Clark’s Twitter account dedicated to her campaign, Helen4SG, was started when she announced her candidacy officially this month, though its “join date” is not posted. The Helen4SG account gives Clark, considered a front-runner, a surprisingly unsophisticated presence on Twitter. The image is a canned stock photo of New Zealand, presumably, and the font might pre-date Comic Sans.
Clark’s official UN Twitter account, @HelenClarkUNDP, was started in 2010. She leads all candidates across social media outlets in numbers and reach; her Facebook page has more than 83,000 followers and her Instagram account, 8,419.
Tag / HelenClark4SG
THE HELEN CLARK DOCUMENTARY
THE HELEN CLARK DOCUMENTARY
By any measure, Helen Clark is an exceptional woman. Her journey from one of four children on a remote New Zealand farm to becoming New Zealand’s first elected female Prime Minister forms an outstanding and inspirational life story. But it’s this next chapter, as she attempts to become the United Nations’ first ever female Secretary-General, that could turn her from a local hero into a global force.
With your help, MY YEAR WITH HELEN will not only tell that story, but also give audiences a unique insight behind the scenes at the United Nations in this unprecedented and historic year.
TAKE A LOOK AT OUR JOURNEY SO FAR
HELEN CLARK
Ranked by Forbes magazine among the top 25 most powerful women in the world, Helen Clark is Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and in April 2016 announced her candidacy for the role of Secretary-General.
Helen has held her current role – the third most senior at the UN – since 2009. In that time she has overseen the UNDP’s work providing advice, training and grant support to developing nations and led its emergence as the world’s most transparent development agency.
Before taking her UN appointment, Helen was Prime Minister of New Zealand, a role she was elected to three times from 1999 to 2008.
This year, amidst more calls than ever for reform at the United Nations, Helen faces the possibility of becoming its first woman Secretary-General.
“Girls can do anything. We do do anything and we expect to be treated as equals.”GAYLENE PRESTON
I’ve been a filmmaker for almost all my adult life, and have worked as a writer, director and producer on dozens of projects for film and television. My most recent project was the 6-part television series about the Christchurch earthquakes, Hope and Wire.
I have wanted to make a Helen Clark Documentary for many years, and the possibility that she might become the next UN Secretary-General makes this year the perfect time. I’ve known Helen since we met when New Zealand was leading the world in the 1980s by becoming nuclear free. I’ve watched her break down barriers in politics as she’s gone from MP to Cabinet Minister, to New Zealand’s first elected female Prime Minister, and now her current role as UNDP Administrator. Helen is a formidable woman and leader, and I’m honoured she’s given my team access to tell this story.ABOUT HELEN & GAYLENE
HELEN CLARK
Ranked by Forbes magazine among the top 25 most powerful women in the world, Helen Clark is Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and in April 2016 announced her candidacy for the role of Secretary-General.
Helen has held her current role – the third most senior at the UN – since 2009. In that time she has overseen the UNDP’s work providing advice, training and grant support to developing nations and led its emergence as the world’s most transparent development agency.
Before taking her UN appointment, Helen was Prime Minister of New Zealand, a role she was elected to three times from 1999 to 2008.
This year, amidst more calls than ever for reform at the United Nations, Helen faces the possibility of becoming its first woman Secretary-General.
“Girls can do anything. We do do anything and we expect to be treated as equals.”GAYLENE PRESTON
I’ve been a filmmaker for almost all my adult life, and have worked as a writer, director and producer on dozens of projects for film and television. My most recent project was the 6-part television series about the Christchurch earthquakes, Hope and Wire.
I have wanted to make a Helen Clark Documentary for many years, and the possibility that she might become the next UN Secretary-General makes this year the perfect time. I’ve known Helen since we met when New Zealand was leading the world in the 1980s by becoming nuclear free. I’ve watched her break down barriers in politics as she’s gone from MP to Cabinet Minister, to New Zealand’s first elected female Prime Minister, and now her current role as UNDP Administrator. Helen is a formidable woman and leader, and I’m honoured she’s given my team access to tell this story.
Tenth Wall Defense 4 Human Rights
Tenth Wall Defense 4 Human Rights, by Mark G Kirshner: @MarkGKirshner
Source: Tenth Wall Defense 4 Human Rights.
Open Letter Vouching for the Character and Fitness of Helen Clark to Hold the Highest Office in the World We Want
on the Basis of Her Sincerity Authenticity Transparency
#Helen4SG The Selection of Helen Clark as #UNSG is well deserved after 9 years as Prime Minister of New Zealand & for the past 6 years Administrator of UNDP United Nations Development Programs the toughest UN job next to Secretary General. Please Join With Us in Creating the Consensus to help Helen Clark @Helen4SG @HelenClarkUNDP revitalize the United Nations.
Respectfully,
Mark Geoffrey Kirshner
Attorney and Counselor at Law
EDITION LIST VIEW
ENVIRONMENT
Resettling the First American ‘Climate Refugees’
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Thousands of right-wing extremists rally outside Berlin train station
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Air Guardsman donates $1 million to refugees, children in war-torn countries
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‘It’s Our Turn’: Syrian Refugees Help Alberta Fire Victims
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Controversial ‘Limitless Pill’ Used by Billionaires
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Where Does It Come From? – A trip to India to Find Out! – Where Does It Come From?
