Let's save the world !

According to the website of Human Rights Watch as of July 2007:

“ In over twenty countries around the world, children are direct participants in war. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200 000 to 300 000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts.”

Under the terms of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions, children over the age of fifteen who have volunteered can be used as spotters, observers, message-carriers.

In cases where children have taken part in combat, recruiting parties have active measures to counter their reluctance, such as forcing child recruits to commit brutalities and to take drugs like marijuana, amphetamines and "brown-brown" that inhibit guilt and fear. Propaganda, revenge and fear of being left alone influence children to "voluntarily" stay in the army. Children have been both participants in and victims of atrocities.

An arranged marriage is a marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married, curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages are not uncommon in the Middle East, parts of Africa, and Asia. Other groups that practice this custom include the Unification Movement, royal families and Hindus.

Note that the term "arranged marriage" is used even if the parents have no direct involvement in selecting the spouse. The match could be selected by a matchmaking agent, matrimonials site, or trusted third party. In many communities, priests or religious leaders as well as trusted relatives or family friends play a major role in matchmaking.

Positive points :

The parents of the wealthy man may feel secure knowing that their son is to marry a person of their own country and traditional culture rather a woman corrupted by Western influences.
The parents of the bride hope that their daughter enjoys a higher standard of living.
Couples may enjoy the diversity in their respective backgrounds.

Negative points :

Couples may be incompatible due to cultural differences. One spouse may retain traditional values while the other spouse has accepted immoral practices.
The time window available for the entire process is narrow. Prospective brides must be lined up for a series of meetings when the man is able to take leave to travel to his home country. The decision must be finalised and the marriage registered before he leaves so that visa formalities for his wife can be commenced immediately. Sometimes two or three visits (over as many years) are required to sort out all the legal details.
The two parties cannot directly meet without travelling to the other country. The upfront cost increases the pressure to make a decision yet less is known about the prospective mate because of the great distance separating the two.
Limited choice: In some cases, the parents may mandate that the bride must originate from their son's home country.

These athlets are 20 years old today...but a day, they were children...
This is a specialy schol in the Center ofCha ( at Ziantao ), a fomation center for little children. These children ( 120 ) are between 4 and 10.
Zheng Shunsheng ( the trainer ) :
"It's very difficult for the children. They have to work very much. They are tired because of they're doing. But if they are real champions, they'll arrive to do good things.”
Each day, the children wake up at 5.00 am for 8 at 11 hours of gymnastics.
The children are separated of their parents. Parents, like Wang Li, who see their child only 2 weeks per year.
Wang Li ( mother of a child ) :
“ Of course ! Our son misses us but the travel is too expensive. So we can see him once a year. But it's better like this. By the way, he has to work and the feelings disturb the concentration. We count on him.”
Isabelle Severino ( European Champion in 2005 ):
“ The children are there to give money to their parents, to help their family because an Olympic Champion can help all his family with all the money that he won.”
Ruigi Zhang is luckier that her friends. She lives near the school and can go home every night.
Ruigi Zhang :
“To train is very difficult but I want to win a medal. Then, my father will be proud of me.”
This is a sacrifice for the children but also for their parents. The school is very expensive ( 200 Euros per month = around 200 dollars ).
Liang Zhang ( father of Ruigi Zhang ) :
“Only some children will win a medal. And my daughter'll be one of them. I'll do everything to help her.”
From this school, 4 persons won an Olympic medal.
At the last World Championship, China won 8 medals on 14.
Isabelle Severino :
“I saw a young gymnast with some hands broken to continue whereas it's impossible for a French or an European gymnast.”

Benazir Bhutto (June 21, 1953 – December 27, 2007) twice Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988-1990; 1993-1996) was a Pakistani politician who chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a centre-left political party in Pakistan affiliated to the Socialist International. Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state, having been twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Bhutto was the eldest child of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a Pakistani of Sindhi descent and Shia Muslim by faith, and Begum Nusrat Bhutto, a Pakistani of Iranian-Kurdish descent, of similarly Shia Muslim by faith. Her paternal grandfather was Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, who came to Larkana Sindh before partition from his native town of Bhatto Kalan, which was situated in the Indian state of Haryana.

Bhutto was sworn in for the first time in 1988 at the age of 35, but was removed from office 20 months later under the order of then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan on grounds of alleged corruption. In 1993 Bhutto was re-elected but was again removed in 1996 on similar charges, this time by President Farooq Leghari. Bhutto went into self-imposed exile in Dubai in 1998.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007, after reaching an understanding with President Pervez Musharraf by which she was granted amnesty and all corruption charges were withdrawn. She was assassinated on December 27, 2007, after departing a PPP rally in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, two weeks before the scheduled Pakistani general election of 2008 where she was a leading opposition candidate. Serious questions have been raised about the govenment's version of events.

