Spain, Barcelona: Pro-independence supporters take part in a rally in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017.Catalan President Puigdemont has proposed to suspend Catalonia's declaration of independence for few weeks to hold talks with Spanish government.
Many regions of Thailand are struggling with what some have called the worst drought in decades with nearly 30 of Thailand’s 77 provinces declared drought affected according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM). Climate experts have pointed to an El Niño weather pattern along with the effects of climate change as the cause for drier and hotter than usual weather across much of the country leading to canals, reservoirs and dams to reach record lows levels. For the nation’s farmers meanwhile, these higher than normal temperatures combined with last year’s short-lived wet season have forced some to plant more drought-resistant crops, and in some places these too are failing. With the wet season set to begin many affected communities are hoping that significant rainfall will help to ease the situation, however there remains a collective anxiety that a short-lived wet season this year will not provide adequate rainfall to bring relief to farmers and communities most affected.
Jinda, a farmer in Suphanburi province surveys a field he used to grow beans where rice would usually be planted. Severe drought conditions and limited water flowing through nearby irrigated canals have forced many farmers to be selective and grow more drought resistant crops.
A farmer inspects his struggling rice crop in central Thailand. Severe drought conditions and limited water flowing through nearby irrigated canals have forced many farmers to grow selectively in order to ration the water they have access to.
A farmer near Uthong in Suphanburi province watches over a controlled burn in one of her fields. Government officials have condemned this practice citing concerns for air quality made worse by the lack of rain however burning fields after harvest is often practiced by farmers in order to quickly make way for future crops.
A farmer shows some of his failed bean crop near Uthong in Suphanburi province. Dry conditions in Thailand are forcing farmers to plant more drought resistant crops such as beans instead of rice. For many areas however, even substituted crops are failing due to the severe drought.
A line of water markers lead down to the water's edge at the Mae Kuang dam in Thailand's Chiang Mai province. The distant tree line provides an indication of past dam levels while significant rainfall is believed to be still months away.
The view down river from the gates of the Mae Kuang dam in Chiang Mai province. The current water levels at the dam sit below the gates meaning water release is not possible.
In the city of Chiang Mai, there were little signs of drought. In the lead up last month's popular Songkran (a popular holiday marking the Thai new year by throwing water) some local nightclubs threw 'pre-Songkran' festivities in order to promote the upcoming water festival and attract patrons.
Water guns, balloons and hoses were all used to soak club-goers while farmers and villagers outside the city were being told to ration their water due to extremely low levels in the surrounding dams.
A farmer feeds his water buffalo near a small waterhole in the Ping River near Chom Thong, Thailand. The river is dry in some places as the region struggles through a serious drought. Many districts in the Chiang Mai region have been declared drought-affected and significant rainfall is not expected for months.
A young fisherman tries his luck in some of the small waterholes remaining in the Ping River near Chong Thom, Thailand. The river is dry in some places as the region struggles through a serious drought. Many districts in the Chiang Mai region have been declared drought-affected and significant rainfall is not expected for months.
Ngam, a fisherman, lands his boat with his catch for the day after passing through choked waterways in Ping River near Chom Thong, in Chiang Mai province. Low water levels mean that many of the larger bodies of water are often difficult to navigate through due to crowding from vegetation. Open areas like this one are becoming more sparse as the dry season continues and the temperature rises.
´Rice Case´ of Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra at Bangkok´s Supreme Court. Yingluck Shinawatra is facing a maximun prision sentence of 10 year.
Yingluck Shinawatra, 28th Prime Minister of Thailand from 2011-2014 (Pheu Thai Party).
As Chairperson of the rice committee, Yingluck is facing investigation, with Thailand's anti-graft agency who are investigating Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's role in the rice pledging scheme after bringing formal charges of corruption against two of her cabinet ministers. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will check to see if she was negligent in her duties as chair of the National Rice Policy Committee
On May 8, 2014, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) unanimously agreed to indict Yingluck in the rice-pledging scheme corruption case citing millions of rice farmers who remain unpaid
On 23 May 2014 Yingluck was arrested along with former cabinet ministers and political leaders of all parties, in the wake of a military coup which occurred the previous day.
On 19 May 2015 for the first trial Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra in the case stems from the government´sYinluck Shinawatra controversial rice-pleaging scheme. The court read and explain the indictment to offender Yinluck refuses all allegation and fied all testimony´s document on 3 june 2015 and the court accept. The court have an appoinment to check all evidence to both side again on 21 and 23 July 2015. If found guilty, she could face up to 10 year in jail.