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7 Simple Ways to Deal With a Disagreement Effectively
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Donald Trump: I’m Not Changing My Campaign Platform for Paul Ryan
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Aboriginal Communities Improving Aboriginal Health – Report
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EU action plan for Open Science
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ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Genesis 11 – Mankind after the Flood; the Tower of Babel
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Richmond Confidential: What It Takes to Beat the Elite
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Hadley Freeman: it’s time the left faced up to antisemitism
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8 Reasons to Find Joy in Your Job
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Pooling the polls: how we’re tracking opinion polling for the Australian election
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Improving an Individual’s Mental Health Care Pathway
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TECHNOLOGY
Growing Trends of Content Consumption
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Report: Iran to Blind Man With Acid
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ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Why Dior Is Struggling to Replace Raf Simons
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Remembering Islam El-Behery on his Birthday
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Thailand Bans ‘Rude’ Opinions Ahead of Crucial Referendum
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BUSINESS
Remnants of the Soviet past: Restrictions on women’s employment — World of Opportunity
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blogs.worldbank.org – My father (see photo below) is a long-distance trucker based in Belarus. As a young girl, I spent long hours on the road with him. I loved traveling to neighboring and faraway cities and — even tho…
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The Diplomat Artist
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White Extremists Urge Racists to Kill All Muslims & Latinos
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muslimgirl.com – White extremists have reared their ugly heads yet again. This past week, residents in Midtown Sacramento woke up to a chilling, not-so-pleasant surprise: Flyers filled with hate speech adorning th…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Tracce di te lontane dall’oblio
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catherinelarosepoesiaearte.blogspot.com – Tracce di te lontane dall’oblio C’è qualcosa di te ancora che mi frulla l’anima specchio trasparente di un inganno Sei in me ogni volta mi guardo come un narciso sbocciato in un riflesso sbagliato …
STORIES
This Is What Happens When TSA Doesn’t Know the Difference Between a Muslim, a Sikh, and a Real Threat – Muslim Girl
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ENVIRONMENT
Bob Carr joins call for captive dolphins to be set free
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LEISURE
Night at Montreal Fine Arts Museum raises money for underprivileged families – Montreal
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ENVIRONMENT
4 Ways to Help Turn the Tide on Ethiopia’s Drought — 2 0 3 0
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medium.com – On a trip to southern Ethiopia, a region facing a historic drought made worse by El Niño, I met an impressively self-reliant woman named Fatuma. Although the drought has outpaced the coping capacit…
WORLD
13 iconic Dutch liberation day photos
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stuffdutchpeoplelike.com – Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) is celebrated each year on May 5th to mark the end of the occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. Make sure to also read our post about the brave men that he…
BUSINESS
UN News – Palm oil pushes global food prices up in April; cereal production outlook improves – UN
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un.org – 5 May 2016 Global prices of key staple food commodities rose in April, marking a third consecutive monthly increase after four years of decline, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organizati…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Cinco de Mayo is Simpatico for Global Citizens
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diplomatartist.com – Dogs donning festive sombreros , margaritas – guacamole – salsa and chips, Cinco de Mayo is cause for celebration and not just in Mexico (primarily Puebla State) and the United States. Revelers of…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Ai confini del cuore
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catherinelarosepoesiaearte.blogspot.com – Ai confini del cuore Ho un Angelo che mi tormenta e mi sorride lassù la bocca cucita tra le stelle un plettro di cristallo a forma di cuore e mi bacia con gli occhi parole parole come… Guida pian…
WORLD
MSF to skip UN aid summit fearing lack of action
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yahoo.com – Paris (AFP) – Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has pulled out of a UN-backed World Humanitarian Summit, saying the gathering would fail to pressure governments that are denying basic h…
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TBI BLOGS: These Village Girls’ Clubs Put an End to Forced Child Marriages in Their Community
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thebetterindia.com – In a tiny village in central Jharkhand, a flurry of activities has bystanders looking on and beaming with pride. The elders of the community have publicly resolved to end child marriage at the behe…
POLITICS
Fighting for Racial Justice for Communities of Color
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medium.com – Lately, the public discourse around immigrants in the United States has turned decisively negative. From anti-Muslim sentiments to outlandish accusations about the Latino community, immigrants in t…
LEISURE
The Source of Suffering — On Eudaimonia
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medium.com – We suffer and suffer. Perhaps we had bad childhoods, or poor relationships. But the truer cause is always within us. We don’t have to suffer so, right? That’s the truest characteristic of suffering…
WORLD
Where global solutions are shaped for you | News & Media
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unog.ch – Rhéal LeBlanc, Chief, Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the World Health Organization, the United…
POLITICS
Hunting an indicted war criminal in the former Yugoslavia: The Lid is On podcast
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unmultimedia.org – Two United Nations policemen have been talking about the “horror stories” they heard from the families of victims of an indicted war criminal from the former Yugoslavia. The two policemen, Vladimir…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
50 Cent ‘donates $100,000 to Autism charity’ after mocking sufferer
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dailymail.co.uk – It should have never happened, but at least now some good has come from rapper’s terrible decision to make fun of a disabled teen. A day after posting a video making fun of a young man who suffers …
SCIENCE
San Andreas fault is ‘locked, loaded and ready to roll,’ expert warns
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dailymail.co.uk – Californians are being told to brace for ‘the big one’ – a massive earthquake that typically occurs every 400 to 600 years and could leave thousands dead or homeless. An earthquake scientist has ad…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
New Orleans Jazz Fest – “When Doves Sing not Cry”
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huffingtonpost.com – 2016 Jazz Fest Poster – “House of Swing” Don’t cry for New Orleans. While it was a time to mourn the loss of a great talent, Prince, the New Orleans Jazz Fest was a confirmation and celebration of …
LEISURE
✿ Mark KOSTABI ✿
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LEISURE
Helping Hands Press: How much of real life makes it into your writing? – Karen Lange
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LEISURE
Meet Your New 500px Guest Editors For May 2016
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ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Luca Traini: THE COLORS OF THE NEW ART
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LEISURE
The KKK Came A-Knockin’, and I Said “Salam Alaikum, Y’all!” – Muslim Girl
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muslimgirl.com – In 2012, my family and I moved from a bigger city in the Midwest to a much smaller college town in the south, population: 17,000. Yes, the move was inconvenient to my social life (no more Fun Day M…
SCIENCE
Alta Rock Art Galery
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bradshawfoundation.com – The Rock Art of Alta, Norway The rock art in Alta was inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 1985, as the only prehistoric cultural heritage monument in Norway. It consists of four areas …
SCIENCE
The Woman in This Famous Painting May Have Suffered from a Brain Disorder
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gizmodo.com – The American artist Andrew Wyeth found inspiration for his most famous painting in a neighbor woman who suffered from a crippling, mysterious disorder that baffled her physicians. Now a child neuro…
WORLD
Meet The Syrian Malala
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huffingtonpost.com – Child marriages were taking place in Syrian before the war; an estimated 13 percent of Syrian girls under the age of 18 in the country were married in 2011. The London-based charity Save the Childr…
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Why Native American Inmates Can’t Wear Their Hair Long in Alabama
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theatlantic.com – The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider a case from Native American inmates in Alabama prisons who want to wear their hair long in accordance with their religious beliefs and tradition. The justic…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Help to make UK schools a safer place to address FGM and child marriage
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change.org – It is 2016 and yet Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and child marriage are issues that girls in the UK still face. Although illegal, they are still happening – it is estimated that 65,000 girls unde…
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Where The Light May Lead ~ Julie C. Gilbert
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WORLD
IS cell infiltrated by French journalist ‘lost and suicidal’
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POLITICS
Donald Trump Seeks Republican Unity but Finds Rejection
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nytimes.com – Mr. Trump said at a rally in Omaha that he was untroubled by the Bush family’s opposition, and repeated his past mockery of Jeb Bush as a “low-energy person.” “I’m not surprised at the Bush family,…
WORLD
This App Has Saved More Than 200 Girls From Trafficking, Child Marriage
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WORLD
Record de 240.000 manifestants contre le gouvernement à Varsovie
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BUSINESS
Why local communities are essential to curbing youth unemployment
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theconversation.com – The world of work has become an increasingly difficult environment for young people. Youth unemployment in Australia is persistently higher than for other age groups. In response, our governments h…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Celebs posing with apes criticized by UN body
