Iranian authorities, scrambling to contain the biggest nationwide protests since 2009, have blocked social media apps and said anyone who disrupts public order will pay the price, after a turbulent night of growing anti-establishment demonstrations left at least two dead.
People took to the streets on Saturday night for a third evening of apparently spontaneous protests. The demonstrations began over economic grievances but have since taken on a political dimension, with unprecedented calls for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to step down.
2 rooms of music – breaks to techno and beyond. Reasonably priced bar. Acts include: Luke Vibert, Jerome Hill, Ben Pest, Ronin, The Doubtful Guest, Bustawidemove, Boycey, Stormfield, Hackney Town Hell, Medallion Man, Alex Buttonhead + more
RESEARCH: A wearable Teng patch could harvest enough energy to power a mobile phone
Consumers could soon be able to act as their own mobile phone power supply, researchers at the University of Surrey have announced, by simply wearing smart clothing that uses Triboelectric Nanogenerators (Tengs) to harvest and store the static charge generated by their movements.
Activists for Love set up ‘SustainaClaus’ centre in Charing Cross
News,
Squat group Activists for Love is bringing a bit of festive cheer to West London’s homeless community this Christmas, after squatting a collection of four shops in Charing Cross over the holiday.
The large linked shop site at 75 Charing Cross Road aims to run a kitchen for the homeless two days a week and is promoting 17 sustainable development goals, to get people to reduce consumption before it’s too late.
The SustainaClaus centre is looking for tables, boxes, Christmas decorations and games and is planning on setting up activities throughout the next few weeks.
Also on the wish list is food, bedding, furniture, and electric cooker, kettle, tea, cake and water containers.
On September 25th 2015, countries adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of anew sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.
For the goals to be reached, everyone needs to do their part: governments, the private sector, civil society and people like you.
Do you want to get involved? You can start by telling everyone about them. We’ve also put together a list of actions that you can take in your everyday life to contribute to a sustainable future.
Image captionSam: "It takes pretty much every day of my life, trying to find out where I am going to be staying"
Sam does not know where he will be sleeping tonight.
Now 23, he says he first became homeless at 15 because of a family breakdown and has been in and out of bedsits, hostels and supported accommodation ever since.
"I've stayed at friends' in the past - I've never really had my own actual flat," he says.
"I've slept rough quite a few times but most of the time when I've slept rough I have not actually slept.
"I just wander round because I can't really shut off when I'm out in the cold."
The chief investigator of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, has asked for judicial permission to launch an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, the ICC said.
According to an ICC statement, the investigation will look into crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, as well as any crimes linked the conflict that took place outside it since July 1, 2002. The parties under investigation will be the Taliban and another powerful Islamist group, the Haqqani Network, both of which also operate in Pakistan, as well as the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), in particular, members of the National Directorate for Security (NDS) and the Afghan National Police (ANP).
“The situation in Afghanistan has been under preliminary examination by the Office of the Prosecutor since 2006,” the statement said. “After a comprehensive and careful scrutiny of the information available to the office, applying the applicable Rome Statute legal criteria, the prosecutor has determined that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation of the situation in Afghanistan.”
The investigation will also examine war crimes and human rights violations committed by the United States and its allies, with an additional focus on the Central Intelligence Agency and its role in operating secret detention facilities, so-called “black sites,” on the territory of Afghanistan and other allied countries.
These black sites were used by the CIA to hold and question suspected terrorists after September 11, often making use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” which has been criticized as being a euphemism for torture.
