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During every year that ends in an even number, the month of August is a special occasion for young men in Kenya's Western Province. During this month thousands of boys aged between 10 and 18 undergo male circumcision–something that is seen as an important rite of passage into manhood among their communities. But it is also a time were nearly half the young men circumcised will have to fight for their lives.

A bicentennial celebration for ordinary people, envisioned as the start of a process of social reflection, is being prepared by over 100 organisations and public personalities in Chile as a response to the official commemoration of the 200th anniversary of independence from Spain.

Turn schools into hate-free zones, and achieving peace inviolence-wracked Pakistan may not be far behind.

Like a seasoned star, Ting Ting pranced around on the stage inan energetic dance routine as she delivered a pitch-perfectrendition of a high-tempo Chinese ballad. Enthralled, the 500-strong crowd surged forward, eager to catch a closer look atthe svelte 25-year-old artiste, dressed in a bright pink top–and a skirt that ends too many inches above her knees.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is threatening an international showdownwith neighbouring Thailand over the vexed question of managing a 10th-century Hindu temple, an architectural jewel of Cambodia's ancient Khmercivilisation.

A sociology professor has attacked the deputy Prime Minister's claim that parenting is more important than poverty in ruining children’s life chances.Sociology professor Frank Furedi, from the University of Kent, has attacked the claim of the deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, that parenting is more important than poverty in ruining children’s life chances.Furedi, author ofWasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating, says the Liberal Democrat leader’s remarks show just how commonplace “parent-bashing: has become today.“Clegg’s attempt to recast the age-old problems associated with poverty as principally a result of parents’ own moral failures resonates with the zeitgeist amongst policymakers and politicians”, writes Furedi on the website Spiked.For Furedi, “[p]arenting has become an all-purpose causal explanation for virtually every problem afflicting society. Parental determinism minimises the importance of economic, social and cultural factors in everyday life and reduces the complex interaction between social wellbeing and family life to a simple question of moral failure.”The outspoken academic locates the origins of “parental determinism” in the New Labour era. He writes: “It was Tony Blair’s regime which first promoted the fantasy that the government could fix society’s problems by getting its hands on the nation’s toddlers before their parents had a chance to ruin them. One of New Labour’s key focuses was on ‘early intervention’ - and for Blair, intervention could never be early enough. He believed it was possible to spot tomorrow’s ‘problem people’ even before they were born.”Since then, Furedi continues, “the myth of parental determinism” has been institutionalised in Whitehall:“Policymakers in the Lib-Con coalition seem to believe that the quality of parenting can determine just about everything in a child’s future. They even believe that parenting, when done well, can help to overcome society’s structural inequalities... In comparison with parental determinism, the economic determinism of Stalinism or the racial determinism of the old eugenics lobby seem positively subtle. That such voodoo science can shape the thinking of policymakers reflects the exhaustion of the political imagination today,” says Furedi.Mr Clegg was echoing an earlier and similar statement on education and life chances from Conservative prime minister David Cameron.Read the whole article here:http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9442/[Ekk/3]

A women-only Lebanese aid ship named after the Virgin Mary plans to break the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel sometime next week.A women-only Lebanese aid ship named after the Virgin Mary plans to break the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel sometime next week.The organisers of the aid ship said on 19 August 2010 that they will sail to Cyprus for the first leg of their journey this weekend.Organiser Samar al-Hajj told reporters:"The ship Mariam will leave for Cyprus on Sunday at 10pm (local time, 19.00 GMT) from the port of Tripoli."Ms al-Hajj stressed in advance that those on board will not be carrying weapons or arms of any kind, that their purpose and cargo is strictly humanitarian, and that the venture is entirely nonviolent.The ship is called The Mariam, after Mary the mother of Jesus. It is a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship originally named the Junia Star.The aim of the aid ship is to bring badly needed assistance to the people of Gaza, who have been beseiged and blockaded by Israel for four years.The Miriam will carry 50 Lebanese and international women on board. The passengers are said to include a well-known Cypriot singer.Back in May 2010 Israel casuded international outrage by attacking a Turkish ship that was part of a flotilla of six ships headed for Gaza.Nine Turkish activists were shot dead by Israeli commandos. The IDF claimed that they were threatened and released doctored film to back this claim. Subsequent investigations have revealed that the soldiers shot first, and those on board claimed they were acting in self defence when invaded without warning.Previously good relations between Turkey and Israel have been imperilled by the incident.Israel investigated what happened and vindicated itself, but has refused calls for an impartial international investigation.The Cypriot authorities have a ban on ships departing for Gaza, and it is not clear what will happen when The Miriam seeks to call there.Israel has threatened to invade any ship coming into the waters around Gaza.The Naji al-Ali, originally named Julia, a Lebanese boat organised by journalists, has also said that it will sail to Gaza via Cyprus.The boat has not yet received any official clearance from Lebanese authorities.Also on Ekklesia:Harry Hagopian,'From Turkey to Gaza: Human rights and fundamental freedoms?'-http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12413[Ekk/3]