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cnn.com – Story highlights UAE residents can own wild animals if they have permit Conservationist says capture of baby monkeys involves killing entire family (CNN)Celebrities posing with dressed-up monkeys a…
ENVIRONMENT
Erik Solheim confirmed for UN post
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newsinenglish.no – UPDATED: Norway’s former government minister for the environment is set to become chief of the entire world’s environmental program. As newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported on Monday, Solheim …
BUSINESS
unea | UNEP.org
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web.unep.org – Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi Minister of Climate change and Environment, United Arab Emirates Ambassador William Lacy Swing Director General of the International Organization for Migration Åsa Romson Minis…
SCIENCE
Scientists identify ‘revolutionary new approach to killing off cancer’
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independent.co.uk – A cancer-killing drug has been created from the immune systems of people who appear to be able to fight off the disease. For years the medical world has struggled to tell the difference between ‘ti…
BUSINESS
UNPFII Fifteenth Session 9-20 May 2016
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un.org – Our organization is interested in attending the next session of the Permanent Forum. Can we participate? Participation in the sessions of the Permanent Forum is open to NGOs in consultative status …
LEISURE
The 81-year-old Indian teacher still transforming lives – BBC News
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STORIES
Our Lady of Fatima, 1917-2017 – Why 100 Years Matters – Roman Catholic Man
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romancatholicman.com – According to legend, exactly 33 years (span of our Lord’s life) to the day prior to the great Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, that is, on October 13, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a remarkable vision. When…
SCIENCE
Noguchi Ceiling From 1940s Is Uncovered at U-Haul in St. Louis
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nytimes.com – An undulating lobby ceiling that Isamu Noguchi sculpted in the 1940s has emerged at a U-Haul branch in St. Louis, two decades after it was hidden by partitions and dropped ceiling panels. Noguchi d…
WORLD
We will not stand by when UN soldiers abuse, rape and murder
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community.avaaz.org – A report by the AIDS-Free World’s Code Blue campaign found that U.N. and French troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) abused at least 98 girls (see below). These latest revelations about sol…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
The Growth of Contemporary African Photography at LagosPhoto
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lens.blogs.nytimes.com – Lagos is an African megacity humming with chaotic energy. Potholed roads and even the city’s superhighways are crowded with traffic, overloaded vendors, earsplitting noise, choking pollution, pierc…
LEISURE
Mastering Words: Ways to Evolve as a Writer – WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™
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POLITICS
With Donald Trump in Charge, Republicans Have a Day of Reckoning
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nytimes.com – “Position yourself in the way you think is best for you,” he said, allowing that “it is difficult” for some members. “I know a lot of Republicans who are in red-leaning districts in blue states who…
POLITICS
Médicos del J. M. de los Ríos protestan por falta de insumos
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el-nacional.com – Gente del Picure atacó sede de policía de Valle de la Pascua Mitzy Capriles defendió en EE UU el derecho del revocatorio contra Maduro Hallan cadáver en quebrada frente a la estación Caño Amarillo …
EDUCATION
1 em cada 9 crianças vive em zonas de emergência, diz UNICEF | EXAME.com
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exame.abril.com.br – São Paulo – 250 milhões de crianças vivem em zonas de risco. Em 22 países em guerra, ao menos 24 milhões de crianças estão fora das salas de aula. No mundo, 30 milhões tiveram de se deslocar à forç…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
“When Faith Proves it’s SUPERNATURAL”
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
BrookeLynnBooks.com – This is undeniably a very challenging time for me in life. Lots of things around me are out of sorts; and to say the least, I’m out of sorts! I’m not exactly sure what’s going on in the spiritual r…
ENVIRONMENT
Hell No, the UAE Should Not Build a Rain-Making Mountain to Fix Its Water Problems
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
gizmodo.com – It sounds like the plot of a summer blockbuster, but the United Arab Emirates is apparently quite serious about building a mountain to increase rainfall in the region. Would it work? Probably. But …
WORLD
Chinese embassy to sponsor education for 108 Rwandan children – Xinhua
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
news.xinhuanet.com – KIGALI, May 6 (Xinhua) — The Chinese embassy in Rwanda on Tuesday announced it will support education of about 108 needy Rwandan secondary students. The funding will be channeled through Imbuto Fo…
ENVIRONMENT
Brazil’s Supreme Court suspends president of lower house – Xinhua
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
news.xinhuanet.com – BRASILIA, May 5, 2016 (Xinhua) — Suspended President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, Eduardo Cunha, talks to media in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 5, 2016. Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) Justice T…
WORLD
Workshop teaches Tuareg artisans new skills in exile
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
unhcr.org – OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, May 4 (UNHCR) – Taking a sheaf of palm fronds in her hand, Tuareg artisan Bintou starts to weave a decorative mat to be fixed on a newly designed desk lamp that may one d…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Six girl heroes ending child marriage in Africa
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
girleffect.org – When it comes to their future, many girls rarely get a say in it – about 37,000 girls get forced into marriage every day. But some girls across Africa have already taken remarkable steps to make su…
WORLD
UN News – ‘Small islands have big ideas,’ Ban says in Seychelles, citing leadership on environment, climate action
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
un.org – 7 May 2016 The problems facing our planet – climate change, poverty and insecurity – will only be solved through a global, multilateral response, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said…
SCIENCE
Deity Censer (Xantil) | Eastern Nahua | The Met
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
metmuseum.org – Deity Censer (Xantil) Date: 1200–1400 Geography: Mexico, Mesoamerica Culture: Eastern Nahua Medium: Ceramic Dimensions: H. 22 5/8 x W. 15 1/8 x D. 9 in. (57.5 x 38.4 x 22.9 cm) Classification: Cera…
LEISURE
Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 21, Ernest Hemingway
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
theparisreview.org – Then you read the Racing Form … There you have the true art of fiction. —Conversation in a Madrid café, May 1954 Ernest Hemingway writes in the bedroom of his house in the Havana suburb of San Fr…
LEISURE
Meet Annie Roy, the only woman tunnel engineer of country – The Times of India
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
timesofindia.indiatimes.com – Bengaluru: “She must be a visitor.” That’s the murmur she heard when Annie Sinha Roy walked into the construction site of Delhi Metro on the first day of her job. “There were about 100 men, most of…
BUSINESS
Disappearing Water Stands To Wreak Havoc On Global Economy
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
huffingtonpost.com – NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Economies across large swathes of the globe could shrink dramatically by mid-century as fresh water grows scarce due to climate change, the World Bank report…
SCIENCE
Forrester names Microsoft Azure a leader in Big Data Hadoop Cloud Solutions
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
azure.microsoft.com – This week, we’re excited that Forrester recognized Microsoft Azure as a leader in their Big Data Hadoop Cloud Solutions. Apache Hadoop as a technology has become popular amongst organizations to un…
SCIENCE
With the right tools, maternal and child health goals are within our reach
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
blogs.worldbank.org – When I became deputy director of the Child Survival Partnership in 2004, I knew the task at hand –saving mothers and children — was a challenging one. Four years earlier, the world’s countries ha…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Wordsworth and Keats | Wordsworth Trust Blog
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
wordsworth.org.uk – William Wordsworth brought out a new, two-volume edition of his poems in 1815 and Keats bought a copy some time that autumn. Wordsworth was not, in 1815, the giant of English poetry that he would l…
HEALTH
Baby cafés: nutrition for the poorest families in Indonesia – UNICEF East Asia & Pacific
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
blogs.unicef.org – Saminah lives with her five children in Pandes Village on the island of Java, Indonesia. When her youngest daughter was only a few months old, her husband left to work on a construction site in ano…
POLITICS
Woman who defied 300 neo-Nazis at Swedish rally speaks of anger
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
theguardian.com – The lone protest of a woman defying a march of 300 uniformed neo-Nazis is set to become an iconic image of resistance to the rise of the far-right in Scandinavia. A photograph of Tess Asplund, 42, …
WORLD
World Reacts to Prospect of Donald Trump Presidency
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
time.com – The news that Donald Trump had become the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee as his rivals suspended their campaigns after his Indiana victory prompted reactions around the world ranging f…
ENVIRONMENT
The ice cold war: fight for sealife in remote wilds of Antarctica
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
theguardian.com – Over the next few weeks, a discreet but vital diplomatic campaign will be launched to try to save one of the most remote regions of the world: the Ross Sea in Antarctica. Marine conservationists, w…
WORLD
IRAN: Khamenei appoints new personal representative in Syria
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
ncr-iran.org – NCRI – The Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has appointed a mullah as his new personal representative in Syria. Abolfalz Tabatabai-Ashkezari was appointed to the role by Khamenei on Wed…
WORLD
Front runners emerge for U.N. chief from town halls with General Assembly
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
reuters.com – UNITED NATIONS Two or three front runners for the position of United Nations Secretary-General have emerged after 18-hours of unprecedented General Assembly town hall meetings with nine candidates,…
SPORTS
UNDP graphic novel sheds light on issues affecting Roma women
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
eurasia.undp.org – Istanbul, April 8 – A short graphic novel released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is drawing attention to the multiple forms of discrimination faced by Roma women in the Western…
ENVIRONMENT
UNEP Annual Report 2015 – Chemicals and Waste
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
unep.org – UNEP works with governments, businesses and industries, and civil society organizations to help them address priority waste issues. Over the last two years, seven national and local governments, ni…
SCIENCE
Do Women Make Bolder Leaders than Men?