Government employer stands outside the Entrance of Supreme Court
JUDGMENT EX-PM YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA. Bangkok.
Government employer give paper information to the press about resolution judgment EX-PM YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA. Bangkok.
Police forming barrier for separate press before Yingluck Shinawatra go out for the Tribunal.
Police and Pres waiting Yingluck Shinawatra go out for the Tribunal.
Police and Pres waiting Yingluck Shinawatra go out for the Tribunal.
Police forming barrier for separate fanclub before Yingluck Shinawatra go out for the Tribunal.
One faceclub carry a rose in the hand.
Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra with fanclub
Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra with fanclub
Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra carry a bouquet of roses in her hand.
A fanclub woman performing the three finger salute that has come to symbolize Anti Coup sentiment.
Thai lawyers commented to the press about judgment Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra.
Thai lawyers commented to the press about judgment Ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra.
The Nuba Mountains rise from the semi-arid savannah of South Kordofan, one of the largest states of Sudan bordering what is now the Republic of South Sudan. The population is dominated by over 50 distinct ethnic groups of black African origin collectively known as the Nuba. Settled small holder farmers, the Nuba have lived alongside a number of Arab pastoralist tribes relatively peacefully for generations. In addition to its remarkably rich and engaging culture, Nuba society is characterised by religious tolerance (there being about equal numbers of Muslims and Christians with many still respecting traditional ancestral beliefs), ethnic diversity and expectations of local accountability and good governance not commonly found elsewhere in the country. It is estimated that as many as three million Sudanese are Nuba, many living in the slums of cities in the north.
As with other Sudanese living on the peripheries (including the people of Darfur, Blue Nile, Abyei, Red Sea Hills, and the far north), the people of South Kordofan have been marginalised for generations by the policies of successive Khartoum-based Governments. As a result, they face restricted educational and employment opportunities, lack of land tenure and huge loss of land to outsider mechanised schemes, social discrimination, lack of political rights, banning of local languages from school curricula and ever increasing poverty and frustration. Failure to bring about any changes through political process and alarm at the undemocratic imposition of Sha’ria law (in 1983) eventually resulted in armed resistance, initially alongside the southern Sudanese insurrection led by Dr John Garang. In 2005, an internationally brokered “peace agreement” led eventually to the secession of South Sudan but failed to address the marginalisation of Nuba and other peripheral ethnic groups in (northern) Sudan.
In 2011 the region returned to civil-war and currently the Nuba opposition are fighting as part of an alliance of northern Sudanese opposition groups resisting the continued oppressive policies of Omar al Bashir’s National Congress Party. As in Darfur and Blue Nile, the efforts of the Khartoum government to stamp out any opposition have been particularly brutal. An area of some 40,000 square kilometres, home to over a million people, has been effectively surrounded by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Government paid militias deprived of any public services (including markets, transport, power and telecommunications) or access to international or national humanitarian aid. Civilian villages are bombed and shelled daily, hospitals and schools are targeted, hunger is used as a weapon of war, villages are burnt to the ground and captured civilians are routinely tortured, raped and executed. Several thousands of Nuba have died since the war restarted in 2011, over 400,000 have lost their homes and possessions and remain internally displaced with little or no assistance. More than 80,000 are refugees in camps in increasingly insecure border area of South Sudan and this figure is expected to rise significantly.
However, despite all these atrocities, the local population continues to demonstrate enormous resilience and a determination to resist the brutal oppression of Bashir’s regime and to help bring about the democratic transformation of Sudan of which they dream. They dig foxholes to reduce the number of deaths from bombs and shells, share food and shelter, and seek refuge in the mountains. They continue to celebrate their ethnic and cultural diversity and religious tolerance. And perhaps most remarkably, they continue to show a real readiness for forgiveness. They talk not of revenge but of reconstruction in a united and peaceful Sudan that promotes pluralism, justice, mutual respect and codependence.
In a region riddled with conflict, extremism and instability, the people of the Nuba Mountains provide an all too rare alternative narrative. If they can survive this war, perhaps they will also contribute to a longer-term transformation in Sudan that allows genuine African democracy, peaceful coexistence and pluralism to replace conflict and dictatorship.
