicum of protection in numbers but risking starvation. Among them is a 23-year-old woman from Walikali. She is small, thin-faced and her eyes dart about constantly. /pp"There were four of us. I was looking for food. There were seven Interahamwe and they took us. Two of us tried to run away. They shot at them. One was shot through the chest and died. The other got a bullet in the leg. They raped her," she said. "I fainted because there were seven of them and it was too hard for me. When they left it was raining. Our families came looking. We were all bleeding. We were almost dead."/pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/congo"Democratic Republic of the Congo/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/women"Women/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gender"Gender/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/internationalaidanddevelopment"International aid and development/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/hiv"HIV/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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Classical review: Hallé/Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/75020?ns=guardianpageName=Music%3A+Hall%26eacute%3B%2FElderch=Musicc3=The+Guardianc4=Classical+music+and+opera%2CMusic%2CCulture+section%2CAids+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Classical+Music%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCharitiesc6=Alfred+Hicklingc7=2008_12_05c8=1128356c9=articlec10=GUc11=Musicc12=Classical+music+and+operac13=c14=h2=GU%2FMusic%2FClassical+music+and+opera" width="1" height="1" //divpSir Mark Elder describes the composition of the Halleacute;'s Secular Requiem - commissioned to mark the 21st International World Aids Day - as like being inside a florist's: "Where you either have a dozen roses, or you can ask for a mixed bunch."/ppThe seven composers who have contributed to the project are a mixed bunch indeed - though they combine to produce a 50-minute choral suite of surprising coherence. It is enhanced by the narrative thread of the text, a sequence of poems by Jackie Kay depicting a young woman filling a box of memories for her dying mother, and a man afflicted with the HIV virus conversing with the disease./ppThe settings are plain speaking and poignant without seeming sentimental. Craig Urquhart's opening movement has a lulling pastoralism reminiscent of Vaughan Williams, and there are traces of Britten in Colin Matthew's plaintive refrain: "Oh my dear, my dear, my dear."/ppDavid Horne and Marc Yeats's more acerbic settings introduce an anguished tone, but the Halleacute; Choir becomes a quasi-Broadway chorus for Neil van der Watt's swinging number, which concludes: "I shall do as I pleases, for death is the cure of all diseases." The finale by Errolyn Wallen is an exultant spiritual, with soloists Rebecca Bottone and Roderick Williams leading the congregation like Baptist preachers. /ppThe work is paired with Faureacute;'s Requiem, famously described by the composer as a "lullaby of death". Elder, who joined the musicians in giving his services free for this concert, produces a placid acceptance of the afterlife, in which passing over is made to seem as comforting as slipping into a warm bath. Bottone's hushed Pie Jesu is the highlight, a tender invitation to go gentle into that good night./pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/classicalmusicandopera"Classical music and opera/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/aids"Aids and HIV/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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UK retailers accused of ignoring Bangladeshi workers' plight
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/85733?ns=guardianpageName=Life+and+style%3A+Retailers+accused+of+ignoring+Bangladeshi+workers%27+plightch=Life+and+stylec3=The+Guardianc4=Ethical+fashion%2CBangladesh+%28News%29%2CAsda+and+Wal-Mart+%28Business%29%2CPrimark+%28Business%29%2CTesco+%28Business%29%2CSupermarkets+%28business%29%2CRetail+industry+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CUK+news%2CWorld+newsc5=Fashion+and+Beauty%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CUS+Economyc6=Matthew+Taylorc7=2008_12_05c8=1129189c9=articlec10=GUc11=Life+and+stylec12=Ethical+fashionc13=c14=h2=GU%2FLife+and+style%2FEthical+fashion" width="1" height="1" //divpWorkers producing clothes in Bangladesh for some of the UK's biggest retailers are being forced to work up to 80 hours a week for as little as 7p an hour, according to a report published today./ppThe study from War on Want claims that conditions in six factories supplying Primark, Tesco and Asda are worse than they were two years ago when the charity carried out its first investigation. Based on interviews with 115 workers in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, today's report claims many were struggling to survive on meagre wages and some were subjected to physical and verbal abuse. /ppSome said that they had been forced to work hours of unpaid overtime, adding that factory owners were "fiercely opposed" to trade unions./pp"Primark, Asda and Tesco promise a living wage for their garment makers," said Ruth Tanner, campaigns and policy director at War on Want. "But workers are actually worse off than when we exposed their exploitation two years ago. The UK government must bring in effective regulation to stop British companies profiting from abuse."