"Trafficking in persons" covers various forms of exploitation including, in the words of the international Palermo protocol, "sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs".
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Arab governments are failing on human trafficking | Brian Whitaker | Opinion | The Guar... - 0 views
www.theguardian.com/...-governments-human-trafficking
human trafficking Saudi Arabia prostitution abuse
shared by ccfuentez on 22 Feb 16
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In Saudi Arabia if workers file a complaint against their employers about abuse they are usually returned to their employers or pressured to drop the charges. Typically, the employers will file a false counter-argument against the workers for theft, witchcraft, and adultery in retaliation. This country is also accused of failing to take action to reduce the demand of prostitution or child sex tourism.
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Lebanon - Educational System-overview - Schools, Private, Students, and Lebanese - Stat... - 0 views
education.stateuniversity.com/...UCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html
lebanon system overview schools private public
shared by mcooka on 02 Mar 16
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The Lebanese educational system is divided in two sectors: private schools and universities, for which there is a charge for admission, and public (government) schools and universities that are practically free of charge.
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Education was once almost exclusively the responsibility of religious communities or foreign groups, but because the number of students in public schools has risen to more than two-fifths of the total school enrollment, the government was pressured to open more public schools to meet the demands of the general public.
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While public schools have not paid much attention to the preschool phase and have required students to be five-years-old to be accepted in kindergarten until the 1990s, private schools have always had a preschool phase and have accepted students as young as three-years-old
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The total duration in school remains intact, 12 years. The primary cycle of general education has been increased by one year, and is divided into two modules of three years each, while the intermediary cycle was reduced to three years instead of four. The first year of general education's secondary cycle must be considered common for all four different series of instruction, and the second year is common to only two out of four series. Lebanese students are not allowed to enter formal technical education before age 12, which is the age limit of obligatory education. The scholastic year was changed to 36 weeks, and 4 supplementary hours per week were added at the intermediary and secondary cycles.
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The new school curricula was launched in September 1998, and the Educational Center for Research and Development had trained 16,000 teachers in public schools and 6,000 teachers in private schools on the new uses and principles of the new program. The new system took into account economic, social, and national perspectives. The principle characteristics of this new system consist of the following:
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The Lebanese educational system has usually relied heavily on private schooling to accommodate the evergrowing demand for learning in the country
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As to special education concerning handicapped students, there were about 10,000 handicapped people in 1975 (prior to the Lebanese civil war). During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, this number reached 13,000; it is more than 15,000 in 2001. About 2,500 handicapped people were being educated and made ready to enter the work market.
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There are 1508 public and private intermediary and secondary schools for the general instruction program in Lebanon, while there are only 262 schools for the technical and professional instruction program divided between the public sector (29 schools) and the private sector (233 schools).
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Education is compulsory until the end of the intermediate cycle, is available to all Lebanese students, and is attended by nearly 95 percent of school-age children
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The school year starts in early October and ends in late June. The school day consists of six hours starting at 8:00 a.m. with two hour lunch break and ends at 4:00 p.m. The length of class periods ranges from 50 to 55 minutes. Both public and private schools are supposed to observe official holidays, which are decided by the government; however, Christian-administered, religious private schools take Saturday and Sunday off every week, while Moslem-run religious private schools take Friday and Sunday, and Jewish-run private schools take off all of Saturday and Sunday afternoon only.
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In short, the new formal educational system of Lebanon, like in many other countries, divides the years of instruction as follows: 6-3-3 (six years for the primary cycle, three years for the intermediate cycle, and three years for the secondary cycle), followed by the higher education cycle. Primary school education is followed either by a six-year intermediary and secondary program, leading to the official Lebanese baccalaureate certificate, which was originally based on the equivalent French school diploma, or by a three- to six-year technical or vocational training program.
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In addition, females appeared to have a slightly higher percentage than males with regard to attending schools and universities. After age 25 male attendance becomes almost double that of female attendance.