On December 27, 2007, Bhutto was killed whilst leaving a campaign rally for the PPP at Liaquat National Bagh, where she had given a spirited address to party supporters in the run-up to the January 2008 parliamentary elections. After entering her bulletproof vehicle, Bhutto stood up through its sunroof to wave to the crowds. At this point, a gunman standing behind and to the left of the vehicle fired three shots at her with a pistol (still photographs exist which show a man in dark glasses holding up a handgun, and film footage has also been shown in which a pistol is seen firing a number of shots whose muzzle-flashes are clearly visible). Immediately afterwards, someone in the area (perhaps the white-robed individual visible in several still photographs standing close to the gunman) detonated explosives stored about their person, killing approximately 20 people. Bhutto was critically wounded and was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital. She was taken into surgery at 17:35 local time, and pronounced dead at 18:16.

Bhutto's body was flown to her hometown of of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Larkana District, Sindh, and was buried next to her father in the family mausoleum at a ceremony attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners.

There was some disagreement about the exact cause of death. Bhutto's husband refused to permit an autopsy or post-mortem examination to be carried out. On December 28, 2007, the Interior Ministry of Pakistan stated that "Bhutto was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle, and the shock waves from the blast knocked her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull". However, a hospital spokesman stated earlier that she had suffered shrapnel wounds to the head and that this was the cause of her death. Bhutto's aides have also disputed the Interior Ministry's account.

Al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid claimed responsibility for the attack, describing Bhutto as "the most precious American asset." The Pakistani government also stated that it had proof that al-Qaeda was behind the assassination. A report for CNN stated: "the Interior Ministry also earlier told Pakistan's GEO-TV that the suicide bomber belonged to Lashkar i Jhangvi — an al-Qaeda-linked militant group that the government has blamed for hundreds of killings". The government of Pakistan claimed Baitullah Mehsud was the mastermind behind the assassination. Lashkar i Jhangvi, a Wahabi Muslim extremist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda that also attempted in 1999 to assassinate former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is alleged to have been responsible for the killing of the 54-year-old Bhutto along with approximately 20 bystanders, however this is vigorously disputed by the Bhutto family, by the PPP that Bhutto had headed and by Baitullah Mehsud.

On December 30, 2007, the Central Executive Committe (CEC) of the PPP approved the delegation of the succession that Asif Ali Zardari had been given to lead the PPP. It was unclear what role Bilawal would play.

Reaction in Pakistan :

After the assassination, there were initially a number of riots resulting in approximately 20 deaths, of whom three were police officers. Around 250 cars were burnt; angry and upset supporters of Bhutto threw rocks outside the hospital where she was being held. Through December 29, 2007, the Pakistani government said rioters had wrecked nine election offices, 176 banks, 34 gas stations, 72 train cars, 18 rail stations, and hundreds of cars and shops. Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the rival opposition party Pakistan Muslim League (N), stated that "This is a tragedy for her party, and a tragedy for our party and the entire nation." Musharraf called for a three day mourning period after Bhutto's assassination on December 27, 2007.

On December 29, 2007, an unnamed senior official told Time magazine that Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto would on December 30, 2007, be made Benazir's successor as the leader of the PPP.
However, the BBC reported that there were three possible contenders to the leadership of the PPP. Depending on the will of the late Bhutto, the three possible contenders are

Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari who had a relative role to play during her two terms as Prime Minister; however, Zardari was convicted with several corruption charges and was sent to jail where he served an eight-year sentence.
Bhutto's son Bilawal Bhutto, who is currently 19 years old and is studying in his first year at Oxford University, although he is considered by some PPP members to be too young.
Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a senior member of the party, who has been Bhutto's aide since her first term as Prime Minister.
On December 30, 2007, the late Bhutto's will was read out to the leading members in her party the PPP. The will stated that her husband Asif Ali Zardari should be leader of the party. Zardari said that under the circumstances, a Bhutto needed to run the party. It has been announced in Pakistan that Bhutto's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will take the cermonial role of the PPP, whilst Asif Ali Zardari will take on day-to-day work. Bilawal said that his mother told him that "democracy would be the best revenge." Zardari called on the British government to help in an investigation into his late wife's death; at the same time, Zardari announced that his children ceremonially have changed their names to "Bhutto Zardari." He also announced that the family would not reveal a possible candidate to stand as Prime Minister, but rather wanted the name on the polls to read Benazir Bhutto and only decide the real candidate if she won the majority of the votes.

On December 30, the Pakistan Peoples Party (the party which she has been head of) called the for the UK Government and the UN to help and conduct the investigation of her death.