/ppEmployees in the six unnamed factories calculated that they need pound;44.82 a month to provide for their families but the report found they were getting less than half that as they tried to turn out the latest fashions and hit "unrealistic targets". /ppLast night Primark said it was committed to ethical sourcing of its clothes and continually audited its suppliers. A spokesman for Asda said it was committed to "doing the right thing" for suppliers. Tesco said it took working conditions in its supply chain "extremely seriously" but criticised War on Want which refused to name the factories in order to protect the workers. /pp"The allegations are unsubstantiated and, as War on Want have again decided not to engage with us on them, we question whether their approach is the best way to tackle the complex issues surrounding the Bangladeshi garment industry," the Tesco spokesman said. "We have no history of cut and running from suppliers, and make clear we would work with any suppliers facing problems to help them improve worker conditions and ensure that the interests of workers are protected./pp"Therefore, claims workers are protected by withholding evidence are invalid, and without producing evidence we can neither know whether there is any truth to them nor go about putting right any possible concerns. We take the issue of working conditions throughout our supply chain extremely seriously and insist on high standards, going to great lengths to ensure our suppliers meet them."/ppEmployees interviewed for today's report said conditions are worse now than they were in 2006. Runa, who makes clothes for Asda and Tesco, is quoted saying: "My pay is so meagre that I cannot afford to keep my child with me. I have sent my five-month-old baby to the village to be cared for by my mother." Ifat, who works in another factory, said: "I can't feed my children three meals a day."/ppCampaigners plan a protest outside Primark's Oxford Street store today and one of the study's researchers, Khorshed Alam, has travelled from Bangladesh to attend the annual meeting of the retailer's parent firm, Associated British Foods./pp"These companies made promises that they would do something after the last report but two years later we see nothing has changed - in fact it has got worse," Alam said./ppPrimark said: "In Bangladesh we continually audit our suppliers. These audits are often unannounced and always paid for by Primark ... we have also started a programme of direct engagement with workers and junior management to ensure that they are aware of our commitment to them and to continual improvement. Our customers can continue to shop in Primark secure in the knowledge that the company works hard to ensure that high standards are met."/ppAsda said: "We are working directly with factory owners to create more sustainable businesses by improving factory conditions, improving efficiency in production techniques and therefore reducing working hours and aligning worker pay with these improvements in productivity ... we would welcome the opportunity to work with War on Want to identify any issues and formulate a structured plan to help resolve this."/pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ethicalfashion"Ethical fashion/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/bangladesh"Bangladesh/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/asda"Asda and Wal-Mart/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/primark"Primark/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/tesco"Tesco/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/supermarkets"Supermarkets/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/retail"Retail industry/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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Congo rape testimonies: Aged one to 90, the victims of hidden war against women
Plight of Walungu women revealed in shocking rape testimonies from Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Emine Saner on the growing protests against university beauty pagents
divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/91676?ns=guardianpageName=Education%3A+Betraying+the+student+body%3Fch=Educationc3=The+Guardianc4=Students%2CGender+%28News%29%2CWomen+and+women%27s+interests%2CEducation%2CLife+and+style%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CEducation+Weekly+Education%2CWomen%2CStudents+Educationc6=Emine+Sanerc7=2008_12_05c8=1129229c9=articlec10=GUc11=Educationc12=Studentsc13=c14=h2=GU%2FEducation%2FStudents" width="1" height="1" //divpOver the past few months, a series of beauty contests has been held in London. So far, so sexist. But what distinguishes this particular competition is that all the women taking part are students at some of London's best universities. Last week, for instance, Lile He, a politics and economics student, was named Miss School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas), at a pageant staged at a nightclub. And at the final in February she will compete against female students from five other universities - including the London School of Economics, King's College and University College London. /ppAround 400 students have entered the competition; some were "spotted" at nightclubs and encouraged to apply, while others filled out an online application form, giving information about their age and height, and answering searching questions such as "Which Sex and the City character would you most relate to?" The winner will receive prizes from the event's sponsors, which include the cosmetics company Clinique and a jewellery firm. /ppWhile some women have clearly embraced the pageant concept with open arms, the contest is a source of consternation and protest for others. At the "Miss Soas" event there was a rally, with around 40 students carrying banners and signs, and shouting slogans such as "Soas is for education, not for your ejaculation!" Eleanor James, women's officer at the Soas Student Union, helped to organise the protest and says that she sees the beauty contest "as part of the backlash against the fragile gains that feminism has won. I think it's really sad this is happening, but it doesn't surprise me because, at the moment in universities, you find pole dancing societies; because of top-up fees, there are students who work in lap-dancing clubs. So having a beauty pageant is a natural progression."