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
hbr.org – A common stereotype is that men have a tendency to be bolder than women. And numerous studies have shown that male business leaders do tend to take more risks. But looking through our database of 3…
WORLD
Iran sues US at Int’l Court of Justice over order to pay terror victims’ families
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
timesofisrael.com – A senior Iranian official said Sunday that Iran has filed a lawsuit against Washington at the International Court of Justice over a US Supreme Court ruling which would transfer over $2 billion in f…
SCIENCE
Weird and wonderful image quiz
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
bbc.com – It’s the latest BBC Earth weird and wonderful image quiz. This is your chance to test what you really know about life on this planet, and perhaps beyond. Guess what weird and wonderful things are i…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
‘The Good Wife’: A Broadcast Gem Fades Away
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
nytimes.com – The final season of “The Good Wife” found Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), after a failed stint in politics, rebooting her law career by working in the Chicago bond court. Serving the indigent…
HEALTH
In Ecuador, struggling to meet basic needs after the earthquake | Ecuador
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
unicef.org – When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador in April, 12-year-old Micaela and her family were living at the epicentre. Now they are struggling to find food and water, but Micaela still holds on …
WORLD
La Néo-Zélandaise Helen Clark veut devenir la première femme à la tête de l’ONU – France 24
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
france24.com – Bientôt une femme à la tête de l’ONU ? C’est en tous cas ce qu’espère Helen Clark, la femme la plus haut placée dans la hiérarchie des Nations unies. Ancienne chef du gouvernement néo-zélandais (19…
BUSINESS
Inequality, poverty and Panama Papers: the hidden costs of tax injustice
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
oxfam.org – Our world is not short of wealth. The size of the global economy has more than doubled over the past 30 years. In 2014, its value reached nearly $78 trillion. Yet, the gap between rich and poor get…
WORLD
Women in humanitarian action
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UN Women
unwomen.org – | Snapshot compilations | More stories | News | Publications | Join the conversation | Disasters kill more women than men, and hit women’s livelihoods hardest. According to UN reports, 60 per cent …
WORLD
Cate Blanchett appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
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UN Women
unhcr.org – GENEVA, May 2 (UNHCR) – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, today announced the appointment of Academy Award winning actor Cate Blanchett as a global Goodwill Ambassador. The announcement comes as Blanch…
CRIME
Helen Clark Quotes — OpenQuotes
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johnmcmurphy1
openquotes.github.io – “In the end, there will always be a fundamental difference of perspective between New Zealand and Australia on defense, whoever is in government.” — Helen Clark Share quote: TWITTER, TUMBLR “Healt…
SCIENCE
Mercury is about to pass in front of the sun, and it should be incredible to watch
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Peter Gleick
washingtonpost.com – A satellite image of one of Mercury’s previous transits. (NASA) It happens around 13 times a century: From our perspective, Mercury – the smallest planet in our solar system – will pass in front of…
SCIENCE
Strategies for Helping Students Motivate Themselves
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edutopia
edutopia.org – Editor’s Note: This piece was adapted from Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners: Strategies to Help Students Thrive in School and Beyond by Larry Ferlazzo, available March 21, 2015 from …
EDUCATION
Comissão Europeia desafiada a tomar posição sobre actos recentes de racismo na Polónia
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#ÀEsperaDeUmMilagre
publico.pt – O eurodeputado Carlos Coelho, eleito pelo PSD, quer que a Comissão Europeia tome uma posição sobre ataques xenófobos ou racistas na Polónia. Acha que os relatos que vieram a público, a envolver est…
BUSINESS
JSPL likely to sell controlling stake in overseas mines
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Asher Wolf
livemint.com – Debt-laden Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) is looking to sell a controlling interest in its Botswana coal mine in Africa and a mine under Australian subsidiary Wollongong Coal Ltd as it looks to …
SCIENCE
Scientist who found new human species accused of playing fast and loose with the truth
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Asher Wolf
theguardian.com – It remains one of the most dramatic human fossil finds of recent years. In 2013, in a tiny, cramped chamber in the Rising Star cave near Johannesburg, researchers led by palaeontologist Lee Berger …
WORLD
‘Video visitation’ is ending in-person prison visits – and prisons are going to make a ton of money
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Amb.Muhamed Sacirbey
mic.com – The only way Lauren Johnson could see Ashika Renae Coleman at the Travis County Correctional Complex in Del Valle, Texas, was via video conference from seven miles away in Austin. Coleman and Johns…
SCIENCE
Why You Should Add Medium to Your Content Marketing Mix
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Susan Gilbert
susangilbert.com – If you are seeking new methods to increase your blog’s readership in addition to social media marketing, LinkedIn publishing and guest articles then Medium works as a great companion to add more vi…
WORLD
West Point launches inquiry into cadets’ fists-raised photo
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Asher Wolf
bigstory.ap.org – NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Military Academy has launched an inquiry into a photo showing 16 black, female cadets in uniform with their fists raised, an image that has spurred questions about whether …
ENVIRONMENT
Crews scramble as Fort McMurray fire explodes in size, continues to threaten
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Steve Wilson
canadianunderwriter.ca – FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Thursday to try to keep away a wildfire so intense it has spawned its own weather. “It was creating its own high winds yesterday and even lightning was coming from the smoke …
BUSINESS
Stop corporate tax abuse | Oxfam America
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Áine Glas MacDermot
action.oxfamamerica.org – Our latest research report published in January ahead of the annual gathering of the world’s financial and political elites in Davos, outlines how the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s popu…
TECHNOLOGY
4 Great Ways to Use the New Twitter Lists
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Ⓜ️Manny JⓂ️
maximizesocialbusiness.com – Twitter is slowly rolling out their promised Twitter lists to all of their users now. Apparently, a great number of users just started receiving access to this new functionality yesterday. If you…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
No data exists on suicide among gay and trans Indigenous Australians
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Summer May Finlay