Independent theatre productions are mushrooming in basements, small theatres, garages or private residences throughout the Argentine capital, and sometimes even making it big across borders.

The Vatican has published the much-anticipated official schedule for Pope Benedict’s trip to the United Kingdom in September 2010.The Vatican has published the much-anticipated official schedule for Pope Benedict’s trip to the United Kingdom in September 2010.The pontiff, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and head of the Vatican City state, arrives on Thursday 16 September in Scotland.He begins with an official visit to Queen Elizabeth II at her palace in Edinburgh. That afternoon he travels to Glasgow, where he will celebrate Mass at Bellahouston Park. On Thursday evening the Pope will continue on to London, spending the night there.On Friday 17 September, the Pope’s day will begin with a meeting for Catholic educators at St Mary’s University College. Later in the morning he will participate in an interfaith assembly. In the afternoon he will visit theAnglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and then lead an ecumenical assembly at Westminster Abbey.On Saturday the Pope meets with the Prime Minister, David Cameron and with the opposition leader, Harriet Harman. Then he will preside at Mass in the cathedral at Westminster. That afternoon he will visit a nursing home. In the evening he will lead a prayer vigil in Hyde Park, leading up to Sunday’s beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.Pope Benedict will preside at the beatification ceremonies on Sunday 19 September, at Cofton Park in Birmingham. Following that ceremony he will visit the Oratory that Cardinal Newman made famous. His last official activity will be a meeting with the Catholic bishops of England, Wales, and Scotland. The pontiff will return to Rome on Sunday night.Commenting on the schedule for the papal visit, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that the highlight from a Catholic perspective will be the beatification of Cardinal Newman.Cardinal Newman is a figure of enormous importance to today’s culture, Lombardi claimed, because he is “the perfect figure to present the dignity of Christian witness as capable of addressing the problems and the biggest questions of modern man, to modern society.”In addition, the Vatican spokesperson called attention to the Pope’s meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, saying:"We also know that this is a delicate moment for Anglicanism, because of internal debates. It is also a delicate time in relations with the Catholic Church, because these debates also reflect on the relationship between Anglicans and Catholics."Preparations for the Pope's visit have been dogged by criticism of its cost to the public purse, estimated at up to £20 million, sluggish ticket sales, controversies over sexual abuse, and a funding gap for the pastoral dimension of the visit.Protesters for women's and gay rights are also intending to make their voices heard as the visit proceeds.[Ekk/3]

