US student arrested in North Korea

U.S. student detained in North Korea apologizes

An American student who was arrested in North Korea apologized Monday, begging the Korean people and government for forgiveness for his "crime. "
North Korea said it arrested Otto Warmbier, a 21 -year-old University of Virginia undergraduate student, last month for allegedly "perpetrating a hostile act" against the regime. Warmbier was presented to the media in Pyongyang on Monday, where he apologized for trying to steal a political banner he said he wanted as a trophy for a church member in his hometown of Wyoming, Ohio, who was the mother of a friend. It wasn't clear if he made the admission voluntarily. Warmbier told reporters he arrived in Pyongyang via Beijing on Dec. 29. "On the early morning of Jan. 1, 2016, I committed my crime, of taking out the important political slogan from the staff-only area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, which aimed at harming the work ethic and the motivation of the Korean people," he told reporters. Warmbier, who was staying at the hotel, said he was detained at Pyongyang International Airport the following day.
He said the church member offered him a used car worth $10,00() if he brought back an important
political slogan to be hung in the Friendship United Methodist Church as a "trophy," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

"She continued to say that by taking this slogan, we would harm the unity and motivation of the North Korean people and show this country an insult from the West," he added, according to the news agency. "l have been very impressed by the Korean government's humanitarian treatment Of severe criminals like myself, and of their very fair and square legal procedures in the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)," he said. "I understand the severity of my crime and I have no idea what sort of penalty I may face, but I am begging to the Korean people and government for my forgiveness, and I am praying to the heavens so that I may be returned home to my family."
Warmbier was arrested while visiting the country with Young Pioneer Tours, an agency specializing in travel to North Korea. The State Department warns against travel to the North.
North Korea said he traveled to the country as a tourist but with the real aim of destroying the unity of North Korea with "the tacit connivance of the U .S. government." It said Warmbier was acting under "the U S. government's acquiescence and control," South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported The State Department said it was aware of the reports that a U.S. citizen was detained In North Korea. 

While campaigning in New Hampshire as a Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich called Warmbier's arrest "inexcusable." He urged President Obama to "make every effort to secure Mr. Warmbier's immediate release and keep (his) family constantly apprised."



Works Cited
Onyanga-Omara, Jane. "U.S. Student Detained in North
Korea Apologizes." USA TODAY. N.p., 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 1 Mar. 2016

Response:
The US student being held in North Korea was clearly violating North Korean law and possibly sovereignty. There appears to still be a lot of unknown information about this case, but if the student and press are telling the truth, then it seems that the student is at fault in a foreign country and the US government will probably do very little about it, and rightly so. It upsets me to think that high officials in the US want President Obama to intervene with this case and make it so that this student is safe, which is no problem. However, this student made his choice, a faulty one, and honestly just needs to grow up. Although, it's also interesting in seeing how the North Korean government might be telling the student to say things to the press such as that North Korea has been treating him well and that he is impressed with the humanitarian policies that North Korea has expressed. Maybe he wasn't forced to say that, yet I found it difficult to believe that someone being held at fault would seriously consider the treatment of sever criminals, such as the student himself.

In relation to bias, it would as usual that the article would have some bias against North Korean and its government. I'm not fully aware of the full statement that North Korea released about this student and his crime, but the Western Press doesn't seem to agree with how the North Korean government is handling it.

Caste System repercussions in India

Caste protests outside Delhi leave millions of people without water


NEW DELHI — The Indian army wrestled control Monday of a canal outside India’s capital from protesters whose blockades and rioting have cut off water in millions of homes for the third straight day.

The unrest was led by a privileged group in India’s society, still stratified by its ancient caste system. The group of farm owners, the Jats, want to be included in a government classification for the socially disadvantaged that would give them access to reserved seats for government jobs and schools.

Schools and businesses across the capital region were closed Monday after days of rioting paralyzed the nearby state of Haryana, leaving a dozen dead and more than 100 injured.

Over the last week, protesters had destroyed businesses and homes, blocked roads, forced the cancellation of more than 1,000 trains and left travelers stranded.

The violence prompted curfews in eight districts including the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, home to many multi-national corporations, some of which closed down or let employees telecommute.

In Delhi, tanker trucks delivered water to the hardest hit neighborhoods, and officials called for conservation. The army’s seizure of the canal should enable the city to restore service, officials said.


[Study: Half the world suffers from water scarcity]

“They are essentially a farming class, and agriculture is suffering. That’s why they are asking for this reservation in jobs, so they can survive,” said Nawal Singh, 60, a Jat who protested in solidarity with others by blocking an intersection in his hometown last week. Singh is a retired banker, who owns a five-bedroom house and drives a new Honda sedan.