theguardian.com – No data exists on the rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQI people but the elevated risk is obvious and a lack of inclusion in decision making is holding back treatment…
TECHNOLOGY
Back to the future with Facebook • Inside Story
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Margo Kingston
insidestory.org.au – Downsizers must be a problem for the embattled newspaper industry. Late last year my husband and I sold our family house and bought a small apartment on the edge of the city, closer to my job. But …
SCIENCE
Reading to your child: the difference it makes
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MSW OKC (405) 411
theconversation.com – If you are a parent or a teacher, you most probably read stories to young children. Together, you laugh and point at the pictures. You engage them with a few simple questions. And they respond. So …
WORLD
Data leaks have happened again, why they will continue
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Reality Crowd TV
infosecurity-magazine.com – The release of sensitive information to the public by individuals who are sometimes called whistleblowers and dubbed traitor or hero, is termed to be a data leak. The most notable data leaks in the…
ENVIRONMENT
Urso Scarface, animal mais famoso de Yellowstone, é abatido a tiros
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maneco
brasil.elpais.com – O animal mais famoso do Parque Nacional Yellowstone, situado nos Estados de Wyoming, Montana e Idaho (Estados Unidos), morreu nas mãos de caçadores até agora não identificados. Trata-se de um urso-…
POLITICS
They’re the eight seats the Greens plan to win – and they’re not all held by Labor
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Asher Wolf
smh.com.au – The Greens will not preference Liberals ahead of Labor in any seats, as leader Richard Di Natale predicts a close election. Greens leader Richard Di Natale says his party can win eight extra lower …
ENVIRONMENT
Protesters Due To Kayak On Coal Ships In Newcastle
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Asher Wolf
huffingtonpost.com.au – A national day of action against fossil fuel is underway, with hundreds of protesters at Newcastle calling on the federal government to make the switch to renewable energy. The organiser of the Bre…
WORLD
Siria, attacchi aerei contro i campi profughi: molte vittime anche tra i bambini
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Architetto Atlas
repubblica.it – ROMA – L’Agenzia delle Nazioni Unite per i rifugiati (Unhcr) riferise che molte persone sono state uccise o ferite ieri, durante gli attacchi aerei che hanno colpito gli insediamenti nel governator…
LEISURE
Classic Marketing Lessons From Real-Life ‘Mad Man’ David Ogilvy
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FlaviaGalindo
inc.com – We all have role models, some real, some imagined, some based on in-the-flesh interactions, some based on an intense admiration and study of the role model’s ways and means. For Jim Somers, VP of …
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Mother’s Day 2016: Barnardo’s Mother of the Year opened her heart and home
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Summer May Finlay
sbs.com.au – Keelen Mailman is this year’s Barnardo’s Mother of the Year. She was nominated for the award by her niece Fay, for her selfless dedication when she opened her heart and her home to Fay and her four…
BUSINESS
Peter Martin: Could the campaign dent the economy?
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Asher Wolf
smh.com.au – Malcolm Turnbull is expected to visit Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Sunday afternoon to confirm the July 2 election date. Photo: Louie Douvis Malcolm Turnbull may have sown the seeds of hi…
ENVIRONMENT
Great Barrier Reef: tourism operators urge Australian government to tackle climate change
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Asher Wolf
theguardian.com – Tourism operators have broken their silence about the worst crisis ever faced by the Great Barrier Reef, with more than 170 businesses and individuals pleading with the Australian government to tak…
SCIENCE
Event Info Site
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Summer May Finlay
phaa.eventsair.com – Call for Abstracts The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) and the Northern Territory Chronic Disease Network (CDN) are calling for abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations …
WORLD
Rhinos bound for Australia in desperate attempt to save species from poachers
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Asher Wolf
smh.com.au – Ray Dearlove, founder of The Australian Rhino Project, aims to relocate 80 rhinos from southern Africa to Australia over the coming years. Rhinos could be grazing the grasslands of Australia as ear…
SPORTS
You remember Cecil the lion. But will you recall Scarface, the slain grizzly?
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
washingtonpost.com – Scarface, also known as Bear no. 211, photographed on Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone National Park on July 3, 2013. (Sandy Sisti/Wild at Heart Images) When the lion known to researchers as MAGM1 was …
ENVIRONMENT
Agro-Biodiversity key to food security and nutrition
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
la.undp.org – Luang Prabang, 22 April, 2016 – The health and diversity of Lao PDR’s natural resources and environment is critical to food security and nutrition for over 80 percent of the population who depend o…
ENVIRONMENT
Two-thirds of Australia’s emissions fund spent for just 7% of 2030 target
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Asher Wolf
theguardian.com – The government has now spent two-thirds of its emissions reduction fund but has only achieved 7% of the emissions cuts it would need to reach its 2030 target, according to analysts. Today the Clean…
WORLD
BREAKING: Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Turns Up This Many Violations According To Briefings (VIDEO)
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MSW OKC (405) 411
bipartisan.report – That’s what US officials who were briefed on the investigation reported today on how many violations the FBI has found on Hillary Clinton’s personal email server. Some of Hillary Clinton’s closest …
POLITICS
Read Paul Ryan’s Interview on Not Yet Endorsing Donald Trump
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Tom Sutcliffe
time.com – Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Thursday that he is “not there yet” on supporting Donald Trump, the presumptive presidential nominee for his party. As the highest-ranking elected Rep…
TECHNOLOGY
In the Future, We Will Photograph Everything and Look at Nothing – The New Yorker
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Vala Afshar
newyorker.com – “Today everything exists to end in a photograph,” Susan Sontag wrote in her seminal 1977 book “On Photography.” This was something I thought about when I recently read that Google was making its on…
ENVIRONMENT
With Brazil in Turmoil, Rio Counts Down to Olympics
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Daniels EstateAgents
nytimes.com – As the value of the Brazilian real has drastically declined over the last year, some have expressed doubt that the transit projects will materialize beyond the sleek, modernist weather shelters tha…
BUSINESS
Adele Ferguson: the high price of being a whistleblower? I know it from experience
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Margo Kingston
smh.com.au – Adele Ferguson delivered an impassioned plea for a royal commission into the financial services sector, greater protection for whistleblowers and a renewed commitment to press freedom in Australia….