/ppThe Miss University London contest was started in 2006 by Christian Emile. A former student at LSE, Emile was organising student events for nightclubs when a friend from Italy - where beauty pageants are relatively common - suggested they try to launch one here. Emile's company, 121 Entertainment, br /organises other events for nightclubs, including the supply of belly dancers. He describes the university beauty pageant as "a bit of fun" and says that, contrary to some reports, the women involved have not been asked to give waist and breast measurements. "I can understand the apprehension, but it's due largely to a misconception of the event," he says. "We don't have a bikini contest, the girls wear evening dresses of their own choosing and there are a series of questions to demonstrate their personality and charisma." But the competition is, basically, about their physical appearance? "Yes, I'm not denying that. But I want to emphasise that a lot of it has to do with personality." Fair enough, although it's arguable how much you can deduce by asking questions such as "What three items would you take to a desert island?"./pp"I don't think it objectifies women," he says. "If you talk to any of the contestants, they will tell you it is actually empowering. They get their moment in the spotlight, it's a bit of fun." Keelin Gavaghan, an accountancy undergraduate who was named as Miss London School of Economics at that university's heat last month, has said that she fails "to see what is wrong with feeling glamorous for one night. We hardly sold our souls. Nowadays I believe that we are post-feminism." /ppLooking into the set-up of the event - the venues where it is held, the audiences it attracts - I started to wonder just who it is aimed at. Most of the preliminary rounds are being held at the Crystal Club in London, which markets itself as an exclusive venue that has "hosted some of the world's most celebrated elite society". There is a pound;15 fee to get in, with tables then costing up to pound;1,000. To have a bottle of vodka or champagne delivered to your table costs at least pound;150, while drinks at the bar average around pound;8. It seems very expensive for students. "You do get students who can afford that," says Emile. "If you want to come and have a drink at the bar, that's fine. But if you want a pound;1,000 table, that's also fine." The tickets are available by guestlist and Emile admits that the contest isn't only open to a student audience. According to some reports, around a third of the 300 people at one event were not students, but older men. Emile disagrees, saying about "five non-students go to the events", including, he says, a professional footballer or two, "though I can't say who". At last year's pageant, the London Student newspaper approached the Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner, who told a reporter, "I came here for the pretty girls." Much has been made of the idea that the contest benefits the charity Cancer Research, but Emile says that while his company "tries" to give 20% of the event's profits to them, "it depends on how much we make"./ppMiss University London isn't the only beauty pageant for students. Earlier this year, a beauty contest called Miss Student Body was launched in Edinburgh, with contestants from five colleges in the city. It was forced to close when the organisers ran out of money. /ppEmile plans to launch his beauty contests in university cities around the country over the next few years, and there is already a popular national competition, Miss Student UK, which advertises at freshers' fairs and in nightclubs popular among students: the first prize is pound;10,000. The website for Miss Student UK includes pictures and videos uploaded by women, in which they are often wearing nothing more than a bikini or underwear, or are dressed as Playboy bunnies. In 2006, Loughborough University student union hosted the FHM "High Street Honeys Tour", where female students were "spotted" to appear in shoots for the men's magazine. Loughborough has also held a "Playboy mansion party" with performances from pole dancers. York University has a pole dancing club, and other universities, including Warwick and Bath, have sold calendars of female students posing in their underwear./ppAll of this may be indicative of a new sexism in student life. But many women are fighting back. Katie Curtis, the National Union of Students' women's officer, says that "it is unacceptable for events which objectify women to take place in our educational institutions. Universities should be about expanding people's minds, not judging them on their appearance." /ppRuby Buckley, women's officer at LSE, and part of the group that has been protesting against these events, agrees. I ask her why she thinks educated young women are choosing to get involved in a contest that seems, at best, like a sad throwback to a more sexist age. She says some of the contestants are finding ways to justify taking part "but it's an illusion, a con from society telling women that this is emancipation. I think what summed it up for me was when one contestant was asked, 'Would you rather have brains or beauty?' and she said beauty, because if she wasn't beautiful, nobody would want to listen to her anyway. This isn't fulfilling, to be ogled at and judged and it's such a shame that these are educated women, who could be the future leaders of the world, who are not standing up and questioning what they are doing. They are worth more than this competition and they need to realise that."/pdivullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/students"Students/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gender"Gender/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/women"Women/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a
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Big three US carmakers plead for $34bn more
Ford, Chrysler and GM pitch more detailed and costlier bail-out plan, received with wariness from Congress
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Video: The village with no men
pstrongLeah Chishugi/strong travels beyond the reach of aid agencies and the UN to the remote east of Congo to reveal communities scarred by rape, starvation and war/p
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