Rare brown shrike video

This February 2017 video shows a brown shrike near Den Helder. It is only the second time ever that this bird species was seen in the Netherlands.

Luuk Punt made this video.

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Sudanese port workers, medics strike

This November 2016 video is called Strike in Sudan in protest against rising costs

From the World Socialist Web Site today:

Sudanese port workers demonstrate to defend jobs

Radio Dabanga reported that workers at Sudanese seaports demonstrated at Port Sudan’s state government administrative centre to protest job cuts. The protesters included 150 of the 600 port workers who had been dismissed by the state-owned Seaport Corporation.

Port workers demanded the rescinding of the sackings, stating they were concerned about the impact of the January dismissals on their fellow workers and their families. The company, responsible for maintaining the country’s three ports around Sudan, said they had dismissed only casual workers, claiming it is the way they adjust their operations in response to demand.

Sudanese medical interns strike over unpaid financial incentives

Medical interns came out on strike in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, on February 15. The recently graduated interns are demanding the payment of financial incentives, the form of payment they receive for work carried out in Sudan’s hospitals.

Some 34 trainee doctors have had their incentives stopped by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) claiming there is no evidence of their graduation from university.

The interns came out on strike after MoF reneged on a promise to resolve the problem.

These strikers are courageous, as there is dictatorship in Sudan.

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Rare white-headed long-tailed tit

This 24 February 2017 shows a rare white-headed subspecies individual of the long-tailed tit, in the garden of Annie Keizer in the Netherlands.

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Saudi war crimes in Yemen

This 2016 video says about itself:

The US may be aiding war crimes in Yemen

12 December 2016

The U.S. is helping Saudi Arabia bomb Yemen and it’s a disaster.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

MoD tracing war crimes by Saudis

Friday 24th February 2017

Investigation opened into 257 humanitarian breaches in Yemen

THE British government is investigating hundreds of war crimes allegedly committed by the Saudi-led coalition in its ongoing bombardment of Yemen, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said yesterday.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said his department is looking at 257 alleged breaches of international humanitarian law committed during the bombing of Yemen which began in March 2015.

Mr Fallon refused to release details of the allegations saying: “Details of the MoD’s analysis of these allegations are necessarily confidential.”

Britain has licensed almost £3.3 billion in arms to the country since the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign began almost two years ago.

Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin confirmed: “UK-built and licensed Typhoon and Tornado aircraft from the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) have been deployed on combat missions in the Yemen campaign.”

The United Nations estimate that 10,000 people have been killed during the conflict which has seen more than two-thirds of the Yemeni population left in need of humanitarian aid.

Much of the destruction has been blamed on Saudi Arabia’s indiscriminate air strikes which have seen homes and funerals targeted.

As a result the British government has faced repeated calls to halt its arms sales to the Gulf state. But the government claims that it is confident that the sales were “compliant with the UK export licensing criteria.”

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) lodged a judicial review over the legality of the government’s decision to continue licensing arms sales to Saudi Arabia which was heard in the High Court earlier this month. The outcome is expected in March.

CAAT spokesman Andrew Smith told the Star: “Saudi forces have shown a total disregard for international law.

“Whitehall has been totally complicit in the destruction. How many more abuses will need to happen before the government finally takes action and ends the arms sales?”

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