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
One Week in April, Four Toddlers Shot and Killed Themselves
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Margo Glantz
nytimes.com – KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sha’Quille Kornegay, 2 years old, was buried in a pink coffin, her favorite doll by her side and a tiara strategically placed to hide the self-inflicted gunshot wound to her fore…
BUSINESS
Beware tax cuts for ‘Middle Australia’. Above-average earners benefit most
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Margo Kingston
theguardian.com – Research by The Australia Institute reveals that the electorate which would benefit the most from the tax cut for people earning more than $80,000 is the prime minister’s own of Wentworth. But whil…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
The Art of Marianne Morris: Abstract Painting: Just Listen
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Der Fuhr am Werk
mariannemorris.blogspot.com – “Just Listen”, 12×12″ mixed media on canvas. Available. My son just finished up his first year of university. How I got old enough to have a kid in university, I don’t know. It seems like a few da…
BUSINESS
Share of the Nations Wealth Held by the Top 0.1% and the Bottom 90%
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Amb.Muhamed Sacirbey
politicsthatwork.com – Discussion: As of 2012, the latest year for which there is data available, the top 0.1% of Americans by wealth owned 22% of the nation’s wealth while the bottom 90% combined owned 22.8%. We are eit…
SPORTS
Elena Delle Donne aims for Olympics, despite risks
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Daniels EstateAgents
chicagotribune.com – Elena Delle Donne intends to go to the Rio Olympics regardless of the risk of contracting the Zika virus, the Chicago Sky forward said Wednesday. “The Olympics have been a lifelong dream of mine an…
TECHNOLOGY
Where is the world’s Wi-Fi?
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Vala Afshar
weforum.org – North America and Europe have considerably more Wi-Fi networks than the rest of the world, according to user-submitted data. More than 150,000 users of WiGLE submitted information on the location o…
TECHNOLOGY
‘Textalyzer’ device to catch texting and driving prompts privacy concerns
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Steve Wilson
cbc.ca – It’s become an all-too-common occurrence to see drivers on their smartphones — some times even texting while driving. In Canada, using a mobile device at the wheel is against the law. Canada’s tou…
POLITICS
Trump Slams Clinton as ‘Nasty, Mean Enabler’ of Husband’s Affairs
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Steve Barnes
nbcnews.com – EUGENE, Ore. — An unrestrained Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton an “unbelievably nasty, mean enabler” who “destroyed” the lives of her husband’s mistresses during a rally in Oregon on Friday nig…
WORLD
Why War: Einstein and Freud’s Little-Known Correspondence on Violence, Peace, and Human Nature
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Der Fuhr am Werk
brainpickings.org – Despite his enormous contributions to science, Albert Einstein was no reclusive genius, his ever-eager conversations and correspondence engaging such diverse partners as the Indian philosopher Tago…
ENVIRONMENT
Wow! Indian Government to Spend 6 Billion Dollars on Planting Trees
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Maggie Rawlinson
onegreenplanet.org – Without forests, we as a species could not survive. Trees are the lungs of our planet, soaking up the (ever-increasing) carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, and in return giving us the sweet gift of o…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Rob Reiner voices the frustration of millions, calls out media coverage of Donald Trump on “Morning Joe”
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Karol Funch
salon.com – Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezenski may still be a little raw from the brutal burn they received at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner from comedian Larry Wilmore, but less than a week later the…
WORLD
Private Emails Reveal Ex-Clinton Aide’s Secret Spy Network
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Áine Glas MacDermot
socialisttimes.com – Starting weeks before Islamic militants attacked the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, longtime Clinton family confidante Sidney Blumenthal supplied intelligence to then Secretary of Stat…
WORLD
Russian orchestra plays in Syrian ruins
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Margo Glantz
cnn.com – What ancient treasures did ISIS destroy in Palmyra? After filming the ruins and the damage done by the terrorist group, we were brought into the Roman amphitheater. In July, the amphitheater was wh…
WORLD
The UN on Holocaust Remembrance Day: Where’s the ‘never’ in the ‘never again’? | Fox News
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
foxnews.com – Thursday, May 5 is Holocaust Remembrance Day or “Yom Hashoah,” an occasion to remember and mourn the unique horror that resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews including one million children – unf…
BUSINESS
The 2016 edition of World Development Indicators is out: three features you won’t want to miss
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
blogs.worldbank.org – We’re excited to announce the release of the 2016 edition of World Development Indicators (WDI). With over 1 million downloads last year, WDI is the most widely used dataset in our Open Data Catalo…
WORLD
Syrian refugees: ‘We would not consider Europe’ – AJE News
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Sarah Hanini
aljazeera.com – Beirut, Lebanon – Caught between a civil war and Europe, which does not seem to want them, Syrian refugees in Lebanon are struggling to find a place to call home. Among them are Asim and Zeinab, wh…
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
Sinfonia d’Amore
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
catherinelarosepoesiaearte.blogspot.com – Sinfonia d’Amore Io e te a petto nuvola stesi nel limbo azzurro isola del cielo in un boudoir di tela appesa al crine ribelle del vento… E c’innalziamo a quota mille d’Amore spirando mantelli d’…
POLITICS
Displaced villagers return home in Myanmar’s Rakhine state
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
unhcr.org – MINBYA TOWNSHIP, Myanmar, May 2 (UNHCR) – Being able to sit once more in a bright and airy room – and in her own home – makes a welcome change for Amina.* She and her family were among 145,000 peop…
ENVIRONMENT
What Young Entrepreneurs Worldwide Are Doing To Alleviate Poverty, Hunger & More
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
youthkiawaaz.com – Entrepreneurship means different things to different people; some imagine tech geniuses with Silicon Valley startups, while others picture small business owners opening up their shop doors on Main …
WORLD
Syrian refugee carries Olympic torch through Brasilia
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
unhcr.org – BRASILIA, Brazil, May 3 (UNHCR) – Flanked by cheering Brazilians, 12-year-old Syrian refugee Hanan Dacka held the Olympic flame aloft and trotted with it through Brasilia at the start of a relay ac…
WORLD
Lunch to welcome Syrian refugees becomes complicated
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Layzner
stltoday.com – Tables were only half filled inside the gymnasium at the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, a mosque in Ballwin where area Muslims gathered Saturday to welcome about 50 refugee families from …
WORLD
Dear Ms. Helen Clark | Arab Woman Platform
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MarkGeoffreyKirshner
en.arabwomanmag.com – Two years ago two passionate, determined women with a noble quest to empower women reached out to you for support and feedback on their online platform, and in all honesty, as we; the founders of t…
POLITICS
Asylum seekers deported from Cocos Islands arrested by Sri Lankan police
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BarbVee
theguardian.com – The 12 Sri Lankan asylum seekers deported from Australia’s Cocos Islands have been arrested and taken into police custody in Colombo. The group, which included a woman, one child, and one infant, w…
POLITICS
‘I said allegedly Barrie’: Scott Morrison clashes with Insiders host
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Editor✍
smh.com.au – Treasurer Scott Morrison has refused to apologise to charity group Save the Children, despite the government paying compensation to the organisation after it was accused of political activism, fabr…
SPORTS
A Transfomative Leader Whose Power is Drawn from Empowerment of Others
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Mark Geoffrey Kirshner