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ue to the Lebanese people's negative attitude toward manual work, especially in industry and agriculture, students of lower socioeconomic status enroll mostly in vocational and technical schools. Therefore, there is a big difference between the two major types of instruction, as well as the relative numbers of schools and students enrolled in each of these types
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The brevet certificate is only required by public schools, vocational schools, and teacher training institutes. The baccalaureate part I exam has two main tracks: literary and scientific. The baccalaureate part II has four main tracks: literature and humanities, which includes language, literature, history, philosophy, education, arts, and religion; sociology and economy, which includes economic sciences, politics, business and management, law, and sociology; general sciences, which includes mathematics, physics, chemistry, and their applications at the level of engineering; and life sciences, which includes biology and life sciences, chemistry and their applications in the area of medicine, health, agriculture, and other related subjects.
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Most institutions of higher education require entrance examinations besides the baccalaureate part II, which is required by law.
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The grading system is generally based on scales of 0 to 20 or 0 to 100, with 10 or 60, respectively, as passing grades
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he curriculum in Lebanese schools is somewhat rigid, for all students must pursue the same programs in all three cycles
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rivate schools can choose textbooks that meet their syllabi, except in the civics area where the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport requires them to use the center's textbooks.
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The United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency (UNRWA) provides funds supporting a private nonsectarian school system for Palestinian Refugees in the Middle East. This type of private schooling has been very effective in offering education and social services for children of Palestinian Refugees residing in Lebanon
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This article gave a great general overview to the education in Lebanon. One of the major components of Lebanon's education system is when they changed it 1999 to reflect the style of French education systems. Additionally, Lebanon has a high rate of 95% attendance for its students and it also has a high rate of literacy at 89%
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Man Arrested as 'Third Bomber' in Brussels Attack Is Freed; Hunt Is Renewed - 0 views
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He added that the prosecutor would decide at the end of the investigation whether to prosecute Mr. Cheffou and that only then would the status of the charges against him be decided. In a separate statement, the prosecutor's office said Monday that three men detained in and around Brussels on Sunday had been charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.
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Will Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood return to political violence? - BBC News - 0 views
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Mass Execution Is Part Of Saudi Arabia's Long History Of Horrors - 0 views
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Human rights groups have sharply condemned Saudi Arabia in the days since it executed 47 prisoners, including the reported beheading of an influential Shiite cleric. Such brutal executions, which in Saudi Arabia can include beheading, firing squad and even crucifixion, often follow dubious trials and arbitrary charges, according to Geoffrey Mock, the Middle East country specialist for Amnesty International USA.
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Saudi Arabia: Sustained Assault on Free Expression - 0 views
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In Blow to Leadership of '11 Revolt, Egypt Activists Are Given 3 Years in Prison - 1 views
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In accordance with the new anti-protest law, three of the leaders in Egypt's revolution were sentenced to three years in prison. The new law is aimed at Morsi's Islamist supporters after he was removed from office. More recently, officials have seen the law as protecting against the threat of the youth activists who led Mubarak's overthrow. The activists and other supporters call the law and the imprisonment revenge against their former actions. This sentencing followed new charges against Morsi implicating him in conspiracies to destabilize the country. From prison, one of the activists wrote a letter describing police stations as still torturous, suspicion against the Ministry of Interior, and the return of oppression of freedoms.
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Two rival Libyan governments claim to control oil policy | Top News | Reuters - 1 views
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Oil traders are concerned about the uncertainty over who is in charge of Libya's vast oil reserves after the Misrata group appointed its own oil minister and took over the official website of state firm National Oil Corp (NOC).
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ncertainty about the oil industry, which had just started to show signs of recovery after Thinni managed to end a blockage of major eastern ports by groups of rebels demanding autonomy.
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Thinni, whose government is recognised by the international community, responded from Bayda, a town east of Benghazi, where his government has relocated and is trying to stay in contact with ministries almost 1,000 km (620 miles) away in Tripoli.
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He said oil revenues for the OPEC member state continued to enter a Libyan bank, which transferred them to the central bank.
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"They are under the control of the state of Libya and the government approved by the Libyan parliament," he said, referring to the elected House of Representatives, which has moved to Tobruk, east of Bayda near the Egyptian border.
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Zawi said oil revenue, Libya's sole source of income, would be around only a fifth of last year's level due to the wave of protests at oilfields and ports.
