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الأربعاء، 22 فبراير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Poachers in Cameroon kill up to 300 elephants in one month alone
Poachers in Cameroon kill up to 300 elephants in one month alone
Myanmar lifts government ban on Suu Kyi rallies
Rebels release peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur
Munch’s ‘The Scream’ to go on sale at New York art auction

Poachers in Cameroon kill up to 300 elephants in one month alone

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:39 PM PST

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON (BNO NEWS) -- Poachers in northern Cameroon have slaughtered as many as 300 elephants for their tusks in the last month alone, a dramatic increase from previous years, officials said on Tuesday.

The killings, originally reported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), were confirmed by Cameroon's minister of forestry and wildlife. Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese said that an armed gang of Sudanese poachers had killed the free-roaming elephants in the Bouba Ndjida National Park, on Cameroon's border with Chad.

One park official, Bouba Jadi, told CNN that the large number of deaths are worsening the situation for Cameroon's already threatened elephant populations. According to official estimates, there are between 1,000 and 5,000 elephants in Cameroon.

The IFAW said at least 100 elephant carcasses have been found in the park since mid-January. "It was common for armed gangs of poachers to cross from Sudan during the dry season to kill elephants for their ivory. But this latest massacre is massive and has no comparison to those of the preceding years," IFAW official Celine Sissler Bienvenu told local newspaper The Voice.

She added that the ivory is smuggled out of West and Central Africa for markets in Asia and Europe, and money from ivory sales fund arms purchases for use in regional conflicts, particularly ongoing unrest in Sudan and in the Central African Republic.

The group said many orphaned elephant calves have been spotted, and concerns are high that the babies may soon die of hunger and thirst. Observers in Cameroon have been blaming the raids on poorly trained and ill-equipped park guards.

Poachers in Cameroon kill up to 300 elephants in one month alone

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:39 PM PST

Myanmar lifts government ban on Suu Kyi rallies

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:32 PM PST

YANGON (BNO NEWS) -- Myanmar election authorities have lifted a ban on rallies by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after the National League for Democracy (NLD) complained about the restrictions, a Burmese news organization in exile reported on Tuesday.

According to Mizzima News, the Union Election Commission (UEC) said a ministerial order from the sports minister which restricted campaign rallies in stadiums had been lifted. The announcement came after the main opposition party, the NLD, complained in a press conference that the campaign process was not free and fair.

The NLD publicly accused sports minister Tint Hsan of hampering its campaign activities as the party had been prevented from using three sports fields for the rallies.

Campaign manager Nyan Win earlier said the government has prevented the NLD from holding election rallies in a village in Kachin State, citing security concerns. "So why do they hold by-elections in a constituency where they cannot ensure security?" Nyan Win asked, as quoted by Mizzima News.

Aung San Suu Kyi is running for one of the 48 parliamentary seats during the April 1 by-election. The famed politician spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest until her release in November 2010.

The fairness of the April 1 by-election is being studied carefully by the international community as a test of the newly elected government's promise to hold a free and fair election. Western governments have said Suu Kyi's judgment about the election's fairness would be decisive in whether or not further sanctions are lifted on the military-dominated government.

Myanmar held its first elections in 20 years in November 2010, paving the way for the end of 49 years of military rule. The country has undergone a rapid number of political changes in the past year, including the loosening of press laws, legalizing the right to demonstrate and organize as workers, the release of leading political prisoners, and ethnic cease-fire agreements.

Rebels release peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 07:09 AM PST

KHARTOUM, SUDAN (BNO NEWS) -- More than 50 international peacekeepers and other personnel who were blockaded by rebels in northwestern Darfur on Sunday have been allowed to leave, officials at the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) confirmed on Tuesday.

The 55-person peacekeeping contingent was blocked by more than 100 armed men belonging to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) while conducting a long-range patrol in the village of Shegeg Tova in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from its team site in Umm Baru.

Rebels initially accused the peacekeeping patrol of cooperating with Sudanese security services, but most of them were allowed to leave on Monday after negotiations. A Yemeni police advisor and two Sudanese language assistants were being held until Tuesday, when rebels agreed to release them without any conditions.