markgeoffreykirshner.com – Here is a New Zealander seeking to be the best in the world in her chosen pathway. In Clark’s current position as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, she is already one of th…
WORLD
David Cameron cares more about white votes than brown lives
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Senthorun Raj
mediadiversified.org – If there’s one thing David Cameron is more reluctant to do than let refugees into the UK, it’s risk losing votes. This week, he abandoned plans to slam Britain’s door in the face of refugee childre…
WORLD
Australian Embassy in London Lit Up with Faces of Dead Refugees
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sarah keenan
mediadiversified.org – by Sarah Keenan Follow @sarahjkeenan and Nadine El-Enany Follow @nadineelenany Last week, guerrilla projectionists lit up the Australian Embassy in London with the faces of three recently deceased…
WORLD
Turkey: e-Food cards for refugees
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Kemal Furkan
euronews.com – How can refugees’ basic needs be secured? Food, for example. Our new programme Aid Zone goes to the country with the highest number of refugees in the world, Turkey. We travel to Gaziantep, about 1…
WORLD
More support needed for female refugees, says European vice-president
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Ms Feist
theguardian.com – Ulrike Lunacek, the vice-president of the European parliament, has called on EU member states to do more to support female and child refugees arriving in Europe and prevent gender-based violence. I…
POLITICS
Dutton hits out at media over asylum coverage
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DameJenntheAmazing
abc.net.au – Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has hit out at the media over its coverage of asylum seekers and refugees, saying some news organisations need to “reassess their approach”. Earlier this week, Mr …
POLITICS
Kenya: Ending Refugee Hosting, Closing Camps
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Suzana Jacmenovic
hrw.org – (Nairobi) – Kenya’s announcement on May 6, 2016 that it would no longer host refugees is contrary to principles it has pledged to respect. Dr. Eng Karanja Kibicho, interior ministry principal secre…
WORLD
Refugees From Syria Among the Thousands Who Fled Canadian Fire
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Neutral News
nytimes.com – EDMONTON, Alberta — As evacuees from the Fort McMurray wildfire arrive at shelters, hotels and homes of friends here, many say they now have a taste of what a wave of refugees experienced in Syria …
POLITICS
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Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations
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♫ American Mommies – USA Freedom Kids. Listen @cdbaby
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Queen Rania: The Syrian refugees I met are experiencing something worse than death
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Obama administration warns of ‘climate refugees’ due to rapid Arctic warming
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While other countries turn Syrian refugees away, Canadians are taking them home
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Ecuador quake-affected communities begin to rebuild their lives with UNDP support
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✿ DASIL (David Silva) ✿
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Curators for a Cause Transform the Art World
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It is time to act on wildlife crime before it is too late for Africa’s giants
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I believe no child should die from preventable causes
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Catherine La Rose Poesia e Arte
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Vagner Freitas sobre votação do impeachment: “Já que foi conduzida por um ‘delinquente’, tem que ser anulada”
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Helen Clark for United Nations Secretary General
End #FGM and Child Marriages in Africa and Everywhere 4 All Time #Helen4SG #NextSG#HelenClark4WorldWeWant
End #FGM and Child Marriages in Africa and Everywhere 4 All Time #Helen4SG #NextSG#HelenClark4WorldWeWant
Why the World Needs a UN Leader Who Stands Up for Human Rights
Last August, Balla Hadji, a 61-year-old truck driver in Bangui in the Central African Republic, was having breakfast with his wife when they heard shots outside. He ran out to call his daughter inside, but troops were already there, and shot him in the back as he ran away. His 16-year-old son, Souleimane, was also shot when he ran towards his father. Balla died on the spot, his son Souleimane the next day. The soldiers
Source: Why the World Needs a UN Leader Who Stands Up for Human Rights
– Last August, Balla Hadji, a 61-year-old truck driver in Bangui in the Central African Republic, was having breakfast with his wife when they heard shots outside. He ran out to call his daughter inside, but troops were already there, and shot him in the back as he ran away. His 16-year-old son, Souleimane, was also shot when he ran towards his father. Balla died on the spot, his son Souleimane the next day.
The soldiers were neither armed groups nor government forces; they wore the famous blue helmet and vest of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers. Witnesses told Amnesty International that instead of helping the wounded father and son, the peacekeepers – who were meant to protect them – fired another round when the daughter tried to cross the street to reach her injured relatives.
What happened to an organization meant to protect and give voice to the world’s most vulnerable people? This is a question that candidates to succeed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must address in the process that started at the UN General Assembly earlier this month. In the coming months governments will select the UN’s next leader – who will take up their post in 2017.
This is a crucial turning point for a twentieth century body being shoe-horned into the twenty-first.
The UN showed it can still deliver when it brokered agreements on development and climate goals in 2015, but its response to major crises was woefully inadequate. From its failure to protect civilians in conflicts like Syria and South Sudan to abuses perpetrated by its own forces, the UN is an organization creaking at the seams.
This is largely the fault of governments willfully thwarting UN action aimed at preventing war crimes and crimes against humanity or holding perpetrators to account. The UN Security Council appears less a place where people’s security and rights are protected than a forum where the richest and most powerful countries in the world play politics with their lives.
Four times a Security Council member has vetoed UN efforts to respond to the Syrian conflict. The result: nearly 12 million forced to flee their homes, and more than 250,000 dead.
At the Human Rights Council, Saudi Arabia’s western allies did its bidding, obstructing the establishment of a UN-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict in Yemen, even while the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing campaign commits war crimes. The result: a conflict that has taken the lives of more than 2,800 civilians, 700 of them children.
Even when the Security Council has acted and imposed sanctions and arms embargoes they have not been implemented effectively, for example in Sudan.
This cannot go on. I have seen the consequences on the ground in countries like Syria and Yemen: thousands detained, killed, displaced, and disappeared. When the victims and their families ask me if there is an organization that can help them, I know the answer should be the UN. Today I cannot look them in the eye and promise it will.
Failure to protect human rights will sow the seeds of future crises by fueling the injustice and repression that breed instability. Look at the uprisings in the Arab world five years ago, a palpable example of the link between system failure and governments repressing dissent and human rights.
The UN has not failed, yet. But its ability to fulfill its purpose is in grave jeopardy. The governments who select the next Secretary-General have to answer the critics who question whether the organization is fit for purpose in the twenty-first century.
The world needs someone who will champion marginalized people, protect civilians in conflict and prevent mass violations, combat impunity by supporting the International Criminal Court, fight for gender equality, defend activists against repressive governments and deal with the biggest global refugee crisis in seventy years.
That is a tall order, but essential in a world racked by proliferating conflict, deliberate targeting of civilians by states and armed groups, and rising xenophobia.