A man lies on the ground as a government Antonov aircraft bomb Kauda Town. Communities have learnt that lying down increases their chances of surviving the devastating shrapnel-filled barrel bombs that remain as the most frequently dropped ordinance to date. In the past three and a half years (up to April 2015), the Sudan Air Force has dropped over 3,700 bombs on civilian sites in the Nuba Mountains. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
A displaced woman cries at the news of the death of her son Najamadin, 22 years old, killed by government soldiers while he was taking care of the community’s cattle in Dalami County. His brother Abdulbaghi, who was with him, managed to escape and run back to their makeshift home to tell his mother about the sad news. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
Friday prayers are underway at one of the many mosques found throughout the Nuba Mountains, where some 40% of the population are Muslims. During the prayer time, people collected money to help a family who needed a surgical operation. Ahmed Kuwa, a devote local Muslim, says: “They (the regime) are bombing our mosques, killing our Imams, using religion to make war between peaceful neighbors; but this is not God’s Islam.” (South Kordofan, Sudan)
People run for cover during a bombardment in Kauda Town. On this particular raid, 12 bombs were dropped in less than 5 minutes, destroying three houses and leaving one man injured. Confirmed reports indicate that between 2012 and 2014, 198 civilians were killed and over 440 seriously injured by bombing and shelling. However actual fatalities have been much higher as many more have died from disease and malnutrition. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
A family comes out from a fox hole after protecting themselves from 12 bombs that were dropped in Kauda town center in just five minutes. Local civil society organizations are seeking help to deal with the increasing cases of psycho-social trauma resulting from the constant terror of attack from bombs, shells and rockets. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
Yida refugee camp across the international border in Unity State of South Sudan, remains a last resort for many Nuba families. Currently some 66,000 Nuba people are living here as refugees. The camp which itself was bombed by the Sudan Air Force, now faces insecurity challenges from the South Sudan civil war. Due to disagreements over positioning of the camp, neither the UNHCR nor any other international assistance agencies provide any schools to children. Since the camp opened 4 years ago, the local Nuba civil society plays an important role in providing education services. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
During the early morning of February 3, 2015, an artillery shell blasted through the roof of a house in Um Serdiba village. Nine children were sleeping in a foxhole inside the house, three died immediately. Six children, aged between 2 and 11, survived and lay in Mother of Mercy Hospital with more than 50% of their bodies burned. The next day, another girl died at the hospital, and three other children facing serious burns. The head surgeon of the hospital is not sure if they are going to survive. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
Jackson Teamtrust, 7 years old, was wounded by a bomb dropped by the Sudanese government forces in Ragafi village, Umdorein County on the 1st of February, 2015. Between 2012 and 2014, 36 children have been reported killed and 83 seriously injured by the government bombing of civilian targets in the Nuba Mountains. Sadly, the actual casualties since the start of the war (including 2015) is much higher. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
An unexploded bomb dropped by the Sudanese government lies in the middle of the field next to a primary health center in South Kordofan. With the Sudanese government also having started to drop cluster bombs on civilian targets, the risks of continuing deaths and injuries from unexploded ordinances will increase. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
A Sunday service is held at the Sudanese Church of Christ, one of many Christian denominations found in South Kordofan. More than 300 people attended the service, using biscuits and hibiscus flower juice for the communion. The peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians is an important feature of Nuba (and traditionally, Sudanese) society which celebrates ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural diversity. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
Stir Ahmed, 26, is seen inside the cave where she keeps some of her belongings and use as shelter if she can during frequent bombing raids on Tunguli Village, in Dalami County. "The bombing is terrible. It can come anytime. We feel very alone and the world does not care, the Sudanese people do not care." (South Kordofan, Sudan)
Displaced Sana Mahjub, 26, cleans the beans for lunch with the help of her children outside the small cave where they now have to live since their village was destroyed. It is estimated that more than 400,000 people living in similar conditions have been displaced since the war started nearly 4 years ago as a result of targeted bombing, shelling and land attacks by government forces. Dalami County, South Kordofan, Sudan.
Alnjama Alzahabia cultural group, meaning Gold Stars, poses for a photo in Dalami County with a typical local backdrop. Music, dance and cultural events are integral to Nuba society and continue to play an important role in countering the psycho-social trauma caused by the war. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
Displaced Mary Musa (left), 26, and Khadmalla Abuzet, 18, cook the evening meal of Baliila (maize, sorghum and beans) next to a rocky mountain near Tunguli village. Families move to such shelters in the evenings as night time bombings and shelling become increasingly frequent. (South Kordofan, Sudan)
People collect water in Ragafi river bed during the dry season. In many villages, hand water pumps have been destroyed by government forces during land attacks or targeted bombing and shelling on villages. "They (the regime of Omar Bashir) say they are our government, but we want true democracy, not murderers" Awatif Musa, a 48 year old grandmother, says as she waits in line. (South Kordofan, Sudan)