"Our officers and their troops demonstrated true resolve, courage and compassion in facing down a large contingent of armed JEM rebels who were holding three UNAMID personnel," said Ibrahim Gambari, head of UNAMID. "Our troops held their ground; they called in reinforcements and they refused to leave the area without all personnel back on the patrol, including the Yemeni police advisor and two Sudanese language assistants. This afternoon everyone has returned, without injury and without any conditionality."

Gambari condemned the blockage of the peacekeeping patrol, which consisted of 50 Senegalese troops in addition to three police advisors and two language assistants. "Our peacekeepers criss-cross Darfur every day to help bring security to civilians who continue to suffer the effects of conflict. We have a mandate to execute in all parts of Darfur," he said, adding that any hostile act against a UN peacekeeper is a violation of international humanitarian law and a possible war crime.

More than 23,000 troops, military observers and police officers and nearly 4,500 civilians serve with UNAMID, which assumed peacekeeping duties from an earlier African Union mission at the start of 2008. A total of 35 UNAMID blue helmets have been killed in the line of duty while serving in Darfur.

The UNAMID force is tasked with protecting civilians, promoting an inclusive peace process and help ensuring the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance across Darfur, an arid region on Sudan's western flank. Fighting and large-scale displacement has convulsed the region since 2003 when rebels took up arms against the Government, whose military forces responded with the support of allied militiamen.

Munch’s ‘The Scream’ to go on sale at New York art auction

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:31 AM PST

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- A Norwegian businessman will sell the Edvard Munch masterpiece "The Scream" during an art auction in New York City in May, auction house Sotheby's announced on Tuesday. The price is expected to exceed $80 million.

The 1895 painting, owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, will lead the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale at Sotheby's in New York City on May 2. It is one of four known versions of the iconic composition but the only version still in private hands, as the other versions are owned by Norwegian museums.

The work, which shows an agonized figure who is holding his head and screaming under a blood-red sky, is one of the most instantly recognizable images in both art history and popular culture. "Munch's The Scream is the defining image of modernity, and it is an immense privilege for Sotheby's to be entrusted with one of the most important works of art in private hands," said Simon Shaw, the head of Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art department in New York.

Olsen, whose father Thomas was a friend, neighbor and patron of Munch, said the proceeds from the sale will go toward the establishment of a new museum, art center and hotel on his farm in the Norwegian village of Hvitsten. "It will open next year in connection with the Munch 150th [birth] anniversary, and will be dedicated to the artist's work and time there," he said. "We are restoring his house and studio, and guests can stay in his home."

Shaw said 'The Scream' is one of very few images which transcends art history and reaches a global consciousness. "The Scream arguably embodies even greater power today than when it was conceived," he said. "At a time of great critical interest in the artist, and with the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2013, this spring is a particularly compelling time for The Scream to appear on the market. For collectors and institutions, the opportunity to acquire such a singularly-influential masterpiece is unprecedented in recent times."

The auction house said it is difficult to predict how much the painting will be sold for, but expects at least more than $80 million. "Given how rarely true icons come to the market it is difficult to predict The Scream's value," Shaw said. "The recent success of masterpieces at Sotheby's suggests that the price could exceed $80 million."

Sotheby's said the pastel-on-board version of "The Scream" is distinguished in several ways. The auction house said it is the most colorful and vibrant of the four and the only version whose original frame was hand-painted by the artist to include his poem detailing the work's inspiration. It is also the only version in which one of the two figures in the background turns to look outward onto the cityscape.

"I have lived with this work all my life, and its power and energy have only increased with time," Olsen said. "Now, however, I feel the moment has come to offer the rest of the world a chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work, which is the only version of The Scream not in the collection of a Norwegian museum. My father Thomas Olsen was a friend of Munch, and acquired The Scream as well as many other works by the artist."

Before being auctioned in New York on May 2, the painting will be on view at Sotheby's in London on April 13 and then in New York on April 27. This version has never before been on public view in either the United Kingdom or the United States, except briefly at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

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الأربعاء، 22 فبراير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

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