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Western powers worry that the conflict between the Bayda- and Tripoli-based governments will lead to civil war and that the elected government's nascent army is no match for former rebels of various factions who defy state authority.
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As their sole source of income the control over oil policy and revenue proves to be a huge factor in which government will gain control over the greater Libya. Thinni, the prime minister recognized by the international community, has assured OPEC members that oil revenues are deposited into the Libyan Bank, which then transfers them to the central bank. While this may be true, OPEC members are worried that the continuation of Islamist militant aims for political autonomy through the occupation and attacks on oil ports. BPD have already become a fifth of what they maintained just one year ago.
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No LOL Matter: FBI Trolls Social Media for Would-Be Jihadis - NBC News.com - 1 views
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conversation via Skype, a “trusted brother” who was actually an undercover FBI employee, “told Basit that he could help get him inside Al-Nusra. …
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updating techniques it has used since the early days of the Internet to engage the enemy on services such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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Sheikh’s case and several other recent terrorism prosecutions shed light on the growing importance of social media in the battles unfolding in Syria and Iraq -- both as a recruiting tool for Islamic terrorist groups like ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front, and as a means for the FBI to pre-emptively nab the would-be jihadis.
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raises questions about the FBI’s conduct in attempting to head off terrorist recruits and whether they incited them to actions they wouldn’t have otherwise taken.
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During the investigation, the FBI published a webpage that purported to recruit individuals to travel to Syria and join Jabhat al-Nusra (
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posed as a Syrian nurse and "used a Facebook page which promoted the ideology of Islamic extremism" to contact the suspect,
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been able to expand their reach far beyond the traditional jihadi recruitment pool to a much wider audience -- including English-speaking Western nationals."
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FBI at times goes too far to reel in American Muslims, most of them young, who are sympathetic to the Islamic extremist cause.
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her client is “a lonely, mentally ill young man with a tremendous desire to be liked,” which made him susceptible to a paid FBI informant’s online encouragement.
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Suspects began posting on Facebook or other social media expressing support for or seeking contact with one of the Islamic groups fighting in Iraq and Syria and were then engaged by informants or undercover FBI agents.
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'Don't go there in any way, don't go there in thought or expression, don't even toy with the idea of becoming foreign fighters.'"
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eventually agreed to join Al-Nusra, purchased a plane ticket to Beirut and prepared for his journey to jihad
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defense attorneys in all four cases may argue that the FBI actions amounted to entrapment -- the act of tricking someone into committing a crime so that they can be arrested
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sought to make contact with al Qaeda officials on Facebook and other social media, but instead drew the attention of an undercover FBI agent who presented himself as a recruiter for the terrorist group.
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"ISIS recruits are more likely to reach out in the online universe seeking advice on how to reach the land of jihad than to consult the guidance of a traditional cleric or local community leader
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that universe and creating honeypots to draw in and capture potential ISIS recruits, they can help sow doubts in the minds of would-be jihadists in the overall reliability of the Internet as a medium for recruit
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Justice Department plans to review federal law enforcement practices on creating fake Facebook pages in light of an incident,
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Islamic State executes three of its Chinese militants: China paper | Reuters - 0 views
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But Beijing has also shown no sign of wanting to take part in the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to use military force against the militant group
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Chinese man was "arrested, tried and shot dead" in Syria in late September by the Islamic State after he became disillusioned with jihad and attempted to return to Turkey to attend university
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"Another two Chinese militants were beheaded in late December in Iraq, along with 11 others from six countries. The Islamic State charged them with treason and accused them of trying to escape
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Chinese officials blame separatists from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for carrying out attacks in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people. But they are vague about how many people from China are fighting in the Middle Eas
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"China is willing to work with the international community to combat terrorist forces, including ETIM, and safeguard global peace, security and stability," Hong said.
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Human rights advocates say economic marginalization of Uighurs and curbs on their culture and religion are the main causes of ethnic violence in Xinjiang and around China that has killed hundreds of people in recent years. China denies these assertions.
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hina has criticized the Turkish government for offering shelter to Uighur refugees who have fled through southeast Asia, saying it creates a global security risk.