India has long reserved special seats in universities and government job for tribal communities and Dalits, the Hindi term for the group once called “untouchables.” Those set-asides were later expanded to include some socially disadvantaged castes, a designation called “Other Backward Classes.”

The Jats — who dominate politics and village life in Haryana — had long lobbied to be included in this second category, despite their history.

“Yes, we are in charge, but it’s not about the past, it’s about the future,” Singh said. “Of course we were the main landholders in the state but land is shrinking, land has been divided. If a family has a small plot of land, it’s very hard for them to survive.”

Last year, the Supreme Court struck down a government plan to include Jats in the reservation system, siding with the judgment of a panel which said they could not be classified as “backward” and would deprive more deserving groups of benefits.

In recent years, caste agitation by those who feel left out of the quota system has been on the rise, driven by those who feel they and their children are being shorted on university slots and cushy government jobs.

Last summer, another group of relatively privileged merchants and hoteliers from Gujarat, the Patels, mounted a similar string of agitations.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, after meeting with Jat leaders, said on Sunday that a committee would be set up to re-examine the issue, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling. Some critics accused the government of caving under pressure.

“Is violence the key to everything, you can bring a government to its knees for three days?” said Vivek Vats, 43, who runs mobile phone shop in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the city was gripped by what Kapil Mishra, the water board chairman, called New Delhi’s “worst ever water crisis.” Seven water treatment plants were shuttered.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for the city’s 16 million residents to conserve.

“We’ve completely run out of water,” he tweeted Monday.

Once the Army had evicted the protesters from the canal, Delhi officials said that the plants would open and water would be gradually restored in the city starting Monday evening.

Throughout the day in New Delhi, around 140 tanker trucks fanned out to give temporary water to neighborhoods, some of which had been dry since Friday.

“I have not had a bath for three days,” grumbled Akhilesh Maurya, 32, a civil service student. He said that he and his fellow students were paying double what they normally paid for bottled water and a street near his home was blocked by protesters.

“They should not trouble people with their agitation,” he said. “Common people shouldn’t suffer.”

Works Cited: 
Gowen, Annie. "Caste Protests outside Delhi Leave Millions of People without Water." The Washington Post. N.p., 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Response:
The Caste system, a system most would hope that by now would be forgotten, still frightens and terrorizes India and its people as the recent turmoil there is just an example of this. The Caste system is pre-modern and even though it has been said to be eradicated from Indian society, many still see glimpses of the repercussions from the system years and years later. A solution won't be eminent, yet is necessary because not only are the lower classes being affected, but the higher classes are also affected in the big scheme of things. Based upon what this article says, it seems to be that the Indian government has done very little in order to help solve this issue, and even "special seats" in organizations have a name for the lower class under the "Other Backward Classes." If this doesn't seem to humiliate them, then I'm not sure what will. This system needs to be critically analyzed if India wants a more stable country and economy.

For bias, the bias would appear to be against the Indian government because it states very little of what they have done to help and have only seemed to harshly criticize their ability to help in the situation.

Syrian Epidemic

Mass Deaths In Syrian Jails Amount To Crime Of 'Extermination': U.N. 

GENEVA (Reuters) - Detainees held by the Syrian government are being killed on a massive scale
amounting to a state policy of "extermination" of the civilian population, a crime against humanity,
United Nations investigators said on Monday. The U.N. commission of inquiry called on the Security Council to impose "targeted sanctions" on high- ranking Syrian civilian and military officials responsible for or complicit in deaths, torture and disappearances in custody, but stopped short of naming the suspects. The independent experts said they had also documented mass executions and torture of prisoners by two jihadi groups, the Nusra Front and Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. These constituted war crimes and in the case of Islamic State also crimes against humanity, it said. The report, "Out of Sight. Out of Mind: Deaths in Detention", covers March 10, 2011 to November 30, 2015. It is based on interviews with 621 survivors and witnesses and evidence gathered by the team led by chairman Paulo Pinheiro. "Over the past four and a half years, thousands of detainees have been killed while in the custody of warring parties," the Commission of Inquiry on Syria said. The U.N. criticism of the Damascus government comes at a time when its forces have been advancing with the aid ofRussian air strikes. A Moscow-backed government assault near the city of Aleppo this month marks one Of the biggest momentum shifts in the five year war and helped torpedo peace talks last week. Pinheiro, noting that the victims were mostly civilian men, told a news briefing: "Never in these five years these facilities that are described in our report have been visited and we have repeatedly asked the government to do so." There was no immediate response by the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which has rejected previous reports. "Prison officials, their superiors throughout the hierarchy, high-ranking officials in military hospitals and the military police corps as well as government were aware that deaths on a massive scale were occurring," Pinheiro said "Thus we concluded there were 'reasonable grounds' - that is (the threshold) that we apply - to believe that the conduct described amounts to extermination as a crime against humanity. "