The National Council of Churches in Australia has welcomed plans for a World Council of Churches delegation to visit the country's Indigenous Peoples.The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) has welcomed the decision by the World Council of Churches to send an international ecumenical delegation to visit the Indigenous Peoples of Australia from 12 -17 September 2010.The visit is in response to an invitation extended by the NCCA with the view to shed light on the human rights situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to show solidarity with the Indigenous people who feel their voices are not heard. The focus of this visit will be the impact of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).The invitation to the WCC was extended following a forum held in 2009 by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC) of the NCCA.This forum brought together Indigenous Church leaders from around Australia to discuss the Australian Government’s NTER. The aim of the forum was to show solidarity with Aboriginal people in the NT, and to formulate a common response and plan for action.A key recommendation arising from that forum was to ask the NCCA to extend an invitation to the WCC to send a Living Letters team to visit the Northern Territory .Living Letters are small ecumenical teams visiting a country to listen, learn, share approaches and challenges in overcoming violence and in peace making, and to pray together for peace in the community and in the worldA Living Letters team previously visited Australia in 1981 to assess the situation for Aborigines. They travelled around the country for three weeks and met with a wide number of individuals, communities and organisations.The 1981 report of this visit reflected the concerns, hopes, dreams and aspirations of Aboriginal people as heard by the Living Letters team. The report gave guidance to the Churches and hope to Aboriginal people. Independent points of view proved valuable in highlighting to government the areas where Australia needed to do better.From this, relations with Indigenous people have improved with better co-operation and representation within Churches, says NCCA."It is our hope and prayer that a similar outcome can be achieved by a contemporary visit, particularly in relation to the NTER. The NCCA and NATSIEC have consistently expressed concern, along with Church leaders and other organisations, since the inception of the NTER."The General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, the Rev Tara Curlewis, commented: “We feel that there is an urgent need to shine a light on the impact of the NTER on Aboriginal people. We welcome the arrival of an international and neutral team to listen, learn and bear witness to the situation for Aboriginal people in the New Territories”.-----For more information on the visit, go to:http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/peace-convocation/preparatory-proce...[Ekk/3]

The government has retained support despite promises of swingeing cuts, the Lib Dems have gained little credit for their coalescing, and Labour has been on the up despite being leaderless and rudderless. Simon Barrow looks at the unreal politics of the parliamentary recess.It may seem as if formal political life gets replaced by its own burning embers during the parliamentary recess in Westminster, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But surface appearances are deceptive.David Cameron has already skipped one holiday to pursue his ‘cuts road show’, inviting the great British public to debate how and where the debt-and-recession scalpel should be inserted. Now he's conducting a PR campaign for'the first 100 days'while on another.At the same time, the technical war of words between MPs of all parties and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority over the new system of Commons’ allowances has continued unabated.Then there’s the Labour Party leadership hustings. The post-Brown and Blair beauty contest rumbles on in partially filled halls and internet chat rooms across the land. It may be attracting comparatively little publicity outside the dedicated politicos – but that will change again in September.Meanwhile, what passes for an official opposition is in much better shape than most of its movers and shakers would have predicted three months ago - indeed, level-pegging with the Conservatives, according to an 18 August 2010 Guardian/ICM poll.In the immediate aftermath of the May general election it seemed as if most established political bets were off. The voters had hung precedent out to dry, and the inevitable ‘honeymoon period’ for the new government was not so much aimed at the cabinet and Prime Minister as at the very idea of a coalition administration nuzzled up on the banks of the Thames. Surely “this sort of thing” was meant for the “Celtic fringes”?Some habits die hard, however. The briefly resurgent Liberal Democrats sunk to a record low of 12 per cent in opinion polls following an arrangement which many of their brightest-eyed supporters saw as a deal with the devil. By contrast, the Conservatives have maintained a dignified public posture while simultaneously engaging in a crafty softening-up exercise for a reduction in public expenditure on a scale that turns Thatcherites green with envy. It's the contortionists who are running the show now.Equally intriguing has been the persistence of not-so-new Labour. With no clear leader, no defined policy alternative, and a debate on the future shape of centre-left politics that bypasses an electorate more attuned to the impact of emerging policies on the wallet, the party has already clawed its way back from 29 to 37 percentage points.The general lack of bloodletting and the media focus on Posh and Clegg has helped, naturally. But imagine what new shifts might happen when the Autumn Spending Review reveals the full scale and (for many, not least the most vulnerable) the full horror of the Coalition’s cuts? The architectonic upheaval we have seen in the political landscape looks set to go on for a while longer, and no one is quite sure where it will all end.In part that may depend upon the outcome of a referendum on voting reform which neither changers nor non-changers want in its present form. The Alternative Vote (AV) belies its name. But it may yet be the last saving hope of those whose motto remains: “We’re all in favour of change. So long as it doesn’t make any difference,” politically at least. Economically, the knives continue to be sharpened and poised.---------(c)Simon Barrowis co-director of Ekklesia. This article is adapted from his regular'Westminster Watch'column inThird Way, the magazine of Christian social and cultural comment.