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The Islamic State has killed three Chinese militants who joined its ranks in Syria and Iraq and later attempted to flee
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China has expressed concern about the rise of the Islamic State, nervous about the effect it could have on its Xinjiang region, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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Understanding Syria: From Pre-Civil War to Post-Assad - The Atlantic - 0 views
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So it is important to understand how their “social contract”—their view of their relationship with one another and with the government—evolved and then shattered.
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Nationalists took this diversity as a primary cause of weakness and adopted as their primary task integrating the population into a single political and social structure.
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or Hafez al-Assad, the secular, nationalist Baath Party was a natural choice: it offered, or seemed to offer, the means to overcome his origins in a minority community and to point toward a solution to the disunity of Syrian politics
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small group gathered in the southwestern town of Daraa to protest against government failure to help them
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All observers agree that the foreign-controlled and foreign-constituted insurgent groups are the most coherent, organized, and effective
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a whole generation of Syrians have been subjected to either or both the loss of their homes and their trust in fellow human beings.
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A daring plan to rebuild Syria - no matter who wins the war - Ideas - The Boston Globe - 0 views
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The first year of Syria’s uprising, 2011, largely spared Aleppo, the country’s economic engine, largest city, and home of its most prized heritage sites. Fighting engulfed Aleppo in 2012 and has never let up since, making the city a symbol of the civil war’s grinding destruction
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ven as the fighting continues, a movement is brewing among planners, activists and bureaucrats—some still in Aleppo, others in Damascus, Turkey, and Lebanon—to prepare, right now, for the reconstruction effort that will come whenever peace finally arrives.
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In a glass tower belonging to the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, a project called the National Agenda for the Future of Syria has brought together teams of engineers, architects, water experts, conservationists, and development experts to grapple with seemingly impossible technical problems
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The team planning the country’s future is a diverse one. Some are employed by the government of Syria, others by the rebels’ rival provisional government. Still others work for the UN, private construction companies, or nongovernmental organizations involved in conservation, like the World Monuments Fund
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As the group’s members outline a path toward renewal, they’re considering everything from corruption and constitutional reform to power grids, antiquities, and health care systems.
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Aleppo is split between a regime side with vestiges of basic services, and a mostly depopulated rebel-controlled zone, into which the Islamic State and the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front have made inroads over the last year
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The population exodus has claimed most of the city’s craftsmen, medical personnel, academics, and industrialists
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It took decades to clear the moonscapes of rubble and to rebuild, in famous targets like Dresden and Hiroshima but in countless other places as well, from Coventry to Nanking. Some places never recovered their vitality.
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Of course, Syrian planners cannot help but pay attention to the model closest to home: Beirut, a city almost synonymous with civil war and flawed reconstructio
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We don’t want to end up like Beirut,” one of the Syrian planners says, referring to the physical problems but also to a postwar process in which militia leaders turned to corrupt reconstruction ventures as a new source of funds and power
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Syria’s national recovery will depend in large part on whether its industrial powerhouse Aleppo can bounce back
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The city’s workshops, famed above all for their fine textiles, export millions of dollars’ worth of goods every week even now, and the economy has expanded to include modern industry as well.
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A river of rubble marks the no-man’s land separating the two sides. The only way to cross is to leave the city, follow a wide arc, and reenter from the far side.
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Parts of the old city won’t be inhabitable for years, he told me by Skype, because the ground has literally shifted as a result of bombing and shelling
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The first and more obvious is creating realistic options to fix the country after the war—in some cases literal plans for building infrastructure systems and positioning construction equipment, in other cases guidelines for shaping governanc
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They’re familiar with global “best practices,” but also with how things work in Syria, so they’re not going to propose pie-in-the-sky idea
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If some version of the current regime remains in charge, it will probably direct massive contracts toward patrons in Russia, China, or Iran. The opposition, by contrast, would lean toward firms from the West, Turkey, and the Gulf.
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At the current level of destruction, the project planners estimate the reconstruction will cost at least $100 billion
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Recently a panel of architects and heritage experts from Sweden, Bosnia, Syria, and Lebanon convened in Beirut to discuss lessons for Syria’s reconstruction—one of the many distinct initiatives parallel to the Future of Syria project.