NAMES KEPT IN U.N. SAFE
Tens of thousands of detainees are held by the government at any one time, and thousands more have
"disappeared" after arrest by state forces or gone missing after abduction by armed groups, the report
said. Through mass arrests and killing of civilians, including by starvation and denial of medical treatment, state forces have "engaged in the multiple commissions of crimes, amounting to a systematic and widespread attack against a civilian population' . There were reasonable grounds to believe that "high-ranking officers", including the heads of branches and directorates commanding the detention facilities and military police, as well as their civilian superiors, knew of the deaths and of bodies buried anonymously in mass graves. They are thus "individually criminally liable", the investigators said, calling again for Syria to be referred to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a decision that only the Security Council can take. "It depends on the political will of states. Apparently for Syria now, there is none - there is total impunity, unfortunately," said panel member Carla del Ponte. "We are still waiting for a green light for international justice," she said. "The Security Council doesn't do anything and can't do anything because of the veto" she added, a reference to Russia, Assad's ally, which has repeatedly used its power as a permanent Council member to block resolutions against Damascus. Over the past four years, the investigators have drawn up a confidential list of suspected war criminals and units from all sides which is kept in a U.N. safe in Geneva. Pinheiro said "we have included new names" but gave no details. Del Ponte disclosed that the U.N. investigators have provided judicial assistance to various authorities in response to 15 requests for Information on foreign fighters in Syria. She declined to identify the countries involved, but later told Reuters: "These are low-level and middle- level perpetrators because they are foreign fighters, not high-ranking." The Nusra Front, which is allied to al Qaeda, and Islamic State, which has proclaimed a "caliphate" in swathes of Syria and Iraq, have committed mass executions of captured government soldiers and subjected civilians to "illicit trials" by Sharia courts which ordered death sentences, the report said. "Due to their exclusive control of large territories and its centralized command and control structure the so-called ISIS established detention facilities as far as we know are in Raqqa, Deir al-Zor and Aleppo. Serious violations were documented in these facilities, including torture and mass executions," Pinheiro said. "Accountability for these and other crimes must form part of any political solution," the investigators said, five days after U.N.-sponsored peace talks were suspended without any result.

DEAD BODIES
Raneem Matouq, daughter of prominent lawyer Khalil Matouq missing since Oct 2012, said she had been held for two months in 2014 at Military Security Damascus Branch 227 after being arrested for her own "peaceful activism" while a student. Inmates at the detention facility, estimated to hold several thousand, have died as a result of torture, disease and appalling prison conditions, including chronic lack of food, according to the U .N. report. was with I O other girls in a room one-and-a-half metres long by two meters long. For guys it was a room the same scale but they had 30-40 men, with dead bodies," Matouq told Reuters on a visit to Geneva last week with Amnesty International. "It was full of insects, we were sleeping on the floor, there was no toilet," she said. "We were allowed to go to the toilet three times a day, we called it 'the picnic' because we could walk outside. "Sometimes we would find dead bodies inside the toilet (area). It was so horrible, they were all men."
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Ralph Boulton and Peter Graft)
Also on HufJPost:


Works Cited:
Nebehay, Stephanie. "Mass Deaths In Syrian Jails Amount to Crimes of "Extermination": UN." Huffington Post. N.p., 8 Feb. 2016. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.


Response:
Reports from various news sources have been discussing this recent topic and the news has been depressing. We hear a lot of information from the media about Syria, and already the general public is disheartened about the reports, but with this new report, it should not only make the international community want to help, but it should light the darkness with new information about the once private country. The UN should see these crimes and not only release them to the public, but they should act upon them sooner. There have obviously been countless stories of escapees and something needs to be done in order to initiate progress in ending this epidemic.

The bias is obviously against the Syrian government and ISIS, but I think that they might've given a lot more credit than deserved towards the UN.