The next Secretary-General can do that by putting the protection of human rights front and centre. Human rights are meant to be the UN’s third pillar, along with development, and maintaining peace and security. But they risk becoming the third rail of UN politics: too controversial to touch, and a black mark in the eyes of certain Security Council members.
The new Secretary-General must bring human rights and humanitarian crises before the Security Council. When serious human rights violations occur, he or she should use their powers under Article 99 of the UN Charter to bring threats to international peace and security before the Security Council. This power has not been used for decades.
The next Secretary-General must also restore the reputation of an organisation tarnished by sexual exploitation and abuse committed by its own peacekeepers. The UN’s own statistics show 69 allegations of abuse in 2015, 22 of them from its peacekeeping force in the Central Africa Republic. The UN must make sure peacekeepers are punished when they turn predator.
But a critical first step is to have a fair and transparent process to select a highly qualified next leader for the UN. In the past, powerful governments who felt a strong Secretary-General was not in their interest have had too much control over the final decision. The debates held earlier this month kick started a vital opportunity for governments to reinvigorate the UN.
The election of the UN Secretary-General this year may capture a fraction of the attention of the US presidential campaign. Yet for much of the world who stand to benefit from a dynamic UN, it could be just as significant. If not more.
Anna Neistat is Senior Director for Research at Amnesty International. She has conducted more than 60 investigations in conflict areas around the world, including Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Kenya, Yemen, Chechnya, Sri Lanka and Haiti. Follow her @AnnaNeistat
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of IPS.
Tenth Wall Defense 4 Human Rights
Mark Geoffrey Kirshner
Tenth Wall Defense 4 Human Rights, by Mark G Kirshner: @MarkGKirshner
Tenth Wall Defense 4 Human Rights
#NextSG Edition
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✿ Mia BERGERON ✿ NEW!
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Chen GUOSHUN 陈果舜 ✿
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Bearing the Olympic Torch
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http://paper.li/f-1356275580?edition_id=7f9cc2f0-053e-11e6-8295-002590a5ba2d
Helen Clark, a candidate for the next United Nations secretary-general and head of the UN Development Program, started this Twitter account dedicated to her campaign recently.
This is not your grandfather’s election cycle. Will this be the year a woman is elected to one of the highest political positions in the world? What’s up with the surprise candidate gaining unexpected momentum? Can any candidate truly blend the need for the best-qualified administration with gender parity? It is unequivocal that this year’s election for United Nations Secretary General has had greater tensions and greater transparency than ever before. Sound familiar?
The transparency is a direct imperative of the UN General Assembly president, Mogens Lykketoft, a Dane who led public hearings at UN headquarters last week presenting the nine declared candidates for UN secretary-general so far, with each answering nearly two hours of questions from UN member states and broadcast live through the UN’s WebTV channel (where they remain archived).
Adding deeper insight into the unprecedented secretary-general election process set into motion by Lykketoft this year is the role of digital media — with almost every candidate campaigning across social media, especially Twitter.
Vuk Jeremic, a 40-year old Serbian politician whose résumé includes being president of the UN General Assembly and foreign affairs minister as well as president of Serbia’s tennis federation, emerged as the surprise candidate on the first day of sessions.
His candidacy, rumored for months, popped up officially on April 12, after a Serbian news site reported that Jeremic had at last gained the support of his government, giving him the opening he needed to become the ninth candidate to speak at the three-day Assembly hearings as a candidate for the UN’s top job, which will be vacated by Ban Ki-moon, a Korean, at the end of the year.
Jeremic’s team, which features an American public relations firm, JMP Verdant Communications, has created a specific Twitter account for the campaign, @Vuk4UNSG, besides his general account, @Jeremic_Vuk, an account associated with the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development in Serbia.
Both accounts are active with tweets, retweets and favorites. Like another candidate, Helen Clark, from New Zealand and the administrator for the UN Development Program, Jeremic has dedicated an account entirely to his secretary-general campaign, with “SG” in his call sign.
Jeremic’s SG campaign account had 50 followers as of April 18, while his regular account has more than 109,000 followers, making the latter the second-largest of any of the candidates. (Helen Clark’s UN Development Program account has the highest, at 120,000 plus followers, as of April 18.) Jeremic comes to the campaign with a strong, slick social media presence, more than 22,000 followers on Facebook as well.
Clark’s Twitter account dedicated to her campaign, Helen4SG, was started when she announced her candidacy officially this month, though its “join date” is not posted. The Helen4SG account gives Clark, considered a front-runner, a surprisingly unsophisticated presence on Twitter. The image is a canned stock photo of New Zealand, presumably, and the font might pre-date Comic Sans.
Clark’s official UN Twitter account, @HelenClarkUNDP, was started in 2010. She leads all candidates across social media outlets in numbers and reach; her Facebook page has more than 83,000 followers and her Instagram account, 8,419.
Of the remaining seven candidates, all but two, Srgjan Kerim of Macedonia and Natalia Gherman of Moldova, have Twitter accounts associated with their professional positions and capacities. All nine candidates have Facebook pages. A Twitter account for António Guterres of Portugal, (@antonioG1951), opened since 2012, has 14 followers. This account has never tweeted.
Vesna Pusic (@vpusic), a Croatian politician, academic and diplomat, tweets to her 6,728 followers in multiple languages, often linking to her active Facebook profile, with 11,420 followers. Pusic tweets on a variety of topics, but the secretary-general election and her campaign get lots of mentions. She is the only other candidate besides Clark on Instagram, with 227 followers.
Danilo Turk (@_daniloturk) a former Slovenian president and former assistant secretary general for the UN’s Department of Political Affairs, has been actively promoting his candidacy and platform to his 2,325 followers.
Igor Luksic (@I_Luksic), the youngest candidate at age 39, and deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister of Montenegro, has one account devoted to his work around the election. The account, which has only 150 followers and 53 tweets, was opened the day he sat for the first informal session at the Assembly hearings on April 12.
Those candidates currently employed by the UN are strictly on message to their position. Helen Clark (@HelenClarkUNDP), who was prime minister of New Zealand for nine years, has more than 32,000 tweets. They are focused on her professional role at the UN and not on her campaign.
Irina Bokova (@IrinaBokova), the head of Unesco and the official Bulgarian candidate, actively communicates with more than 14, 500 followers around the issues addressed by the agency she runs, written in a multitude of languages. Almost every tweet is accompanied by an image.
As much as the nine candidates were active on social media during the hearings, social media was all over the candidates, too. Possibly the hardest hit in terms of criticism was Gherman of Moldova, who not only received call-outs for her lack of Twitter presence, but also had the most blowback to her presentation.
One UN-focused Twitter account known for its dry wit, eweNitedNations, caught the attention in the final, sixth hour of the hearings’ first day, by calling out an image posted by PassBlue of a delegate’s obvious fatigue.
“That woman in the back is all of us who have been following for all 6 hours,” the tweet pronounced.
This article was updated on April 20, 2016.
Mark Geoffrey Kirshner 