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“You should never rebuild the way it was,” said Arna Mackic, an architect from Mostar. That Bosnian city was divided during the 1990s civil war into Muslim and Catholic sides, destroying the city center and the famous Stari Most bridge over the Neretva River. “The war changes us. You should show that in rebuilding.”
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Instead, Mackik says, the sectarian communities keep to their own enclaves. Bereft of any common symbols, the city took a poll to figure out what kind of statue to erect in the city center. All the local figures were too polarizing. In the end they settled on a gold-colored statue of the martial arts star Bruce Lee
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is that it could offer the city’s people a form of participatory democracy that has so far eluded the Syrian regime and sadly, the opposition as well.
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A great deal of money has been invested in Syria’s destruction— by the regime, the local parties to the conflict, and many foreign powers. A great deal of money will be made in the aftermath, in a reconstruction project that stands to dwarf anything seen since after World War II.
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Iran Complies With Nuclear Deal; Sanctions Are Lifted - The New York Times - 0 views
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Seven Iranians, either convicted or charged with breaking American embargoes, were released in the prisoner swap, and 14 others were removed from international wanted lists.
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Iran sanctions are lifted after coming to an agreement with the U.S. and E.U. Iran gained control of 100 billion in frozen assets and dismantled a large part of its nuclear program. A prisoner swap took place, releasing American citizens from Iran as well as 7 Iranians being imprisoned in Washington.
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International community should recognise Libya's Haftar: Egypt FM - 0 views
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Without a stable or recognized government in Libya, it can be difficult to figure out who's actually in charge. According to the Egyptians, they believe the world should recognize General Khalifa Haftar who controls militia forces in the Northeastern portions of Libya and has been fighting ISIS as well. Not only is he seeming to lead the fight against ISIS but is also making the rounds in Washington to discuss the ongoing situation in Libya and has taken an active stance on some regional issues as well.
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Jordan - Educational System-overview - Students, School, Schools, and Secondary - State... - 0 views
education.stateuniversity.com/...UCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html
education jordan program students school
shared by mcooka on 16 Feb 16
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A compulsory stage for children ages 6 to 15 (grades 1-10), consisting of primary school (grades 1-6) and preparatory school (grades 7-10).
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A comprehensive secondary education (academic and vocational) and applied secondary education (training centers and apprenticeship).
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Higher education, either a two-year intermediate level course offered by community colleges or four years of university level courses, either in public or private institutions. The student's achievement on the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination is the sole criterion for admission into higher education institutes.
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Under this system, students in grades 4 through 10 may repeat a grade twice. After that they are automatically promoted. In the preparatory stage, grade repetition is allowed only once. At the secondary level, students are allowed to repeat once in a government school provided they are younger than 17; otherwise they must transfer to a private school.
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Community colleges and universities vary in required attendance from two years in community colleges to six or more in universities based on the type of institution and specialization
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he majority of students are enrolled in schools directly controlled by the MOE. Some schools fall under the jurisdiction of the cultural bureau of the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Health oversees students studying for medical careers; it established the first nursing school in 1953-54.
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Instruction is in Arabic, but English is introduced in public schools in the fifth grade and is widely used. A new policy was recently approved to start teaching English in the first grade beginning in the academic year 2001-02
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All public schools and most private ones use the same textbooks. Under Law 16 of 1964, the School Curricula and Textbooks Division of the MOE is responsible for producing and printing the textbooks. They are distributed free of charge during the compulsory stage, but there is a nominal fee at the secondary stage.
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In 1997, however, only 16 percent of students were attending two shift schools and 11 percent went to rented buildings.
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As a whole, education in Jordan is considered an investment in the future. Skilled citizens are necessary. Before the Gulf War, most graduates could find good jobs in the oil-rich countries, and the money they sent home helped the Jordanian economy to grow. It is not uncommon for a family living at subsistence level to be able to send a child to a university (Abu-Zeinh).
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PressTV-Egypt sentences more Muslim Brotherhood members to death - 0 views
www.presstv.ir/...Egypt-Muslim-Brotherhood
Muslim Brother Hood Egypt court military penalty Alexandria
shared by mkulach on 08 Feb 16
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