Church World Service has urged a more robust response from the international donor community to Pakistan’s devastating flooding disaster.Church World Service officials have urged a more robust response from the international donor community to Pakistan’s devastating flooding disaster.The US-based global relief and development agency (http://www.churchworldservice.org/) has voiced even deeper worries over whether or not pledges will be fulfilled.While the international community has so far committed close to US$229.5 million in support and another US$142 million in additional pledges, those pledge amounts alone are insufficient to cover even the initial three-month relief needs outlined by the United Nations, says Donna Derr, Director of Humanitarian Assistance for Church World Service.“Thankfully the flood’s death toll has remained relatively low but disasters can’t be measured by just the number of dead,” says CWS’s Derr. “Effective humanitarian response must be measured against the all the people affected, just struggling to survive,” she said.The initial UN plan calls for US$460 million. The Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, of which CWS is a member, calls on government and private sources to dramatically increase funding in order to save lives.With offices in Pakistan since 1954, CWS relief and development experts are concerned Pakistan’s already weak social services may crumble without adequate and immediate help now. Millions of Pakistanis risk sinking deeper into chronic poverty for the next generation, compromising human rights and basic needs.Making pledges pay off on the ground is a chronic challenge among the world donor community. In recent UN appeals for the internally displaced in Pakistan’s northwest, some donors were moderately quick to pledge funding but hesitant to follow through with actual commitments.Church World Service is continuing to distribute food and non-food items across Pakistan. The agency’s health teams and mobile health units are focusing on providing preventive and curative health services. Another CWS mobile health unit was dispatched on 16 August 2010 to Kewaii Union Council, Mansehra District, rescheduled from its original assignment in Kohistan, which is still inaccessible to aid teams.As its response expands, CWS’s completed, ongoing and planned activities will benefit a total of 237,950 individuals in seven districts of three provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Balochistan and Sindh, the agency says.[Ekk/3]

At least 67 people are missing and 25 injured, nine severely, after mudslides hit a remote town in southwest China's Yunnan Province.At least 67 people are missing and 25 were injured, nine severely, after mudslides hit a remote town in southwest China's Yunnan Province early on 18 August 2010.Details are being released by local authorities through the Xinhua News Agency.Most of the missing people are employees of the Yujin Iron Mine and villagers in the Puladi Township, in the Drung-Nu Autonomous County of Gongshan, where the mudslides struck at around 1.30 am local time."I suddenly heard rumbling late last night and then rushed to a safe place with fellow villagers. I hadn't expected mudslides could come so quickly,"said Yu Zhizhong, of Litoudi Village, about 10 kilometres from Puladi township seat.The mudslides were about 300 metres across, villagers and rescuers said.At least 10 trucks transporting iron ore and 21 houses were buried, said Zhong Zhifang, a spokesperson for local border troops involved in the search and rescue operation.Roads, power supplies and telecommunications were cut following the mudslides, which were triggered by days of torrential rain, Zhong said.The first group of 24 border troops arrived at the site, about 17 km from the Gongshan county seat, at 9:30 a.m., and another 103 troops are en route to the area, Zhong said.The injured had been taken to hospital, Zhong said.The mudslides also destroyed a bridge and blocked parts of the Nujiang River flowing through the mountains, lifting the water level in the upper reaches by up to six metres, said a statement from the Yunan Provincial Emergency Response Office Wednesday.The local government had also dispatched rescuers to the area high in the mountains bordering Myanmar, said a spokesman with the government of Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Nujiang, which administers Gongshan.The county faced more rain in the next two days, according to local meteorological authorities.On 26 June in Puladi, a mudslide killed 11 people at the construction site of a hydropower station.Torrential rains have wreaked havoc across China this summer, incurring the worst flooding and landslides in decades.A massive mudslide on 8 August in Zhouqu County, in northwestern Gansu Province, left 1,270 people dead and 474 missing.[Ekk/3]

"I had a lump in my breast for a few years that I ignored [mainly because] it didn't hurt. It's so easy to try to deny illness,"says Tracey Derrick. When she finally went to see a doctor for a biopsy, she got a big shock. The result came back positive: breast cancer.