Next Gen Epidemic

Brazil says Zika virus outbreak worse than believed 

BRASILIA Brazil's top health official said on Monday that the Zika virus outbreak is proving to be
worse than believed because most cases show no symptoms, but improved testing should allow the country to get a better grip on the burgeoning public health crisis.
Health Minister Marcelo Castro told Reuters that Brazil will start mandatory reporting of cases by local governments next week when most states will have labs equipped to test for Zika, the mosquito-borne virus that has quickly spread through Latin America. The virus has no vaccine or cure at present. On Monday, the World Health Organization declared the Zika outbreak to be a global emergency, a decision that should help fast-track international action and research priorities. In Brazil, believed to be the country hit hardest by Zika, the outbreak has sparked fear especially among pregnant women after local experts linked the virus to thousands of cases of microcephaly, or abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains, in newborns. "Eighty percent of the people infected by Zika do not develop significant symptoms. A large number of people have the virus with no symptoms, so the situation is more serious that we can imagine," Castro said in an interview.
"Our big hope is finding a vaccine," he added. The Zika emergency comes at a particularly bad time for President Dilma Rousseffs unpopular government, adding a new burden to a public health system hit by budget cuts in the midst of a severe recession. It has also cast a shadow on Brazil's hosting of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
The Rousseff government said there was no chance the Games will be called due to the health scare. "We have to explain to those coming to Brazil, the athletes, that there is zero risk if you are not a pregnant woman, " Rousseffs chief of staff Jaques Wagner told reporters.
The Brazilian government suspects the virus was brought to Brazil during the 2014 soccer World Cup by a visitor from Africa or Oceania where Zika is endemic. An estimated 1.5 million Brazilians have caught Zika, a virus first detected in Africa in the 1947 and unknown in the Americas until it appeared in May in the poverty-stricken northeastern region of Brazil.
The Pan-American health Organization said the virus has since spread to 24 countries and territories in the hemisphere. 

WORKING WITH U.S. ON VACCINE
Castro, a psychiatrist from Rio, said the virus cannot be transmitted from person to person, only by mosquito, addressing fears that it could be spread through saliva, semen or urine. By next week, labs in all but three of Brazil's states will be able to test whether a person has had Zika or not, he said. And by next month, the labs will have a test that can detect all three viruses borne by the Aedes aegypti mosquito - dengue, chikungunya and Zika. The test, however, will only be effective during the initial infection period of five days. Castro said Brazilian researchers are convinced that Zika is the cause of the 3,700 confirmed and suspected cases in Brazil of microcephaly in newborns. Ninety percent of children born with the condition will have retarded mental and physical development, experts say. "The microcephaly cases are increasing by the week and we do not have an estimate of how many there will be. The situation is serious and worrying," Castro said. Brazilian biomedical research centers are joining forces with U .S. counterparts to try to find a Zika vaccine in record time, Castro said. A partnership between the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Brazil's Butantan Institute will seek to develop a vaccine by adding a gene to an existing one for dengue, he said. Until there is a breakthrough on a vaccine, Brazil's only option is to try to eradicate the mosquito that spreads the virus, Castro said, with the government mobilizing all its possible resources and people, including tens of thousands of soldiers, to go door-to-door seeking places where the insect breeds. Rousseff signed a temporary decree on Monday that makes it obligatory for residents to allow health workers to inspect their homes and properties for still water deposits where the Aedes aegypti mosquito lays its eggs. Asked if Brazil would ease its restrictions on abortion to allow women with Zika to terminate pregnancies, Castro said it would be up to Congress to make that change. The government, he said, is sticking with the current law that makes abortion in the world's largest Roman Catholic country illegal except in cases of rape and risk to the mother's life. Brazil will follow the U.S. decision last week to prohibit blood donations from people who have been infected with Zika, Castro said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has said it is planning to require people who have traveled to an affected country to defer giving blood, but details on how that might work are still being determined.

Works Cited:
Boadle, Anthony. "Brazil Says Zika Virus Outbreak Worse than Believed." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2016.

Response:
The Zika disease, which is now spreading fast in Brazil, could be the next Ebola disease scare. This disease, according to the article, has no cure or any type of treatment, making it more dangerous as it grows. Including factors of the Rio Olympic Games and with the new budget cuts, Brazil is a new a precarious situation and will need all the support it can get in order to fight off the disease. What makes it worse, is that people are getting the virus, but no resulting symptoms are taking place, making the number of people with the disease unknowable. One of the possible good factors is that the majority of the known cases are found in infants and in pregnant woman. However, this is also dangerous with the knowledge that very few people know who have the disease and how to then control it. Brazil needs to make the appropriate steps and put in place appropriate measures so that the disease doesn't blow up in its face.
The bias is hard to say from this article, but I would say that a possible bias could be that it's really demeaning towards Brazil and their outlook on the situation, and they almost praise the US in its efforts to help the situation, when the focus should be on how internationally, countries are supporting them.